Wolf's Hunger (Mafia Monsters #5) - Atlas Rose Page 0,53

things. Here, I was a prisoner…one who needed to be set free.

Harlan was in the bedroom, standing at the foot of the bed when I walked in. He turned and lifted his gaze. Something moved behind his eyes, something hungry. I had to set this straight right now.

“Harlan, I need to tell you this, and you need to listen to me. I wasn’t abducted. I ran, freely. They didn’t kill Murphy. They didn’t—” He just looked at me with a deadpan gaze, one filled with sympathy. That Unseelie darkness whispered through my mind at the sight. “Don’t look at me like that.”

“It’s alright, Carina,” he responded, and stepped closer, grasping my shoulders. “I let you down. I accept that now. You told me Murphy was making you uncomfortable and, well…I left you to deal with it on your own because I was fighting these feelings for you.”

“No,” I whispered, and stepped away, forcing his hands to drop. “No, Harlan.”

But resignation hardened his gaze. “I failed you. I see that now. But I won’t fail you again. Starting tomorrow, you’re back at the Bureau. I want you in there for a full debrief. Your protection will take you in and bring you back here. There’s food, clothes, anything else you need, just let them know. They’re here to protect you, Carina.” Why was he still calling me that? He never called me that. It was always Chase. Always. “They’re here to watch over you.”

In other words, I was going to be forcibly detained.

“Rest now, it’s late. We’ll talk again in the morning.” He stepped toward me and I couldn’t stop the flinch. But he kept walking, moving past me to the door. “I won’t fail you again. I’ll keep you safe this time…and those beasts where they belong.”

He left with that, striding through the doorway into the small living room. I heard him speaking to the two guards with quiet commands not intended for my ears. Exhaustion made me sway on my feet as I leaned on the doorframe. I closed my aching eyes and the tears came, the sting inevitable.

Seconds passed, or it could’ve been minutes, before the front door closed. I opened my eyes, my senses prowling, finding the two still in the living room. But there was no one else here. Harlan was gone…just like they were all gone.

Still, the tears didn’t stop, even when I opened my eyes and crawled into bed, nursing that wounded look from Phantom close to my heart. I didn’t cry, not ever. I just got angry…and then I got even. But with my Wolves, it was different, because I cared so deeply.

The sheets were cold as I shifted. The crisp clean smell sharp and jarring after living with the heady scent of my Wolves. I curled on my side and closed my eyes. So much had happened…so much.

Silver eyes shone in the darkness of my mind.

Walker’s smiling face came a second later.

Blood from Mojin.

And under it all, those terrifying words….

Where is Church? Where is my Wolf? The Unseelie’s answer resounded, taking me into the endless dark. He fought them…fought while the doctor ran. They took him. The black one…the Alpha.

I looked through the window of the Explorer to the FBI building as we slowed at the entrance. Cold concrete against a brooding sky. That place no longer felt like home, no longer felt like anyplace I wanted to be.

In my head, I was with them…wherever there was. Caves. Strip clubs. The guest house owned by a Vampire coven. Even if we were running…it didn’t matter as long as I was with them. I shifted against my seat as the Explorer turned, nosing into the parking garage, and stopped at the boom gate.

Through the windshield, Beth-Anne watched me in open-mouthed surprise. Chase? she mouthed soundlessly. I turned away from her as we rounded the parking aisle and pulled up close to the bank of elevators.

“You alright from here, Miss?” the agent asked, not bothering to turn and look at me over his shoulder.

I didn’t answer, just opened the door and closed it behind me. I was walking in there in cheap clothes that weren’t my own and with a gut full of rage. I wanted this over…changed. Hell, I wanted this done. I strode toward the elevator, remembering how before I’d usually watch for Murphy’s car, how I’d hurried to this same elevator in fear, desperate to outrun his unwanted attention.

Only now I was hurrying for a different reason. I wanted my Wolves