Wolf's Hunger (Mafia Monsters #5) - Atlas Rose Page 0,56

matter what happened, my life without them would be worthless…empty, hollow like a fucking shell. They’d filled me…they’d claimed me, even when I’d claimed them. In that panicked thought, something pushed in. Ruth with the Vampires. I’d seen how she looked at them…and how they’d looked at her, all dark, dangerous, and possessive.

I knew how she felt now.

How faking her own death was better than losing them.

With a flare of frustration, I drew my hand away and rolled, then shoved up from the bed. My heart pounded as I lowered my gaze to stare at the floor. Something had to give here. Something…that darkness shifted under my skin. Something Unseelie.

My heart leaped with the thought. The Fae were still here, still right across the bridge. I crossed to the bedroom door, rolling my feet against the floor, and turned the handle as quietly as I could. The metal grated softly. I froze, heart hammering, and listened for movement outside.

The low drone of the TV drifted down the hallway. I turned my gaze right, to where the sparse kitchen lay with its barely stocked refrigerator, one more reminder that this was only temporary. I didn’t want it to be temporary…I wanted it to be over.

I made my way toward the back door of the small house. I wasn’t naive. I knew they’d be careful, probably deadlocked. Voices echoed from just outside. I neared, straining to listen. It was an agent, Asshole Adrian I called him, cold eyes and an even colder demeanor. I gripped the handle of the door, watching through the glass pane as he turned away and started walking, mindlessly pacing.

I turned the handle as his guttural tone slipped through the crack.

“She doesn’t know. No, no idea. The others are ready. Yeah, they’re in place. I agree, it’s only a matter of time now, we just have to wait. You want me to force it? You want me to set it up?” Set it up? What the fuck did he mean by force it? Blood drained from my face.

Did he mean force the Wolves to come?

In one harrowing second, as my pulse roared in my ears, I realized that this was all wrong…so unbelievably wrong. How fucking stupid could I be? They weren’t protecting me—they were using me as bait!

My hand trembled as I pushed the door open more, then wider still before I could slip out. I moved fast, turning to ease the door closed, and hurried into the shadows.

“Then we just wait. We have guys all around the city. We’ll catch them…then we’ll have them all.”

Have them all…

I pressed my spine against the wall and listened. Agony pushed and throbbed at the base of my neck. They were setting them up, setting me up. There was no concern from Harlan. I clenched my fists as that Unseelie part of my nature let out a dangerous low rumble.

Chaos…

The seductive whisper echoed through me. I ground my teeth and lifted my head. Revenge was better than sex…and I wanted to fuck them all. Totally fuck them. Let me out, my demon in the dark whispered. Let me make your desires come true.

The quiet groan of a hinge tore me back to the present. I watched as Asshole Adrian slipped back through the door. The clunk of the lock behind him cut off any ideas I had of getting back in tonight. I turned and lifted my gaze, finding the moon full and heavy in the sky.

The Fae…they could warn them.

I sucked in a breath and craned my head, listening for movement inside. But all I could hear was the faint sound of the TV. Time to get moving…anything for my Wolves. I took a step out, leaving the safety of the shadows behind, and stepped on a twig, snap! I winced, my heart in my goddamn throat. Why of all goddamn times did this shit fall apart when I was barefoot?

I eased forward once more, scanning the backyard, and rushed to the fence. Memories of vaulting another reared, and pain followed swiftly. I gripped the pointed wooden pickets and leaped. I was feeling the few pounds I’d lost in the last week, lunging higher, feeling lighter—even if my hips jutted even more than they had before.

I hurried, gritting my teeth and praying there was no man-eating hound on the other side as I landed with both feet. I was in luck, there was just silence, and darkness. Head down, I hurried along the narrow strip between the house and