Wolf's Hunger (Mafia Monsters #5) - Atlas Rose Page 0,64

feeling the claw marks and the broken bones shift and crunch as I moved.

But Church was right there beside me, matching me with his painful limp as we made our way back along the overgrown trail…and past the bodies we’d left in our wake. Arran followed behind, keeping watch to our rear.

This night was supposed to have been different.

I was supposed to have protected her…supposed to have kept her safe.

“Phantom,” Church growled. “Slow the fuck down, brother.”

I jerked back to the present, listening to the brother’s labored breaths and the slow, uneven thud of his steps. A howl cracked through the air in the distance. I remembered the pack that had attacked us was still out there, maybe running in all four directions…but they were out there, just the same.

I slowed my steps, waiting for my second to catch up, as I scanned the trees and drew deep breaths. The stench of blood still clung in the air, permeating every inch of the forest. I looked down…at the dead. Bits of bodies were all that was left, the dull shine of silver no longer all-seeing.

“Alright,” Church growled. “Keep going.”

We moved forward more slowly, working our way back to where the four-wheel drives had been discarded for us to hunt on foot. I didn’t look at the dead, nor did I follow the howl in the distance. I was no longer there as I pressed the button and unlocked the Explorer before climbing in. I was already hurtling into the city limits, desperate to find the cure for this hollow ache in the center of my chest.

I shoved the key into the ignition and started the engine as Church climbed into the passenger seat and Arran into the back. As Church slumped against the door beside him, I swung the wheel, crawling the four-wheel drive back through the thick brush until I found the dirt road that led us as close as we could get to the thick forest at the base of the towering mountains.

Silence consumed the cabin as Church closed his eyes and let out a hard sigh. The brother would sleep. That was what he needed. His body would be working overtime, healing, re-setting broken bones and re-stretching ligaments. So I focused on the trail, and finally, on the asphalt. But my mind was already with her. Our Carina…

The last look in her eyes haunted me. A liability…words spoken in desperation resurfaced. My hands tightened around the steering wheel as I ground my teeth. I was stupid…fucking stupid, saying shit like that, trying to push her away and keep her safe. “Fucking idiot.”

Church grunted and shifted in his seat as the headlights splashed against the white lines on the asphalt. Arran said nothing, just glanced out the window as I pushed the Explorer as hard as I dared.

The reek of blood was choking. I drove until the flashing bright lights of a cheap motel sparkled in the distance. “Church.” The brother shifted in his seat and cracked open his eyes. I motioned up ahead. “We need to stop and shower, need to find some clothes.”

He lowered his gaze to my bloodsoaked shirt and the blood splatter all over my arms before he lifted his gaze and pushed up on the seat. I motioned to the lights in the distance, growing closer.

“You go in and get a room. I’ll find us clean clothes,” Arran suggested.

I drew in the sick stench in the fourwheel drive. “Look in the back. We never unpacked our clothes.”

Arran pushed up, turning to glance over the seat. “Fuck yes,” he muttered, hauling over the bags of clothes as I tapped the brakes and pulled into the dirt parking lot of the motel slash diner slash bar. The parking lot outside the bar had at least seven Bronco’s and three Jeeps beside two semi-trailers. “We shower, change, and we’re out of here.”

“Absolutely,” Church muttered, turning to stare at the vehicles decorated in Nazi flags, one complete with a set of buffalo horns strapped to the front grill.

We knew men like these…mortals, with an axe to grind…and rifles to aim. We wanted to no part of it…not tonight. Not when we were blood-sickened and exhausted. Not when we were adrift, our moorings untethered and left to slip away into the darkness. We needed our pack…and yet it wasn’t complete without Carina. Not now. Not anymore.

I nosed the Explorer into the first empty space, then glanced at Church and Arran before shoving open my door and stepping out.