Outlaw (Wolves of Royal Paynes #4) - Kiki Burrelli Page 0,20
the comedic relief."
"What?"
Sitka patted his forearm consolingly. "There, there, Alpha. I believe you could be horrible if you wanted to."
Jagger snorted a moment before Huntley let his annoyance drop and did the same.
He stood close enough to touch my mate. I eyed his arms, hanging loose at his sides. "Fine," Huntley grunted. "I accept that. At least being the wimp of the group means I get to talk to you, Q." Huntley's gaze found mine.
If this motherfucker plans on hugging my mate—
Huntley smirked but made no more moves forward. He settled his hand on Sitka's shoulder instead. "I am very glad you aren't dead."
"I wasn't." Quinlan let the words drop like stones from a ten-story building. "But…I think I am now. Yes," he snapped at the wraith on his left. "If this is real, I will be glad."
"It's real." I wrenched my eyes away so that when he looked at me, my face was downcast. I knew my voice was the last he wanted to hear, but I needed him to know he was safe now.
My own list of things I needed to know grew steadily, foremost on that list how Pierce had made Quinlan see things.
"He's right," Jazz added softly when it was clear Quinlan would pretend he hadn't heard me speak. "Whatever you saw after Pierce took you, it wasn't real. None of it happened. Those truths were bullshit. Absolute bullshit." His voice rang in the room by the end, his passion getting the best of him. "These men were the ones who lost their families that night. And they thought that included you. I'm really glad it doesn't."
Never in a thousand years would I have guessed that I'd ever have another omega defending me against my mate. I felt Quinlan's burning gaze on me the moment before I found his eyes, staring unblinking at my face. They weren't only different in color, but in emotion as well. One held anger, the other fear.
For the first time in both our lives, I felt like I was staring at a stranger.
5
Quinlan
"Not so fast."
The wraiths hovered at my bedroom door, sliding around the door frame like captive lions searching for a weak spot in their cage.
"If you could leave Dog alone, maybe I could trust you on your own."
The wraiths flashed like twin strobe lights, though neither spoke.
We'd had disagreements in the past, but I'd never truly denied them anything. I didn't believe they did what I wanted or obeyed my command because they had to, but because they wanted to. And since chasing Dog through the hotel a few days ago, the only thing the wraiths wanted to do was be where Dog was.
The wraiths had a crush, and while the thought gave me warm—slightly confused—feelings, the wraiths crushed hard. Sometimes, they just crushed. Mirrors, pictures, furniture that wasn't bolted down, they were indiscriminate in the items their destruction ruined in order to get to their target. They'd always been enthusiastic little balls of I-don't-know-what.
Unless we were counting now, when they refused to do more than flash at me and poke at the door. "So I get the silent treatment then? Fine." I flopped down on the bed and eyed the chair and desk sitting in the corner. Huntley had carried it in the day before, saying it was so I could write or draw if I wanted. The way he'd spoken, like he'd just thought of the idea and brought the desk of his own accord, stank of deceit. I hadn't always been able to scent a lie, but after so long hearing only lies, I'd gotten good at it.
Jazz was supposed to stop by any second for a picnic. It hadn't taken me long to realize that what Jazz had said was true. Pierce had shown me Knox murdering children, but he hadn't really. He'd shown me Faust ripping my pack-mother's throat out, but that wasn't really Faust. I'd witnessed Diesel perform every atrocity one human could to another, and none of that was real, but knowing didn't block the memories.
Could they be called memories if they never really happened?
The wraiths pulsed before floating to me and sliding around my waist. In the distance came a low rumbling. A motorcycle, and not just one.
A pack.
This was a new pack, but led by the same Alphas, and I knew they didn't have a pack of motorcycle-riding friends.
What if they weren't friends at all, but enemies? What if they came to hurt them?