“Oh shit,” Milo mutters under his breath as I enter the cell. They have Kira tied up. She sits in a chair, her mouth covered and her eyes wide upon seeing me. She’s been crying, sobbing more likely as her mascara is streaked down her cheeks and the bags under her eyes are raw.“Not getting anywhere on your own?” I ask him, and he crosses his arms over his chest. “You know this is not something I enjoy.” He says, eyeing Kira up and down as she frantically looks between the two of us.“That is why I’m here.” I mutter, rolling up my sleeves with a sigh before rounding the small cart set up with various tools. I’m hopeful she will crack easily, but something tells me she is going to be a pain in the ass. “She has refused to say a single thing to anyone since her initial claim of innocence and that she is being set up.”“Is it possible she is being set up?” I ask him, looking up. “It’s always a possibility.” He shrugs.I walk to the far wall, grabbing a metal chair and dragging it acro
Kira’s eyes widen as the blue oil trickles into her weeping wounds and she tries to recoil against her restraints. She cries out, her legs shaking violently as she heaves from the pain. Her face going white as sweat forms on her brow. “How about now?” I ask her, leaning close. “Still nothing to say? Keep it up Kira, we are just getting to the fun part. When I’m done with this, I scar that face of yours.” “Kira…” a male calls out and I spin to see warriors dragging in a beat up male who is trying to glimpse Kira through swollen eyes. She fights against her restraints, her eyes suddenly wild as they dance between her usual brown and her wolf’s black. The corners of my lips quirk up into a victorious grin. Check fucking mate. “Bring him in here,” I insist, and the warriors do as I ask. “Drop him to his knees and tilt his head back,” “NO!” Kira cries, but I ignore her as they push down on his knees and pry his mouth open. He fights against them and I move over to them, throwing a punch
*Tatum*“Are you going to ignore me the entire drive?” I sigh, pressing back into the headrest in the passenger seat.I slide a glance in his direction, trying not to laugh at how serious he looks. He was not happy when I sat up front, but since he has actively been avoiding any proper conversation, I thought it might be fun to make him uncomfortable. “I’m not ignoring you,” He mutters, turning on the blinker. It clicks loudly, an annoying reminder of just how quiet it is in this car. I stare at the side of his face in silence while he pretends not to notice. “Sure feels like it.” I mutter.“I am focusing on driving, Tatum,” He says with a flat tone.“For five and a half hours?” I scoff. “And what about the past two weeks? Were you busy focusing on walking? I would hate for you to trip and fall on your face.”Maverick comes to a stop and finally turns his hollow eyes to face me. He blinks and then looks forward again.“It is impossible to ignore you, Tatum. I have to be with you at
“Wait, wait,” River shakes her head stopping me, “you are friends? With the guy who literally gutted you and ghosted you?” I sigh heavily. She clearly doesn’t understand how hard it is to hate someone when you spend literally every waking minute with them. Besides, I’m over Maverick, so what would holding onto my anger do other than prove how I’ve not moved on? “More like we tolerate each other and sometimes hang out,” I clarify, and she scrunches her nose as if she’s caught a whiff of something awful.“I call bullshit.” She declares after a moment. “I don’t think you can be friends with Maverick. You just got over him. Seriously. Like barely a year ago.”“You are exaggerating,” I say, my shoulders slumping because I can deny it all I want, but I know she is right. “Hah! Yeah,” she snorts, making a weird sound. “Keep on lying to yourself, but I won’t. You can’t be friends with him, Tate.” She gives me a pointed look. “You were made to love that man and you don’t know how to do anyt
*Maverick* A wave of emotions roll over me, making it hard for me to breathe as we pull up to Tatum’s family home. The large white house looks exactly the same as it did the very night I rejected Tatum. My stomach aches, and I clear my throat, a sudden itch taking over me as I reach up and massage my neck. The bushes are covered, protecting the plants from the frost of the upcoming winter, and they have blown the leaves out of the driveway. Not a single thing looks out of place, like usual. I have always loved this house, the people inside it. How no matter what, it always felt like home, hell it still feels like home. But I’m a stranger to the people inside it now. And for the sake of Tatum, I have to remain a stranger to them, someone they don’t recognize. And I have no fucking clue how to do that. As I slide the car into park, unease settles in my stomach and I glance back at Tate. Her eyes meet mine, a hidden message in them I can’t comprehend until my phone vibrates in my poc
“Jackson,” I call out, grabbing his attention as he spins to walk back inside. “Did Tatum tell you? How the fuck did you know? ”“I didn’t,” he grins victoriously. He rocks back on his heels, gauging my reaction and eating up every second of my confusion.“What?” my face falls and realization hits me like a fucking semi truck going top speed.Jackson chuckles, so fucking happy with himself, and I fight the urge to punch him. This fucker pulled our oldest trick, the one we would use on our parents when we wanted to know something they felt we were too young to understand. Jackson wanders closer to me, an air of arrogance around him that I don’t remember being there when we were best friends. But a lot can happen in five years. I know I didn’t stay the same, but I also lost everything I loved in one fell swoop. That shit changes a person. “It didn’t make sense to me. Tatum’s frantic text or why she would hide your history, not if it was innocent. Why would she need us to pretend to
*Tatum*Maverick leaves me staring at his back as he heads out of my bedroom door. The man is nothing if not predictable. He can’t handle anything from the past, not with a clear head. I knew coming home would be hard for him, but Artenis only added to that stress.And Maverick may deny it until his dying days, but I could see how much it hurt him to be treated like they didn’t know him. That’s the problem with Maverick. He wants so desperately to run from the past, while simultaneously craving it. He missed my family. It was plain as day to me, but he will continue to run. Hell, probably until the day he dies.I plop down onto my bed, palming my face with both hands, as I groan in frustration. Artemis being here, showing up, felt strange. It’s not that I didn’t want Artemis to meet my family. It was almost like he was trying to catch me off guard?See if he could throw me. Is that a part of getting to know me? To throw me through a loop and see if I trip up? It’s the unshakable feeli
Six years now. It’s now been six whole years as of today. No more fitting the years of heartache on one hand. Today, six years ago, on my birthday, I lost so much. Maverick lost so much. And now, if he doesn’t stop pestering me, he is going to lose a nice set of teeth too. “Why are we here again?” Maverick mutters, walking up behind me and leaning over my shoulder as I read the back of the box in my hand. “It’s my birthday, Maverick.” I mutter, trying to ignore his presence. “You’re an adult, Tater tot. This is a toy store.” He says, stepping up next to me, staring at the building blocks on the shelf. “Then you are aware that as an adult I know how to read, so I know what kind of store I entered when I saw the sign on the door.” I glance at him, my lips pressing together. “Mmm.” He hums. “Could you wait like…over there?” I point to the door and he looks at me, amused. “Not a chance.” “You are in a weird mood today.” I groan, walking away with the toy set in my hand. Any other