Total pages in book: 218
Estimated words: 215412 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1077(@200wpm)___ 862(@250wpm)___ 718(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 215412 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1077(@200wpm)___ 862(@250wpm)___ 718(@300wpm)
“Untangle yourself from this,” he says in a steel-edged voice. “Send her away.”
He’s never used that tone on me, and it lands like a scalpel across my chest.
I laugh. Once. A hollow sound scraped straight from the marrow. Then I stand, slowly, because my sudden, protective rage requires unwrapping. “I’m not one of your fuck boys, Monty. I’m not yours to command, and she’s not yours to dismiss.”
“Out of line!” Leo launches to his feet, finger stabbing the air toward me, fire blazing in his mismatched eyes. “Talk to Monty like that again, and I swear to God—”
“Swear to God what?” I shift closer. “You gonna teach me a lesson, Leo? A lesson on how to let unprotected women die? You’re good at that.”
It’s a low blow. He blames himself for the deaths of the women in Hoss, but it wasn’t his fault. Not entirely.
“This isn’t about your new friend.” His fists flex at his sides, nostrils flaring. “It’s about you treating Monty like shit because you can’t stand taking orders.”
“Oh, fuck you.” I study the displeased faces of my family. “Look, I don’t need your permission. With or without your support, I’ll tear this town apart to keep my girl safe.”
“Your girl?” Leo’s eyes widen, disbelieving. “Come on, Wolf. You barely know her. You can’t just dive in headfirst and think that loving her hard enough will fix the cracks inside you.”
That does it. I grab the first thing within reach, an empty coffee mug off the sideboard, and hurl it.
Leo ducks, and it explodes against the concrete behind him, shards flying.
Kody stands. No words. Just the quiet scrape of his chair legs, his posture stone-still. The signal. The moment before someone bleeds.
If Frankie were here, she’d shut this shit down with one look. But I handled these pillow humpers for twenty years before she showed up. I don’t need a damn chaperone now.
As I plant my legs, bracing for a fight, Monty’s cold command whips across the patio.
“Stand down.” He looks at Kody, then me, and wraps his fingers around Leo’s hand.
Leo jerks like he’ll resist, but Monty rises and puts his lips near Leo’s ear.
I don’t hear what Monty says, but the fight slowly leaks from Leo’s shoulders like steam escaping a cracked pipe. His breathing slows. His glare loses its venom. Then he nods and drops to the couch with Monty at his side.
“All right.” Monty trains his ice-blue eyes on me as the air continues to crackle. “Say your piece, Son.”
I take a breath. Not a shaky one. An important one. Because everything I’m about to say matters.
“I’m not asking for your approval.” I glance between them. My blood. My family. My chaos and my anchors. “When it was Frankie on the line, you threw yourselves into battle for her. Against Denver. Against the Arctic. Against the doctor. Against all odds. You protected her, chose her, when the cost could’ve been your lives. I didn’t question it. I respected the hell out of it. That level of loyalty and love? It’s the only thing that’s ever made sense to me.”
I turn to Leo. “You would’ve died for her.”
To Kody. “You almost did. Twice.”
Then to my dad. “You gave up your life, your career, everything in your world to get her back.”
They don’t argue. They remember.
“That’s what this is for me.” I tap my chest, slow and hard. “You think I’m reckless and fall too fast. Maybe you’re right. But this isn’t some crush or passing obsession. It’s instinct, bone-deep and loud as a gunshot. My gut, the same one that kept us alive in the hills, tells me she’s the one I’m supposed to protect now. Not because she’s weak or helpless. But for the first time in my fucked-up life, I look at someone and see a future that doesn’t end in loneliness.”
They don’t move. Don’t speak.
“If I ignore this instinct, if I walk away because it’s inconvenient or messy or dangerous…” A huff escapes my throat. “I’ll regret it every day for the rest of my hellborn life. I have enough ghosts. I’m not adding her to the list.” I square my shoulders, my voice calm despite the volcanic heat in my chest. “You don’t have to trust her. You just have to trust me. The same way I’ve always trusted you.”
Silence swells around them, no longer angry or hostile. Just heavy. When it settles in their eyes, I see approval. And something deeper.
Pride.
Respect.
For once, I think that means I said it right.
“You want to protect her.” Monty straightens. “Then we’ll protect her. But understand this. When she brings danger to our door, we’ll do what’s necessary. All of us. No hesitation. No apologies. We go full Strakh on this.”
My mouth dries.
Full Strakh.
I know what that means. I’ve seen what that means. When they’re in, they’re all in.