Chapter 13
Katrina walked the outside of the warehouse while Blaze and Jared cleared the inside. Pulling out her phone, she glanced at the screen to see if she had any missed texts or calls from Becky.
Nothing.
She was worried about her, but she also knew things were going to work out.
Sloan loved that woman more than life itself.
Anyone with eyes could see that. Still, Katrina knew Becky was dealing with a lot.
She couldn’t even imagine the emotions tearing through her right now.
She was also dying to know what the test showed. Was it positive or negative.
In truth, Katrina had always wanted kids herself, but her bastard of a father had totally screwed that up for her.
May he rot in hell. She would have loved to have a child with Blaze, but even if she was still human that wouldn’t be a possibility unless they adopted.
Still just imagining a little boy with his attitude or a little girl with his smile was something she did sometimes.
But she knew that dream would never come to pass, so she had shoved it down deep with all the other dreams that had faded into nothing.
Cursing under her breath, Katrina shoved her phone back into her pocket.
Her mind was too damn full, and that wasn’t good.
She needed to focus on the job. Walking around the side of the building, her eyes scanned the area, but she didn’t see anything or anyone.
With a sigh, she leaned against the old broken-down chain-link fence and stared out into the dark.
Seeing her brother yesterday had really messed with her.
Worse, it had her thinking.
What if what he said was true? What if he’d been trying to survive just like she had been doing all those years?
In truth, Craig had always had more of Samuel Drake’s attention than she did.
Her father had watched him more, pushed him harder, beat whatever softness he’d ever had straight out of him.
And if Katrina were being honest, Craig probably had it worse than she did.
Most of the time the bastard just ignored her, until she turned on him.
But she had always thought that was what her brother wanted. To be like him and stand beside Samuel Drake. She had believed for so long he wanted to become the same kind of monster and enjoyed being groomed to be the next president of the Iron Drakes.
What if she had been wrong? She had never asked.
The thought twisted hard in her chest. What if he had suffered too?
What if he had stood there doing nothing while their mother was violated and murdered, not because he didn’t care, but because if he showed even one crack or ounce of weakness, he would be next?
Had he been as afraid of Samuel as she was.
“Shit,” Katrina hissed, pushing away from the fence.
She didn’t want to think like that. Didn’t want to feel anything close to sympathy for him.
It was easier to hate Craig. Hate had sharp edges she understood.
What she didn’t understand was why she was having thoughts like this?
Thoughts that dug under her skin making her question things she had believed and locked away a long damn time ago.
Continuing around to the other side of the warehouse, Katrina forced her eyes to keep moving, searching every shadow, broken window and place someone could hide. But her mind kept pulling her back.
As a little girl, she had dreamed of having a normal family.
A big family. She remembered telling her mom one day she would marry a man who would always take care of her, never hit her or swear at her.
He would treat her like a queen. She wanted three boys and two girls, and a house where no one screamed, no one bled, and no one had to sleep with one eye open.
Her mother had always smiled and encouraged her. Back then, Katrina had believed that smile.
Now, older and not nearly as innocent, she understood the sadness behind it. Her mother had known that dreams like Katrina’s didn’t survive the Iron Drakes. Not as long as Samuel Drake breathed.
Her brother had been right about one thing. They would never be free.
No matter how far she ran, who she loved, or how hard she tried to bury the name Drake and everything that came with it, the Iron Drakes were still there, crawling through the cracks of her life like a sickness that refused to die.
Katrina stopped at the back corner of the warehouse, her jaw tight as she stared into the darkness.
She had Blaze now, and that was enough. At least part of her dream had come true.
He wasn’t some prince from a little girl’s fantasy, and honestly, thank God for that.
Blaze was real. Rough around the edges, protective as hell, and loved her in a way she still sometimes struggled to believe she deserved.
But somewhere deep inside, that scared little girl was still waiting for the sound of motorcycles in the distance. Still waiting for the past to come roaring back and take everything good from her.
And now her brother had shown up to tell her that her fears were coming to pass.
The past wasn’t done with her.
Hearing voices that weren’t Blaze or Jared’s, Katrina glanced over her shoulder. Three men were walking toward the warehouse. She moved slightly into the shadows, listening, but they spotted her.
“You need to get out of here, girl,” one man said as they headed her way.
Katrina’s jaw tightened. “I was about to tell you the same thing.”
The man in the middle slowed, his eyes moving over her. “This place ain’t safe.”
“Then leave.” Katrina pushed away from the wall, keeping enough distance between them while trying not to let them see that her mind was running through everything Blaze had taught her. Watch their hands. Watch their feet. Don’t let them close in. Don’t panic.
Easy to say during training. Not so easy when three men were spreading out in front of her and the old fear from a life she’d fought hard to escape started clawing its way up her throat.
The one closest to her reached out, and Katrina moved before he could grab her. She caught his wrist, twisted, and drove her knee up. She missed where she’d been aiming, but hit him hard enough to make him curse and stumble back.
Good enough.
Katrina ducked the second guy’s swing, shoved him back with enough strength to make his eyes widen, but he didn’t go down.
Before she could recover, the third grabbed her jacket and yanked her hard toward the brick wall.
Pain shot through her shoulder as she hit sideways, stealing her breath, but she used the angle, whipping her elbow back and catching him in the mouth before he could pin her there.
He let go with a grunt, blood gushing out his nose.
Katrina’s fangs lengthened, anger pushing past the fear. “Touch me again and lose the hand.”
The look on his face changed then. “You bitch!”
The first one grabbed her from behind, one arm locking around her upper body while his other hand fisted in her hair. “Now what are you going to do?” He snarled as he controlled her by using her hair.
Katrina cursed, digging her nails into his arm as she tried to twist free.
Why did they always go for the hair? She tried to calm herself because she was letting anger and panic push her instead of using what she’d learned, but knowing that didn’t help when some asshole had a handful of her hair and his nasty breath against her ear.
“Let go, asshole,” she growled, jerking hard enough to send pain across her scalp.
His grip tightened just as the warehouse door slammed open so hard it cracked against the outside wall. The man froze.
Blaze stepped out first, Jared right behind him, but all she saw was her mate. His eyes went straight to the hand in her hair, then to the arm holding her in place. The fire in his eyes burned hot, but the rest of him went deadly still.
“Let her go,” Blaze ordered, his eyes blazing black rimmed with red.
The man holding her hesitated which was a huge mistake.
Blaze moved so fast Katrina barely saw it.
One second the man had her hair in his fist, and the next he was ripped away from her and slammed into the wall hard enough to make the metal siding groan.
Katrina stumbled, catching herself, but Blaze was already there, his hand on her waist, steadying her without taking his eyes off the men.
“You hurt?” he asked, his voice low.
“No.” Katrina’s answer came out sharper than she meant it to, mostly because her pride hurt worse than her shoulder. “I was handling it.”
“I know.” His thumb pressed once against her side, a silent reassurance that hit harder than words. He didn’t look at her like she was weak. “But you also didn’t call out to us. We work as a team out here, Katrina.”
Then his gaze went back to the man who had touched her.
“And he was hurting you.” Blaze’s voice dropped, dark and calm. “That’s not going to work for me.”
Jared stepped farther out of the doorway, his expression flat as he looked at the other two men who looked ready to bolt. “I promise you that if you run, I will catch you.” Jared narrowed his eyes at them. “And that will end with an ass kicking neither of you want.”
The man that had Katrina by the hair tried to move, but Blaze’s hand shot out and pinned him to the wall by the throat.
Katrina opened her mouth to tell Blaze to ease up, then closed it.
Her shoulder throbbed, her scalp burned, and her pride was taking one hell of a beating, but none of that was what kept her quiet.
It was the way Blaze stood there, solid and furious, not because he thought she was helpless, but because he had seen another man’s hands on her and refused to let it stand.
There was a difference.
Blaze knew she could fight. He’d trained with her, pushed her, believed in her even when she’d wanted to throw in the towel and cuss him six ways to Sunday. But he also knew what it cost her to have a man grab her like that. To feel trapped, even for a few seconds.