Chapter 15
15
E lodie
Tommy’s tiny white beater pulls up to the alleyway. The cold has made my limbs stiff, but I shift to standing and greet him. He gets out, shading his face from the wind. “Elodie?”
Before I can swing on my crutches over to him, another car, one I don’t recognize, pulls up. It’s long, low, black, and expensive.
My heart stutters in my chest. Did Fraternitas find me so quickly?
The men who get out of the second car aren’t wearing skull rings, but they do look like thugs, though.
One of them holds the door open as a man in a suit climbs out and scowls at the wind, buttoning up his wool overcoat.
“I’m sorry,” Tommy mouths to me, and my heart sinks to my feet.
Oh, Tommy, what have you done?
“This her?” the suit asks Tommy.
“Yeah.” Tommy doesn’t look at me. He scuffs the pavement with his sneaker.
This was why Tommy texted me out of the blue. It’s a trap, and I’m the stupid bunny who hopped right into it.
I move to the middle of the alley, but the thugs are already closing in.
“Get outta here,” one of them orders Tommy, and my friend gets back in his car and does as he’s told. My heart sinks, watching Tommy drive away.
“Hello, Elodie. I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” The suit smiles, and a gold tooth flashes at me. “Umberto sends his regards.”
Umberto, the loan shark, who’s been after Margot and me.
Adrenaline screams through me, telling me to run, but the thugs have me surrounded. “I have money,” I croak.
“That’s good. That’ll help. But I want something more. Tommy tells me you have an in with Fraternitas.”
I almost laugh out loud. My life is ending, and everything’s surreal.
I shake my head.
“Don’t lie to me, Elodie. I don’t like it. He said he’s seen you with one of them. And these guys, they get possessive. Apparently this guy was all over you. Intimate-like.” His tone of voice makes me want to scrub out my ears with bleach.
“That was then,” I say. “It’s not like that anymore. But I can give you cash. For the loan. It’s in here.” I hold up my purse.
One of the thugs comes and takes the whole thing out of my hands. I keep quiet. It’ll suck, but if I’m lucky, I can trade the contents for my life.
The thug fishes in my bag and holds up a wad of cash. The suit’s eyes narrow.
“You’ve been holding out on me.” The thug paws through my bag, taking a quick count. He recites a number to the suit, who says, “I guess being a Fraternitas mistress pays.”
I wasn’t his mistress. I was more than that. I hear Jaeger saying, I love you, and you love me, too , and the thought warms me, even though I’ve left him behind.
“Take the money. All of it,” I say. “Just let me go.”
“We could do that. Or we could take you, too, and trade you for millions.” Ice slides down my spine. This is what I was afraid of. “All those Fraternitas guys are loaded.”
“He won’t pay for me. He kicked me to the curb. Do I look like I’m with him?” I spread my hands.
“Except you’re wearing that ribbon around your neck.”
I touch my throat, and he’s right. I forgot to remove it. One night wearing it, and it’s already a part of me. I could tear it off, but it’s too late. These guys have seen it, and I want to keep any remaining memento of Jaeger I can get.
And it doesn’t matter because the suit says, “He’s already put the word out that you belong to him.”
“Like I said, that was then. Things change. "The wind blows my hair into my mouth, but I speak through it. “Men leave, all of them.” Even as I say it, I know it’s a lie.
Jaeger would never leave me.
You belong to me. And in his world, a vow like that cuts both ways. I was his, but he was mine, too. He chose me. And no matter what happens, he’ll always be the one for me.
As if I’ve conjured him out of my head, Jaeger’s voice echoes down the alleyway. “Elodie.”
I close my eyes, hoping I’ve imagined it. But no.
Jaeger stands at the mouth of the alley. He’s in jeans and his black leather jacket. No weapons that I can see. But he doesn’t need any.
He prowls closer.
“Stop right there,” one of the thugs says.
Jaeger doesn’t stop coming toward me. “I heard you wanted to speak to me,” he says without taking his eyes from mine. I sink into their ocean depths.
Did he hear what the thugs said? How long has he been here?
“Do you have business with my Elodie?” he asks the suit.
“Matter of fact, we did. But now we’d like to talk to you.”
“So talk.”
“I’ve heard of you and your brother.” The suit sounds like a fanboy. “You were legends in the fighting rings. And you were what, seventeen?”
“Fifteen. We were made to fight.” Jaeger stops a few feet away and holds out a hand to me. “Elodie, come here.”
It takes a moment for the signal to go from my brain to my legs, but I go to him. The distance is a hundred thousand miles, but it takes no time at all.
“Jaeger,” I whisper because he’s here, and he’s running his eyes over me, looking for signs that I’ve been hurt. He touches his thumb to my lips, and warmth returns to my body.
But I’m breathing again. My heart’s beating. And I realize that, since leaving the penthouse, I’ve felt like I died.
“You killed your trainer.” The suit is still yapping.
“He wasn’t our trainer. He was our handler. And yes, we killed him. But back to the matter at hand.” Jaeger grips my shoulder and turns to the suit. “You were saying something about a trade?”
The suit signals, and the thugs close around us. “I think we can come to an agreement. Just give us what we want, and we’ll go. Ten million.”
“You know who I am.”
“They call you the Wolf.” The suit shifts from foot to foot. Maybe he’s realizing how dumb it is to shakedown a member of Fraternitas. “You can’t take all of us.”
Jaeger raises a brow. “Are you prepared to wager your life on that?”
In answer, one of the thugs draws his gun.
“All right,” Jaeger says. “You win.” He smiles, and all the thugs take a step back, even the one holding the gun.
Jaeger presses a phone against my chest and slips it into my inner pocket. “Do not stop until you are safe. Call my brother; he will pick you up.”
“Jaeger, I—” I don’t know what I want to say. I’m sorry. I’m glad you’re here. Don’t do this.
“Go.” He pushes me.
“Not so fast,” the suit says.
“Let her go.” Jaeger lifts his arms. “You want me. I’ll give you the money if you can knock me out. All of you against one of me. Should be easy.”
“You’re not armed?” the thug closest to him asks.
“Not with a gun.”
Everyone’s frozen, staring at Jaeger. “What are you waiting for?” Jaeger taunts. “Come take me.”
One of the thugs makes a move toward me, but Jaeger snarls, “Touch her and die,” and the thug stops.
I hustle away, getting into a swinging rhythm with the crutches to take me toward the street.
I don’t want to see the violence that’s about to unfold.
At least that’s what I tell myself.
But at the end of the alley, I hesitate. The wind sends crumbled food wrappers and newspapers tumbling past my feet.
I could go now. Toss Jaeger’s phone and really run away. Leave him. I imagined this moment and the path to escape laid out before me. Now that it’s here, it’s clear to me that I would never choose to run.
I choose Jaeger. I’ll always choose him.
I’d rather die in an alley with him than run and live. Because a life without him is no life at all.
I pull out his phone. It’s locked, but after a moment’s hesitation, I enter the date we met, and it unlocks.
The last number called is to someone named K. I guess that’s Kaiser. I hit redial, and before the first ring, he picks up and grunts, “What?”
“Alley off Daphne Street.” I glance up at the street signs. “Near the shut down spice factory. Ten, maybe eleven men. They’ve cornered Jaeger.”
I don’t wait for him to ask questions. I pocket the phone and whirl.
The thugs are circling Jaeger. What is their stupid plan anyway? Make him withdraw money from an ATM? They’re nuts if they think Fraternitas will allow them to live long.
So these are desperate men. Desperate and stupid. Not a great combination.
How is Jaeger going to get out of this?
The thugs surround Jaeger, and the suit draws a gun.
“Jaeger!” I scream. His head whips around, and I point to the suited thug. “Look out!”
Two of the thugs dart in to grab him. He tussles, but they grab his arms and hold him.
The suit raises the gun and takes aim.
“No!” I shriek and torpedo forward. I’m not armed. The only thing I have are my crutches, so I swing one upward and hurl it with all my might.
Jaeger
The thugs are close enough that I can smell their bad breath. I peer beyond the men to see Elodie reach the end of the alley and raise my cell to make a call.
Soon, she’ll be safe. That’s all that matters.
The suit is droning on about his plan to get us to take a nice, quiet ride across the river so I can transfer money from my bank to Umberto’s. I make note of the name. He’s just moved to the top of my own list of People I Want to Kill, right after these goons.
There’s a shriek and a blur of motion. Elodie screams for me to look out.
Two thugs grab me, and I’m too focused on Elodie to care that the suit has brought out a gun.
“No!” Elodie cries.
A crutch goes flying through the air and hits the suit in the face.
There’s a blast, and a bullet ricochets off the brick wall behind Elodie.
And the beast breaks free. Rage pumps through my bloodstream. The world goes still, covered in a red haze.
I have to protect my woman. She needs me.
I wrench my arms, pulling the men who hold me. They fall off balance, and I crack their heads together. They go down for good, and I leap over them, heading for the suit.
He’s turned toward Elodie, and now she’s facing down a gun barrel. The blood has drained from her face, leaving her freckles stark on her pale cheeks. The man is saying something. Threatening her.
It’ll be his last mistake.
I hit him like a linebacker, and we crash to the ground. His head strikes the pavement. So does his gun hand. The weapon goes skidding away.
I slam the man’s head into the ground again and again. Blood spatters on my face, but I don’t stop until he’s dead.
Elodie’s nearby, huddled against the wall. Once he’s taken care of, I race to get between her and the rest of the thugs.
More men come to tackle me like I tackled their leader. I dodge them, then attack them one by one. Break their bones. Crack their skulls. Let their brains ooze out like overripe fruit.
A crack of a bullet. Something bites at my side.
Damn, I forgot to secure the gun. There are no weapons in the fighting ring. I forgot where I was.
I whirl around, and pain lances my side. But I can deal with the pain.
Something clatters at my feet. A wooden crutch. I snatch it up and use it like a club to beat down the man with the gun. He tries to shoot me again, but he’s not fast enough. His blood paints the sidewalk.
I stagger back, feeling light-headed. Blood loss. I remember this feeling from my time in the ring. I hit the wall and let it support me as I slide down to the ground.
The alley is full of the crumpled shapes of my victims. Good.
Elodie’s screaming.
Bunny, no. It’ll be okay. I’m bleeding out, but I want to reassure her.
She’s on her knees beside me. Her freckles are stark on her tear-streaked face.
I love her freckles so much.
She grabs my hand.
“You came back for me.” I squeeze her fingers. My own fingers are stiff and cold.
“Jaeger, oh gods?—”
“Are you hurt?”
“You’re shot!” She’s shaking.
I pull her down so her face is close to mine. I want to kiss her.
She won’t let me. “You’re bleeding,”
“It’s nothing.”
She opens my leather jacket and turns ghostly pale. “I have to stop the bleeding.” She pulls her scarf off, wads it up, and presses it to my midriff.
“We should leave.” Even my lips feel cold. “Before the pigs come.” The alley’s littered with bodies, and there’s a red river running in the valley between the dumpsters. The police won’t like that. St. James and Lucy have the cops in their pocket, but they’ll bitch about the paperwork.
“Shut up.”
A shadow falls over us both, and she flinches. I start struggling to sit up until I see it’s Kaiser.
Finally.
Elodie
Blood. There’s so much blood, and Jaeger’s cheeks have lost their color.
Then someone’s growling, “What the hell?” above my head. I bite back a scream and look up to see Kaiser. I didn’t even hear him approach.
“He’s shot,” I snap. “You’ve got to help him.”
“I’m here.” Atticus appears and pushes me aside. I scramble out of the way so he can open his medical case and go to work.
“What happened?” Kaiser glowers at me, but I’ve had it.
“What happened is you kicked me out, and then my friend sold me out to a bunch of idiots.” I can’t believe I’m yelling at the scary twin. “Jaeger tried to save me, and he got shot.”
Kaiser reaches for me, and I lose it. I push at his solid chest, shrieking, “This is all your fault!”
Kaiser growls, and I brace for retaliation. I’m so mad I don’t care.
“Will you two stop? We need to get out of here.”
We both whirl to see Atticus helping Jaeger to his feet.
“But,” I start. Jaeger looks half unconscious. There’s a bandage wrapped tightly around his middle, but a red stain is rapidly blooming.
“I got him stable. Let’s go.”
There’s a car at the end of the alleyway that Atticus steers Jaeger toward. Kaiser moves to support his other side.
I limp after them, leaning on one crutch. I go as fast as I can, but I’m still the last to arrive. Atticus rides with Jaeger in the backseat, and I fall into the passenger seat just as Kaiser is starting the car.
“Where are your crutches?” Kaiser glares at me.
“She threw it at the man with the gun.” Jaeger has a goofy grin on his face.
Kaiser raises a brow.
“It didn’t work,” I mutter. “It just made him mad.”
“It distracted him.” Jaeger lifts his hand and examines the blood dripping off it. To my shock, he opens his mouth as if he’s going to lick it off his fingers.
“No.” Atticus smacks his hand. “Unsanitary. Bloodborne pathogens. Disease.” Jaeger snarls at him, showing his teeth, and Atticus shakes his head. “Kaiser, you tell him.”
“Brother.” Blue eyes meet blue eyes in the rearview mirror. “You did it. Your woman saved you, and you saved her. Now you heal so you can protect her another day.”
“So you agree? She is my woman?”
“She is.”
“I’m right here,” I snip because they’re talking over me. My heart is pounding so hard it’s painful in my chest. I cross my arms to hide my shaking hands.
“She’s grouchy when she’s afraid,” Jaeger informs the car.
“Ah,” Kaiser puts the car into gear, and the tires squeal as he guns it down the street.
“I’m here, bunny,” Jaeger tells me. “And I’ll live. It’s just a little bullet. You can nurse me back to health.”
“You’ll have to use crutches.” I tighten my arms around my torso as if they can hold me together. “Don’t expect me to carry you everywhere.”
Jaeger
I was lucky. The bullet got me in the gut, but Atticus got me into surgery in time. As soon as he could, St. James invested in a hospital. There’s a whole wing dedicated to Fraternitas, furnished with the best medical equipment and staffed by a team of discreet nurses.
I come awake with Elodie sitting to my left. She’s folded in half, resting on my bed.
There’s an IV in my right arm and a dull ache in my abs.
I reach out and stroke Elodie’s curls, and she raises her head. Her eyes are huge and dark on her pale face.
I try to tell her it’s okay, and my voice comes out a dull rasp.
She scrambles to get me a cup of water to sip from. I drink, holding her gaze until I can speak clearly.
“It’s okay, bunny.”
She sniffles.
“No, don’t cry.” I can’t bear to see her dark eyes fill with tears. “I’m here, and we’re together, so I’m okay.”
Her voice hitches as she says, “You came for me.”
“Of course. You’re my woman.”
Her sob shudders out of her.
“You can run from me, but I’ll chase you, and I will find you. I will always find you.”
Her bottom lip trembles and it breaks my heart. I reach up to swipe some of the tears off her face.
“You were my birthday present. The only one I’ve ever had.”
“I know.” She mouths, turning her face into my hand. I wait until her tears have stopped and wipe them away with my palm.
“Will you wait for me?”
“What?”
“Will you wait to run again until I’m healed? So I can chase you?”
“Yes.” Her face crumbles, and her voice cracks, but she says, “I’ll wait.”
“Good bunny.” I smile and let myself drift off.
When I wake again, Elodie’s asleep, clutching my hand. There’s a shadowy figure in the corner and another hovering in the door.
Damien says, “I heard you were shot. Atticus says you won’t die.”
I lean my head back so I can look at him. “Not today.”
He nods and leaves. Kaiser lingers in the doorway for a moment. “I’m sorry, brother.”
I narrow my eyes at him. I slowly move the hand connected to the IV and place it on Elodie’s head.
“I nearly got you both killed. I’ll never forgive myself.”
“I’m hard to kill. But you made my woman cry.”
“I didn’t know those goons were after her.” He swears at himself. “I should’ve known.”
“I don’t give a fuck,” I rasp. The anger I felt when I came home and learned what he did was still there. At the time, I had been focused on hunting Elodie down with the tracker I had on her phone.
And now she’s beside me, unhurt. Kaiser and I are brothers, but Elodie comes first. I won’t forgive him unless she does.
I tell him that, and he says, “I’ll make it up to you.”
“To her,” I correct, and he sighs. But then he nods. He shuts the door, but if I know him, he’ll keep watch outside our door. He’ll stay there, guarding us all night.
It’s not enough to forgive him for trying to separate me and my woman, but it’s a start.
The following day, I make them move me back home. Elodie fusses, but Atticus allows it. I’m healing just fine, and I’ll sleep better in my own bed with Elodie curled next to me.
It all goes smoothly until Kaiser insists on staying to guard me. Elodie doesn’t like it.
“You’re on her People She Wants to Kill List,” I tell Kaiser. The painkillers Atticus has me on make me talk.
“Really?” Kaiser gives Elodie a look.
She sucks in a breath. She’s still afraid of him, a little bit.
“He won’t hurt you,” I tell Elodie. “Ever again. I’ll kill him if he does.”
They both eye each other warily, but now everything’s out in the open. It might be the drugs talking, but I feel good. This is progress.
I sit on the couch with Elodie cuddled close. Kaiser takes a lounge chair and scowls at the TV.
“What is this shit?” He points to the screen, where a hardworking CEO has come back home to the small town of Hollydale to save her family’s Christmas inn.
Elodie tenses. “It’s a movie.”
Kaiser speaks over her head to me. “There’s a game on.” He reaches for the remote.
“No,” Elodie growls.
“I want to watch this,” I say, so they won’t fight. On-screen, the heroine’s childhood sweetheart shows up just in time to save her when she slips on a patch of ice. They stand up under some hanging mistletoe.
Kaiser mutters under his breath but keeps watching.
Ten minutes later, when the heroine’s fiancé shows up to drag her back to the big city: “He’s a tool. She can do better.”
Elodie’s eyes go wide, but I give her a squeeze and say, “I agree. Never trust a guy in a black turtleneck sweater.”
Elodie slips out of my grasp. “I’m getting popcorn.”
Twenty minutes later, Kaiser leans forward, crunching a giant handful of popcorn. “This is stupid,” he says, eyes fixed on the screen. “She’s not in love with him.”
“She has to go back. Someone has to run her company,” Elodie argues, her eyes twinkling.
“It wasn’t making her happy. She should just stay, marry the handyman, and run the inn.”
I fall asleep, listening to my two favorite people in the world bicker about a silly movie. This is my life now. My family. Everything I longed for as a child but never thought I could have. All it took was the love of a woman brave enough to stay by my side.
Later, when I wake up, they’re watching the movie with the widow and the long-lost prince.
Elodie
The first night back at home, I feel like I should give Jaeger space by sleeping on the couch, but he insists I stay next to him in the bed. He wakes when I try to slip away.
“No.” He grabs my wrist and pulls me close.
I resist, keeping my distance so I don’t jostle him. “Jaeger, you were shot.”
“I’m not dead.” He’s still strong enough to muscle me down, although I give in quickly because I don’t want him to open his wounds. But then he sets my hand on his crotch.
“Oh my gods,” I mutter because he’s hard as a rock.
“You can nurse me back to health.”
I protest, but he pushes down his sweatpants and fists his hands in my hair, guiding me down. “Suck me.”
I nuzzle his cock, taking in his salty scent. I’ll never tell him, but it’s reassuring to have him manhandle me like this. Every time he tugs my hair, I get wet. “This can’t be good for you.”
“Atticus approved. I already asked.”
“Of course you did.” I roll my eyes and open my mouth for him. I try to do most of the work, but he bucks his hips, filling me with his taste and scent. He doesn’t force himself down my throat, but he guides my head in the proper rhythm until his cock swells.
“Swallow,” he orders, and I do. I lick my lips and let him pull me back up so he can kiss me.
He rests a hand around my throat. I’ve kept the black ribbon tied where he put it. “Soon, this will be a collar,” he says.
I swallow, my throat muscles working against his palm, but I don’t deny it. I’ve chosen Jaeger, and now he chooses for me. It’s blissful, this surrender.
He slips his free hand between my legs and starts to toy with me. He can feel how wet I am. “You’ll like it. You like being my woman.”
He waits for me to answer, and when I don’t, he stops touching me until I say, “Yes.”
“Good bunny.” His fingers tighten around my throat, and I only get wetter. I shut my eyes and let him tease me higher. “As soon as I’m healed, I’ll claim you.”
I suck in a breath, and he rubs me harder. “You don’t need to worry. Give all that to me. You don’t have to shoulder it anymore. You’ll let me lead.” I squirm, but he’s got me pinned between the hand at my throat and the fingers in my cunt. My world narrows to those two points.
“You will be my chosen.” His breath warms my cheek. “I can’t wait to see you on your knees, in front of my brothers, accepting my collar.” His cruel fingers twist inside me, and I whimper. “That’s what you want, isn’t it? To be safe. To be mine forever.”
My sex tightens under his touch, and I spiral higher. I reach for him, needing something to hold onto. This violent, dangerous man is my safe space. I slip my hand under his shirt, and my fingers find the rough edges of his brand, the skull burned into his back. For some reason, the long-healed scar soothes me.
“Don’t worry, bunny. No one touches you. Nobody but me.”
“Jaeger,” I pant. I can barely think, but I have to say this. “I need you.”
He smiles and rubs me faster.
“Oh gods, I need it.”
“I know, bunny. I’ll give you everything.” He kisses me so sweetly. “Just give yourself to me. You’ll have to pass a test, but you can do it.” He finds the spot that makes my body light up, and I’m so far gone I can’t even feel fear.
What would you do if you were not afraid?
“It’ll be okay. I’ll be with you every step of the way.”
My climax breaks, and I let it wash me away. Jaeger keeps hold of my neck as he kisses me and whispers, “You belong to the Big Bad Wolf.”