11. Lynx #2
I let loose the growl that’s been steadily building all meeting. “Morgan is off limits.”
They know better than to push.
“Let me know when you get the info for the handoff.” I direct that to all of them, then stand. Meeting over.
Or maybe not, because Callum lingers as the others file out. He closes the door behind them and leans against it. “You sure about this?”
“Nope.” I join him and fold my arms. “I don’t want him here.” He has the potential to jeopardise everything.
“But?”
Knew he wouldn’t make it easy for me. “But I also need to keep him safe.” I hate to admit it, even to Callum. “And sending him out there—” I point at the window and the forest beyond. “—isn’t fucking it.”
He’s quiet, which means he’s thinking, and nothing good can come of that. “You could always tell him the truth,” he says after a beat. “That might change his––”
“Fuck off,” I snarl, not bothering to dial it back. “There’s nothing to tell as far as I’m concerned.”
“Lynx—”
“ No .” The word echoes around the room, the silence heavy in its wake. “Don’t bring it up again. With me or anyone else.”
“Fine.” He pushes off the door and matches my glare with one of his own. “But for the record, I think you’re making a mistake.”
“Noted.”
Doesn’t matter if he’s right or not, I’m never going to act on it, so it’s pointless discussing it further. “Any news on when the next fight ring’s taking place?”
Callum sighs, like I’ve disappointed him, but to his credit he lets it go. “No, but I’m meeting our contact next week. Hopefully they’ll have some information for us.”
Typically they happen once a month. As far as we know, anyway. That gives us plenty of time to get Tyler transferred to his pack down south and Morgan gone.
I don’t realise I’m rubbing my chest until Callum gives me a pointed look. “Don’t,” I whisper.
He just shakes his head and opens the door.
I don’t follow him out. I need to get my shit together before I go and see Morgan. Being in close proximity when my baser instincts are so close to taking over is both dangerous and reckless. I can’t afford any mistakes where he’s concerned.
I take a seat at the table again and rest my head in my hands.
Closing my eyes, I focus on clearing my mind and calming my wolf. It takes way longer than it should, close to an hour according to my phone. I could blame it on Callum, but there’s no point even trying to sell myself that lie.
And I can’t put this off any longer.
With everything locked down tight, I finally head upstairs.
I see Flint first as I approach the hospital rooms because he’s sat with his chair facing the door like he’s been waiting for me.
He shoots up and hurries over, putting his hand on my chest and backing me out into the corridor.
“What the?—”
“Before you walk in there,” he says softly, “I want you to know that it was necessary.”
I have no idea what he’s on about, but the scents coming off him have me immediately on edge. He’s nervous. When I glance past him and see the empty bed where Morgan should be, I don’t fucking blame him.
My lip curls, rage simmering in my gut. “Where. Is. He?” He has about ten seconds to explain before I explode.
“Calm your fucking tits,” he hisses, stepping back and beckoning me to follow. “Just...” He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “Try not to overreact.”
He gestures to the bed in the far corner.
For fuck’s sake, Flint .
“Listen,” he mouths and pulls me to a stop just inside the door.
By some miracle neither Morgan nor Nico have noticed us. Okay, Morgan I can understand but Nico’s a shifter, he should’ve sensed me by now. It’s enough to let Flint have his way and tug me to one side.
“Thanks,” Nico whispers, smiling up at Morgan perched at the side of his bed. “You can probably have your hand back now.”
“That’s okay, I’m not in a hurry to go anywhere.”
Now that I’m focused on them, several things hit me at once. Morgan’s voice is soft, gentle in a way I don’t recognise, but Nico’s has a rough edge to it that raises the hairs on the back of my neck.
He’s upset, distressed. Traces of fear linger in the air and the alpha in me strains to get to him, but Flint still has his hand on my arm. When I glance at him, he shakes his head, then gestures for me to follow him back outside.
I don’t want to.
But when we started this club, he was my road captain. The titles might not mean much anymore, but I gave him that position for a reason. Maybe this is club related or maybe it’s pack. Either way I trust him enough to force myself away from the scene in front of me and walk after him.
When we’re both outside in the hall, he gently pulls the door closed, effectively cutting them off.
It immediately sets me on edge.
A fact not lost on him.
“I know you want to get back in there, but I need to tell you something that might affect the way the vote went down.”
He doesn’t know.
I figured someone would’ve passed the message on, but maybe they were expecting me to do it.
Well, you are the alpha and the president.
I was also far too fucking eager to get back up here to remember my responsibilities.
He’s already causing trouble.
“Nico woke up in a fucking mess.”
“Why? What?—”
“Corey brought him back in here to check out his leg. He was out for some of it and must’ve had a nightmare because—” He scrubs a hand over his face. “I’ve never felt anything like it, Lynx. The pain and the fear... it was suffocating .”
My first thought is Jet. He must be going out of his mind.
“Has Jet been up here?” I glance up and down the hallway but there’s no sign.
Flint frowns. “About an hour ago, when Corey first brought Nico in. Jet was all twitchy and restless, so I told him to go for a run. Good fucking job he did, because I’m not sure how he would’ve reacted to Nico in that state.”
Me neither.
Flint hooks a thumb over his shoulder. “Anyway, Morgan got to him first and grabbed his hand, started talking to him until he calmed down.”
“About what?”
“Everything.” He huffed. “I know more about his life than I ever fucking wanted to.”
And I know nothing.
It’s the first thought that pops into my head, accompanied by a flare of jealousy that can fuck right off.
“But that’s not why I stopped you going over there.”
Fuck me, there’s more?
He grimaces, and I know I’m not going to like what comes next. “Just tell me,” I growl. impatience and jealousy are a bad combination.
“I don’t know what the fuck’s up with Nico and his senses, but I don’t think he knows Morgan’s human. I don’t think anyone’s told him either.”
“How?” Everything about Morgan screams human. Scent alone should’ve been enough for Nico to realise he wasn’t a shifter.
Flint shrugs. “He saw Morgan with me and must’ve assumed he was part of our pack.”
That’s... not fucking possible. I get a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach when it dawns on me where Flint’s heading with this. “ Fuck .” I close my eyes, wishing I could block out what I know is coming.
“He told him everything. About the fight ring, being human before he was taken.”
It takes everything in me not to shove him up against the wall by his throat.
“And at no point did you think to stop him?” There’s a slur to my words as I fight to keep my wolf in check.
I want to shift, want to escape the clusterfuck today has become, and it’s harder than it should be to force it all back down.
I should never have brought him back here.
“You can’t blame Nico for this, he?—”
I do growl this time, backing him into the wall, but I don’t touch him. “Don’t fucking tell me what I can or can’t do.”
He doesn’t back down, doesn’t even flinch when I give in and slide into a half shift.
That’s why he holds the position he does in this pack, in the club.
He glares right back at me, grey eyes full of fire.
“He’s broken, Lynx. Everything they put him through.
..” He snarls, anger rolling off him. “It’s shattered his fucking spirit, done something to his wolf, and if you go in there all level ten alpha and rip him a new one for talking to Morgan. .. you’ll break him even more.”
His words hit me like ice water, pulling me back from the edge better than a shot of silver.
I don’t want to be that kind of alpha. I’ve never wanted to be like that.
I want my pack to respect me, not be afraid.
“I’m not going to do that.” I sigh, the weight of the last few days heavy on my shoulders.
“What are you going to do, then?”
It’s a good question. “Where’s Corey?” I ask instead.
“Gone into work at the hospital.”
As much as I respect him for working to heal humans who would probably want to kill him if they knew what he was, it’s a pain in the arse at times.
“Said he’ll be back tonight though, to check on both of them.”
Fine. I can talk to him about Nico then. But that’s the least of my concerns right now. “I need to talk to Morgan.”
Flint’s eyes flash.
Yeah, not just Nico he’s feeling protective over. And Goddess, help me, he’s really testing my control right now.
“You voted.” It’s not a question, but I answer anyway.
“We didn’t so much vote as come up with a solution.”
“And?”
“We decided to let him live.”
He glances behind him and sighs. “But that was before, right?”
Before Nico told him all our fucking secrets. “Yeah. That was before.”
It changes everything. Knowing shifters exist is bad enough. Discovering that there’s people running illegal shifter fights and that we rescue shifters from them? That puts us in danger in a whole new way.
We still don’t know who organises the fights, but they have contacts all over the country.
All it would take is Morgan telling the wrong person and we’ll be fucked.
Our information comes from inside. We can’t have Morgan putting their lives in danger.
Or messing up our chances of staying under the radar.