Page 88 of Knight With Benefits

I glanced at Sebastian before looking down at my beautiful mate, fear written all over her face. I didn’t need the bond to know she was scared and didn’t want me to go, but I was determined to put an end to the Purists invading our community.

“I have to go. I have to stop this. If Adam is there, I’ll do my best to make sure he survives it.”

Her chin trembled and the tears she’d been holding back ran down her cheeks. I wanted to reach out and wipe them away, comfort her and assure her all would be okay, but I knew doing so would make it twice as hard for me to leave.

“You better survive, too. I won’t live through another bond being ripped from me.”

“I’ll do my best.”

My hands itched to hold her, my arms already rising to reach for her, but I forced myself to turn away. Sebastian had Brooke in his arms, giving her a kiss before stepping back and turning to Patch.

“Stay with them. I’ll call if we need you.”

Patch’s stoic expression never changed as he nodded, his icy gaze following us as we walked toward the door. Danger fell in behind us, closing the door to the sanctuary as we passed into the hallway beyond. It was silent, the others having already made it to their motorcycles and taken off to help our brothers, and there was no need to fill it. The three of us had so recently found our mates, and Sebastian had a baby on the way, but being one of Hell’s Knights meant making hard choices. We had promised to protect the community, and there was no way we’d ever let the Purists get away with invading our territory, no matter their purpose.

The sun had already set when we stepped outside, the cold night breeze bringing the usual stench of exhaust, garbage, and asphalt. The last of the others pulled out of the lot behind the church, leaving us to bring up the tail and hope we weren’t too late.

David had said the Purists had The Hangout surrounded, having connected us with the bar during their last incursion. No Knights had been there when they’d arrived, but it hadn’t taken long for Knox and Jason to show up, putting themselves between the speciest group and the innocent patrons trapped inside. There was no way to know what we’d be walking into when we got there, and we poured on the speed as soon as we were on open pavement.

The roar of my bike matched the fury inside me, but for once it wasn’t all-encompassing. Fear beat right alongside it, the emotion not just coming from the bond anchored in my heart. My sleep might have been plagued by fighting, but that had never meant I’d ever shirked away from it, but now I had something to lose if I failed. Someone who would care if I wasn’t strong enough to win.

We tore through the streets, taking corners faster than was safe, but none of us cared. The Hangout wasn’t far, and we were right on the tail of the others when they pulled into the parking lot already packed with cars.

Sebastian was half beast as he jumped from his bike, fur showing along his arms, his clothing stretched tight on a body trying to shift. Danger was more collected, moving with stealthy purpose, but still passing through the others to reach the front of our group.

“Frank, Tim, stay on your bikes and head down to the corners. Keep watch for backup.”

I didn’t know if this was Adam and the others he’d brought with him before, or if more Purists were involved and it was no longer about Gwyn, so we had to be cautious. We didn’t need more Purists, or the cops, showing up.

The two I’d named peeled out, speeding off to find a place to keep watch, while I stomped through the others, barely keeping control of my bear. He was so close to the surface my nails had grown into claws, my vision shifting back and forth between his and a human’s.

Three cars were spaced out across the front of The Hangout, parked sideways to act as a barrier. As I closed the distance to them, I spotted what was on the other side, and for a moment my bear faltered.

Knox was on his knees, three human alphas standing over him. A metal collar encircled his throat, the chain attached to it held tight in the grip of the man directly behind him who had a knife in the other hand.

David was on his feet in front of the door, held between two other men, blood covering the lower half of his face and his shirt, but luckily he wasn’t being threatened with a weapon. His nose still dripped, the angle telling me it was broken, but his glare showed he was okay enough otherwise.

It was the sight of Jason that made my breath catch. His golden fur shone in the lights outside the bar, except for the crimson streaks matting it. There was so much I couldn’t tell how many wounds it came from, but his chest still rose and fell in an even rhythm, even if his head hung. Two more men struggled to hold him upright, his weight significant in his were-form, and if the situation hadn’t been so serious, their straining faces would have been funny.

“This is your one chance to leave and never return.”

Sebastian had made his way to the front of our group, standing between two of the cars with the rest of us at his back. A few of our guys had already shifted into their animals and were poised in the shadows at the ends of the vehicles, but the knives held to Knox’s throat kept them from leaping forward.

“We don’t take orders from animals,” the one holding the chain spat, sneering at Sebastian.

Growls rose all around me, but my focus was on the man beside the speaker. I hadn’t seen Gwyn’s son before, but the similarities between them were easy to see since I’d been looking for them.

“We’re here to take what’s ours and get a little payback for what happened last time we came.”

The speaker jerked on the chain, making Knox snarl along with the rest of the Knights gathered around.

“Nothing here belongs to you.”

The man laughed at Sebastian’s response, but it was Adam who spoke next.

“My mother and that building next door belong to me, along with that rundown piece of shit a block away. You had no right to interfere, and you’re going to pay for denting my father’s car once I find that useless cunt and put her in her place!”

It was the wrong thing to say.

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