Page 33 of Son of a Witch

“You won’t have disruptions from me,” I croaked, preparing to contradict her. “But you may have trouble from the Guardians.” I swiped at my hair. “I was banished. My record at Broken Hill burned. My record at the Guild remains intact.”

“We’re taking care of it.” Blaze shot me a glare to shut up.

No. I wouldn’t put this pack in danger. They were part animal like me, and I had a duty to protect my kind. “I can’t lie to you. Housing me comes with risk. There’s a chance someone high up in the Guild knows about me. What I am.”

“Fuck, Sarah, I don’t like this.” Dash swiped at his jaw with a pinched hand.

Sarah glared at her mate. “I need to know everything before makingmydecisions.” She flicked her fingers at me, encouraging me to give it to her.

“Her name’s Theresa Sanchez.” Blaze muttered a curse at my reply. “I tore off her nephew’s nuts and balls for assaulting my mate, and she wants me dead. I have no doubt she’s looked into me. Might still be watching me.” I pulled out the note her nephew left for me at the church. “Her lowlife thug of a nephew stole the evidence to free my pack and me.

“That’s anofrom me.” Dash declared his allegiance.

Sarah set her hand on his stomach to quiet him. “That puts us in a difficult spot.”

“I understand.” My gaze dropped to the ground. “I won’t risk the safety of your pack to protect my ass. I understand if you don’t want to hide me.”

Sarah’s gaze hardened as she kicked her boot. “I’m glad that asshole’s locked up for assaulting your mate.”

My wolf rumbled again. “He escaped along with fifty other prisoners.”

Sarah paled and glanced at Dash. “You need to kill him?”

Dash’s tight hand massaged his mate’s shoulder, and my heart shrank at the loving gesture I wished to perform on my Little Wolf.

“Believe me, I will,” I snarled. “He’s already dead in my mind.”

“Good.” Sarah smiled, pleased, and broke free of her mate’s touch and held out her palm to shake. “We don’t turn away anyone in need. We’re family. All we ask is that if trouble arrives on our land and threatens our survival, you defend and protect us as your pack.”

A fair request. “You can count on me.”

Dash turned to negotiate with his mate because it was clear previous efforts failed. “Sarah, we don’t need more attention on the pack when we’ve got shit brewing with the Malice pack.”

“We can handle them.” Sarah jerked her head at me. “We’ve got the big guy.”

Dash fumed at the loss and stared me down. “Tell him what he’s walking into.”

Fuck. My hackles went up again. I stared at Sarah for an answer.

Sarah gave her mate a displeased rumble. “Raze, you’re walking into conflict staying with us. Failed alliance and stolen territory disputes.”

Trouble just followed me, didn’t it?

“There’s the chance our pack might be ambushed.” She came up and patted my arm. “We’ll understand if you want to avoid that when it might land on the Guild’s radar.”

I didn’t really have much of a choice. Staying at the academy with Blaze and Luna right under the Guild’s nose was out of the question. Blaze recommended I not use my bank card, causing any transactions to avoid alerting the Guardians of my whereabouts. Where the hell would I stay with no money and a handful of belongings?

I threw out my hand again, cupping Sarah’s, making her mate growl. “I’ll stay and be a soldier if you need me.”

CHAPTER12

Knoxe

“Let’ssee what you’ve got,” Serena instructed the team as we assembled in the training room, with a new member, no less. Fucking Loco.

Serena Mathieson. Replacement. Usurper. Successor. The words went round and round in my head, beating me down. I hated that this woman had stolen my position and I let her know it in my cold, hostile glare.

Nothing I didn’t deserve. I was lucky I didn’t get worse. Locked up in maximum security for defying the warden. Broken countless rules, sneaking out of the Guardians to repay Astra’s debt, breaking a fae prisoner out of prison for the fae mafia, and retrieving antivenom for Raze. Pursuing my own selfish needs to catch Styx. The list went on and on.

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