Page 69 of Midnight Hunt

I scoffed at them both. “Two hundred says Jagger has to torture him for at least three hours.” Both males turned to me with incredulous looks, and I shrugged. “Jagger’s good, but these hunters aren’t betas.”

“Yeah, but they’re not hybrids either,” Griff pointed out. “If Jag lets Onyx take over, I bet the male wets himself and spews everything he knows without a finger being laid on him.”

“Onyx isn’tthatscary,” I grumbled.

Griff chuckled. “Sounds like someone is jealous.”

“Hey, Sable isfierce. She’s terrified plenty of people.”

I felt her preen at that, obviously pleased by the compliment.

“Yeah, but do theywetthemselves?”

Cheeky boy, Sable huffed.

Annoyed, I shoved Griff’s shoulder. He stumbled sideways with a laugh.

“Careful. I still have boo-boos.”

“Boo-boos?” I repeated, throwing him a flat look. “Are you forever going to talk like you’re five?”

“If it gets a rise out of you, yes.”

“A rise? Seriously, Griff. You’re such a child.”

“Ah c’mon. You love it when I tease you.”

I opened my mouth, but at the mention of the wordlove, all of my witty comebacks flew out the window. Trying and failing to regain my mojo, I huffed out a sigh and muttered, “Let’s just focus on the interrogation. Two hundred still says this’ll take hours.”

We lapsed into silence after that, but I could feel both males side-eyeing me. Great. They could sense that something was up with me. The days ahead were going to be painful, that was for sure.

“Water,” the hunter abruptly croaked, drawing our gazes back to the screen.

Jagger was silent for another few minutes, then finally said, “Tell me why you’re abducting females, and I’ll give you all the water you want.”

The hunter’s laugh quickly turned into a hacking cough. “You think I’ll break”—cough cough—“that easily?”

“I think you’ll break the easy way or the hard way. Which one it will be is up to you.”

“Ooh, now we’re gettin’ somewhere,” Griff said, rubbing his hands together.

“I could still win,” Kolton commented.

“Not a chance. Jag wants to play with him a little first.”

My brother grunted but didn’t argue. It was clear that Jagger was taking his time with the dirtbag.

Tired but not willing to miss a second of the interrogation, I hid a yawn by glancing up at Kolton and murmuring, “Thanks for finding us. We wouldn’t have survived much longer if you and Jagger hadn’t arrived when you did.”

He looked at me, then at Griff, saying, “We feared the worst when we learned of the plane crash. Thank you for keeping each other safe. I don’t know what I would have done if something had happened to either of you.”

At the vulnerable look in his eyes, I turned and wrapped my arms around him. He blew out a sigh and hugged me back, then reached around me to drag Griff into the embrace. Griff readily locked his arms around us both, sandwiching me tightly between their hard bodies. Any tension I’d been holding on to instantly drained from me.

Wedged between two of the strongest hybrid werewolves in existence, I couldn’t get much safer than this. And maybe that’s why I kept my mouth shut and shoved down my growing guilt, clinging to the comforting moment instead.

I would face reality tomorrow. But right now, I needed this. I needed one more moment to feel like the innocent little girl I used to be, surrounded by her boys.

Several more minutes passed by, and it became clear that the hunter wasn’t going to take the easy way. He was practically hacking up a lung but refused to accept Jagger’s deal. Without a word, Jagger rose from his chair and approached the bound male. The hunter stiffened all over, his eyes going wide again.

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