Page 20 of V for Vengeance

Sloan’s hand touched mine, then Phillip’s did the same, and I tried not to smile, still mad they never thought about the time or place.Ever.But I thought back on how the last time I was in the middle of the two, both their hands locked on mine, I was the most conflicted girl in the room. Not today, though. Well, not when it came to these two bickering hotties.

They must’ve picked up on my anxiety because they both offered their own unique brand of comfort and support. Phillip always started shit when he wanted to get me out of my head, and Sloan played along because they were besties for a reason.

Sneaking a look at the handsome faces of the two guys who rocked my world every chance they got and never failed to come running when I needed them, I squeezed both hands beforecrossing my arms, determined to stay in control even when my head was utter chaos.

I caught sight of Nigel’s terrifying amber gaze breaking away from a line of trees. In the usual casual clothes, the werewolf looked plenty delicious with his dark skin a stark contrast to the world around him. His powerful shape was as large and as striking as it always had been, but somehow, the man looked beaten down, smaller. His steps were careful. His luminous wolf eyes scanned every corner. He lifted his head, smelling something in the air we didn’t. But when the werewolf stood in front of us, the look he offered me wasn’t filled with rage or storming with hatred. No, he looked…ashamed? Guilty?

Well, that makes two of us, buddy.

“V,” he called out, his rich baritone exactly how I remembered it. The sullen Shifter let loose a sigh, his eyes dimming back to their obsidian color. “You found Rose?”

Phillip seemed surprised to hear it. “How—?”

“Some of us are fucking Shifters, Hunter. I’d know her scent anywhere,” Nigel cut in, insulted. “But unlike you, she already knows that, the wily old fox. Guess it’s just you in the dark.” He practically spat the words at my companion’s feet, and I caught Sloan’s lips curve upwards out of the corner of my eye.

Nigel slid his abyss-deep gaze over to the man grinning beside me, and something passed between them. The Shifter’s snarling lip greeted the other Hunter’s smile. I’d never seen Nigel act so hostile with Sloan. They’d been snippy with each other before, especially when we all stayed in the cave, but the hatred living in Nigel’s gaze was intense. It reminded me of how he reacted after Phillip and I…

Shit.

Nigel probably smelled both of them on me.

After Phillip had me on his lap, drinking his blood again and following his every command, Sloan claimed me later in myroom. He’d plucked me right out of the hallway before I could go find Kris to ask her about the relationship she had with Sungho. I wanted deets, and thanks to these two assholes who wanted their turn every time the other Hunter was occupied, I still hadn’t gotten them out of her.

Honestly, I’d never look at my desk the same way. Not after Sloan fucked me on it, legs open, neck arched, hand taking the shape of my breast and powerful hips slapping into mine. If I hadn’t been a monster with crazy healing abilities, I’d probably still have marks from where my back ate into the top shelf. And he hadn’t stopped there. Sloan bent me over the desk chair with my hands planted on the wood surface, moaning his name under my breath and deathly afraid someone would hear how good he gave it to me. Because even though it was different with Sloan, that didn’t mean it wasn’t just as good.

Between his aggressive pursuit of pleasuring me in ways I’d never thought possible—like sucking so hard on my clit that the line between pain and pleasure was blurred, or fingering me with his otherworldly speed, chasing spots I never knew existed, or even recently showing me that wasn’t the only place you could stick a finger to derive ecstasy—the gorgeous Hunter wasn’t shy about keeping me locked in a pleasurable prison.

Even though I’d showered right afterwards, Nigel had a Shifter’s nose, so he’d smell whatever got left…inside.

Fuck my life.

“So, what’s this all about?” the amber-eyed wolf demanded, biting each word out like it left a bad taste in his mouth.

Not a fan of another macho-guy tit-for-tat, I answered Nigel’s question after a nod from both Sloan and Phillip that indicated he hadn’t been followed. “What can you tell us about Theo the Savage?”

Surprise hit the wolf’s face for a second before he crossed his arms and glanced between the two guys I’d come with. “He’snot someone you fuck around with if that’s what you’re asking. Thousands of wolves follow his lead. Theo never gets his claws dirty, but the second he howls, you’d better run. That asshole doesn’t give second chances, and he doesn’t care who he has to kill to make it clear that breaking his rules is the last thing you’ll ever do.”

It was weird to hear Nigel be so openly antagonistic in a conversation about another wolf. I couldn’t be sure if the topic or the two Hunters I came with was the cause of it.

“His name came up in connection with the Organization, and I know you owe me nothing after everything I’ve done to—”

Nigel’s deep-rumbling growl took me by surprise, and the two Hunters beside me went for their weapons. I tossed them a little sassy “Really, dudes?” look before sighing and stepping closer to Nigel.

“I’m sorry about Tiff and Topher. I…didn’t…”

I ended up on the receiving end of an embrace I didn’t see coming. A thunderous growl echoed from deep inside Nigel’s chest as the oversized Shifter held me tight, ignoring the other two men who looked very close to taking him down.

“You havenothingto be sorry for, V. I’m not mad at you. The blame’s all mine. I should’ve known. I was their fucking alpha. I should’ve known. And they planned to kill you. What other choice did you have? If anything, I…can’t—I don’t know how to begin to say sorry that two wolves I thought had your best interests at heart turned out to be the ones with their claws out. But to think they’d be connected to the same people who are hunting you, who’ve made your life a living hell, and now Theo? I…”

The Shifter didn’t finish, just held me tighter. Sensing it was something he needed, I wrapped my arms around him and hugged the apologetic wolf back. Even with the history betweenus and the horrible rollercoaster our friendship had been on over the last year, I was so glad to still have him.

But mostly, I was glad he didn’t blame me.

Emotion crowded my throat. I swallowed it. I wouldn’t cry. If I did, it’d make Nigel feel like it was his fault. It wasn’t. There were bigger things at play here, and I blamed Lux and the fucked-up Organization that created him for everything that happened. No one else.

“This isn’t your fault, Nigel. Those were your friends. Your family. Your pack. I won’t sugarcoat what they did, but I wished it were different. I want to believe they’d been led astray about me somehow. But still, I’m so fucking sorry it happened at all,” I bit out, grief reaching my throat and making it impossible to speak the way I wanted.

Because I’d lost a friend, too.

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