Page 79 of Savoring Her Snake

“Your hands are twitching on the wheel,” he says slowly.

“I think I’m missing something,” I whisper. My skin feels like it’s melting. I despise every mile between me and my mate.

“Your mate. That’s what you’re missing,” Bane says dryly. I look in the mirror, and his sober face is lit up by his phone.

“Or did you miss the three dragons flying behind us?” Hunter says, looking over his shoulder.

“How could I miss them?” I ask. I appreciate their attempt to help, but I don’t need the dragons.

“We could have handled this,” Hunter mentions.

“You could be home snuggled up with your mate,” Bane adds like an asshole.

“Killing them will be easy.” Hunter faces forward and crosses his arms. “It seems like you don’t trust us to get the job done, Boss.” My lip curls. “Is that it?”

“You fucking know it’s not,” I snarl.

“Why?” he persists.

“I need to look them in the eyes. For Rylee and for Juliana.” The steering wheel creaks as I tighten my grip.

“Sure,” Bane mutters.

“Have something to say, Bane?” I ask roughly.

“How long have we been with you?” he asks.

“A long fucking time.”

“You trust us up to a point,” he continues, shutting his phone off. “You like control and can’t allow yourself to depend on anyone.”

“Fuck off.” His words hit me because they are true.

“We understand your need for vengeance,” Hunter says softly.

“I have to keep her safe.” I stare at the pavement in front of me but drive the car without seeing anything. “I can’t lose her.”

“You won’t.” Hunter drops his arms, turning slightly toward me. “We will do anything to help you.” His words make me uncomfortable. “You did a lot for us.”

“Shut up,” I growl. I don’t want their gratitude. “I wasn’t going to leave you there.”

“You could have walked away,” Bane says.

“No.” I clench my jaw.

“We are grateful. You have our loyalty and friendship. So get fucking used to it. You can’t get rid of us, and we will stay by your side,” Hunter growls. “Your mate is our family now.” He extends his legs, lounging in the seat.

“We would die for her,” Bane rasps. “That is why we are here, keeping your ass under control so you can go back to her.”

“My ass?” I ask, smiling slightly.

“We all know you couldn’t do it without us,” he replies, returning to his phone.

“Right.” Fuckers are delusional. “What did you tell Remy?”

“The truth,” Bane answers.

“He’s happy to have us close,” Hunter says. Remy owns a restaurant in town. He’s been asking his brothers for years to move there.

---