Page 66 of Steel Rain

She’d never be in an arena without someone in her corner.

I would carve a world for her, and our pups, because that was what she needed from me. And that was what she would have.

“The Tao of the Dog,” I began. “Most actions of men can be explained by observing a pack. There is a hierarchy and pattern that happens when dogs start interacting with each other regularly. Like them, humans will always feel a natural attraction to power and domination. They will seek to elevate themselves within the pack. But this blind aggression is not what makes a pack strong.”

I opened my eyes and looked at the men. At Keith. His even breathing, and swollen eye.

He had felt every horrible strike that he endured on this day. Whatever she had done to him, it had left it’s painful bruising on his skin. I was proud of her for it. I made sure to land a few hits of my own.

“Aggression has three purposes. To expand over a territory; a thing we humans call war. Second, is for rank within the social group. The third is for reproduction.”

I saw the corner of Keith’s lip curl upward, as if the thought of sex tickled him. I fought the urge to break his neck.

“How is this relevant to us in our practice?” I finally asked, allowing a pause for them to think of their own reasons. “We are an army.” Shit. No.Theyare an Army. I’m just a fucking trainer. “Which means that we have the first, and the second innately within our structure. The third … well, that just comes from being men.”

There was a small chuckle from the group, that quickly quieted down.

“But because we are a group, and we must hone these aggressions, while still elevating ourselves as a unit …”No, no, no! I was not one of them. God damnit!“It does not benefit us to harm those we defeat. If I push you too hard and break your spirit, it weakens the pack. If I push you too little, and you are soft, it does not strengthen the pack.”

I felt like I was losing the mark now. Was I still talking about Sinead? Was I talking about Keith? Or was I talking about me, and what I had been so willing to do to Keith, after knowing what he was capable of.

“Causing harm to one of our own is an act of betrayal to the pack.” I struggled to keep my voice even. I felt it in my bones. “A betrayal that should be met with the same fate.”

Keith opened his eyes, and those baby blues looked right at me. He understood what I was saying. There were no two ways around my threat, and my promise. Then he gave me a confident little smirk. The kind of a predator sure that he would get his prey.

I had thrown down the gauntlet, and he had accepted. And a SEAL never backs down from that kind of challenge.

Chapter 30

Ajax

Eoghan’sinvitationtomeethim in his basement was an ominous one. It wasn’t to dinner. It was far too early for that. So there was only reason I was going there – to watch torture, or to be tortured myself.

I couldn’t bring a gun into the Green mansion. That was forbidden unless the owner of the house gave you permission.

“No oath, no gun,” was all Eoghan had told me.

I lightly thumbed the knife at my hilt. The one with the emblem of my beloved SEALs. My own little security blanket. If I couldn’t get out of a scrape with my fists and the knife, then I was probably a dead man before the first blow.

You could have knocked me over with a feather when I went down and saw Grimes and O’Rourke hung up by their arms, their feet dangling an inch off the floor, swinging like pigs in a butcher’s freezer.

“Well, thank you for joining us!” Eoghan said, putting a hand on his hip, pulling back his blazer to show the glint of an iron blade on his belt. There was an ornate carving on the handle. ECG, which I assumed were his initials.

Why the fuck the Irish spelled Owen with an E in the beginning was a linguistical nightmare I wasn’t ready to decipher.

He ran his fingers over a table with some very familiar instruments on it. Pliers, a hand saw, garden sheers, a skinning knife, and a bone saw. All things that could be innocuous on a property as extensive as the Green Estates, but quite sinister, considering the company.

“Have you met Grimes and O’Rourke?” he asked, reaching up to O’Rourke’s ear, and pulling off the bandage. The tip had a distinctive, jagged, fleshy cut. The top bit a mangled, missing mess.

Of course, I knew them. They had been in my class. They had been chosen to beat Sinead during that farce of a “test”. And they had also taken part in Keith’s assault. The one that landed her in my bed.

Eoghan pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket, carefully unfolding it. The rubbery contents were covered in blood, but had the distinct, rounded fold. The missing part of his ear.

“Look what we found on Shiny’s floor?” Eoghan raised it up to the man’s face. “Care to explain how a bit of your ear ended up there?”

“I was just following orders!” O’Rourke said with a whimper. “Keith is … he’s…”

Whatever confession was going to drip from his mouth was silenced when a cell phone buzzed on the table. The screen lit, and a number with no name popped up.

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