Page 20 of To Hunt A Wolf
“You got out though.” The hardness has left his voice. I pretend not to notice because, if I so much as scent pity, I will kill him right where he stands.
“Don’t look so relieved. Thiago’s in charge now, and he’s not one for mercy. Or second chances. Can’t say I disagree with him there.” He looks away. “If you must know, I’m only here because I can’t go back there.”
His gaze swings sharply back to mine. “He exiled you?”
“Actually, first, he charged me with murder, which we both know comes with a death sentence. When a better opportunity presented itself, he decided to send me out here to haul your ass back. Give me a chance to prove my innocence.”
“I can’t go back,” he says quietly.
“And give him a chance to lock Kari up instead,” I add.
He grimaces, and I see true hatred flash in his amber eyes. “Fuck—”
“Thiago,” I finish for him. “Yeah, I got that.”
He levels me with a look that sends heat up my spine. “Did he… I mean when they brought you in— Did he hurt you…in that way?”
I hesitate.
Part of me wants to lie and say yes. Or at least spare him the satisfaction of an answer. But the tortured look he wears plays tricks on me, so I tell the truth if only to end this horrible dance we’re doing right now.
“No.”
He blows out a breath.
To my surprise, he doesn’t seem satisfied though. His boots crunch over gravel as he wanders a few steps away to pace. I watch as he runs a hand through his dark hair, sending it into a messy disarray that only makes me want to be the one with fistfuls of his hair in my hands.
When he looks back at me, his eyes are bright.
“You could stay gone,” he says. “Make a new life. It’s not like Blackstone has anything for you to go back to—”
“He has Kari,” I remind him.
“She’s his sister,” he scoffs. “He won’t hurt her.”
“You know that doesn’t matter to him. He probably had something to do with Jadick’s disappearance, and now he’s going to do the same to Kari—and use me to do it.”
He doesn’t answer, but he doesn’t look happy either.
I know before he speaks what his answer will be, so I’m not surprised when his shoulders slump and he shakes his head. “There are things you don’t know, Mac. I can’t explain, but… I can’t let you take me in. This is bigger than you. Bigger than Kari.”
Rage burns hot inside me.
I glare back at him. “You don’t have to ‘let’ me do anything. If I want to take you in, that’s what I’ll do.”
He faces off with me. An invitation. And a sad sort of challenge. But it’s his pity that sends me over the edge.
I’m already tensing in anticipation when he adds, “You can try.”
His attack is swift, but, more than anything, it’s fierce. I stumble, narrowly avoiding the leg he sweeps out in an attempt to level me. Barely recovered, I swing on him—and am met with only empty air.
My grunt is the sound of my own failure, but Levi doesn’t stop there. He comes at me again, offensive and defensive blurring into one move. One attack.
His body is beautiful and deadly as it tries to put me down.
Levi has spent his life training to fight, but his training wasn’t official like mine. His skill comes from experience. A lifetime of fighting to survive—literally. The scrapping he did as a kid has made him cunning and limber, a deadly combination, and I hate him for all the reasons my wolf wants to take him to bed.
When he finally sweeps my feet out from under me, I don’t know if it’s because my wolf has decided to let him win or my heart is too broken to stop it.
