Page 58 of To Hunt A Wolf
I shove hard, slamming him into the closet door hard enough for his head to make a loudthump. He grunts at the impact, and I use the element of surprise to land a punch in his gut.
“I’m done playing house,” I hiss. “You’re coming with me. To end this.”
He doubles over, but his recovery is faster than I anticipated.
Before I can bring him fully down, he’s straightening and shoving me off him. He grabs my shoulders, twisting me toward the wall, and slamming my shoulders against it.
I struggle, but his grip is too tight to shake.
His eyes are like granite as he stares down at me. His chest rises and falls with labored breaths.
“Last warning, Mac. Try that again and I’ll lock you up for a lot longer than two days.”
I bite back the urge to scream at him. He’s beaten me more times than I want to admit. But worse than the injury to my pride is the threat it poses to my friend.
“My mother is out there,” I say, my voice cracking as my control finally slips. I am near tears, but I can’t bring myself to care. There’s no pride left in me where Levi’s concerned. He stripped that away from me a long time ago. “If she kills Thiago, he’s given orders to do the same to Kari. If that happens, it will be on you.”
“Don’t worry about your mother,” he says. His voice is rough, clearly unmoved by my emotional display. Asshole. “And stop being rude to the people here. They’ve done nothing to you.”
He steps back, releasing his hold on me, and I nearly crumple. My sense of urgency wars with the cold reality that I will never accomplish my task in time to save Kari. My mother has never failed a mission yet, and I don’t expect her to start now.
Resigned, I hang my head.
Levi motions for me to walk with him again, and after another ragged breath, I obey.
He begins pointing out doors again as if the past few minutes’ interruption never even happened. If he’s bothered that I’ve just tried attacking him on his home turf, he doesn’t show it.
“Conference rooms,” he says, gesturing to a closed door. “And this.”
He pushes through and I follow.
On the other side, I find myself in a large open area with high ceilings and enough space to park at least a dozen vehicles comfortably. The left side of the hangar already holds four vehicles. A Range Rover, a couple of older sedans, and a motorcycle, but the right side is empty.
At the far end, the large bay door is wide open. From here, I have a straight, unhindered shot to the outside world. I can also hear the distinct hum of several vehicles approaching, which means I have a feeling I wouldn’t get very far if I tried to run.
Then again, why would I do that when my target is standing six inches to my left?
“The hangar,” I guess.
He nods toward the opening as the first of a convoy pulls in. “And the teams,” he adds.
We stand back while they all park, six vehicles in total. Four are dark SUVs like the one Thiago used to banish me from pack lands. The other two are armored trucks similar to what I’ve seen banks use to transport money.
“So, what, you decided to start your own mafia pack or something?” I ask, trying to understand what the hell is going on here.
Levi shakes his head. “Not quite. Although, the mafia pack used to be part of a larger pack and then broke off on their own, so in that, we’re similar.”
I shoot him a look that undoubtedly conveys my confusion. “You started your own pack. You’re in charge here… Does that mean you’re alpha?”
“Something like that.” His smug smile makes me want to punch him in the mouth. “Impressed?”
I roll my eyes, turning away, because, well, yeah.
Becoming an alpha is about a hell of a lot more than just finding people willing to become your pack. You have to fight for it. To bleed for it. Making an alpha takes more than most are capable of giving. To survive the process is a feat in itself. The fact that Levi’s done it and lived to tell me about it? Yeah, that’s impressive as hell.
But he clearly knows that and just wants to hear me say it.
Like hell.
