Page 61 of Cold Foot Revenge
“Was,” Dylan repeated, confused.
“There were four of us. Grave, Leech, myself, and my youngest brother, Bron. My name is Grit.”
Whoa. “Why is their Crew called the Grit-Bron Crew?” Dylan asked.
“Because once upon a time, I created that Crew. I was Alpha, and my youngest brother, Bron, was my Second.”
“Why are you telling me this.”
He inhaled deeply and cocked his head, studying Dylan. “Are you Dylan Hoffman, brother of Garret Hoffman?”
“Look, I have to go.” Dylan opened the door.
“Bron tried to stop it.”
Those words froze Dylan, and he dragged his gaze back to Grit.
“He died for it. Grave and Leech killed him. He was trying to stop all of the Turns back then. Bron was the good one out of the four.” His eyes had softened, and the orange had muted to a light brown.
“Are you in the Grit-Bron Crew?” Dylan asked, sensing an ally.
“I run my own Crew now. Grave and Leech did a coup and nearly killed me when I tried to save Bron.” The empty smile was back. “We have a shaky alliance that involves a very hard line in the sand called a territory line. This is the first time I’ve let Grave cross it for any reason. He negotiated that you will have until noon to leave on your own accord, or I’m to bring you to him. You should leave, human. He won’t kill her. He’s too obsessed with her.”
“Why are you warning me?” he asked.
“It’s not a warning. It’s being open with the negotiation.” He leaned against a black truck parked a couple of empty parking spaces away from Dylan’s truck. “I think you’re a man who will ignore a warning, but I can sleep at night knowing I tried. I learned lessons long ago about the lengths Karma will go through to reset a wrong.”
“Are you going to stop me if I go after your brothers?” Dylan asked.
Grit’s nostrils flared as he inhaled deeply and considered the question. “What are your reasons for going after them?”
“For my brother, and for Roxy.”
“For revenge,” he said.
“Yes. For revenge.”
“Then no. I will not stop you. You’ll get revenge for misused brothers, or I will.”
“Why haven’t you killed them before now?” Dylan asked.
“I wanted to see if they were salvageable. I was loyal.”
Oooh Dylan knew all brotherly loyalty. He had been lucky that Garret was good.
“Grave and Leech aren’t salvageable,” Dylan assured him, eyes on a pair of trucks that pulled into the parking lot and parked on the other side of Grit’s truck. His Crew?
“I know they aren’t salvageable. Killing them would make me just like them though, wouldn’t it? Just another brother-killer out there? I have the good memories too. The ones from where we were kids and it was the four of us against the world. I don’t know if I could sleep in peace again if I Challenged my own brothers.”
“You’re the reason they’re building up their Crew numbers, aren’t you?”
Grit narrowed his eyes. “They feel the threat, yes. We’ve been on the verge of a war for years. I doubt Grave and Leech admit what they’ve done to their Crew. They are just Turning people and manipulating them into serving them.”
“Very un-Alpha. Look, your family drama is riveting, but I have to figure out a way to take as many of those motherfuckers down as I can. Gotta go.”
“You’ll leave her unprotected,” Grit said.
And Dylan knew he was right. He would. He wouldn’t come back from going against the Grit-Bron Crew. Even if there were only a few of them at the Rabbit Hole, he would have to depend on his weapon being faster than any Change they could pull off. Changed, he wouldn’t stand a chance. He still remembered the way Garret was when his grizzly had wanted to kill him.
