Page 100 of Never Tamed
I place my hand gently over Flora’s arm and squeeze it once. “Don’t worry. We’ll come back.”
She wraps her arm around my neck, and since she’s much shorter than me, pulls me down for a hug. I squeeze my eyes shut and breathe in her scent. It’s homey and soothes all my fears.
“Kick Andras’s ass,” she whispers with her lips pressed against my ear. “For me. Gut that son of a bitch.”
I stifle my own laughter. “I promise.”
And as I watch her leave the cabin, baby in her arms, I know it’s a promise I’ll definitely be keeping.
Chapter 25
Noble
Hendrickson rolls another barrel by, and my heart lodges in the back of my throat. We need things to go boom in a big fucking way, and we need to do it in a hurry.
This is the best way. Ren’s plan is the best way and it doesn’t matter what logic says. Fear’s taken up permanent residence inside me. It’s a physical ache in my bones, down to the marrow, and doesn't leave no matter how many steps forward we take.
She’s using herself as bait, and I’m the only thing that’s going to keep her safe once Andras gives chase.
Fuck me.
“Grab more,” I order Hendrickson.
He straightens and nods before bolting off to grab another barrel. Our small team maneuvers them into a line, a blockade of aged oak and gut rot liquor.
The rest of our men are setting up a trap in the woods and along the sewer lines to make sure our prey runs exactly where we want them to.
Hendrickson is one of the only men I’ve got teamed with. Or maybe he’s the only one I recognize when my vision goes blurry.
The team I used to command, the one I used to head as the beta of the Steel Claws, is fractured.
“What do you need me to do?”
Ren’s voice scatters the rest of my sanity, and I drag my attention away from the group of random ass people from the pack helping us. Then blink to make sure the stink isn’t making my mind play tricks on me.
“Baby, you’re supposed to be waiting,” I tell her with a tense smile.
“Waiting where?” She moves to help one of the wolves roll a barrel into place. “You need me.”
She’s got a point there. “Somewhere safe,” I clarify. “Until the explosion. Then we run.”
Somewhere that isn’t right in the middle of the action when things go fiery.
Ren smiles ruefully at me and places her hand on my shoulder. Warmth spirals through me and helps thaw the ice I hadn’t realized encased my heart.
“I’m fine,” she whispers. “I’m here with you, right where I need to be. Nothing is going to happen to me. Not when we’re together.”
Through the bond, she’s aware of the thread of terror stringing my muscles together. It’s a nameless dread hounding me day and night, and if I push for a reason, I swear something awful is going to happen to her.
My mate. The gift I hadn’t realized I was missing in this life.
Nothing has turned out the way I thought it would. Nothing has happened like the plan I’d carefully crafted as a child and was halfway through executing when Torin called me back into the fold. I’d love to say things are better now than anything I could have dreamed, but we have to make it through this first.
My hands twitch as I survey the line of barrels that will serve as our red flag in front of the rabid bull.
Hendrickson and several other wolves from both packs roll more barrels into the blockade and bend at the knees to stack them.
“You think the fuse is going to work?” Ren asks, worrying her lower lip.
