Page 25 of Crush's Fall

“You’re so fucking pretty when you’re pissed off, Kitten.”

Crush flipped him off, only succeeding in making him laugh harder.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

A week later… Crush

Harlow,giventheOl’Lady name Butterfly by Bullet, had left the compound with the intention of keeping Bullet and his family safe from her stalking, violent, child-killing, drug-dealing, and sex-trafficking husband, which sent the Howlers and the Claws into a panic. They could handle her ex, but they didn’t like the idea of her being out on her own with the fucker tracking her. Not to mention the fact that Bullet would lose his motherfucking mind if anything happened to his mate.

After she left the compound, she was kidnapped by a hired gunman, who had been instructed to bring her to an old farmhouse outside of town. Thanks to Keys, the Howlers resident tech genius, they were able to track her down. By the time they got there, Butterfly had already put her stiletto through her husband’s eye… literally.

Apparently, she had tried running, but one of her husband’s goons had grabbed her by the hair to pull her back. That was when Bullet and Dragon stormed the place in their animal forms. Crush could only imagine the reaction of the goons when they were faced with a pissed off wolf and a tiger there to save his mate.

Crush wasn’t sitting in Axle’s office to get the rundown on that. She already heard the details of the actual fight in the farmhouse as the men chatted about it when they returned. No, she was there to get details about the encounter Axle had outside after the fight was done.

Something about there being actual fucking gods who had champions they’d send out in the world to do whatever the fuck, and Axle actually met one of them.

As the Howlers were getting ready to leave the farmhouse, a group of approximately a dozen people walked out of the tree line in the back and over to the Howlers. One of them introduced herself as a woman named Lira.

Axle shook her hand and swore that when he did, he was transported to another dimension or something, where he met the God of Balance.

Crush was skeptical about the whole thing, but Axle wouldn’t lie to her. She trusted his word and his judgment, so she was going with his lead on this.

There were gods, and the shifters were connected to them in some off-the-wall way? Who fucking knew? She shouldn’t be surprised that somethingotherwas involved. Shifters could change into animals with no logical or scientific explanation as to how or why. Why wouldn’t gods and magic be involved? Yeah, she was going with Axle’s gut on this one.

That’s what made the Howlers and the Claws such good allies. While their first priority would always be their own respective clubs, Crush and Axle were good at figuring out how to help each other and trusting each other. It helped that the trust given was never betrayed. They had open communication, even if sometimes he treated the Claws like damsels who needed the protection of the men.

“So, we were made because a demi-god had bad impulse control, and now that demi-god’s siblings want to help keep us a secret?”

Axle gave a nod. “From what I’ve learned from them, the gods think it will end with the humans finding out about us and other creatures I didn’t know existed until now. It isn’t hard to figure out what the humans would do if they found out.”

Apparently, the champions were sent by the God of Balance to help the Howlers and the Claws fight the Hell’s Dogs and the multiple clubs they had pulled together to fight with them on their side. There was also talk about a plan to out the shifters to the world as savage beasts and make them look as dangerous as possible, and that was confirmed by the champions. Something about an anti-shifting drug that caused shifters to go feral if used for too long. When they finally did shift, they would be uncontrollable and lack the restraint of their human side. If the shifters were outed, it was entirely possible for the other creatures to be outed too. It would be a snowball effect. Crush wasn’t sure why she hadn’t put together that there might be more than shifters out there, but it made sense.

Crush relaxed back in the chair across the desk from him. “What other creatures are out there?”

“I didn’t ask for a master list, but vampires and witches were mentioned. I’m going to go on the assumption that anything is possible until I get confirmation that’s wrong.”

“Fuck. Vampires?”

“I can think of a few people on this planet who certainly drain the life out of a room, so I guess it makes sense,” Axle commented dryly.

Crush snorted a laugh. “And now they want to meet with me?”

“Lira and the other champions, yes. I told her I don’t run the Claws, and that you were going to want to make your own decision.”

Crush smiled. “I’m glad you are aware of that. Sometimes you get a little too big for your britches.”

Axle rolled his eyes but smiled. “I never do anything with the intention of taking your power or choices away. It’s always in the name of trying to keep people safe.”

“Yeah, but that’s the thing about freewill. We have the choice to put ourselves in danger if we want to, just like the Howlers.” Then she stood and turned for the door. “Well, I guess we better head out to meet with these champions so I can get a read on them.”

Axle stood and followed her out of his office. There was no way they were inviting the champions to the compound until she and Axle came to a joint decision on how trustworthy they were. So, until then, they would meet with the champions out at the farmhouse.

In the parking lot of the clubhouse, where their vice presidents and sergeant at arms were already waiting, Axle and Crush climbed on their bikes. Once the pipes were roaring, they took off and made the drive out to the farmhouse.

When they arrived, there were four people sitting on the steps that led up to the porch at the front end of the house. As they parked their bikes and cut the engines, Crush looked over the people. Were the champions considered people? She didn’t fucking know.

One was a man with dark hair buzzed tight to his scalp, intense dark blue eyes, and enough toned muscles to let everyone around him know he could hold his own. He had on a navy tee with the sleeves cut off, a pair of gray track pants, and navy sneakers. He was sitting on the step two up from the ground.

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