“Let’s go, boss!” Sam shouted from inside the building.
The three of us raced through the bar.
“Don’t come back, now!” the bartender said meekly from the back corner.
I turned and took a step toward him. “If I hear you open your mouth about our role in this or say anything to the cops, I’ll come back and gut you myself.”
They’d wipe his memory, but it was deeply satisfying to see him start trembling.
I followed Savy and Sam through the broken front door. Our bikes were still outside and in one piece.
Savannah wiped her eyes and started fiddling with her helmet. I could feel her strangled sense of despair pulsing through me, a deep melancholy that was not my own. “Are you okay?”
“Not really. I messed that guy up pretty good. If you hadn’t stopped me…” She looked away, in the direction of the approaching cop cars.
I reached out and brushed away a tear, then gently traced the bruise on her cheek. “Don’t cry for that prick. He and his friends were planning to abduct you and drain you dry. Do you think you’re the first girl he’s hurt to get what he wants? Harlow knew him by name, and she’s got a dossier on him. The beating you gave him—he probably deserved worse.”
She pulled away and tugged her helmet on, concealing her face. “And I’ve done worse, Jaxson—I’ve killed people, for heaven’s sake. But today—that wasn’t me, and it wasn’t my wolf. I was so angry. For a moment, I was just…somebody else. I’m becoming something I’m not. A monster.”
I grabbed her by her shoulder and spun her toward me. “No. You’re a wolf, and you’re fighting to survive. You’re not alone, Savannah. You’re part of a pack. We all wrestle with our beasts, but I swear, you are not a monster.” I let my presence wrap around her, soothing her emotions.
There was so much more I wanted to say, but the sirens were almost on us. I glanced down the road as my fists clenched in frustration. “Fuck. We’ve got to go.”
Sam gunned her Harley and rumbled out of the lot. I swung my leg over my bike, and Savy hopped up behind, just like I’d taught her. She wrapped her arms around me and squeezed tightly. Her magic and signature flowed through me, and although I could sense her despair, for one second, in a bloody fucked-up day, everything was all right.
I fired up my bike, and with Savannah pressed close against my back, we rumbled out onto the open road.