Chapter Five

Someone kicked his foot. “Did the wifey lock you out?”

King inhaled sharply and sat up, startled. Looking around, he didn’t recognize the hallway for a few moments. This wasn’t his cell. Where was he?

The familiar face kneeling down near him brought everything back. Wreck.

He groaned and rubbed his eyes, wishing on everything that it would make this stupid headache go away. It was back with a vengeance.

“She isn’t my wifey, and she didn’t kick me out. I volunteered.”

“Seems uncomfortable.”

King draped his arms over his bent knees. “I’ve lived in a cell on a cot with no mattress for three years. This is luxury.”

“Touché. Come on,” Wreck said, standing.

“Where?”

“Wherever I want to take you,” he said without turning around.

King watched him saunter down the hallway. A huge part of him wanted to ignore the asshole, knock on the door, and crash on the floor inside so he would leave him alone. But Wreck was the reason he was here. He’d still be rotting in that prison if it wasn’t for him and his people.

He kicked out of the covers, folded them, opened the door as quietly as he could and placed his bedding just inside, then clicked it closed again.

He didn’t have his jacket or beanie, so the freezing wind that hit his face was miserable. Outside, there was a truck warming up. If it was the dead of winter here, he would’ve had to keep this truck running through the night or risk it not starting this morning, but colder weather was just beginning to kick off here in Alaska. In another couple weeks, there wouldn’t be daylight at all. Already the days were short and the nights very long and it messed with his sense of time. Wreck was climbing behind the wheel, so King got in on the passenger’s side.

Wreck didn’t talk as he drove, but King’s instincts were starting to churn his gut. “I don’t want to get too far from Kat,” he said, his voice grittier than he’d intended.

“Mmm. You can bring her coffee back. Tell your animal it’s a chore to make her happy. I’ve found that helps.”

King glanced over at him, but Wreck didn’t seem to be insulting him or teasing. He cleared his throat, rested his elbow on the windowsill, and placed two fingers on the oh-shit handle. “Have you been mated for long?”

“A few months. Married last month. Things move fast for shifters. She was human in the beginning, so it was intense.”

King nodded. Wreck was interesting. A phoenix falling for a human. That was wild. She’s lucky she was still surviving him. “Are you ever scared you’re going to hurt her?”

“Every day. She says that fear will ease up over time.”

Huh. The Alpha was admitting to fear. Interesting.

“You know, they serve coffee at that convenience store by the hotel,” he said, feeling uneasy about how far they were driving.

The landscape was covered in white from the first-of-the-season snowfall. Wreck pulled to a stop at a sign that told them how far away the town of Coldfoot was. The Prison was past the town, out in the wilderness, but still close enough.

“Are you taking me back to the prison?” King wondered out loud.

“Debating,” Wreck murmured, staring at the sign.

King tensed and swallowed a growl down. “Why?”

“Because our seer doesn’t see you in my Crew. And she’s been right about…well, everything. I watched the footage of you with Katrina though, and you have some good in you. Clearly. But then you did what you did. You did the unforgivable.”

“Unforgivable to you. You should know I don’t lose an ounce of sleep at night. Now ask me if I would do it all over again.”

Wreck just kept looking at the Coldfoot sign, and didn’t say anything.

“Ask me,” King said softer. “Ask me if I would kill my brother and his two dipshit friends again.”

“I already know the answer just from the tone in your voice.” He swung his gaze to King. “Why?”

King scratched the back of his head and looked out the window at a moose that was pawing at the ground on the tree line, beside the road. “The why doesn’t matter.”

“It does to me.”

King didn’t want to revisit it. Didn’t want to talk about this ever again. “I found out my brother hurt a woman in our family group. His friends were there. They didn’t stop it. They thought it was funny. They video taped it and cheered him on. I just happened to find out when we were in town, and the humans saw my reaction.”

“Mmm. Did you know the woman?”

“Yes.”

“Who was she?”

“She was the one my family group wanted me to choose as a mate. She was supposed to be mine.”

“Do you know what happened to her?”

“How would I know that?” King asked somberly. “I went to prison. Why don’t you tell me what happened to her? I bet you already knew all these answers before you asked. You’re a clever one, so why don’t you tell me what happened to Mariah?”

Wreck gripped the steering wheel tighter. “She’s fine. Found a new family group. Found a mate. Had a little baby girl last year.”

King swung his gaze back to the window so the Alpha couldn’t witness his facial expression while he tried to sort out his feelings. He hadn’t loved Mariah, but he had gotten used to the idea that she would be his back then. He’d tried to get to know her. He’d felt protective. Did he feel anger? Hurt? Jealousy? The feeling he settled on the most was…relief. “I’m glad for her.”

“Truth. There’re silverbacks in Damon’s Mountains. Kong. Kirk. Lucas. They’re protective. They don’t have the best control over their animals sometimes, though.”

“Yeah, your phoenix must be way easier to manage.”

“Being a sarcastic asshole won’t get you far with me,” Wreck gritted out.

“I’m not looking for a friendship trophy. I am honestly still trying to figure out what the fuck happened yesterday. If your seer doesn’t see me in your Crew? Okay. I wasn’t trying to escape. I just wanted Kat out of there and safe.”

“Why not want out?”

King shrugged.

“Why not?”

“Dude, it’s fuckin’ early. I haven’t had coffee. I have a splitting headache from your magical-fire bullshit, and I feel too far away from a stranger-woman who shouldn’t mean anything to me, but is fogging up my head completely. Nothing in my world right now makes sense, so if this is some kind of interview for your Crew where you figure out if I’m the right fit, let me save us both some time. I’m not. Before I killed my brother and his friends, I was running my family group into the ground. Mariah barely liked being in the same room as me most days, I was fucking up every bond I had created with the family group, everyone was fighting or distancing, and most were already talking about leaving to find something better than what I could build. It’s supposed to be simple. Silverbacks mature, and if they don’t go rogue, they have an instinct to band a group together and protect them. I couldn’t protect shit. And I really fucking cared about that. I cared. I suffered over every mistake I was making, and it took the first entire year in prison, away from them, to own my part in that downfall. I don’t work well with others. I don’t even know if I want to be a part of your Crew, Wreck. I’ve had about three seconds to think clearly, and if your seer doesn’t see me with you, take her word for it. You’ll probably be better off. I can say I would like to be somewhere near Katrina until I figure out what she is to my animal. I didn’t feel like this for Mariah. Fuck.” He shook his head. It was too much. Too much talking. King rolled his head back and rested it on the headrest, then tracked the slow, graceful movement of the moose trotting across the frozen road in front of them. “I don’t know much right now, except that I couldn’t sleep until I knew Kat was in the hotel safe, and that when you said I could bring her coffee, my damn headache eased up for a few seconds. That’s what I’ve got.”

“Can you mind orders?”

“If it means I don’t have to deal with your fuckin’ fire ever again, sure. You say jump, and I’ll turn into a jackrabbit.”

His deep chuckle surprised King. “What?” he asked.

“One of the shifters we broke out yesterday is a rabbit.”

King snorted. “How is that going to help you if somebody decides to declare war on you again? What’s he gonna do? Run away? Pass.”

“What do you think about Reed?”

“Which one’s Reed?”

“Tall. Weird eyes.”

“Undecided. He’s big, I can feel it. He isn’t mouthy. More of a watcher. I can say I think he was looking out for Kat while she was at the bar last night. I think he’s been around silverbacks before. No red flags on him.”

“Any red flags on any of the others?”

“Why don’t you consult the million cameras you have set up all over town.”

“I’m consulting you.”

King narrowed his eyes at the Alpha. “Okay. There was one who called Kat a breeder at the convenience store last night. And then he called her a bitch.”

“What did he look like?”

“Five-eleven, stocky. Longer hair. Smelled like fur. Middle of the road dominance.”

“Tag. You don’t like him?”

“He doesn’t bother me so much. Or he won’t after I pummel him for calling her names. He’s mouthy, but he backed away enough when she snapped at him. It was his friend I was watching. He clenched his fists up when she defended herself, and his eyes went straight silver, and he took a step toward her, like he was thinking about hitting her. Smelled like absolute fury. Tall, lanky, had a yellow-and-black flannel.”

“Roy.” Wreck lifted his chin higher into the air. “I’ll go back and watch the tape on what happened. That’s interesting.”

“I thought so too. If I had to choose a Crew around women, that one would be the first to go. He didn’t say a word, but he didn’t have to. That one’s trouble.”

“That one’s the rabbit.”

“Double-pass then,” King voted.

“Anyone else?” Wreck asked.

“Why are you asking me? I just told you I don’t regret killing who I killed, and that I probably belong back in that prison, and that you should listen to your seer.”

“Yeah, and that honesty is rare. You haven’t had a single false note in your voice this whole time. I like it. You can stay another day,” he said, pulling a U-turn in his truck. “I’ll probably take you back to the prison tomorrow.”

“I don’t understand why the police haven’t stormed the town and picked all of us up. We aren’t even that far away.”

Wreck straightened the wheel and headed back for Deadhorse. “Probably because they don’t realize there are any prisoners missing. Your records were deleted from all systems, and all of the guards have been arrested and are being charged with a slew of things that are probably very distracting for them. That entire administration has the blue dragon so far up its ass, they aren’t going to worry about a few escapees they don’t even have records on anymore.”

“The Jackal will be telling anyone who will listen that I’m not there.”

“The Jackal is crazy,” Wreck said simply. “Everyone in that place knows it.”

“Chhh, I know it personally. I’m also pretty sure the Jackal is the father of that croc shifter’s baby, just so you are aware. She was assigned to him. Poor woman.”

“Mmm, she will be just fine. Do you know what she did to go to prison?”

“No.”

“She’s meaner than you.”

King checked Wreck’s face to see if he was joking, but nope. The Alpha looked completely serious. Okay then. Good. That croc would have to be tough to raise a jackal baby. “Good. If you’re asking opinions, I like her for the Crew then. She and Kat seem to get along. If your seer doesn’t see me around, I wouldn’t mind a croc protecting her.”

“I’m not building a Crew around Kat,” Wreck said low.

“I don’t expect you to. You are asking my opinion, and my motive is Kat.”

“People always know where they stand with you, don’t they?” Wreck asked.

“Only if I hate them. If I like them, they will likely just be confused on if I like them or not.”

Wreck laughed softly, and pulled in front of the hotel’s side-entrance. “Go get Roy. Room 105. Bring him out, and then you can go get your woman a coffee.”

He considered correcting Wreck about Kat being his woman, but decided it was a waste of breath. She’d already told everyone they were paired. “Fine. If Roy asks who ratted him out though, you be sure to tell him it was me.” King smiled. “I haven’t had a good fight since yesterday.”

He could hear Wreck’s laugh from the truck as he strode inside the hotel. The phoenix had a sense of humor. King gave a private smile as he yanked the door open. That was unexpected.

He knocked on room 105, and then knocked harder when there was no answer.

“Fuck off,” came the response from inside.

“Wreck wants to see you,” King told him at normal volume, assuming he had the good shifter hearing.

The door swung open. “Well, you can tell Wreck to go fuck himself—Aack!”

King tightened his grip around Roy’s throat and dragged him down the hallway. One thing about gorilla shifters—if a silverback got his fist around any body parts, the massive grip strength said he would only release when he was good and ready.

Roy hit at his arms in desperation, making choking sounds as King dragged him through the doorway and out into the snow. He opened the passenger door and shoved him inside, and only then did he release his throat.

He offered an empty smile to Roy, and then to Wreck, who was grinning like the violence amused him.

“Water,” Wreck said simply as King prepared to slam the truck door.

“What?”

“For the headache. I hear that is the only thing that helps.”

“Yeah, Kat told me the same thing. You gonna kill every potential Crewmember?”

“If they piss me off enough. And besides, you remember what happened. You went on the attack. I was just protecting the Fastlanders.”

“Yeah, don’t pretend you didn’t enjoy losing your shit on me.”

“It was pretty fun. Lots of water.”

“Thanks a lot,” King muttered as he closed the door and headed across the street.

Wreck had talked to him about the Crew, but he’d been honest when he said he really didn’t know if he even wanted to be in a Crew with Wreck as the Alpha. His Crew would likely have a short expiration date, and he needed to decide on the least worst prison—Cold Foot, or Wreck’s new Crew.