Chapter 10

Let the Fall Games begin!” Sam said loud enough to be heard over chaos in the back of the clubhouse. Over a hundred wolves gathered around bonfires while the grills filled the air with the smell of mouth-watering food. Music played loudly, and a never-ending stream of conversation and beer consumed all of us.

We stood shoulder-to-shoulder in a tight-knit circle, drinks raised and all of us in varying stages of drunkenness. Only Nolan was sober as he hung out behind me with his elbow resting on my shoulder and opting for root beer instead of alcohol. I didn’t blame him.

“Let the—”

“Seriously, starting the fucking party without me?” Cade practically shouted as he threw an arm around Declan’s shoulders and inserted himself into the conversation. Despite having just arrived, the man was already wearing only shorts and a backwards hat shoved over his ashy blond hair.

“Youre here!” Raven exclaimed and clapped with excitement. “Look! Hes here!”

“Im here!” he agreed with that million-dollar smile of his as he winked at me. I adored Cade. He and I had become fast friends when he started crashing at my place while visiting Cedar Harbor. Declan and Raven apparently werent that quiet when it came to their extracurricular activities, and sometimes, he just needed to get away.

“Now, do the Fall Games begin?” Lucas demanded with a laugh. “When do they begin? More people keep showing up!”

“Just keep fucking drinking,” Sam ordered and slapped him on the back hard enough to make Lucas stumble forward.

“To beer!” Finn hollered.

“To beer!” his brothers echoed even louder.

“To root beer,” Nolan added quietly.

“And vodka,” I chimed in.

“I thought you were drinking water,” Sam said. He swiped my bottle from my hand and took a sip. “Did you add vodka to sparkling water?”

“Yeah.” I laughed. Specifically watermelon sparkling water. Okay, it was definitely more vodka than watermelon sparkling water. “I like it.”

“Woman, this is an abomination!” he exclaimed. He shoved his beer in my hand and took another long drink of my vodka. “I’m just going to commandeer this. Make sure you drink the good stuff.”

“Yeah, right,” I scoffed but smiled nonetheless. Sam stealing my fruity drinks was nothing new. He could boast how much he loved beer all he wanted, but I knew the truth.

“So, what do we do now?” Raven asked.

“We drink,” Finn told her.

“And keep drinking,” Lucas agreed.

“Drag your ass to a dark corner—”

“Don’t you fucking finish that sentence!” Sam yelled, hitting Declan upside the head. Thank goodness.

“But I want to hear the rest!” Raven protested.

“That way!” Cade pointed dramatically across the lawn. “We’ll put your asses in timeout that way. Then none of us can hear you.”

“Not if I do my damn job right,” Declan grumbled around his beer bottle. I had to say, for as much as I didn’t want to hear all the things they were up to, I liked seeing him let loose—and it wasn’t just the alcohol.

“Okay, we have fight club tonight, and then we’re drinking all night long,” Lucas announced.

“Most of the night,” he retorted. “I’m old as fuck. I have a bedtime.”

“That’s cool,” Cade said. “I’ll steal your fiancé for the night. We’ll party hard, you old man.”

“Do we have to watch fight club?” I asked. I hated fight club. It was a ridiculous event. I found zero enjoyment in watching men beat each other up.

“I’m fighting,” Lucas announced. “Why not? What have I got to lose?”

“Maybe a few teeth,” Nolan commented dryly, and I giggled.

“I’ll get a few good hits in!” he stated. The loud commentary that flew around our group said otherwise. Lucas shouted, “I’ll get one good hit in damn it!”

“You’re filming.” Sam pointed to Finn before taking Lucas’s beer from him. “And you’re done drinking. If you’re fighting, you’re going in sober.”

“Mostly sober,” he corrected with a goofy grin.

“This is going to end so well,” Nolan whispered over my shoulder. I leaned back into him, glancing up.

“Nemo?” I asked softly. He considered me for a long moment, and I could see the way he debated it before finally shaking his head. Even still, the hesitation was enough to tell me he wasn’t having a good time. “You just tell me, okay?”

“I will.”

“Shut the fuck up, you fuckers!” Cole hollered. Well, that was one way to get everyone’s attention. Drinking had turned into more drinking, which led to more shenanigans—Declan and Cade arm wrestling, Finn and Raven arm wrestling, a dance-off between Finn and Lucas, and Nolan adding hot sauce to everyone’s beer when they weren’t looking. And that was the milder stuff. It’d be a wild week at this rate.

“Whoever ain’t goin’ to shut up gets to fight me!” Alice yelled. Surprisingly, that worked. Granted, Alice was the scariest Stone and wore the title proudly. She smugly grinned at her brother as she sauntered past him, and he flipped off her back.

“Now, I know y’all know the Byrnes and the Ironwoods,” Cole continued. He gestured to where we stood. The entire Stone pack had gathered in a giant circle, but we were crammed near the front where we’d be easily seen. “I also know, a good few of y’all noticed we got a new face here tonight. A fuckin’ Lochlan.”

A collective growl vibrated through the crowd. I glanced at Cade, but he was completely unfazed by it all.

“Shut up!” Alice shouted. “God, y’all are a fuckin’ mess. Let him talk!”

“I don’t need you babysittin’ me,” he told her. “Now, I also know y’all recognize Cade Locke of the fuckin’ White Sox—”

“Go Rockies!” someone yelled.

“Go Cubs!” Declan hollered louder, and Sam lost it. He clung to Nolan’s shoulder, doubling over in laughter. Cade gave both of them the finger—though, he smiled.

“I’d fuckin’ love to finish talkin’, you fuckers,” Cole growled. The sound was backed by the power his wolf had over his pack. It rolled over us, silencing everyone. Even my wolf felt it and retreated slightly. “Now, we know it’s weird havin’ the Lochlans represented, but we’re makin’ moves to mend pack relations. We explained all that shit to you. The first step was our alliance. This right here—the Fall Games—it’s step two. Locke’s goin’ to be makin’ his rounds while he’s here.”

“I’m making rounds like a fucking doctor,” Cade said under his breath.

“Please,” I replied. “I see at least five guys you’d play doctor with if they asked.”

“Save a motorcycle, ride a biker,” he whispered. I snorted into my drink. He cocked a brow. “Ride two bikers? Three? Four? What’s the correct number of bikers to ride before that equation is right?”

“At some point that becomes a fucking train,” Declan pointed out.

“No, if he’s saving a train then he’s fucking a conductor,” Lucas said.

“Or,” Raven began with a widening smile, “you just save a tree and climb a lumberjack.”

“Girl, if I had my own fucking lumberjack, I’d climb him,” Cade retorted.

“Is the peanut gallery fuckin’ done over there?” Cole demanded, glaring at the lot of us.

“Not on your life!” Declan exclaimed. “I’m funny.”

“You’re drunk,” he shot back.

“That’s also true! But I’m a lumberjack.”

“Jesus fuckin’ Christ.” Cole shook his head. “I should’ve started this shit earlier when y’all weren’t so goddamn drunk.”

“Boo!” I joined in the collective and dismissive commentary from the rest of us.

“Wranglin’ y’all is like wranglin’ toddlers,” he snapped. “Now, look. Forget all the other shit I was talkin’ about because none y’all seem to fuckin’ care.”

“I care!” Finn yelled.

“I’ll bury your ass in the fuckin’ desert, Byrne, if you interrupt me one more time,” Cole snarled. At this point, we were all just being obnoxious, but it was the Fall Games after all. “Six months ago, I visited the Ironwoods and joined one of their fight nights. I got my ass kicked.”

“Yeah, you did!” Roan chimed in loudly.

“And from what I hear, y’all were fuckin’ pissed that you missed out! So what do you say we start fight night off with a little rematch between me and the bounty hunter?” he shouted. The excited cheer was deafening.

“Who’s the bounty hunter?” I asked, leaning back into Nolan so he could hear me. He said nothing, only offering me a tight-lipped smile as he glanced to the other side of the big circle. I followed his gaze and wished I hadn’t.

Oh…

The warmth rushed from my body when I saw him move apart from the rest of the crowd, and the air was sucked right out of my lungs.

Killian.

Killian was here.

Nolan said something next to me, but I couldn’t hear him over the rapid pounding of my own heart. My wolf nudged up against my skin, feeding on my desperate need to flee. But I couldn’t. My feet were frozen, and my head spun.

Oh, he looked… different.

The man I stared at wasn’t my Killian. He wasn’t my husband. Dark hair swept across his forehead and matched the thick stubble along his jaw. His body was a sculpted plane of muscles—was that a six-pack? My Killian was soft and warm with a love for lazy Sundays and donuts. This man took care of his body—worked hard to maintain muscles most women dreamed of getting their hands on. Abs, arms, thighs. There wasn’t a single part of him that wasn’t toned, defined, and built to perfection. And the tattoos. Half his chest, ribs, and side were covered in an intricate tattoo depicting rolling waves, rocky shores, and thick trees. It trailed over the curve of his shoulder and covered his entire arm in a beautiful design. He had others—ones I couldn’t quite make out—on his neck, hand, and other forearm.

But those eyes…

The minute his gaze drifted through the crowd and met mine, we collided. My world ended. My heart nearly burst out of my chest, and my wolf begged to take over. I couldn’t breathe. Those deeply midnight eyes stared straight through me, destroying every little barrier and wall I’d worked so hard to build over three years. I felt myself shatter, even as his gaze left mine. He took another drag of his cigarette before passing it off to Roan—unfazed by me. Laughing, joking. At ease.

Did he even care?

“You knew,” I whispered, unable to look at Nolan. His hand tightened on mine, but I pulled away. I didn’t want him touching me. “You knew he’d be here.”

“Ginny—”

“Don’t talk to me,” I snapped. Blinking hard, I forced back the onslaught of tears threatening to wreck me. “Don’t say a word.”

“He didn’t make the decision alone,” Sam told me softly. “We all thought—”

“You thought wrong.” I interrupted. “All of you thought wrong.”

“Ready for round two, old man?” Killian taunted.

“You ain’t winnin’ this time, Byrne,” Cole replied with a grin.

Good God, what was this?

I watched as they threw jokes and jeers back and forth, riling up the crowd. No, I watched Killian. Or the man he’d become. I didn’t recognize this man. His vulgar language, his taunts and comments, his body language. Even the way he held himself was all different. I struggled to reconcile this man with the man I’d married.

I gasped, the air catching in my throat, as Cole threw the first punch and hit Killian in the jaw. But that grin. That wicked, entertained grin as he spit out blood was so telling.

“You know, we timed it last time,” Killian said loudly. “It took me forty-five seconds to put you on your fucking ass last time. Who wants to make a bet I can do it faster this time?”

The crowd drowned out anything else he had to say. Not that I wanted to hear anyway. My heart hammered erratically as I watched them go at it. Seconds. Minutes. Who really knew?

It felt like a lifetime.

A horrible, stretching lifetime where Killian held nothing back as he kicked Cole’s ass, making him bleed and making him tap out.

I couldn’t.

I couldn’t be here.

I couldn’t watch him as he riled up the crowd.

As he fought.

As he enjoyed hurting other people in the name of entertainment.

My stomach rolled violently and pushed against the back of my throat at that thought. Who was this man? I couldn’t understand how he’d turned into… this.

Stepping back in slow steps, I disappeared into the crowd, ignoring anything anyone said. All I wanted was to get out of there.