Page 20 of Midnight Hunt
“Do you think Vi could be right?” Jagger asked Kolton. “Are they trying to kidnap pack members as a way to challenge you?”
“Only if they’re cowards,” Kolton replied, his clipped tone barely concealing his rage. “Now that we know the males are on pack land, I want to organize a search. Better yet, I want a bounty on their heads. Dead or alive—preferably dead.”
Whiskey howled with satisfaction, but I swallowed the sound to say, “I’ll organize the search.”
“No, Jagger can do that,” Kolton replied, glancing at me again in the mirror. “I need you to keep an eye on the females, especially Vi. She won’t be happy when I announce to the pack that no females should be out alone until this is resolved.”
I hiked up both eyebrows. “You’re right. She’s going to hate that.”
“I know, but these bastards are serious, so we should be too.”
“I agree, but we’ve finally settled into a sense of normalcy after everything that happened last year. This will be a hard pill to swallow, especially for Vi since she’s been traveling so much lately.”
Kolton flicked another glance at me. “Can you handle it?”
I immediately knew what he meant. Vi was a force to be reckoned with when she didn’t agree with something, but he wasn’t referring to that. He was referring to our history, theclosenesswe once shared. Not just as friends, but as lovers. I hardly ever talked about those moments with my best friend, but he knew how I felt about his sister. How Istillfelt about her. Probably more than I wanted him to.
“Of course I can handle it,” I drawled, then added with a small smirk, “I just don’t know ifshecan.”
Both Kolton and Jagger shook their heads at my hubris but thankfully didn’t call me out on it. Minutes later, we were pulling into the estate’s roundabout, prepared to break the news to the females in the household. When I walked through the front door still naked and carrying Vi wrapped in a blanket, several voices bombarded me all at once.
“Is thatblood?” seven-year-old Melanie blurted, looking more intrigued than concerned.
“Oh, my poor girl,” Mrs. Rivers whispered, placing a hand over her mouth.
“What happened?” Nora and Brielle asked in unison, their hands empty of babies for once. Must be nap time.
“This,” Jagger replied, holding up the silver trap now carefully wrapped in a blanket.
The females stared at it in horror. Well, except Mellie, whose amber eyes were wide with fascination.
“We’ll explain everything,” Kolton said, coming in last and shutting the door, “but Vi still needs time to heal. While she’s sleeping, we’ll fill you in on what happened and what we plan to do about it.”
Knowing I couldn’t hold Vi forever, even if I wanted to, I made for her bedroom on the third floor. As I entered her private domain decorated in varying shades of purple, I paused to drink in the air saturated with her scent. This was the first time I’d been in her room since the house had been rebuilt, and I took a moment to scan the space. The family photos that had been on her vanity when the house burned down couldn’t be salvaged, but she’d printed new ones and reframed them. Among the photos were newly-added pictures of Nora, Luca, Lillian, and even Brielle. There was also an updated portrait of her mom.
I moved closer as one photo in particular caught my eye. It was a candid picture of me and Vi, taken at least a decade ago. She was riding on me piggyback style, and our faces were alight with laughter. Recalling the memory, a lump formed in my throat. That had been the morning of her thirteenth birthday. I’d showed up early and surprised her with a gift before driving her to school. She’d felt so grown up in the new outfit and shoes I’d bought her, and Mrs. Rivers had snapped a picture of us on our way out the door.
She’d been my best friend’s little sister to me back then. The girl who was slowly becoming a young woman, trading in her torn overalls for designer jeans and her pigtails for chic bangs.
We’d been so innocent back then. So carefree. Little did we know that tragedy would strike only three years later, and that our friendship would become something more. Something . . .
Shaking off the memories, I finished scanning the row of framed photos, then froze. Everyone important in Vi’s life was displayed on her vanity. Everyone but one. There wasn’t a single photo of Reid.
She suddenly stirred in my arms, and I glanced down just as she buried her face in my chest and released a sigh, one that seeped into my bare skin to warm my insides. Loath to let her go, I took my time crossing the room to place her on the bed. The second I finally released her, she curled up on her side with the blanket tightly tucked under her chin. Smiling at the sight, I hesitated for a solid minute, then bent over and brushed my lips across her cheek.
Forcing myself not to linger, I straightened before she could notice and slowly backed away.
Forbidden. She wasforbidden.
I’d told myself over and over today that every touch and stolen glance had been innocent, but I was treading a dangerous line, one I had no business crossing.
Vi was with someone else, and she needed space to be with him. All that would come of getting close to her was the harsh reminder that she only saw me as a friend. Once upon a time, she’d needed me to be more than that, but those days were over now.
If I didn’t accept that, I wouldn’t just be hurting myself.
I would be hurting her too.
7
