Page 16 of Renegade Queen

“Look, we’re one step closer to the goal here. Clearly, you’re planning on helping us out with Damon. And we appreciate it. Now we just need to figure out what it will take for us to come with you,” Maddox reasoned.

“I understand why you want to go, but you can’t change the fact that you’re human and being human in Nymeria is the same as being dead.” I looked around the three of them to ensure they understood the point. This wasn’t a game.

“That should be our decision to make,” Dean all but screamed at me. “Damon is our brother. We deserve the chance to save him. You’ll never understand what he’s done for us and what we owe him. It’s our risk and our choice.”

Tank sighed and moved to the living room, slumping into the free armchair. His hands gripped the arms as he stared the three others down. I knew exactly where his mind had gone, and if I was standing closer, I’d have kicked him. It wasn’t the answer, it would change their lives forever, and they were in no state of mind to be able to make a reasoned decision right now.

“You’re missing the point of what she’s saying.” I knew he was going to do it, and yet I was still surprised. Even so, this was a secret that could get him killed for spilling it, and whilst I was willing to help these three, that didn’t mean I was willing to risk his life on trusting them.

The three others were staring at him intently now. Tank had offered them a grain of hope, and they were clinging to it.

“Just because your sleuth has moved on, Tank, doesn’t mean you won’t face retribution for spilling this secret,” I warned him.

He locked eyes with me, and I knew the warning wouldn’t stop him. But I also knew it wasn’t something I was willing to let him chance.

“Look, we appreciate everything you’re doing for us, and you can trust us that we will keep your secrets. We know we’re asking a lot, but please; if there’s a chance to save my brother, I need to do it,” Maddox pleaded.

When he hit me with those sad, watery blue eyes, it was impossible to deny him.

“You can’t go as a human, but that doesn’t mean you can’t go as something else,” I told them.

“You told the general that it wasn’t possible to become fae,” Maddox pointed out.

“But we could become shifters,” Dean realised. “That’s what you told me last night, right?”

Maddox and Ryder looked between Dean and me, and I could see the questions brewing behind their eyes. I had no intention of explaining things to them; leaving them wondering was far more fun.

“It’s possible,” I admitted. “But it’s not easy. It’s excruciating and riding on us finding a shifter willing to turn you.”

The three turned to look at Tank, and he just laughed at the implication.

“Yeah, it’s not going to be me.” He laughed again like it was the funniest thing he’d ever heard.

“I’m finding it hard to see the joke here,” Dean snarked.

Tank stood from his seat, stretching to his full height as he looked down at the three men before him. I could almost see the bear posturing behind his eyes. He made an intimidating sight when you took him all in like this. Not only did he nearly hit 7 feet tall, but with his broad frame and the muscles that lined him, it made him appear like the proverbial Tank he was named after.

“You could never contain a bear in those bodies,” he told them.

I could see the three of them getting ready to argue. After all, it sounded like an insult. It was, however, the truth. Every bear shifter I’d ever met looked like Tank, albeit not quite as pretty. But maybe I was biased. I’d also never heard of a human successfully being turned into a bear shifter. It was never talked about, but I suspected what Tank was trying to say was true. There was no way their human bodies could live through that sort of change.

Ryder was the first to swear as he saw the issue. “So what you’re saying is we’re going to have to ask that douchebag alpha to help us when he already hates us.”

He was right that there was no way Finn would help. He’d made his stance clear last night. But he wasn’t the only shifter in town.

“There’s another MC we could ask.” Even just suggesting it made me cringe.

I drained the beer in my hand as the dread of our situation settled in. This was definitely not how I’d seen this day going.

Tank strode over to the refrigerator, opened the door and pulled out two beers. He twisted the tops off, passing one to me before taking a drink from his own.

“They’re in town,” he told me.

“Of course they are. They’re always here when I don’t want them to be.” I was sulking now; I knew I was.

The fact of the matter was that I didn’t want to have to ask Arlow for a favour because he’d enjoy it way too much. Not to mention, I had no idea if he’d say yes, but he’d still hold it over me for the rest of my life. He was a bitch-ass guy like that.

“What are we missing?” Dean asked.