Page 19 of Renegade Queen

I would have expected Arlow’s laughter at this point, even if it was just from sheer disbelief. But he stayed eerily quiet as his eyes drifted from Alyssa to each of the three men standing around her.

I was blatantly aware that this could go either way. We were either looking at a bloodbath or an angry brush-off that would definitely bite us in the ass later. Either way, blood was definitely going to be shed.

“Why?” Arlow asked, squinting at us suspiciously.

I saw Alyssa tense, it wasn’t obvious, but I’d spent ten years watching her every move, and I could read her like a book now. This was information she didn’t want to part with.

“We need to be able to get into Nymeria and get my brother out,” Maddox blurted out.

Alyssa slumped back into her seat as her breath rushed out of her. There was no getting around this, and thinking we wouldn’t have to explain ourselves was probably naive. Maybe we owed them an explanation because what we asked was no small thing.

Arlow stared at us all intently, content to wait us out.

“I’m taking them into Nymeria,” Alyssa finally admitted, shifting in her seat like she was fighting the need to run just from the mere mention of the place.

I watched Arlow so intently that I’d missed the rest of the MC heading into the garage. Only when he shouted across to two of them did I realise they were all listening too.

“Kellen, Silas, over here.”

I knew the two of them; they’d been around the garage long enough that I knew nearly all the MC members by name, especially when they were the club’s vice president and treasurer. But it was obvious from looking at Kellen that he was fae. He had the otherworldly beauty that Alyssa did, not that I had the same feelings for him. But you could feel the brush of magic when he was near, even if it was so much fainter than Alyssa felt to me.

“Opinions?” Arlow asked.

Kellen glared at Alyssa as he weighed the facts, and I stepped forward without thinking. If I had to, I’d take on the whole MC. They’d fight back, but they’d be nothing against a berserker. My bear would tear them to shreds, even if it ended with us following closely behind. Nothing would touch Alyssa while I was standing at her side.

“Do it,” Kellen suddenly said.

Even Alyssa looked shocked by the declaration.

Kellen looked around the group of us again before finally settling on Alyssa. The problem was he looked too interested in her for someone apparently on our side.

“You know what this means, right?”

Alyssa glared at him and nodded. I had no idea what he was talking about, but what worried me more was that I had no idea what she’d just agreed to.

Arlow stepped forward, the shit-eating grin on his face clearly making our army boys nervous. “You know what taking the bite means?” he asked them.

“It’s going to change us,” Maddox answered.

“Your life as a human dies today. When you become one of us, you’re agreeing to live by our rules. Living forever has its cost. Telling our secrets, being too fucking noisy about what you can do, gets you killed. And we won’t make it quick. Breaking the rules has bloody consequences, and we don’t give you the chance of a trial, if you get what I mean.”

“We talk, we die,” Dean drolled. “It’s not exactly difficult.”

“You’re going to need a pack,” Arlow added without pulling him up on his attitude. “And you aren’t going to be welcome in mine. Finn, sure as shit, isn’t going to take you either. But I suppose that doesn’t matter. Most trips into Nymeria are one way only, and I doubt even our pretty, little Alyssa can get all of you back to this side.”

I hated the fact that he had a point. I’d never heard of someone coming back, but honestly, I’d never heard of anyone wanting to go through either. Nymeria was that nightmare place that put the fear of god into shifter children and adults alike.

It was probably insanity that I was encouraging the woman I loved to return there, but she needed this. And I was fully prepared to give my life to make sure she came back here if that was what she wanted to do.

“Don’t fucking talk about her like that,” Dean growled, stepping forward and grabbing the MC president by the shirt.

It wasn’t the smartest thing he’d ever done, and I didn’t even have time to intercede before Arlow grinned and said. “I’m going to enjoy this so fucking much.”

His teeth were embedded in Dean’s shoulder before anyone could do anything. But this was what we wanted, right?

Dean shouted out, more from shock than anything. By the time Arlow moved away from him and released his grip on his throat, the venom was already moving through Dean’s system. He dropped to his knees and then slumped to the ground.

The other two were moving, no doubt about to try and help their friend, so they didn’t see the shifters moving behind them. Silas was on Maddox before he could even react. Ryder spun, moving to intercept, and Arlow grabbed him from behind before he could do anything.