Page 31 of Cold Foot King
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.