Page 346 of His Hungry Wolf

“Maybe. I don’t know. But I think I know where he is. It was somewhere he took me when I was visiting your place.”

“Cage has been looking everywhere there. He’s been asking everyone.”

“It’s not in town. I’ll tell you how to get there. But, before I do, I need you to do something. It’s important. It’s a matter of life and death.”

Chapter 12

Nero

I sat in my truck staring at the lake in front of me. It stared back unchanging. I had been here all night. Yet, I was no closer to deciding where I was going or what I was doing next.

The first time I was here, things had quickly become clear. What I had to do was protect Mama. That meant that I had to return and become the person I did.

What about now? There was no one I had to return for. I had betrayed Kendall and he had watched me do it. I got to see how much it had hurt him. I had thought that football could be enough for me. It isn’t. Yet, it was now all I had.

How could my life have turned out like this? It was just a few weeks ago that I thought I had it all. But realizing that no one ever wanted me, I saw just how much of a lie that was.

I had nothing and no one. I didn’t know what was holding me back from ending it all. Starting the truck and staring the lake down in one last battle of wills, I was about to shift the truck into drive when something in my periphery moved.

My eyes flashed up to the rearview mirror. There was a truck approaching. I recognized it. It was Cage’s. What was he doing here?

Before I had time to think about it, another truck appeared behind it. It was Titus’s. Behind that were trucks I recognized from around town.

What the hell was going on? Of all of the places in the world, why were they here? Why now?

Turning off my engine, I got out and watched them park. Cage was the first to get out of his truck and race to me.

“Nero, we found you. We were so worried. Why the hell didn’t you answer your phone? We didn’t know what to think,” he told me before throwing his arms around me locking me into a hug.

“I…” I stammered.

Before I could answer, Titus joined us. It was a relief to see that I hadn’t killed him. Although his shifting hadn’t completely healed the marks I had left on his neck.

I lost my strength reminded of what I had done. I really was the ultimate fucked up mistake. Look what I had done to my friend. I didn’t deserve to live.

“Nero!” Quin said joining his boyfriend hugging me. “We’re so happy you’re safe.”

Titus didn’t get as close. Neither did Dr. Sonya’s son Cali, or Claude, one of the football players from my high school team. None of the two dozen familiar faces who poured out of their truck did.

The funny thing was that everyone one there was a wolf shifter who had been on Cage’s run. I pulled away and watched them arrive when I realized it.

“I don’t get it. Why is everyone here?”

Cage and Quin stared at me.

“Because we were worried about you, Bro.”

I had a hard time processing that. And, even if that were true,

“Cali, why are you here?”

The kid turned bright red after I put him on the spot. It wasn’t an accident. I was trying to scare him off. Once he backed away maybe the rest would follow. But he didn’t. And after a big swallow, he found the courage to speak.

“Like he said. We were worried about you. And you’re a member of our pack.”

I looked at Cage for an explanation.

“We knew you were going through something and everyone’s here to help.”