2
Mercy
All four ofthe guys gave me matching looks of muted horror. Their gazes burned into me, but I tuned them out, focusing only on the man who held the power of life and death over everyone in this room.
“Thank you for everything the Nobles have done for me,” I said, nodding to Ezra. Not that he’d done all that much for me—but he’d like to think I believed he had.
Without another word, I strode out of the room. I only had an hour to figure out where the hell I was going from here, and I suspected the clock was already ticking.
Kaige caught up to me in the hall. He grabbed me by my elbow and whirled me around so I was facing him. “What were you thinking?”
“Ezra was going to kick me out anyway,” I said, meeting his furious gaze head on. “Might as well leave with my dignity.”
Gideon stalked up behind the bigger guy. “Is that what it was about? We wouldn’t have let him run you off.”
“Really?” I said, keeping my voice low. “And how would you have stopped the head of all the Nobles?”
Rowan joined us just as I finished speaking. He grimaced. “We could have tried to speak up for you more. There’s a psychopath on the loose out there, and he’s already made you a target. We don’t want you adrift on the streets.”
“I know.” I didn’t want to be out there either. But— “Ezra had made up his mind. I could see it. The only thing arguing about it would have done is cause more tensions between all of you and him when everyone in the Nobles should be tackling the Xavier problem. If you deal with him, then you won’t need to worry about me, right?”
Rowan gave me a look that seemed to say he’d worry about me regardless. I didn’t know what to make of it. There was so much history between us, good and bad, and even now that I knew and understood why he’d taken off on me years ago, I still couldn’t say exactly where we stood.
But it was Kaige who spoke first. “I’ll come with you.”
I raised my eyebrows at him. “Don’t be ridiculous. This is your home. You belong here with these guys and Wylder.” Who was conspicuously absent from this conversation. Probably trying to keep the heat off of me by hiding how much he cared, but somehow it stung a little anyway.
“And so do you,” Kaige said fiercely.
“Yes, you do,” Rowan added. “Even if my behavior at first suggested otherwise.”
“We were wrong,” Gideon said matter-of-factly. “And after what we went through with Colt, you’re undeniably one of us.”
Unexpected tears pricked at the back of my eyes. Just weeks ago, I’d lost my entire family. Somehow I’d found another one in the last place I’d ever thought I would.
But to make sure I didn’t lose them too… I had to leave them.
“Thank you,” I said. “Maybe when Xavier is taken care of, we can convince Ezra of that too. For now, I’d better get packing.”
“Wylder will find a way to fix this,” Kaige insisted, but I could see from the flicker of doubt in his eyes that he didn’t totally believe it either.
* * *
When I reached my room, I was reminded all over again of how little I had here other than the guys. A few changes of clothes, bought used and roughed up over my time here. A handful of origami figures I’d made out of scraps of paper that weren’t important enough to bring with me anyway. Some basic toiletries.
I touched my pocket, tracing the outline of the bracelet my mom had given me for my sixth birthday—just a few months before she’d disappeared from my life. I still had that. I was alive; I’d gotten my revenge on the man who’d taken so much else from me. Things could be worse.
I was stuffing my clothes into a backpack when the door swung open. Wylder strode inside and kicked it shut behind him. One look at his stormy expression told me that if he’d tried to talk his father down, it definitely hadn’t worked.
It was easier to make light of the situation than admit how twisted up I felt inside. “Well, you must be happy,” I said breezily. “You’ve been trying to terrorize me out of your house for ages, and now you’re finally getting rid of me.”
Wylder’s green eyes darkened even more. He walked right up to me, hooking his fingers into the belt loops of my jeans and pulling me towards him. The musky smell of him, laced with a hint of the aged whiskey he liked so much, washed over me, and my pussy clenched. I had to hold myself back from swaying even closer.
“You know that’s not true,” he said.
An eager shiver traveled down my spine. “Isn’t it?” I challenged.
“We’ve talked about why I pushed you away before. And it sure as hell wasn’t ever because I didn’t want you.” He dipped his head, letting his breath spill hot down the side of my face. “You belong here with me and my men. You’re one of us now.”