I want to go and get her myself, explain what’s happening, but the decision has already been made and I have to respect it. I’m already pushing my luck and plus, I know Klaus will protect her.
Deator turns to me. “Grab the guys and everyone meet at the deserted road in an hour,” he tells me before he walks out the door and I hear him grumbling into his phone, “Yeah, tell your guys that I have something they want. If they want her, meet us in an hour.”
Hearing the words, I know I have to trust that Deator is making the right call. I get it. If we don’t do this, Penny will never be at peace. None of us will. We’ll always be looking over our shoulders, waiting for them to come for her. But I also can’t help but wonder if I can fully trust Deator. Is he planning this only to try and really sell her? I shake the thought from my head. I won’t let that happen. It will be over my dead body.
I run out of the clubhouse to catch up to Klaus and Johnny before they leave. “Hey.”
Klaus stops as he’s about to get into his truck. “What is it, brother?”
I’m a little more at ease that he’s taking the truck. I couldn’t stomach thinking of Penny on the back of another man’s bike. “I need you to take care of her, Klaus. For me.”
He gives me that young, invincible, carefree look he has. “You got it. No worries.”
No worries? I watch as they pull out of the parking lot and say a little prayer that this plan works.
I gather the guys and we meet up at the old abandoned road. It’s important that I’m lined up with the New Law on the front line where the Eaters are lined up, waiting to see Penny.
When Klaus and Johnny show up with Penny, she won’t look at me. I can see her cheeks are wet and no matter how hard I will her to look at me, she won’t. Instead, Penny’s hard gaze collides with her half-brother, Silver.
He’s almost laughing as he says, “I bet you’re sorry you ran off now, only I’m gonna make sure it’s worse. You’re gonna wish these fuckers killed you by the time we finish with you.”
My fists clench and I want to charge after him right then. But I don’t. I bide my time, knowing that I have to wait until the right moment.
Chapter 12
Penny
I watch as Silver pulls a stack of bills out of a bag and fans it, showing it to Deator. My stomach cramps, knowing what this means. Even the sound of his voice sickens me. “It’s all there. Let’s make a trade.”
Bruin takes a step toward Deator and Silver and finally I look at him. I won’t lie. It hurts what he’s doing to me, to us. I thought I could trust him. I want to turn away. I don’t know if I can watch as he makes the deal. My eyes fall to the ground in front of him and I barely stay on my feet, waiting on the trade, knowing without a doubt what’s going to happen to me when the Eaters get me to their club.
“We’re not here to make a trade,” Bruin tells Silver. “We’re here to let you know that Penny doesn’t belong to you anymore. Penny is under the protection of New Law.”
I gasp, looking up into Bruin’s face, but he isn’t looking at me. He keeps his gaze on Silver until I know he feels my stare and he gives me a small glance and a wink of his eye before he turns his head back to Silver.
Silver’s posture hardens and he stares between Deator and Bruin. “Says who?”
“I do,” Bruin roars. “She’s mine.” I can see the veins of his neck and arms bulging. The force of his roar brings his bear to the edge, and I can see his arms start to extend and his muscles bulge.
Silver looks at me and I know what’s going to happen. He’ll never let me go, not alive anyway. He charges toward me, shifting into his bear as he leaps for me, but Bruin crashes into him before he can reach me and the battle begins. Both clubs shift, but some are attacked before they are able.
Silver’s bear is so ferocious and I hate to even doubt him, but I’m terrified that Bruin isn’t going to win. They are rolling across the ground, equal in strength, each step, hit and roll making the ground shake around me. I stand there, about to shift when I see Zenith, the president of the Eaters, running on all fours straight toward Bruin and Silver.
I break away from Klaus, but his gray grizzly bear is right on my heels. He backs off when I jump into the truck I came in, putting it into gear, slamming on the gas and heading straight for Zenith. I know my bear is no match for Zenith, but there’s no way he can win against a speeding truck. He sees me coming and the last thing I see before contact is his beady little eyes staring me down. I hit him, sending him flying into the air. He hits a tree and is knocked unconscious. Everyone freezes in shock.