Lou.
The failure.
The weak link.
The traitor.
He looked me up and down frowning for a bit until realization hit him. “You’re their ringer. Wraith. The guy who took out a bunch of Rogues singlehandedly.”
I didn’t have time for small talk. Something wasn’t right here and I needed answers ASAP.
“What are you doing here?”
“This is my home.”
“That stopped being true the second you betrayed the club.”
He jerked forward, yelling wildly, “They were gonna kill me! Real fucking slowly! Torturously! I had no choice!
Weak men made excuses. “You put Ashley in danger, led them right to her.”
“That’s why I’m here, why I escaped them, to make up for that.” He scrubbed his hand over his face in distress. “He’s trying to help me out, but I can’t let him do this, I can’t. She doesn’t deserve it.”
I tensed. “Who?”
Pain flashed on his face as he admitted, “Ashley.”
“I got here as soon as I could, but I’m too late. It’s already happening. He’s gonna hand her over to Knox.”
Fucking hell.
Adrenaline flooded me, my pulse racing like a freight train as panic took root. Terror gripped me unlike anything I’d ever felt before. The woman I loved was in danger.
Hold it together. I fought to get a grip, to push down my emotions in favor of rationality. Losing it wouldn’t help her. I had to be smart here.
Tears filled Lou’s eyes and he started breaking down. “I’m sorry. I never wanted any of this. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. I’m so sorry.”
“Lou!” I barked. “You want me to stop this, I need details. Right fucking now. Who’s gonna take her?”
When he just continued losing his shit, I lunged at him and fisted my hand in his hoodie. “Tell me! Now!” I roared ferociously.
The crunch of footsteps had me jerking my head up.
Fuck.
Four guys all donning Rogue Riders MC cuts emerged from the thick foliage either side of the dirt road. They were the guys from the surveillance footage Scott had shown us, the ones who’d been fucking with Iron Kings property.
The one I recognized as Wolf led the charge, his gun aimed my way with the other three flanking him.
I met their threat with my Glock and Wolf smirked.
“Nice job,” he told Lou. “That was some Oscar-worthy shit.”
Lou grinned nastily at me, the pain on his face disappearing as he jogged to the guys and made a show at me of wiping away his apparent crocodile tears.
Wolf shook his head at me, tutting. “Yeah, Knox figured as much after the way you reacted during the garage attack. Your head’s so full of biker princess pussy that you ain’t seeing proper. It’s knocked you off your game. You didn’t even know we were watching over there. Real disappointing for a guy with your rep.”
I ignored the personal attack, knowing he wanted to get a rise out of me so I’d slip up and do something stupid. Instead, I ran through possible strategies rapidly for the most effective way out of this ambush without taking significant, or even fatal, damage.
Wolf signaled his guys to surround me.
“The town and the club are heavily fortified. You’ll be cut down before you make it anywhere near the compound.”
Wolf laughed. “Oh, we’re not here for that. After today, Iron Kings will come to us. Then we’ll tear through them all in one shot. The bait's already on its way.” His eyes flashed. “The club princess.”
A snarl tore from me.
The monster clawed at me to unleash it.
I gritted my teeth, my grip white-hot on my weapon.
“We just got one complication to wipe out first.” He glared hard at me. “Did you think we’d let you get away with putting our brothers to ground?” He snapped his fingers and called to his guys, “Kill him. Make it fucking hurt.”
I braced myself, the monster going wild to get out, to damage, tear apart and destroy. It wanted blood. And so did I. With Ashley under threat, in immediate danger, every second I spent delayed by these fuckers stopping me from getting to her fast enough, all bets were off.
A sharp whizzing sounded.
Once. Twice. Three times. All in quick succession.
Lou and two of the enforcers surrounding me slapped their hands to their necks. Darts protruded from their flesh. A second later, their eyes rolled back in their heads and they collapsed onto the road like rag dolls.
Tranqs.
There was only one person I knew who used those.
Wolf freaked, spinning around just as a familiar figure emerged, sprinting down the road toward us.
My relief was short-lived as Wolf took aim at him. Reacting quickly, I lunged at the asshole, executing a lightning fast move to dislodge his weapon from his grip. I snatched it from him, then delivered a brutal roundhouse kick that sent him reeling across the road. He lost his balance and hit the dirt hard, grunting in pain.
Before I could finish him off, the remaining guy ran at me.
Big mistake. The monster was right at the surface.
It ramped up my brutality and as I deflected his fist with ease, I couldn’t leave it there.
I took aim at his kneecap and fired off a close-range shot, blowing it to bits. He shrieked in pain, hitting the ground and writhing wildly.
A boot smashed into his temple, knocking him out cold and putting an end to the screaming.
I looked up to see my old friend standing over him.
“Jesse,” I breathed.
He grinned, shoving his dark, curly hair out of his face. “Figured you could use a hand.”
“How did you know?”
“I’ve been tracking their movements while I’ve been gathering the intel you asked for. You know I always go above and beyond.”
I smiled. “Thanks.”
I looked back at the fallen guys sprawled out all over the road. One was missing. A flash of movement through the brush caught my eye. Fuck. “Wolf’s on the move.”
“I’ve got this, head after him.” He smiled. “Save your girl.”
I slapped the shoulder of his tactical jacket, a knowing look passing between us.
I ran
