by Paige Tyler
Leaning the broom against the wall by the door, he walked out, casting nervous glances at the men standing in the hall before turning right and disappearing out of sight.
“Ernesto, is something wrong?” she asked as he closed the door, leaving his two companions outside. “Because you’re acting all kinds of freaky.”
Her friend ignored her question as he moved over to look out the windows, something that was a lot easier to do now that there weren’t any blinds in the way. Ernesto’s heart was beating fast as hell, and if the scent coming off him was any indication, he was also sweating like crazy. She didn’t understand what that meant, but it couldn’t be good.
When he still didn’t answer, she walked over and put her hand on his arm, trying to get his attention. “Ernesto, talk to me.”
“Leave town with me,” he said suddenly, the words coming out in a rush as he turned to her with what looked like panic in his eyes. “Tonight.”
Selena found herself stepping back defensively, tingles running all over her body, the hair standing up on her arms. “What are you talking about? I’m not going to leave town with you.”
There was a spike in his heartbeat as he took a step forward, closing the distance between them again. “I need to leave the country, and I want you to come with me. Just think of it as a vacation. You’ve always talked about seeing another country. So, let’s do it.”
Now her heart started pounding hard, too, anger slowly taking the place of the worry she’d been feeling. “Why do you need to leave the country?” she demanded, tipping her head back to look up at him. “And don’t give me that crap about a vacation. What the hell did you do?”
Ernesto glanced out the window, his Adam’s apple bobbing nervously. “I didn’t do anything. It’s not like that. I just need to leave. If you feel anything for me at all, you’ll stop asking me questions and come with me.”
Selena opened her mouth to tell him she wasn’t going anywhere with him, but he grabbed her wrist before she could say anything, like he thought he could physically drag her out of the room. Her fingertips and gums immediately ached, a sure sign her claws and fangs wanted to come out. With a growl, she drove the heel of her hand into Ernesto’s chest, knocking him back a half dozen steps.
“Don’t touch me!” she snarled.
Crap. Her fangs had slipped out a little. She tried to hide them as much as she could with her lips, because they sure as hell weren’t going away. She wasn’t sure she wanted them to. Her inner werewolf told her there was danger here, and she was starting to believe it.
Ernesto stared at her in shock, his hand absently coming up to rub his chest where she’d thumped him. “I didn’t mean…” He stopped, took a deep breath, and began again. “Selena, I love you. I’ve always loved you. And you’ve always loved me. Let’s stop playing games. I’m in trouble and need to leave the country, and I’m asking the woman I love to come with me.”
Selena blinked. Who the hell was this jackass and what had he done with Ernesto? Because this wasn’t the friend who’d been right there at her side through most of her life. “Yes, I love you, Ernesto. But as a friend and a brother. I can’t love you any other way. That place in my heart is taken by another man. Someone special I want to be with forever.”
Ernesto turned his back to her, and for a moment, she thought he was going to walk out without another word. But then he spun around and grabbed her arms, yanking her off the floor and shoving backward until her shoulders slammed into the wall.
“You mean that fucking cop?” he shouted, shaking her so hard, her head bounced off the wall. “You’d rather be with that piece of shit instead of me? What the hell did he ever do for you, huh?”
Hearing him talk about Jayden that way made her want to claw him to pieces. “Ernesto, stop! I don’t want to hurt you.”
Even as she said the words, her claws extended. If she let the wolf out, she had no idea what she’d do.
Ernesto shook her again. “Was he the one who kept the gangbangers away from your tight little ass all through high school? Was he the one who paid your bills and kept a roof over your head before you went to college? Was he the one who kept the Locos and Riders from popping a cap in you every time you stuck your nose into gang business and got in the way of their recruiting? Was he the one who put a bullet in the back of Aaron Perez’s head for daring to lay a finger on you? I don’t fucking think so. I’ve been there for you. Every time you needed me, I was there. And if you think I’m letting a fucking cop have you now, you’re crazy. You’ve been mine from the moment I first saw you, and if I didn’t let Geraldo get in the way of that, I sure as hell won’t let an asshole cop come between us.”
Selena’s control was almost gone by the time Ernesto admitted to killing Aaron, so she’d barely paid attention to the rest of his rant…until he’d mentioned her brother. When he said he refused to let Geraldo get in the way, had he meant…?
Her vision blurred in rage as her fangs came out the rest of the way. Lifting her feet, she kicked Ernesto in the stomach, catapulting him away from her so hard, he slid across the floor and into the desks still stacked against the wall.
She started toward him before he’d even managed to crawl his way out of the pile of furniture. She growled long and low, making him glance up. His face turned white, and he almost fell backward again. She probably looked like a monster to him, but she didn’t care. He was the monster, not her.
“What did you mean you didn’t let Geraldo get in the way?” she growled, her claws flexing and clenching. “What did you do to my brother?”
Eyes wide, Ernesto backpedaled, shoving some of the chair/desks in her path to slow her down. “I didn’t mean it that way. I didn’t.”
“Stop lying!” she roared, tossing them out of the way. “Tell me what you did.”
Ernesto kept retreating until his back finally hit the wall. He glanced left and right, but there was nowhere for him to go. “I don’t know what happened to you, but we can fix you. We can take you to a priest, or a doctor, or someone else who can help you. I know you’re still in there, and I still love you.”
Selena grabbed the last chair/desk combo in her way and slung it across the room so hard, it bounced off the wall and smashed through one of the new window panes. Eva was going to be so pissed.
“Tell me what you did to my brother,” she snarled, halting in front of him.
Ernesto reached behind his back and came out with a handgun, his hand shaking like a leaf as he pointed it at her. She knocked the weapon away, gouging three shallow lines across the inside of his wrist with her claws.
He jerked his hand back, staring at her in terror. A noise from somewhere outside almost distracted her, her wolf sense telling her there was something going on out there. But she ignored it, focused only on the man in front of her.
“Last chance,” she warned.
“I wanted to go out with you,” Ernesto shouted. “I’d wanted you for a long time, but I waited until you were old enough. Geraldo said no. He said no gangbanger—not even me—was going to touch his sister.”
She stopped. The omega inside screamed at her to kill Ernesto, to shove her claws into his chest and rip him apart. But the human part of her wanted to hear the rest.
“So you shot him?” she demanded. “Because he didn’t want you going out with me and dragging me into the gangs? What about the whole gang war after that? Getting out and going straight? Was that all a lie, too?”
He nodded, taking a deep breath to get himself together. “I didn’t mean for it to happen, but when everyone assumed Geraldo’s death was gang related, I went along with it. When it was all said and done, both of the old gangs were pretty much wiped out anyway. So I swept up the pieces and used them to grow my custom car empire. I got rich doing the same shit I always did. I just did it while wearing a suit.”
She shook her head. He’d lied to her the whole time. The man she’d thought of as a brother had taken away the only other family besides her grandm
other she’d had left in the world.
“Why leave the country now?” she asked, fighting to control the urge to kill him. “If you had it all figured out, why run?”
“I got greedy and became personally involved in my latest business venture. The profit potential was huge, but things went to hell when that damned cop boyfriend of yours showed up.”
At first, Selena thought Ernesto was talking about the hunter’s attack on the SWAT compound, but then she realized what this was about. “The energy drink spiked with drugs? That was you?”
He shrugged. “I was set to make millions on that stuff. With the way kids love energy drinks, it would have started a whole new wave in the drug trade.”
The casual way he justified selling drugs to kids sickened her.
“Ruben almost died drinking that stuff,” she said. “Two other people at that same party did die.”
He smirked. “You know the saying…drink responsibly .”
Selena bared her fangs in a snarl. “I should just kill you and do the world a favor.”
Chapter 20
“Can’t you drive any faster?” Brooks growled as Zane’s BMW slid through a curve, fishtailed a bit, then straightened up and accelerated…still moving too damn slow.
“Not unless you want to arrive at the school with a long string of patrol cars on our arse, lights flashing and sirens blaring.”
Brooks responded with another growl, longer, lower, and much more frustrated.
“She’s going to be okay.” Zane slowed down to something that vaguely resembled a stop as they passed through a busy intersection. “She’s more than capable of taking care of herself. She’s a bloody omega, remember? If Ernesto is dumb enough to try to hurt her, she’ll likely kill him.”
Brooks knew that, too, but it didn’t necessarily make him feel any better. Selena was everything to him. The idea of her being scared, even if she could protect herself, tore his insides into pieces.
He and Zane had been at the hospital waiting with the rest of their task force members for Ray to come out of surgery. The older cop had only gone into the operating room an hour ago, and they’d all known they were in for a long night, but no one was going anywhere. The doctors had said all the right things about Ray being stable and in good hands, but everyone had still been worried. Ray was no spring chicken.
Then Ruben had called.
Brooks had moved off to the end of the hallway outside the waiting room to take the call so he didn’t disturb anyone. That turned out to be a good thing, because he’d just about lost it when Ruben told him that Ernesto Lopez was at the high school with two gangbangers.
He’d told Ruben he’d be right there, then motioned to Zane and walked out without saying a word. He hadn’t even told his other packmates. He’d wanted to move fast and not talk. Zane agreed to drive. For all his complaining about speed, Brooks was glad his friend was driving. He was too freaked out.
The front end of Zane’s car scraped the asphalt as they pulled into the high school parking lot, and Brooks couldn’t help but remember the last time he’d been there, when he’d saved Selena from Pablo. He prayed to God this visit would have the same happy ending.
Ruben waved them down before they were halfway across the lot, panic on his face. “Ms. Rosa is in there with the asshole who’s making those energy drinks,” he said as they both jumped out. “She seems to know him, but I’m pretty sure they’re arguing. I’ve heard a few shouts already, and a chair/desk came through the window just before you got here. I know this is going to sound crazy, but I think I heard growling, too.”
Zane threw Brooks a quick look. The shouting, growling, and airborne furniture meant Selena was pissed.
“Any idea what they’re talking about?” Brooks asked as they ran across the parking lot toward the building Selena’s classroom was in.
Ruben shook his head. “Those two muscle heads are parked in the hallway right outside her door, so I can’t get anywhere close to the classroom. And listening at the windows doesn’t work. But I think I heard him say something about her leaving with him.”
Brooks bit back a growl and moved faster. What the fuck? Ernesto thought Selena would go on the run with him? Was the man that frigging stupid?
“If you plan on storming in through the front door, don’t you think we should have a plan to deal with the guards Ernesto set in the hallway?” Zane asked. “If he hears us coming, it might provoke him into doing something stupid.”
Brooks slowed, knowing his friend was right. He needed to stop thinking like a freaked-out werewolf and start thinking like a SWAT cop.
“Can you distract them?” He glanced at Zane. “Get them out of the hallway? I’ll come in the far door of the building and go for the classroom while you deal with them.”
Zane looked at him dubiously. “The moment they see me in this uniform, they’re going to warn Ernesto or shoot, neither of which is really what we’re looking for.”
“I could distract them,” Ruben said. “Get them outside so you can deal with them.”
That was a horrible idea, and Brooks opened his mouth to tell him so, but then he heard a shout from inside the building. Selena screaming for Ernesto to stop lying. The raw anger and rage in her voice were enough to decide the matter.
“Go,” Brooks said. “Get those two gangbangers out of that hallway now.”
Then he was off and running for the far side of the building, his head imagining all kinds of horrible shit. Selena would never voluntarily go anywhere with Ernesto, even if he was a long-time friend. But if he had a gun…
Brooks heard the sounds of fighting on the other end of the building as he reached the door on his side. True to his word, Ruben had gotten the gangbangers out of the hallway. Brooks only hoped Zane was up to the challenge of quickly and silently dealing with two armed men.
But as he shoved open the door and raced for Selena’s classroom, he heard something that made him stop worrying about Zane and refocus on the more serious issue of stopping the woman he loved from doing something she’d regret for the rest of her life.
“I should just kill you. And do the world a favor.”
Cursing, Brooks opened the door and found Selena a foot away from Ernesto, her eyes vivid blue, her claws and fangs out, murder in her gaze.
“I really don’t think you want to do that, Selena,” Brooks whispered softly. He needed to pull her back from the edge—fast. “And I don’t want you to do it, either.”
Brooks ignored the terrified look Ernesto gave him, walking over to her even as she snarled at him. Like she was warning him away from her intended prey. He ignored that, too, only stopping once he was beside her.
“I’m here now, Selena,” he said softly. “It’s okay. I’m here.”
She didn’t even look his way, her gaze locked on the rapidly beating pulse throbbing visibly in Ernesto’s neck. Her fingers flexed, claws retracting and extending. No doubt, she was picturing what it would be like to rip out the man’s throat.
Brooks didn’t give a damn if she shredded Ernesto to pieces. After what he’d done to Ray, the guy was officially scum. But Selena would be devastated if the omega inside her ever killed someone, even if that someone deserved it. She simply wasn’t the kind of person who could deal with doing something like that.
“He killed my brother,” she whispered, still not looking away from Ernesto. “Because Geraldo wouldn’t let him bang his little sister. Ernesto shot him, then used his death to take over the gangs and turn them into his custom car empire.”
Ernesto shook his head, like he thought Brooks wasn’t going to believe what Selena said. This asshole was a grade A piece of shit. Brooks had never really liked the man from the moment he’d met him. But you don’t get to pick other people’s friends. You just have to deal with them.
Brooks ignored Ernesto and gently put a hand on Selena’s arm, making a soothing, shushing sound. “You need to let him go, Selena. He needs to be punished for what he’s done, but you don�
�t need to do it. He killed your brother, and he’ll pay for that. I promise. But killing him isn’t the answer.”
She continued to glare at her brother’s killer for so long, Brooks was afraid she hadn’t even heard him. But then she turned her gaze on him, blinking until the blue began to fade. The second she stepped away from Ernesto, the son of a bitch crawled away like the piece of crap he was.
Brooks pulled Selena into his arms, hugging her as she buried her face in his chest and cried. He wished he’d heard the entire story Ernesto had given her, because maybe that would have helped. But even without the full story, he knew Selena was going to need a lot of time to deal with it. She was completely wrecked.
Because he couldn’t do a damn thing about what was making her cry, he turned his attention to the problem he was going to have to fix, namely explaining what the hell had happened here. A broken window, a crying teacher, and a gangbanger ranting about monsters. This was going to be damn tough to cover up, but he was sure as hell going to try.
Brooks was so focused on Selena that he didn’t realize how far Ernesto had crawled until he heard a slight creaking sound and looked up in time to see the man pointing an automatic at them, already squeezing the trigger.
Brooks didn’t think. He just slung Selena around in a circle and tossed her behind him, then lunged toward Ernesto. The automatic went off before he got there, and he felt a punch as the first round took him in the shoulder and the second one got him in the gut.
It said something about how bad the hunter bullets had felt when he realized traditional 9mm ball rounds didn’t even feel like a bee sting in comparison. But still, getting shot and having another uniform fucked up by the man who’d killed Selena’s brother was enough to piss anyone off.
He hit Ernesto hard, knocking the gun out of his hand and slamming him to the floor. On the way down, they knocked over one of those industrial metal trash cans, which made a shit ton of noise as pieces of glass large and small flew out.
They landed in the glass and fought for a dominant position. It should have been laughably easy for Brooks to slam the asshole through the floor, but it had been a shitty past few days, and he had just been shot twice. Not to mention the fact that Ernesto was a big guy raised on the street and taught to fight since the day he was born.