Hunter (Black Angels MC Book 1)

by A. E. Fisher

  “I know you don’t like this—”

  “Don’t like this!” I burst out, throwing myself from the seat so fast the chair flew backward. “I’m fucking furious, Wolf!” I looked at him with disgust. “How could you pull shit like this?”

  “You think I wanted to fucking lie to you about all this shit?” Wolf snapped back, slamming his hands against the desk.

  I shook my head. I was looking at the man who had long since been my ally, had been there when I needed him, had dragged me out of my darkest moments, despite how little I deserved it. And now … Now, I didn’t even recognize him.

  “Then why’d you do it, Wolf? Why lie?” I yelled.

  “Because I couldn’t be sure you wouldn’t do something stupid to mess this operation up!” Wolf rose from his chair with all the fire and anger he couldn’t contain.

  “Says who?”

  “Says me!” Wolf growled. “I was the one who dragged your sorry ass back home after you derailed yourself. You were drunk every night, into every drug and any woman you could find. Jesus, Hunter, those girls were riddled with STDs. Not to mention, driving in any reckless way you could. I expected to find your body in a ditch. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Do you know how many times me and the brothers were forced to stop you from storming the Hell’s Runners’ compound, guns blazing on your own?”

  “That was only after Noble died.”

  “It was almost two years, Hunter. Until you found out about that girl, you were close to suicide or prison,” Wolf countered. “I didn’t tell you about what I was doing, because I thought you couldn’t handle it. Most clubs don’t give two shits about anything other than drugs, guns, and girls, and don’t care who gets caught in the crossfire. But the brothers, me—we give a shit, Hunter. I’ve lost too many people in my life to lose any more. Certainly not one of my brothers. Not you.”

  I only knew about Wolf’s past from what I could interpret, meaning this was the first time he had ever shown an opening. I also knew of my own past—how bad it had been, and how many times I had come close to an accident or overdose, and how many times it had been Wolf standing between me and the bottom of my final bottle. I was grateful for it. I forever would be. But that didn’t make him justified.

  “And what about Mallory?” I asked. “You drove her out of town, and then what? Did you even know about Adair, or did you not care?”

  “Don’t act like you don’t fucking know me, Hunter. If I’d known she was pregnant with Noble’s kid, I would have brought her kicking and screaming into this club,” Wolf answered, sinking back into his chair. “I kept tabs on her, had brothers from other chapters keep an eye on her, and made sure she was okay. None of them ever said anything about a kid. I only found out when you did.”

  “My contact,” I said, everything beginning to make sense. “The one who told me where Mallory was. He was yours. You knew the second I brought Adair through those doors. You knew he wasn’t mine. You knew exactly who Mallory was.”

  “It was your choice not to tell me or the brothers,” Wolf said. “I couldn’t interfere with that.”

  “Not without giving your lie away.”

  “Look, Hunter, I’ve been honest with you. You can be pissed all you like, but don’t leave this room thinking I did it for my own selfish benefit. I did it to help you and protect that girl. The photo is proof that the Hell’s Runners had their eyes on her, and getting her away from town was the best thing for her.”

  “Doesn’t make it right, Wolf.”

  “No. It doesn’t.”

  Wolf said nothing more. He didn’t apologize or ask for forgiveness. He simply sat in his chair and watched as I walked out the door.

  “Adair Michael Ward!” Mallory snapped. “Don’t you dare eat that!”

  Mallory stormed across the playground, armed with a baby wipe and a mom face that froze Adair in his tracks. He looked down at the piece of candy in his hands, and then at his mother, a panicked debate flashing through his eyes.

  He chose the candy and threw it in his mouth before Mallory could catch him.

  “Adair!” she screeched, grabbing him by the cheeks and prying open his jaws to fish the candy out. She then threw it halfway across the park and went on to explain to a three-year-old how eating candy off the floor could result in disease and illness.

  It was overcast but warm, and despite the fact I wanted to go somewhere else, somewhere more exciting, Mallory would only say yes to the park a few blocks from the club. She had looked misplaced when they had arrived, having ended up unconscious last time she had been there.

  It was the place where she had deluded herself into thinking she had seen Noble.

  Noble …

  “What is it?”

  Mallory’s voice caught me off-guard. I looked up, seeing her standing over me with her hands on her hips, her red hair falling in front of her face. She looked concerned, her eyebrows upturned and her big brown eyes wide in worry.

  I opened my mouth to tell her it was nothing, that I was fine, but she pressed her finger against my lips before I could.

  “Oh, and before you even think about lying to me, know that you’ll be getting none when we get back if you do,” she warned, her mom look returning.

  I shook my head. I didn’t want to tell her. Hell, the fury was still burning deep inside me. I wanted to hit something, lash out, not talk about it. Not to mention, I had already told Mallory women didn’t get to know club business, to which she had greatly protested. But this was a different story. This was about her. She deserved to know.

  “Sit down,” I said.

  Mallory looked over to where Adair was happily playing on a slide, entertaining himself, before she nodded and sat beside me on the bench.

  She was quiet the entire time I talked, nodding every so often, even when I told her about the letter, the reason Noble died, and Wolf’s big plan. The only emotion I ever saw out of her was during the brief mention of my dark period after Hunter’s death. And when I was finished, her silence continued to reign.

  I was pacing by the end. Hearing it all out loud for the second time made me realize how furious I was. How dare Wolf lie to me? How dare he keep me out of the loop? It was my own brother! Who gave two shits what state I had been in? If anything would have focused me, it would have been getting in on the revenge for that piece-of-shit club. Even if it didn’t, it still should have been my choice. Wolf always spouted about loyalty, but this felt like a betrayal. And to use Mallory like that …

  “I get it,” Mallory finally said, her words causing me to freeze.

  “You get it?” I echoed.

  “Yeah.” Mallory looked across the playground at Adair, who was now playing on the merry-go-round. “I don’t think what he did was right, but I get it.”

  “Mallory,” I snapped. “They fuckin’ used you as bait!”

  “I know.” Her voice was so calm. “But he did it to protect the club, and to some extent, protect me on the run. I tried not to, but I did wonder why none of the men who had expressly shown that ‘I was next’ weren’t coming after me. Well, up until you, of course.”

  “Unbelievable. How can you defend what he did?”

  “Hey. Don’t make this into an argument between us. I’m on your side, Hunter.”

  “Sure as hell doesn’t look like it,” I retorted.

  “Hunter, stop,” Mallory growled, standing up. “Stop being like this, or you’ll regret it later.”

  “No, Mallory, you’re supposed to be furious; pissed that they put you in danger. Put Adair in danger. Why am I the only one mad?” I yelled, turning away from her.

  “Don’t walk away from me, Hunter.” Mallory moved in front of me, standing in my way. “I am mad they put Adair in danger. I’m beyond furious. I also know how much your brother and your club mean to you, and I’m not gonna be the woman who stands between you.”

  “Brothers don’t lie to each other,” I hissed.

  “Maybe they do. Maybe they don’t. But fro
m what I can see, every single one of those brothers would dive in front of a bullet for you. You can’t tell me they didn’t lie to you out of love. Just like you lied to them for Adair. You can’t tell me you forgot about that already.”

  “I was forced into that one, if I remember right.” I leaned down into her face and saw the split second her face turned from anger to caution. “You forced me to lie. I don’t remember Wolf ever being forced. He could have told me. My attitude at the time was a bullshit excuse to lie. So, next time you want to get pissed at me for being mad at the man who put my nephew in danger, don’t be a hypocrite.”

  Mallory’s face sank. I should have cared, should have apologized straight away, made it better.

  I didn’t.

  Whether it was the upset, the rage, or the betrayal from Wolf, I never should have taken it out on her. Mallory was right, and I knew I would regret it later.

  Right then, though, I couldn’t give two shits. I couldn’t even stand to look at her.

  I left.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Mallory

  I wasn’t even mad. A little shocked, maybe. A lot hurt, definitely. But not mad.

  When Hunter had come to bed last night, having spent the night drinking with his brothers, I knew something was up. But as he pulled me close to him and relaxed, I didn’t mind. Something had been hurting him, and it was my job to comfort my man, even if I couldn’t ask about it.

  Now, I was the one hurting, and Hunter wasn’t here. He had dumped this truckload of news on me, called me a hypocrite for doing what I thought was right for my son, and then snapped at me when I defended the club he loved so dearly.

  What happened to ‘in it for the long haul’?

  “Momma,” Adair whispered, pulling on my jeans.

  I had been standing there, still watching the corner Hunter had disappeared behind, and noticed Mint walking toward us before I looked down at my baby.

  At least he hadn’t left us alone.

  “What’s up, baby?” I smiled. I had noticed Adair had kept his distance during Hunter and my talk. At three, he was a perceptive kid, which I would forever be grateful for.

  “Push me on the swing?” he asked, his eyes searching my smile as if looking for a lie in it. My smiles were always true for my baby boy, and he lit up when he confirmed it himself.

  He grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the big swings before I steered him over to the smaller ones with the harness that would stop him from falling off.

  I reached to pick him up and lift him into the seat, but he was heavy, and I struggled. Thankfully, Mint came to my rescue, lifting Adair from my arms and helping situate him in the seat and strap him in.

  “Thank you,” I told him as he stepped back.

  “No problem,” Mint said, quiet as ever as he went to stand by the kiddy slide. Although Mint was young—a hell of a lot younger than me—he was still a big guy, and the slide looked dwarfed next to his imposing, protective stance. I almost laughed.

  I liked Mint. He kept to himself a lot, which made it awkward when I babbled to fill in conversations between us, yet he never told me to shut up like most did or get annoyed. He was mellow and nice to chill with. He was also a reassuring presence while outside the compound since Hunter had ditched us.

  I pushed Adair on the swing, drowning in my thoughts that stirred with Hunter. I felt the need to overanalyze everything he had said and pick it apart, which I knew would annoy myself and make me madder at him as I interpreted too deeply and inaccurate meanings that weren’t even there. I tried to keep the thoughts out with my best efforts, not just about Hunter, but the rest of the story, too. It was like when I had found out I was pregnant, waiting for that penny to drop. Except this time, I didn’t have my mother. All I could do was remain strong for my child and make sure he never saw me cry.

  I was so engrossed in my thoughts that, when I heard the bullet bounce off the swing’s frame, I was on the ground before I realized it.

  Mint pressed down on top of me, and I tried to fight through the numbing shock as I lay there against the dirt. It wasn’t until I heard Adair’s scream that I kicked into overdrive.

  “Get off me!” I screamed, shoving at his hard chest. “I need to get Adair!”

  “Shit. Stay down,” Mint snapped, picking me up and shoving me behind the slide. I heard another ping of metal and Adair’s cry.

  There was no way I was staying down.

  I jumped to my feet, about to race after them, when Mint pushed a crying and screaming Adair into my lap.

  “Oh, God, baby, are you okay?” Tears rolled down my face. I didn’t even remember when I had started crying.

  Adair roared his heart out, gripping my long hair, as I quickly searched him for injuries, relieved to find none.

  Then I screamed as another bullet pinged off the edge of the slide and hit the dirt two feet from me.

  Mint already had a weapon in his hands. He ducked out from behind the slide, firing off three rounds before dropping back under as the attackers returned fire. One then two then three bullets ricocheted off the metal.

  As far as I could tell, they were all coming from one direction, but this was a park. The only thing separating us from a bullet was a thin, rusted piece of metal.

  We could die. We would likely die. Today could be my very last day on earth. Not Adair, though. I would make sure of that, even if it was the last thing I did.

  I should have been forming escape routes, survival plans. Instead, my mind was like a broken record.

  Where was Hunter?

  Hunter had left.

  “Call the club,” Mint snapped, throwing his phone at me.

  I didn’t waste time, opening his phone and scrolling through his contact list until I saw the first name I recognized. The phone rang and rang, and with each silence in-between, bullets bounced. I held the phone to my ear, my eyes going everywhere, wrapping Adair as tightly as I could to my chest.

  Please, please, please, please pick up. Answer your goddamn phone!

  “Hello?” Anna’s voice came through the speaker.

  Relief was about to hit me when I saw someone with a gun on the other side of the park. They raised it, pointing right at us, no slide to block our way.

  I grabbed Adair, covered him with my body, and screamed.

  The gunshot resounded through my head, deafening my ears. I stared forward and watched as the man on the other side of the park collapsed to the ground as the ringing began to fade. I looked up at the dent the bullet had left on the edge of the slide’s frame above my head. I wanted to breathe a sigh of relief.

  I didn’t.

  Instead, I watched as Mint collapsed down to one knee, and then to the other, and then he fell to the ground, not moving.

  The playground grew silent.

  Adair had fallen into shock, his face pale, tears dry.

  I, in my moment of numbness, looked at the phone on the ground, to where I had thrown it in surprise, too far out of cover for me to reach, and the screen had cracked.

  No guard.

  No phone.

  No help.

  No Hunter.

  I could hear the approach of footsteps coming for me. They wanted me.

  It was clear what I had to do.

  I reached down to Mint’s wound and dipped my fingers in the blood pooling across the dirt. Then I smeared it across Adair’s skin and clothes.

  “Don’t say a word,” I whispered to him as I pushed Mint’s body to the side so his back faced the direction of the oncoming people. They couldn’t see us, not for this plan to work.

  I cradled Adair into the still Mint’s side so his body would hide Adair’s without crushing him. Adair stared back at me, emotion filling his eyes, but he couldn’t speak through the shock. For that, I was grateful.

  “I love you, baby boy,” I whispered, running my hands through his curls, little bits of blood tainting the golden color. I pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I’ll be back soon.”

 
I left him there in his silent shock and stepped out from behind the slide with my hands raised.

  Two guns immediately pointed my way. Seeing my surrender, they hesitated.

  “This the bitch?” one of them asked.

  “Yeah.” The other nodded. “Come here and don’t try anything funny.”

  When I stepped forward, one of the men grabbed me by the hair, dragging me toward him.

  I hissed at the pain, but that only made him tighten his grip. He was big and burly, his cut holding the Hell’s Runners’ emblem, but he wore no patches to indicate his rank.

  He narrowed his eyes on my face, his cold gun pressed to the underside of my chin. “Bitch’s got an ice-cold face. You in shock, honey?”

  I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t. I was numb on the surface, but I could feel the horrid rush of fear draining the blood from my head and arms to my legs, telling my body to escape.

  “Whatever.” He shrugged then looked over his shoulder. “They dead?” I couldn’t hear the footsteps through the pounding in my ears, but now I realized where the other man was.

  I didn’t believe my heart could beat any faster, but it did. My adrenaline doubling, I began to shake.

  Be quiet, baby. Don’t make a sound. Be quiet for Momma, I prayed and prayed. It felt like an eternity before the guy spoke.

  “Yeah,” he said. “Dude wasn’t even patched in, and the kid is covered in blood. Probably caught a bullet.”

  Relief flooded me, but I forced my shell not to break, not to let anything show. Instead, I let out a small sob, resulting in a harsh shake from the man holding my hair.

  “Quiet,” he snapped before turning back to his ally. “Leave the bodies, then. Local PD can deal with this. No security cameras, no witnesses. Grab Racer’s body and shove him in the back of the van.”

  “Right.” The other one nodded. He was as big, if not bigger than the guy holding my hair, more than capable of grabbing a body.

  The main guy dragged me toward a van. I put up some resistance, knowing none might be too suspicious, and I was rewarded with a hard slap to the face. It would bruise later, if I lived long enough.