Chapter Nineteen
Finn was going to face the man who’d murdered his parents tonight and he would claim his revenge.
After Navi left his place, he headed over to his gym, seeking the comfort of familiarity while he had it. Finn breathed in the scents of sweat, of the metal weights and of the overused canvas mats. As the breath filled his chest, he snapped a kick out, his shin thudding against the same punching bag that had met his aggressions the night before.
The door to his gym opened with a creak. Finn’s shoulders tensed. He needed to start locking up behind him.
On a normal day, he’d relax at the sight of his alpha, but with the news he needed to break to her and how their last conversation had gone, this talk would be as pleasant as gargling with Drano. To top it off, he couldn’t rid himself of the memories brewing in his brain, ones that coated his skin like a film he wanted to scrub off. Finn rolled his shoulders back and began to unwrap his hands, the sweat gluing the bandages together. Sierra slunk forward with lupine grace and he couldn’t deny his kinship with this woman, the sister he’d always wanted. No matter how they clashed, he couldn’t erase the respect for her forged through the years.
“I’m joining the hunt tonight,” Sierra said, breaking through the silence between them. “Navi and the others gave me the heads-up.” She picked up one of the hand weights and pumped it, focusing on the movement. He didn’t want to face the awkwardness that settled between them either.
Finn grabbed another weight from the line-up and joined her. If he could burn some of the anger and energy roiling through him, it would be better for everyone. “Dale Rossi’s mine,” he muttered, unable to form the words to broach the topic of leaving. Hell, when he’d agreed to go with her this morning, he had barely thought of anything beyond the thrill Navi sent through him and how he couldn’t let this go, no matter what.
Leaving didn’t just mean no more pints at Beaver Tavern, poker games with Jer, skinny dipping with Raven and sparring with Sierra. He’d have to close the gym he’d built from scratch, find a way to do sessions on the road or work freelance. He’d built so much here over the years—a home, a business and a life. Except, no matter how many memories warmed his bones, he knew deep in his gut, no part of him could build a future here.
“I’m leaving with her.” The words slipped from him without a second thought. He hadn’t intended to state the news so bluntly and he’d hoped to hash out their issues before dropping the blow, but Finn had never been one for subtlety or tact.
Sierra paused mid-curl and rested her dark gaze on him. “I know.”
Finn’s brows furrowed as he lifted a heavier weight and set to work. “How? I just told Navi this morning.”
Her gaze held an understanding he didn’t expect, the wisdom the Red Rock alpha was known for. “I knew the moment you told me she was your mate, Finn,” Sierra murmured, her smile not reaching her eyes. “You can’t hide your emotions for shit. You’ve never been able to and I’m disappointed in myself that it took me this long to see how unhappy you’ve been here.”
Finn shrugged, the uncomfortableness of her admission prickling across his skin. “You’ve been occupied and rightfully so. On top of the normal load you have on your shoulders, you were balancing a new mate and integrating his pack into the fold. With all these seismic changes to the pack, though, my place got lost along the way.” Finn placed his weight down and turned to face her. “You don’t need me anymore, Sierra—at least, not the way you did.”
She pressed her lips tight together and he watched how she swallowed, rather than saying anything. The proud as hell woman wouldn’t cry in front of him, but he could feel the crash of that sadness as it descended.
Sierra’s eyes flashed amber, the familiar color of her wolf, one his own had responded to all these years. “Don’t discredit yourself, Kelly,” she said, cuffing his shoulder. “No one happens to call me on my shit like you do. However, I also know I can’t keep you here. I’ve been so wrapped up in Dax and the changes to the pack I overlooked one of the most important members.”
Finn’s throat tightened and—he wasn’t going to lie to himself—his eyes heated. He’d met Sierra when she had arrived in the pack, a quiet, sharp and lethal teen, and he’d been all bluster and flames. Over the years, she’d become more confident, louder and grown into a person he couldn’t help but respect. He was still bluster and flames, stuck in the same spin cycle he’d been repeating since he was a kid. For the first time in his life, he would be breaking that cycle.
“Bring it on in, hardass,” Finn said, wrapping his arms around Sierra in a fierce hug. His alpha was all prickles and quills, her care delivered through actions rather than any touch. That was one of the things Sierra and Navi shared. “I might be leaving, but it’s not like you won’t ever see me again. This will always be the place where I grew up and the home that shaped me. I’m sorry for breaking up the dream team.”
Sierra sucked in a sharp breath and he swallowed, hard. His alpha pulled out of the hug and lifted her chin. She clapped a hand on his shoulder, the sting drawing him to the present. “Then let’s make this final hunt count.”
* * * *
When Finn pulled up to the Dusty Pines Motel, Navi was sitting on the front stoop with a grim expression on her face. He felt the same way, his chest gripped in a vise. Shadows coated their surroundings, but, as a wolf shifter, he’d always had a predilection for seeing things in the darkness. Night had fallen, and the time arrived faster than Finn could prepare for. They could rally the numbers to take this operation down, but if they wanted to corner the Landsliders and stamp out Rossi, they needed to keep their crew as bare bones as possible. The element of surprise was the only way they’d corner the slippery bastard.
He rolled down his window and let out a low whistle, leaning against the side. “What’s a gorgeous girl like you doing by your lonesome?”
Navi shook her head with an exasperated grin as she rose from the stoop and brushed her jean shorts off. He wasn’t lying, though—even in a beat-up pair of jean shorts and a ratty lavender tank top, she looked fucking sexy. She had hips made for gripping, and the sort of tits he fantasized about. She hooked her thumbs through the belt loops of her jeans while she approached.
“You can quit with the sweet-talking, Kelly. We’re already mated,” Navi said as she slipped into the passenger side of his Challenger. He adored the gruff exterior she clung to, how she disarmed his affection like a small smile wasn’t clinging to her lips and she wasn’t getting the slightest bit flustered. Based on the brief glimpses of vulnerability he’d received from her, Finn understood with pristine clarity that each of those moments was priceless.
“Can’t help it—every time I see you I realize what a lucky bastard I am,” he murmured, leaning in to claim her lips. Despite the way his nerves buzzed, her mouth against his soothed him. She sank against him, her kisses slow, sensual and igniting his libido on the spot.
When she pulled back, she swiped at a piece of her pixie cut and inhaled before looking at him with the serious expression he’d begun terming her ‘business face.’
“I sent Jess and some of the Red Rocks and Silver Springs ahead to scout the outlying areas for Landslider activity. We don’t want anyone escaping when we launch our attack.” Her tone contained the brisk efficiency he was used to from the Tribe, but when their eyes met, her gaze melted with a tenderness she only shared with him. “Are you ready to bust this meth lab wide open?” she asked.
In response, Finn revved his engine and set out from the Dusty Pines Motel with a cloud of dust behind him.
“Are things always this exciting on the jobs?” Finn asked while he set out down the highway in the direction of the warehouses. The darkness of night swallowed the pathway, and even the beams of his car fought through the murky shadows.
Navi let out a snort. “Apart from the complications involving whatever Mackey did to his Landsliders, busting up shifter meth labs is one of the tamer things I’ve done as part of the Tribe. Though, we’re just as likely to get called into territories for mating ceremonies.” The annoyance rang clear in her voice, eliciting an amused smirk from him.
“Good to know I never have to worry about being suckered into watching rom-coms with you,” he responded, speeding down the highway as fast as he could. His skin itched with anticipation and he couldn’t dispel his nerves at this point. His wolf lunged in his chest, desperate to hunt, to fight. Amidst all the rising aggression, illogical fear gripped him by the throat. The same fear he’d felt as a kid, waiting to be discovered by Rossi and his guys.
“I’m more of a documentary kind of gal,” Navi responded.
Finn let out a gagging sound. “That’s a thousand times worse.”
She shrugged. “I’ve got to stay current on our kind—comes with the territory and they provide a great opportunity to learn, whether it’s the history of shifters or how the humans are receiving us.”
“I’m falling asleep at the thought of them,” he retorted, unable to hide his grin. A sharp elbow met his arm a moment later.
Once those warehouse lights cropped into view, the joking ceased and they both lapsed into laden silence. Nothing could quite prepare him to face this demon from his past, but he knew he needed to try. Navi had helped him break the cycle of living in fear and given him the opportunity to claim revenge for the hope Rossi stole from him so long ago. He’d been a starved, leashed child back then, caged by parents who forgot about him at every turn, slave to their addictions.
He wasn’t a kid anymore. Finn was the beta of the Red Rocks, a wolf shifter who had fought and killed for his pack and his people. Despite the damage his parents had done, he’d grown into a fighter and a survivor. And with the discovery of his mate, he had been freed from his remaining tethers. Free to become who I was meant to be.
The soft glow of the overhead lights grew stronger the nearer he and Navi got. His heart pounded as he pulled up to the spot along the side of the road that he’d hidden his car at before. When he switched into Park, their silence threatened to suck the air out of the car.
Headlights flashed in his rearview mirror, drawing his attention. If it was one of the Landsliders—or, hell, anyone in Rossi’s entourage—the jig might be up before they ever got out of his Challenger.
The car slowed and, a moment later, pulled up behind him. He squinted, staring into the rearview. He recognized Sierra’s beat-up Chevy and his shoulders sank with relief. Navi had stepped out of the passenger’s side by the time he opened his door. Sierra and Jer hopped out of her car to greet them with the quiet approach of their kind. Finn walked up to Jer and clapped a hand on his shoulder in greeting, the motion reciprocated. Jer met his eyes, his mouth a grim line and understanding reflected in his gaze.
Out of anyone, Jer understood what Finn would face tonight.
As Tribe, Navi stepped into the leadership role effortlessly. “We’ll approach in human form first, but the moment they put up a fight, shift.” Everyone nodded in understanding. “Don’t try for heroics,” Navi warned. “If the situation’s hot, get out. Don’t give chase without letting someone else know your position.” Her gaze rested on him. Not like he planned on throwing himself into the fire, but hothead that he was, if Rossi tried to escape, he knew he’d be singleminded in tracking him down.
“Let’s go clean up the area,” Finn murmured, his voice low and lethal. “I’ve got a score to settle.”