The screech that poured out from the diner had me jumping more than the car backfiring just beyond the parking lot had. Every man around me flinched, their heads spinning in the general direction of the bang as their hands shot to their guns.

The collective sigh of relief was almost as loud as the laughter that followed as everyone closed their eyes and remembered to breathe. I’d been standing next to Slater and Kenny, and it was only when I let myself relax that I saw Kenny had, in the split second of the bang, moved to stand in front of me. It had been a move that said more than he realized, and when he slowly turned to look at me with his slashed eyebrow raised, I found myself smiling warmly at him, while the music and party carried on behind us.

“You okay?” he asked with a little embarrassment tainting his voice as he ran his hand up the back of his neck.

I smiled wider, raising a hand to his arm and squeezing it tight. “Thank you, brother.”

“I didn’t—”

Not wanting to make him feel any more awkward than he did, I turned to Slater, cutting Kenny off as I slapped my sarge’s arm. “Nice to know you care, dick.”

Slater laughed roughly, his chest bouncing. “It was a fucking car. Don’t be dramatic.”

“Whatever.” I smirked and shook my head. “Any sign of the others?”

The three of us looked back out at the roads of Babylon. To anyone else it would have looked like a band of brothers who were celebrating. Each of us had a beer in our hand and a smile on our faces. The mood had been set, and we were all playing our parts. I could feel the tension rippling down everyone’s spines, though. I could feel them pulling on my conscience, demanding me to react quickly if I needed to.

“Not a thing. Moose has been on a run to check the town out. Stones went with him. A couple of the prospects have headed back to The Hut to make sure no one tries to get in there while we’re all out here. We’ve got guys taking trips here and there without it looking like we’re scouting the place. So far, there’s nothing, Drew.”

“Dammit,” I muttered under my breath.

“You’re absolutely sure it was a Nav you saw that day?”

I glared at him. “I’d bet my life on it.”

“Please, whatever you do, don’t bet your life on anything. That always, always, always ends badly.” He closed his eyes and groaned in the back of his throat.

“Now who’s being dramatic?”

The roar of engines pulled our attention back to the road again, with Kenny standing taller and Slater taking a sip of his beer, ever the guard dog in control. The silence between us was thick as we let the bikes approaching sing to us, trying to recognize their sound.

“Relax,” Slater eventually said. “It’s our guys.”

“Fuck, I’m so edgy,” Kenny wheezed out, spinning to face us and rubbing his forehead roughly as he glanced down at his feet.

“It’s understandable, brows. You’ve got two reasons to be pissed tonight. But don’t worry, we’ll figure this shit out with Sloane and then what happens with the—”

“I still can’t believe you’re fucking a high school kid,” Slater said through a chuckle.

“For fuck’s sake, Slate,” I breathed, turning to glare at him again.

“I’m not fucking her, asshole,” Kenny spat back, taking an urgent step forward only to be blocked as I pressed my hand against his chest. “Are you serious? After what she’s been through?”

Slater held his hands in the air. “Didn’t mean nothing by it, brother. I was just trying to have a little fun. Lighten the mood.”

“How’s that working out for you?” I asked him through strained lips as I held Kenny back.

Slater glanced between the two of us before he dropped his hands and thumbed over his shoulder. “You’re right. I went too far. I’m gonna go and see how Jedd is handling the locals over… yeah…” He trailed off and disappeared, leaving me to look down on Kenny once again.

“Come on, bro. I need you to calm down.”

“I want to kill someone, Drew,” he admitted quietly, dropping his feet back to the ground.

“You and me both. But even if we find out who did this to Sloane, I promised I’d deliver him to Sutton to handle. It’s his retribution to take. Not ours.”

“But…”

I glanced up at the window where Sloane, Libby, Rubin, and Tate were sitting. All four of them were laughing. I could see Tate had his arm around Sloane’s shoulder, despite Libby’s presence. When I looked over at her, even she was smiling. A mature move for such a young woman, I had to hand it to her. If she was jealous of the fake relationship going on, she didn’t show it one bit.

“Look up there,” I told him, pointing to Sloane. “She’s happy enough. Yeah, it might be fake, but she’s putting on a good show, and she’s the one who should be struggling, not you. I’m going to need you to do the same.”

He blew out a long breath and let his shoulders relax. “Understood.”

“Would you feel better if you were inside, closer to her?”

“No.” He shook his head and turned to look back at the road. “I don’t trust myself in there. I’d let something show.”

“At least you know your limits.” With a squeeze of his shoulder, I told him he was a good man before I walked back into the diner. A few of the locals tried to stop me to congratulate me on my recent engagement—something I never thought the townsfolk of Babylon would be saying to me, of all people—but I maneuvered myself past them as politely as I could. Apart from a few innocent enough looking football players who were hanging out by the men and the bikes outside, being inquisitive, yet respectful, the majority of the young bloods were inside the diner… where all the liquor was sitting. Before I could contemplate thinking about the Navs, I wanted to solve the mystery of Babylon High for Sutton and for Sloane. Both of them had had enough shit handed to them over the last few months. I was getting pretty pissed that bad luck seemed to be following them around like a rotten smell.

Ayda saw me instantly, her eyes drawn in my direction like we were magnets for each other. I gave her a nod and a wink over the tops of the crowd’s heads and pressed my back against a wall that gave me a good spot to see the entire venue as clearly as possible.

Harry was sitting at the bar, eyeing me with both caution and admiration. There was a twinkle in the old guy’s eyes, and I knew that the soft-hearted man he kept hidden from the world was shining bright with happiness for me and my recent engagement. I offered him a wink of acknowledgment before I scanned the rest of the room.

Deeks was mingling well, playing the part of the friendly biker who had never committed a crime in his life. The locals loved him. He was like Santa Claus in leather.

My old lady wasn’t just there to pretty the place up. I could see the way she was trying to speak to every high schooler she could—her need to solve the mystery as strong as mine. She got far more conversation out of some of the boys than I could ever manage, and it always amazed me how she knew just what to do and when to do it for the club, without any instruction from me or any of the men whatsoever.

Autumn was playing hostess alongside Janette and Sam, while Rusty lingered in the back, trying to hide the fact that he was tapping his foot to the beat of the live music.

I was just about to go to Ayda when I saw Jacob approaching the table where Tate, Sloane, Libby, and Rubin were sitting, and I felt myself go rigid. I would have been lying if I said I didn’t suspect Jacob to be the one who had gotten his hands on Sloane, but the minute he leaned over the table and flashed them all a crooked smile, everyone apart from Tate smiled up at him as though he was welcome. I kept my eyes fixed on Sloane, waiting for some kind of reaction that gave her away, but there was nothing. Jacob leaned in to whisper something to Libby, and I saw Tate flinch, push out his chest and ball his hands into fists on top of the table, but with one flip of her middle finger, Libby made Jacob back away with a sinister laugh before she turned away from him and flicked her hair over her shoulder. Sloane rolled her eyes like she was already bored, while Rubin seemed to be the only one who was slightly entertained with Jacob’s antics.

My whole body tensed as I watched the interaction, but nothing had been done that gave me reason to launch an attack, and it was only at that moment, as I watched Jacob’s slightly sweaty self spin around on the spot and stumble into an older guy, that I realized I wanted a fucking reason.

I needed to hurt the guy.

Whether it was because he was Ayda’s ex or the fact that he was somehow, some way associated with the Navs, or the fact that he just had no problem with disrespecting me so openly, I wasn’t sure…

But I had to hurt him. Sometime. One day. I couldn’t let it go.

As I watched him walk away, I ground my teeth together and let the violent thoughts float through my bloodstream. I could enter domestic bliss on the surface for the rest of my life, but I knew right there and then that I’d never be able to rid myself of the wildness of my nature. I was born from a family of beasts and raised by a pack of wolves. We’d spent our lives in the wild, destroying everything in our way and tearing limbs from creatures who weren’t in our pack.

I didn’t know how to hate in halves.

Jacob Hove was going to get it. Even without me having a justified reason to hand it to him.