Creed leaned against his motorcycle and took a deep drag of his cigarette. Standing here staring at the entrance of Club Diablo had been a really bad idea. Even if he was simply waiting on Sawyer to arrive for their nightly debrief.
He was pretty sure the bastard was trying to torture him, although he didn’t know why. Creed turned his head and looked at the bright red convertible that belonged to Dani, or Melody, the stage name most of the club knew her by, the bane of his existence and the woman he wanted more than air every single hour of the day.
That she came to work seven nights a week on his island while she ignored him burned his ass more and more each passing day.
Fucking bullshit.
He had half a mind to march inside and take what was his whether she liked it or not. Anger brewed inside him alongside the desire. Together they were a lethal combination as far as he was concerned.
It made him imagine her curves strutting across the stage, her hands running alongside her sweet skin, drawing all the attention right where she wanted it. On her and her perfectly luscious body.
She was damned good at her job and got paid ridiculously well for it. There was little doubt how many men flocked to the club to see their most popular dancer.
His eyes slid closed on the image of her licking her cherry red pouty lips, her blonde hair sleek and straight falling down to the tiny waist that flared into full hips that gave him more than enough to hold onto as he pushed inside her.
Creed growled, his eyes jerking open. Great. Now his dick was hard and aching again. A few minutes more of this damned train of thought and Sawyer would arrive to find him jacking off to relieve the pressure.
He reached down and adjusted, trying to find more room in his now snug jeans. Sawyer had thirty seconds to get his ass in this parking lot or he was leaving. There was a bar filled with eager women in nearby Tacoma waiting for the opportunity to relieve his stress and he was fucking ready.
After one last drag on the cigarette still dangling from his lips, Creed threw the butt down and ground it out with his boot.
A low rumble of a modified SUV sounded behind him, alerting him that his packmate and fellow security sentinel, Sawyer, had finally arrived. With his headlights turned off, his friend circled the parking lot and pulled in next to him. His window slid down and Creed had the sudden urge to wipe the smug, knowing smile from Sawyer’s face.
“Let’s get this over with,” he growled. “Got somewhere to be.”
“Another new one? What does that make? Three this week?”
He shrugged, not caring for the condemnation in his voice. What the hell did he know? He still hoped to find his mate.
Only because he had no idea how painful it was both physically and mentally to be rejected by one. If Sawyer really understood he wouldn’t be so eager to keep looking.
“How’s the north end? Any activity to report?”
Sawyer shook his head. “All quiet and everyone accounted for.”
Creed nodded his head. “Same on the south end. It’s making me nervous though. It has been too long. Something should have happened. I don’t believe the hunters are going to let the disappearance of their men go.”
“Be grateful, man. If the bastards haven’t figured out what happened to them by now they probably never will. Assholes must have come here on their own and not told anyone.”
Creed pressed his lips together in a deep frown. Maybe…
Except he didn’t like it one bit. Brody and Allison had given them enough information for them to know these hunters were organized and retaliation likely. So where the hell were they hiding?
“I hope you’re right.” He grabbed the back of his neck and rubbed. “Can’t shake the feeling something is going to happen.”
Sawyer grinned at him. “You’re wound so tight you can’t see straight, dude, and it has nothing to do with hunters. When are you going to do something about her?”
Creed didn’t bother pretending he didn’t know exactly what his friend was talking about. There was some truth in the fact she had him in knots.
“I’m not into forcing women. No means no.”
Sawyer waited half a heartbeat before he started laughing at him. “You’re an idiot, you know that?”
“Whatever. I’m out of here.” Creed put on his helmet and mounted his waiting bike.
“You sure you don’t want to go in with me? The club could use you. And I think there’s something you should see for yourself.”
Creed shook his head. Going in now, with the need for her nearly choking him, would not bode well for anyone. “You’ve got this. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He cranked up his engine before Sawyer could give him any more good reasons to go inside. The mood he was in did not make it easy. But for Melody’s sake and his, he stayed away. He would accept for now that she wanted to live her life without him.
With a twist of his wrist he gunned the engine and started toward the bridge, seeking the freedom he needed right now.
In his rearview mirror he spied Sawyer slipping through the front door of the club. He did want to join him, a lot more than he wanted empty comfort from others. What he wasn’t in the mood for was the fiftieth rejection from Miss Hot Shot stripper.
He was done. His pride would allow no more groveling.
Bitterness flooded through him as he rushed off the island and toward the mainland. He was beyond ready to do whatever it took to get over her.
No sooner did his wheels hit the bridge before his entire world exploded behind him, a blast of heat and light flinging him and his bike sideways into the concrete and metal guardrails.
In a strange slow motion, Creed tried to get out from underneath the hunk of metal. Pain shot from his leg and side as he maneuvered free. The night had gone from gloomy and dark to hot and bright in a matter of seconds and he had no idea what had happened.
He limped from the edge of the road, the sound of metal grinding against metal still ringing in his ears, and turned back toward the island. He stood transfixed as the horror of what he saw before him began to sink in. A wall of flames surrounded Club Diablo with a rain of burning debris littering the night sky as it fell to the ground.
What the fuck?
Mate. The wolf rasped in his head.
Creed jerked, moving on autopilot as he began ripping at his clothes while his bones popped and muscles strained as the change to wolf overtook him. The human in him receded and the animal seized control.
One minute he was standing by the road in pain and the next the wolf was racing across the bridge to the burning building with only one goal in mind.
Save the mate.
