Very slowly, as if he’s cautious not to spook me, Nox’s hand slips away from Gabe. My body moves without thought, stalking over to Gabe as if an invisible force is shoving us together, and I plant myself in-between my two Bonds.
I have no fucking clue what I’m doing, but my bond finally calms the fuck down a little once my back is pressed against Gabe’s chest.
“Incoming, the plane’s here.”
There’s a whoop of joy and the TacTeam recovers from my little bond-tantrum moment, moving around us to prepare for our pick up. I stand there with Gabe and watch the descent without a word between us. When the plane hits the runway, landing perfectly, with the roar of the brakes and engine reversing, we both exhale as though we’ve been holding our breaths for hours, days at this point.
“How the fuck do we tell North about this? I don’t even know what to call it,” Gryphon mutters to Nox, his eyes flicking over his shoulder to me, and I take a deep breath.
I can’t say a word to him because he always sees through my lies, and how could I explain this situation away to him? How do I tell him that the nightmares are horrible but the least of our problems?
If only they were the worst thing I can do.
Also by J Bree
The Bonds that Tie
Broken Bonds
Savage Bonds
The Mounts Bay Saga
The Mounts Bay Saga
The Butcher of the Bay: Part I
The Butcher of the Bay: Part II
Hannaford Prep
Just Drop Out: Hannaford Prep Year One
Make Your Move: Hannaford Prep Year Two
Play the Game: Hannaford Prep Year Three
To the End: Hannaford Prep Year Four
Hannaford Prep: The Complete Series
Make My Move: Alternate POV of Year Two
The Queen Crow Trilogy
All Hail
The Ruthless
Queen Crow
The Unseen MC
Angel Unseen: An Unseen MC Novel
About the Author
J Bree is a dreamer, writer, mother, farmer, and cat-wrangler. The order of priorities changes daily.
She lives on a small farm in a tiny rural town in Australia that no one has ever heard of. She spends her days dreaming about all of her book boyfriends, listening to her partner moan about how the wine grapes are growing, and being a snack bitch to her two kids.
For updates about upcoming releases, please visit her website at http://www.jbreeauthor.com, and sign up for the newsletter or join her group on Facebook at #mountygirlforlife: A J Bree Reading Group
CONTINUE READING FOR AN EXCERPT FROM
Just Drop Out:
Hannaford Prep Year One
Available now on Kindle Unlimited
Prologue
The forest at the edge of the Mounts Bay, California, city limits are well known for being haunted.
The kids at the local high school have spent generations whispering about the bodies buried in shallow graves, waiting for the wolves to scent them and dig them up for food. There’s even more legends about the souls that walk amongst the towering redwoods. It’s quiet, not silent, but compared to the ever-present sounds of traffic and human experience, it’s eerie and adds to the haunted feel.
While I don’t believe in ghosts, I can feel the souls that linger here.
It’s probably just my guilty conscious giving me the heebie-jeebies as I look over the corpse of my opponent. His blood is still fresh on my hands, cold and congealed, and I wipe them uselessly down my jeans. My clothes are just as stained as my hands, even my face is spattered with the red stains of his life ending. I look like something out of a horror movie, which is about right considering I’ve just bashed a man’s skull in with a rock while a whole crowd of people looked on in sick fascination. There isn’t a person watching that dares to make a noise. The vise-like grip of the Club holds their tongues.
I’m not afraid of being caught.
I’m small for my age. Years of food insecurity have taken their toll, and I was the youngest contender in the Game this season. None of that matters, though; I’ve won. I’ve beaten thirty men and teenage boys to take the victory and the spoils of this war.
I stumble toward the men at the perimeter of the fighting ring. They’re all cloaked in black, hard looks on their faces and black ink etched over their cheeks. My hands tremble at the thought of wearing those same marks. The marks of the Twelve. But I’ve earned them. I’ve earned the right to stand with them and be one of them.
To be free.
“Congratulations, you’ve won the Game,” the Jackal speaks, and I shiver at the cold tones of his voice, so unlike the warmth he usually extends to me.
I nod my head. I want this over with. I want a hot meal and an even hotter shower.
“Welcome to the Twelve. You’re replacing the Hawk. Who do you choose to be?”
Free. I guess a hawk is a good embodiment of freedom, but it feels strange to take a dead man's name, like climbing into his bed with the sheets still warm. I look around at the other men that make up the Twelve. Their names are what they’re known as on the streets, what their gangs cover themselves with as protection and a warning. I could have that too. I could make myself a queen of my own empire. I could rule the streets and never go hungry again.
I could escape the cycle of poverty my mother has left me in.
My eyes land back on the Jackal, and I lift my chin until I no longer feel like I’m looking up at him.
“I am the Wolf.”