Twenty-four hours later we were back in Chehalis and I opened my front door to the welcoming sight of our family wiping happy tears from their faces and welcoming us home.The last day had been busy, filling in reports for Clark, giving them all the information that I had and listening to how Ryder had found me. He’d sent Shae back to Mexico with the rest of the men. He, Maxim and Milo had stayed behind saying they were going to look for me.Sorin wasn’t happy and neither was Clark but they relented because they also had other duties to oversee. Ryder had pulled charred wood and debris from the living room and found the trap door. He’d led them down the tunnel and into the vents.Ryder hadn’t told our family about what I’d done and it didn’t matter now, we were all safe and back home. Chandra and Lauren reached me first, kissing my cheeks and hugging me tighter than I’ve ever been hugged in my life.Riley was in my arms and I didn’t want to let go of her and soon Hunter was on the oth
For days afterwards I couldn’t look Lauren or Chandra in the eye and Ally seemed to notice that something had happened. It took her three days to corner me, three days of her sleeping in my bed and my mind working overtime.“Are you sleeping with them?”“No.”Her eyes held a hint of sadness as she looked at me. “But you want to.”“What does it even matter if I want to or not?”“Because I wake up every morning with your erection pressed against my ass.”I sighed and briefly closed my eyes. “If it bothers you so much go sleep in the guest room. We’re not a thing Ally.”“Not yet.” Determination were steeled in her eyes and I had no clue what she actually wanted.My days were swamped with requests since news had spread that I wasn’t dead. Ivan was the first to call me and I could hear the emotions in his voice as he yelled at me for being alive while I laughed. Our conversation about Mintia wasn’t a good one.Milo fell into step next to me every morning as I jogged through Chehalis and so
Watching Hunter and Ally leave my house hurt so much that I almost couldn’t stand it. She’d been gone for two weeks and I felt that void in my house, in my heart and in my soul. Riley was sad, she missed them both.Ryder sat across from me on the couch and I couldn’t read the expression in his eyes. “What the hell are you doing?”“I spoke to a lawyer. If I push this I’ll have to prove paternity, get a court order to have my name put on his birth certificate then I’ll have more rights to him. Joel says she was being generous with the school holidays.”“You’re going to go the legal route?”“What else am I supposed to do? I have a right to have him in my life, in my house!”“You are stupider than I thought. She loves you Wynter and all you had to do was love her back!” Ryder’s voice was angry but it didn’t match the anger that I felt.“She’s marrying someone else! She doesn’t love me Dad, maybe she did a long time ago because if she did she wouldn’t have left me!”“She left because you k
I woke up to Echo roaring furiously in my head. I could feel danger all around me. “Wynter! You have to get Milo and run!” My mother’s voice was anxious but also steadfast. I peered into her bright eyes and sat up straight.There was smoke and fire, shouting, gun shots and screams. She picked me up from bed and I could feel her big stomach under my legs as she ran down the stairs just as Uncle Felix burst through the kitchen door.“Megan, you need to get the kids to safety.” Felix’s voice was loud over the din as he yelled at her.She ignored him and moved to the porch as she lowered me to the wooden flooring below and I stood in front of her. “I love you Wynter, but now you have to run.” Her voice was laced with urgency as she hugged me tightly and kissed the top of my head.I nodded my head as Echo separated from me and Felix picked me up and placed me on Echo’s back. I felt Milo behind me as Felix hugged him once and pushed him right up against me and his arms came around my waist.
Milo drove and I slept in the truck as we tackled the twelve hours back to Hartwell. We hadn’t been home in more than three years because we rarely had a day to ourselves before another assignment came through.We had taken two days to pack up the furnished apartment, cancel our lease and we left at five am with the two bikes on a trailer and headed back to Georgia and the unknown. Ryder, of course, was happy that we were finally coming home.“Death for treason.” I opened my eyes and looked over at Milo.“Clark’s not an idiot Milo. What he didn’t say was that now the Supreme Councils will handle the assignments which means that they decide who’s taken out. There’s nothing stopping them from keeping certain people alive. The Unit wasn’t monitored and we did our own investigations to determine guilt. That’s not going to happen anymore.”“Greed and manipulation is the order of the day once again.”“Which was why the Unit was started in the first place, to eliminate all the manipulation a
It was six am when Milo and I returned to the farm from our twelve mile jog. We had discarded our shirts by mile 5 as we ran straight through Hartwell. We rounded the house and found Ryder on the porch, arms crossed over his chest, clearly waiting for us.“Oh shit, you’re dead.” Milo’s voice came from behind me as I stood with my hands on my hips trying to catch my breath.“You think I wouldn’t notice? You think I’m that stupid that I wouldn’t know what you and Alexis did?” Ryder’s glared cut straight through me.“Dad, I can explain.” Who was I kidding? I couldn’t explain what had happened between us.“Yeah please do. Tell me about you picked Alexis up from a party drunk and then waited for us to go to sleep before bringing her home.”Milo clutched his chest over his heart as he breathed out. “Oh thank the gods.”“Shut the hell up.” My whisper was harsh, even to my own ears.Ryder fixed his gaze on Milo and I could see the lingering question in his eyes. “Thank the gods what Milo?”“N
“Let’s go.” Milo ruffled my hair and I swatted his hand away.“Piss off.”“Come on, we haven’t seen the three W’s in three years.” Milo’s face was inches from mine as he leaned over the couch.“You just want to get laid.” I looked at the grin on his face.“So? You need someone that doesn’t pass out on you.” He ducked his head as my fist aimed for his head.“Low blow asshole.” He chuckled as a smile finally appeared on my face and I knew he was right. We both needed to get out.Half an hour later we parked our bikes in front of G’s. Warner, Wilson and Winston were three brothers who had bought the dilapidated piece of land straight out of high school and opened a bar. They worked the bar themselves and named it G’s, short for their surname Gates.It was off a beaten down dirt road, basically in the middle of nowhere and the best place to hang out. They didn’t check ID’s since Warner bought it when he was eighteen and the liquor license was in their father’s name.I pulled out a chair f
My phone pinged and my eyes opened instantly. It was my Unit phone and that ping meant Clark was making contact. I accessed the messages and laughed softly.Clark – Up for a private?Wynter – SureClark – Sending location for pick up and eliminationWynter – Will confirm tonightClark – Ross Webber, Vampire, Webber Construction, AthensI looked at the two locations that Clark had sent and memorized them both before putting the phone away. I could hear Milo and Mallory in the room next to me and it was barely seven am. I heard the front door open and then Ally’s face appeared in my doorway.“Okay, this is awkward.” She laughed and then stifled it with her hand as Milo started spouting his ‘Daddy’ shit and I laughed.“You should learn to knock.” I stood up from the bed.“Dad sent me to tell you breakfast’s in ten minutes.” Ally’s face was reddening as Milo just got louder.“Hold on, I’ll walk out with you.”I pulled a t-shirt over my head and opened Milo’s door without knocking. Mallory