Renegades
Angel Whittaker tried not to shudder at the malicious smile from the Renegades former leader. Eddy Medina bared his teeth as he declared his son’s guilt. The gleam in his eye suggested that he enjoyed their cat and mouse game. “Do whatever you have to do to bring him back,” he instructed Angel. “By the time I’m through with him, he’s going to regret ever having left.”
He hadn’t agreed to the missive out of spite. He knew little more of Dominic Medina than the rest of the pack. After being denied his mate, he and his boyfriend of two years fled. They took Nick’s pick-up truck, a change of clothes, and whatever money Zayne Vasquez holed away working part-time at the pizza parlor. So far, neither of them reached out to their family members.
If it weren’t for the domino effect that it had on the Renegades, Angel would’ve respected their determination. Their rivals threatened the safe house. Angel’s best friend found himself thrust into a role he hadn’t been prepared for. Worst of all, Eddy brought him here to interrogate him. He treated Angel as if he were a criminal.
“The two of you were friends, weren’t you?”
“No, sir,” responded Angel dully.
“It doesn’t matter.” Eddy waved him away. “All I need from you is to bring him back here alive. I don’t care how you do it. I’m giving you until the end of the month. Don’t disappoint you.”
He flashed another of his disarming grins at Angel’s retreating figure. A month ought to be more than enough time, he thought. Though the two of them laid low on social media, he doubted things were going according to plan. Neither of them had a job lined up. Money would be tight. For Zayne, that might not make a difference. Fights were a common occurrence in the Vasquez household and he would value his newfound freedom. But Nick had never wanted for anything. When he couldn’t afford to put gas into his truck or his cell phone shut off, his resolution would begin to crack.
Angel almost felt bad for him, but he did it to himself. His car sputtered as he turned onto the highway. The money from Eddy Medina wouldn’t hurt either. He’d made it clear that he wouldn’t tolerate failure, but Angel had never been one to give less than a hundred and ten percent. He never failed.
Zayne and Nick scrambled to find a motel. A thin fence separated them from the entrance ramp to the interstate. Raccoons nested in the dumpster outside of their window and harsh, fluorescent light bathed the sidewalk. Angel gritted his teeth against the noise that it made.
Zayne struggled with the key card. He would’ve been easier to catch than Nick, who had yet to step foot outside. The night before Angel followed him to a nightclub where the bouncer hadn’t bothered to ID him. He wouldn’t emerge for several hours. When he returned to the motel, he and Nick fought.
“It’s my money!” Zayne exploded. “You can’t tell me what to do with it when you haven’t even started looking for a job.”
“That’s not fair. I’m trying just as hard as you are.” Nick’s voice dropped until Angel could no longer make out what he said.
He rented the room beside them. He fidgeted with the dials on the radio.
The cigarette glowed between Zayne’s lips. He threw a glance across his shoulder and swore at Nick. “Don’t give me that look,” he spat, the corner of his mouth lifting into a sneer. “You haven’t done anything so far.”
“I drove,” Nick reminded him. He folded his arms across his chest.
When he set his jaw, Angel noticed the hints of dark stubble and his heart skipped a beat. He curled his fist against his lap and ignored the sudden urge to reach out and stroke Nick’s face. Where the hell had that come from? In terms of attraction, he would never consider Dominic Medina ugly. Not even close. But he had a softness to him that defied the hard lines of his body.
“You wouldn’t have been able to do that if your parents hadn’t paid.” Zayne flicked the ash from his cigarette.
“Don’t walk away from me,” growled Nick. “You said that we were in this together, but you’re always leaving. You won’t even tell me where you go or why you’re gone for so long.”
“That’s not any of your goddamn business, Nick. Why don’t you get a job instead of waiting around for me all the time?”
Nick bit the inside of his lip. Tears threatened to escape as Zayne stalked across the parking lot, effectively shaking Angel out of his spell. He observed the two of them long enough. Now he needed to do the job he set out to do. No more distractions.
When he didn’t turn around, Angel slid inside their motel room. He thought that he had been discreet, though he had no idea how the hell he intended to get out of there. With how intensely the two of them fought, he doubted either of them noticed the word around them. Did they give a damn that their neighbors overheard their arguments?
Nick’s body mowed into his. He pinned Angel’s wrists to the carpet.
“I’m going to let you off with a warning this time,” he smirked, drawing a finger across Angel’s throat. “But next time I won’t be so nice. Leave us the fuck alone.”
“And if I don’t?” He meant it to be a challenge, but with Nick’s face inches from his, he couldn’t concentrate on anything above his heart hammering loudly in his chest. A blush crept up the inside of his neck. Nick noticed. He shifted so that his hips were square with Angel’s.
“You don’t want to find out the answer to that,” he whispered, a hint of amusement in his dark eyes. He might’ve lost the argument with Zayne, but now he found himself on familiar territory.
Angel’s wolf stirred within him. He tried to ignore the tug of desire.
“It’s cute that you think you can threaten me, but you might want to watch what you say.”
“I’m not afraid of you.”
“You should be.” Angel ignored the swell of disappointment when Nick released him. “I know where he goes when he’s not here.”
“If you lay a finger on Zayne, I will fucking kill you.” Nick snatched him by the shirt collar. “Leave him out of it.”
“You know what this is about?” His pulse quickened at the renewed contact.
“I’m not an idiot,” growled Nick.
“Then you’re going to want to work with me.”
