The All Consuming: A Shifter MC Novel (Pureblood Predator MC Book 4) (10 page)

“Well thanks for the vote of confide—”

Before I can finish Trish stands and storms off into the desert night.

I take a long breath.

She shouldn’t be out there alone.

She knows better.
 

I should go get her. But the truth is what she said makes my stomach churn. Murder my eldest son? Could I do it? To save…what? Myself? The Purebloods and Skins? The whole fucking world?

You are your own keeper.

The Dog God was his own keeper.
 

Fuck of a lot of good it did him.

I struggle to a stand, then stagger into the seething Pureblood crowd, searching for Nash. Let loverboy go chasing after his girl. I’ve had enough of Trish’s fretting for one night.

***

 
I find the Pureblood MC’s inner circle crouched around a small fire a few hundred yards away from the main party. Aaron’s face is scrunched up in anger. Nash looks pissed as well. Blue’s gesturing with his massive arms, like he’s trying to convince Aaron of something. Tate just looks stoned.

I’m out of earshot, but a few words and phrases drift on the wind.

Can’t trust.

Get rid of.

Make the call.
 

Fucked up before.

I take a few more steps toward the men, straining to hear. I shouldn’t be eavesdropping on club business. But I have a suspicion this is my business as well—

“She fucking lost it, Prez,” Blue is saying.

Aaron tosses a beer bottle in the fire and says nothing.

“Imagine a war,” Nash says. “Stricken swarming everywhere. A fucking bloodbath. No way Lily’s gunna be strong enough to keep her animal locked up—”

“You saw us,” Aaron growls. “She submitted. I’m her alpha. She’ll obey. Even her animal will obey.”

“Maybe,” Blue says doubtfully. “Maybe not. It’s a fucking
risk
, Prez.”

“You sound like a bitch,” Aaron says. “Life is risk. Or it isn’t worth living.”

Nash and Blue share a look.

“A risk we can’t afford,” Nash says, picking up where Blue left off. “We’re stronger than ever, yeah. More Purebloods keep scenting us out. Joining the ranks. But we got the fucking Fallen to deal with, not to mention Shiori and that motherfucker Rodas and…”

Nash’s voice trails off.

“Her son,” Aaron finishes.

“Yeah,” Blue says, real quiet. “Lachlan. I scented those vulture’s back at the mental hospital, Prez. The Carrion Cloud. The boy’s taken after his father—”

Tate passes Aaron a joint, then looks out into the desert. I slip behind a manzanita bush and fully commit to being a slimeball and eavesdropping.

Aaron takes a long drag, blows a swirling cloud of blue smoke into the fire that rises with the heat, then says, “You know I love you guys. And you’re my crew. My inner circle. I know this can’t be easy for you. Talking about this shit. Truth is it’s not easy for me either. So I want you to know you can say anything. Speak your mind. Here and now. Got it? For the good of the pack. That’s what matters. Pack survival above all.”

Pack survival above all.

The words pound through my head.

The fucker’s playing both sides. And I hate that there’s even two sides. I’d hoped submitting to the Prez would make it clear we’re all on the same side.

My lips curl in derision.
 

You silly, naive little girl
, I scold myself.
You blind, too trusting fool
.

I’m a Risen. I’ll always be a Risen. An outsider.
 

The MC will never let me in.

I’ll
never
be one of them.

Sure, they’ll tolerate me. At least as long as Aaron forces them to.
 

I bite my lips to stifle my anger and disappointment and even…fear. Cradle my arm around my belly. He wouldn’t dare—

“So,” Aaron says, tipping a bottle to his lips. “Nash. As VP, you speak first. What should I do?”

…about the Lily problem?
 

He didn’t say it. Didn’t have to. It was right there, hanging in the air for everyone to see. The backstabbing bastard—

Nash flicks another glance into the desert.
 

Fucker’s nervous.
 

About
me
.
 

That’s the poison I bring to this pack. Fucking
shitballs
why didn’t I see it before? I was too busy fighting my animal. Trying to make sense of things. Running around putting out fires. I should have got out in front of this long ago.
 

What a fucking jerkoff I’ve been.
 

Now shit gets real.

I’ve been leaning on Aaron and praying it was all gunna work out. Suddenly the pressure my being here puts on Aaron hits home and knocks the wind from my lungs. How he has to act as a go-between, caught in the middle of his pack and his bloodmate.
 

No wonder sometimes he looks at me like he hates me—

“I say we roll into Phoenix like we planned before you healed up,” Nash says. “Secure a headquarters for the Pureblood territory west of here. Start hunting Stricken and signing up the Skins that are still alive. Leave someone in charge. Leave a few MC members behind as well. Lily and her Skin friend stay with them while we ride on the Fallen and his band of merry fucksters.”

“You tell Trish your master plan?” Aaron asks.

Nash glowers. Shakes his head.

“Didn’t think so.”

Aaron stares at Blue and Tate. “You both back Nash on this?”

Blue and Tate nod.
 

Aaron takes another pull from the bottle, then taps a rail onto his wrist and snorts it home. I can almost see the weight of responsibility crushing his shoulders.

“I fucking
hate
this shit,” Aaron mutters.

I know that’s true. He does hate it. In fact I think it’s probably tearing him up. Hurting him worse than he’ll ever show.
 

And that’s on me.

Aaron looses a long sigh, then says, “I fucking hate it, but I’m thinking the same thing. Lily’s carrying my son. No way she’s riding south with us. Trish? Fuck her. We’ll tie her to a pole if we have to.”

“C’mon Prez,” Nash growls.

Aaron laughs. “Okay Nashy. Whatever. You deal with Trish. Although I gotta say it’s pretty fucking rich, you two hooking up after all the grief you gave me about Lil being a Skin.”

“Maybe it’d be better if Lily
was
a Skin,” Nash says. “Then we wouldn’t have three dead Purebloods to burn.”

“They all die?” Aaron asks. “Fuck sakes.”
 

“Jacko might heal. He got here yesterday. Pretty cool guy. The other two…not so lucky.”

“Serves ‘em fucking right for attacking my bloodmate,” Aaron spits.

“She attacked
them
, Prez,” Blue corrects.

“Okay, okay,” Aaron says, raising his hands. He’s trying his best to stay cool. But I hear the strain in his voice.
 

He’s wearing thin.
 

A heavy silence descends on the men. No one wants to say the obvious: even if they do somehow manage to keep me in Phoenix while they ride off like gunslingers to clean up the ranch, and even if they do defeat my prick brother without me…what then?
 

I’m still a Risen.

Still a threat to the Purebloods.

I’m about to slip into the night when a hissing voice whispers in my ear, “Welcome home, piglet. That was quite the peep show. Wild and rough, just how I like it. You came a bit fast, but other than that you weren’t bad.” Mia nods at the men gathered around the fire. “Really worked, didn’t it? You flashing gash for the entire crew? The boys all got your back. We’re one big happy family again.”

The sneaky, sarcastic fucking snake.

“Piss off, Mia. I’m beyond tired of your bullshit.”

“Aaron looks pretty tired too. But not from the lay.”

“He can take care of himself.”

“If he only had himself and his pack to worry about, yeah. See what you’re doing to him? Your
bloodmate
? Since day one it’s been like this. Aaron caught between us and you. You know there’s only one way to fix it. You gotta fuck off. Forever. But you keep coming back, don’t you? I gave you the benefit of the doubt for a while. Told myself you love him, and love can do fucked up things. Make us blind to what’s really going on. But now? I don’t give a shit. You’re bad for him. Even worse for us. Plain and simple. You
know
that. But you’re still here. Why? Only one reason. You’re a selfish little bitch. You don’t give a fuck about Aaron Arud. If you did you’d be gone by now.”

It takes every ounce of willpower I possess not to summon my animal and bleed the slithering snake out into the dirt. But a part of me knows Mia’s right. I
am
bad for Aaron and his pack. I
am
being selfish by not letting him go. But instead I grind my teeth, ignore everything she said and say, “You bring Anik back?”

“Fuck do you care? You’re shit for him too. Stay the fuck away from my bear.”

My bear.

Shitballs. Welcome back, Lil. Now fuck off and die.
 

Aaron turns and glances into the desert. Right at the manzanita me and Mia are hiding behind. His eyes narrow, then he takes a pull from the bottle and returns to staring at the fire.

“Keep your fucking voice down, Mia.”

“Why? Don’t want loverboy to find out you’re eavesdropping on a club meeting? Wonder what the crew would think of that.”

I close my eyes and take three slow breaths.
 

My skin feels hot.
 

A bead of sweat drips down my brow.

“Go ahead and call her, piglet. I saw Aaron ride you into the dirt. You’re weak. At least compared to
my
Prez. So call her. Make the man choose between you and his pack again. You saw what happened last time. It fucking broke him. That what you want?”

“No,” I whisper.

“Then do what you got to do.”

A sense of overwhelming despair washes over me. Nothing I do makes anything right. Even me being here hurts everyone I care about. Aaron. Anik. Even this dirtbag outlaw MC I’ve grown to love. Maybe even my unborn son.
 

Sometimes love isn’t enough. In fact it’s never enough.
 

People have to be
right
for each other.
 

Me and the biker Prez? We’ll never be right.

“I’ll leave, Mia,” I say, my voice cracking. “I promise I’ll leave tonight. Just take me to Anik. He’s my brother. I need to see him.”

Nash gets up and stalks back to the party. Tate and Blue follow. Aaron stays alone by the fire, shoulders hunched low, not moving. I watch him dig in his pocket for his Zippo and light a smoke. His face is in profile as he draws a deep drag. The sharp jawline and sculpted cheekbones. The full, completely panty-melting lips. Even hurting…he’s fucking hot. His eyes catch the firelight and glow arctic blue.
 

Fuck me. I’m gunna miss him.
 

“You’re lying,” Mia says. “You’ll never walk away.”

I shake my head. “Tonight I’m gone. I can’t promise I’ll never see Aaron again, because we’re both fighting the same sick fuck. But after tonight? It’s over between us.”

Something in my voice seems to convince Mia, because she grabs my hand and leads me into the darkness.
 

“T
HE
S
CAVENGER
C
LAN
, like me and Rata, provide for
La Mugre
,” Luz says, cupping her hands in a water basin and bringing the cool water to her face. “The Low Clan, like Moco, also have a role in ensuring
La Mugre’s
survival.”

“The Low lure the Stricken into the sewers and tunnels for you to kill.”

Luz nods.

“Who decides who kills and who gets used as bait?”

“The Mothers,” Luz says. Then she looks at me. “Children are tested when they turn four. Cowards are sent to live with the Low.”
 

There’s a long pause, then Luz says, “It’s a great honor for the Low to wear the Bells. Moco died providing for his people.”
 

Her voice rises defensively.
 

She feels guilty about sending Moco into the street to be eaten alive.

“Honor?” I ask, my lips curling in scorn. “What is honor? Something you wretched Skins created? The only honor is survival. There’s no honor in being cheese placed in a trap.”

“The cheese is necessary or the mouse won’t enter the trap. And watch who you’re calling a wretched Skin, Mr. I-Lost-My-Animal.”

Luz gives me a scowl.
 

Splashes more water on her face.

“Moco would’ve lived if he hadn’t panicked and frozen when the demon-animals came at him,” Luz says under her breath. “That’s the truth of it. He was even lousy at being Low.”

I tried to outrun the Scavenger girl when I burst from the tunnels beneath Mexico City. But Luz followed easily. Even murdered a Stricken that leaped from the shadows to attack me. I ran in a blind terror, certain the whore Tamara and the traitor Carlos Collazo had sent the black blooded packs to hunt me down.
 

But no one followed.

Now we’re in a small stone villa on the outskirts of the former presidential palace
Los Pinos.
The once grand palace has been sacked and burned. The beautiful pine trees that whispered in the wind when I tormented President Manuel Ortiz are charred stumps. The gardens have been trampled and burned. The air reeks of fire and blood, and that’s without my animal scenting for me.

Luz has been bathing constantly since we arrived. Washing years of accumulated filth from her skin.

“So you don’t mind sending the Low to their deaths?”

“Of course I mind,” Luz snaps. “I fucking fled with you, didn’t I? I left everything…”

Luz’s voice trails off.

“You regret your choice.”

Luz wipes her face with a damp cloth. “No. I regret not destroying the Mothers. They created
La Mugre
, or so the legends claim. Everything we do benefits them. We hunt for them. If a male Scavenger reaches a certain rank he is required to lie with them, to impregnate them. The rest of us are not permitted…”