WOLF

I’ve been watching this woman for months, waiting for the perfect moment to do what I need to do to her.

Her name is Nova Almaraz. She’s a photographer. Single, supposedly. Biracial. Sexy, in a subtle kind of way. Her parents aren’t in her life, and she doesn’t have much family in Nirvana, Arizona, which is a good thing for me because no one will miss her.

She drinks three cups of green tea with two table spoons of honey a day, and she hardly ever watches TV, shops, or goes clubbing like girls her age usually do during their free time.

She walks to the coffee shop next to her job once a day with one of her co-workers, who I’ve come to know is also one of her best friends. The friend’s name is Cristina Bak, but she goes by Crissy.

Most nights this Nova girl isn’t leaving her job until after six at night. When she isn’t working, she’s hanging out at a man named Ellis Butler’s house, or she’s sitting in her apartment on her laptop, most likely working. One thing I’ve noticed is she never really cuts herself a break unless she’s with this man.

She lives her life as if she’s in this huge, marvelous rush, but I’ve seen her when she thinks no one is watching. Sometimes she’ll sit and stare into space, probably wondering how her life became the way it is. There are moments where she won’t move for minutes on end. It’s fucking weird.

I know lots of things about her past and her childhood—hell, I know almost every single detail about her upbringing. I know things she’d probably never share with someone like me—things she’s probably not proud of and will never spill to her lame-ass boyfriend or whoever the fuck that Ellis guy is to her.

I know about her brother, and how she practically had to raise him when she was a teenager because her mother wasn’t worth a shit. I know she loves her brother to death and would do anything for him, and that’s exactly why I’m going to use him to my advantage.

Right now, it’s around two in the morning on a Saturday and she’s walking to her car with a smile plastered on her face. Her hair is a wild mess, lips dry, but she’s smiling, nonetheless, and it pisses me off.

The man at the door, whose house she’s leaving, gives her a wave as she climbs behind the steering wheel of her car. I grip the handle of my bike tighter.

The girl pulls out of his driveway, her headlights slashing across the front of the house. The grass needs to be cut, and the flowers in his garden need to be watered. But, of course, that man isn’t going to tend to that—not when he has fresh, young pussy showing up at his place every other night. Fucking idiot.

I watch her drive by while I’m parked beside a tree across the road, completely out of their sight. For a second, I’m tempted to get off my bike and go to the house to demand a few answers from him about her, but I suppress that urge.

Instead, I start up my bike and leave the neighborhood, following her home. I make sure to stay back a few feet, so that she doesn’t know I’m tailing her. My fingers itch, and I so badly want to pull my gun out and shoot it at one of her tires just to spin her whole world out of control because, to me, she’s such a fucking idiot. The way she lives her life is ridiculous, and she’s so fucking gullible, but that’s okay because I’m going to fix that real soon.

I continue following her until she makes a right turn and turns into her apartment complex. While she does, I keep driving, pressing on the throttle to pick up speed, my hair flying in the wind.

I could take her right now if I wanted to and be done with all of this, but I need this kidnapping to be clean, and for there to be no witnesses involved. There are too many people in and around her neighborhood, and for this situation, I don’t need the bullshit, or for Sherriff Rain to be on my ass.

The only way this will happen is if I talk to her brother. He’s already in my clutches, working for my club. The boy is greedy and will do anything for a little money and a little street credit. He wants to prove his worth, and I’m going to use that to my advantage.

So, I keep riding, chasing concrete, patiently waiting for the moment I can carry this plan out. When I’ve allowed my adrenaline to taper off, I park in an abandoned parking lot and pull out my phone, giving Vice Prez a call.

“Wolf,” Sniper answers.

“Give the money to the boy,” I order. “Tell him he has twenty-four hours.”

“Got it,” Sniper mumbles. “You sure about this, Prez? What does she have to do with the Lords? Seems perfectly harmless to me.”

I let his words sink in. Yes, she does seem harmless, but that’s exactly how she likes to present herself to the world.

Innocent. Sweet. Free-spirited

But I know there’s more beneath that cool exterior of hers.

She’s cut from a different cloth, and I’m going to prove it—not only to her, but to everyone she cares about.

“I’m sure,” I growl into the phone. “Get it done and stop asking questions.” I hang up, but even I know damn well that what I’m about to do is a huge fucking risk.

But it doesn’t matter.

It has to be done.

Not only for my sake, but for hers too.