Page 9 of Awakening the Beast
My eyebrow raises, and just as I’m about to answer, Arlo cuts in. “Do you want me to show you how alive I am, Izzy? Because I haven’t skinned someone alive for a very fucking long time. It’s an itch I need to scratch.”
I struggle to keep a sinister smirk from spreading across my face as Arlo makes his chilling threat right in front of me. There’s something oddly satisfying about his raw, unfiltered menace—a part of him I’d never really seen before. I’ve never witnessed him as an Elite, let alone right beside him like this.
“Izzy, I’m not fucking around anymore. You know more than you’re letting on. Tell me what you know, or I’ll gladly unleash The Skinner on you.”
Yes, I’ll use Arlo to scare the hell out of her, and it definitely works—her eyes widen, and the fear in them even shocks me. She starts stuttering, blabbing addresses and information I’ve never heard before. When she’s finished, I roll my eyes, fed up with her bullshit, and raise my gun toward her, my expression flat.
“It’s about time, bitch.”
I pull the trigger without warning and the bullet slams into her forehead, making her head snap back and blood splatter against the pillar behind her.
Arlo’s head whips around to me, his eyes blazing with fury. “What the fuck, Wren?”
I ignore him and turn away, heading for the door. As I grasp the handle, I hear him catching up with me and I side-eye him as I pull the door open.
“What, Arlo?” I ask coldly.
“What if she was lying?” he snaps, his anger clear. “We could have fucked her over once we confirmed if the information was true or not!”
“She was wasting my time for way too long,” I retort, frustration edging my voice. “You would know that if you were here.”
I hear him following every step as I exit the building, his gaze definitely lingering on my ass the whole way. When I reach the car waiting for us, I get in and shut the door behind me. He slides in beside me, and I turn away, staring out the window as the car starts to move.
As we get further into the journey, he finally breaks the silence. “I don’t like how you fucking handled that, Wren.”
“Oh yeah? And whys that?” I ask, rolling my eyes.
“You’re fucking heavily pregnant, for one. You shouldn’t be in the Elite world, especially in your condition,” he bites out.
“You’re right,” I shoot back, anger flaring. “Maybe I should stop looking for the person who shot and killed my husband—considering he faked his own fucking death for six fucking months.”
“Stop the fucking car!” Arlo barks, causing my entire body to tense.
Joe swerves to the side of the road with a screech of the tires without hesitation, and I furrow my brows in confusion.
“Don’t stop the car!” My voice is a low growl. “Remember who you listen to, Joe!”
Joe glances at me apologetically. “Sorry, Mrs. Hayes.”
The shame in his voice is clear, and it’s obvious he now knows who Arlo fucking Hayes is. My teeth clench in irritation as Arlo flings open the door beside him and steps out of the car.
“Get the fuck out!” Arlo demands, yanking open Joe’s door.
I roll my eyes as Joe exits the car. Arlo slams the door shut and takes the driver’s seat before the car lurches forward with a screech, showing his frustration, but I try to stay composed as he drives us to an unknown location.
“Is this what you want?” Arlo’s angry voice cuts through the silence. “Our baby to have a mom who’s tangled up in the Elite world?”
I scoff at his audacity, still staring out the window beside me. “You’ve got some nerve, Arlo, especially after you did it with Cree. Your mom managed just fine raising you, too.”
“And look how the fuck I turned out! An utter maniac!”
I glare at him through the rear-view mirror. “Stay the fuck out of it. You can’t just come back and act like you have the right to tell me what to do!”
His jaw clenches, and his eyes darken with a dangerous intensity I haven’t seen in a long time.
“Oh, I fucking can’t, can’t I?” he snarls.
He abruptly veers right and pulls up on a dark, quiet road, yanking the handbrake and unclipping his seatbelt. My heart races as I realize what he's about to do and I'm too fucking weak right now to stop him.
