Scartissue by T.L Hodel

CHAPTER 31

Logan

“This is bullshit!” Martin Creswell slammed his hand down on the stone table. “The wolves were wiped out.”

“Apparently one family survived,” Lou stated calmly.

I couldn’t help but smirk. Something told me the fucker knew all along that the Mathers line was out there.

“Even so, how do we know we can trust him?” Martin’s brother Sebastian pointed out.

Of course it would be the Creswells’ who objected. Stuck up bastards. Honestly, I thought they’d be a little more pissed at my claim to a vote. Surprisingly, they didn’t argue it much.

“It doesn’t matter,” Dean Whitley piped in, “You know the rules. Blood is law.”

That meant there wasn’t a fucking thing they could do about it. Chase’s vote stood. Whether they liked it or not.

“I still don’t like it,” Martin grumbled.

“Too fucking bad,” Micha barked back. “Junior’s in. Deal with it.”

I looked over at the rest of the Knights, suiting up for the hunt. Even Silas cracked a smile. Martin might be his old man, but that didn’t mean he liked the prick.

“Three minutes,” Lou announced.

The hunt was one of the Order games I liked. It was an initiation, of sorts. When a Knight reached the age of maturity, which according to Order doctrine was eleven, they were given a twenty minute head start and sent into the woods.

The object was to avoid capture until sunrise. For the rest of us, it was to capture. No cell phones or communication devices of any kind were allowed. Just man versus man. Initiates were told that if they were caught, they failed. That was just an added incentive to try harder. We were all caught. Except Preston.

I was looking forward to this hunt. When it was just Finn, I thought this would be another Mase situation. He didn’t even try. Now Junior was in. The kid was a pain in my ass, but he was street smart. Might actually get a challenge for once.

I slipped my mask over my face two seconds before the bell rang.

“Don’t fuck with Junior,” Micha growled, throwing a finger my way.

“Whatever you say, chief.”

Fuck that. The little shit was mine.

The doors opened and I was off.

Parker looked at me as I rushed by.

“What the fuck is he so excited for?”

“Shut up and do your job, boy,” Martin growled. “This year I’m going to beat that prick.”

“Bring it, Doc,” I smirked and ducked behind a tree.

I was un-fucking-defeated. Like a bloodhound, I sniffed out my prey and waited for the right time to pounce. The doctor was just pissed that I’d caught his son in under an hour.

Silas was predictable though. I didn’t get so lucky this time. Two hours later and I hadn’t come across a thing. Had to actually use my flashlight this time.

I thought for sure I’d have come across Finn by now. Or someone else would’ve. But the bell hadn’t rung, so both boys were still out here. Maybe they decided to work together?

Smart on Finn’s part. Not so much for Junior. Finn was intelligent when it came to other shit, but he had no real world knowledge. The kid didn’t even know what to do with his dick, for fuck sakes.

“Fucking urination,” I muttered, kicking a rock. “What the fuck, Silas?”

I stopped and cocked my head at something glinting in the flashlight beam. When I picked it up I was even more confused. A 9mm shell casing? Still warm.

My brows rose as I looked around the dark trees. There were drag marks in the ground too, right beside a pool of blood. I knew what it looked like when someone dragged a body away.

This wasn’t good.

I shielded the beam of my flashlight and crept forward, around the tree the marks led to. All I got was a quick glimpse of a man’s body before a foot swung down from above and kicked me in the face. I flew back on the ground, stunned and spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Booted feet dropped down next to me and delivered another swift kick to my gut, causing me to hunch over in a coughing spasm.

“How many times have I told you, boy.”

The figure leaned down into the light so I could see his face. Though I didn’t need to. I recognized the voice. It was the same one that haunted my nightmares.

“Always watch your surroundings.”

One word flew through my mind as I glared up at my old man.

Fuck.

“I thought you would’ve gotten better over the years, but you’re the same pathetic good for nothing you always were.”

“Fuck you,” I choked out in a coughing snarl. He didn’t see me grab the flashlight. “I took you down once, old man,” I swung the flashlight through the air, cracking it off his jaw. “I’ll fucking do it again.”

The second the prick fell back, I lunged. Diving on top of him in a fury of blows. Each hit I landed fueled my rage.

“That’s it, boy,” my old man hissed and snatched my arm when I went in for another punch. “Feed that anger.”

I swung my free hand back and snarled, “I’ll fucking feed it, alright.”

My strike never landed. Instead of taking out my old man, he took me out. One throat punch and I was on the ground, struggling for air.

“See, that’s the problem with anger.” He kicked me once in the ribs and then again in the gut. “It blinds you.”

As he crouched over me and tapped my face, all I could do was lay there and struggle to pull air back into my lungs.

“You stay here and collect yourself.” He pulled out a gun and grinned down at me, “I have some toys to catch.”

The last thing I heard before darkness took me, were his footsteps falling away.

***

When I came to, the first thing I did was check the body. Sebastian Creswell’s dead eyes stared up. One less Creswell in the world wasn’t the worst thing. Finn wouldn’t be happy. He actually liked his old man.

Fuck, Finn…

I scooped my flashlight off the ground and sprinted off in the direction my old man went. I had to find the boys before he did, or just find him. This time though, I’d make sure the motherfucker was dead when his body hit the water.

Fifteen minutes into my search, I spotted the first clue. One of the boys’ backpacks with the water and food we gave them, hung on a branch pointing north.

I knew it wasn’t my old man that put it up there. He wouldn’t waste the time and risk that I’d catch up with him. No, this was Junior. Finn couldn’t climb a tree if his life depended on it. I just hoped Junior was smart enough to take Finn with him.

Next was a scrap of fabric, again hung on a branch pointing north. By the third clue, I’d figured out Junior was headed for town and populace. The kid was smart, I’d give him that. There were more places to hide in town. Not to mention, if he could make it to the police department, he’d be good. No way my old man would take on a building full of cops. He wasn’t suicidal.

I hurried my way through the thick foliage, hoping I’d break the treeline before them. The boys knew which direction to go, but I knew these woods. Unfortunately, so did my old man, and he beat me to it. I knew that the second I broke the treeline and saw Finn’s shoe laying in the grass next to a cell phone. I failed. He had them.

Whatever my old man had planned for them, Finn wouldn’t survive. He might come out of it alive, but the little boy we all loved and protected would be gone. It’d only take my old man minutes to kill his innocence. I studied the field in front of me, searching for signs of which way he took them. There was nothing. Just when I thought things couldn’t get worse, the phone rang.

“You motherfucker, if you touch a hair on their heads…”

My old man tsked into the phone.

“I didn’t do anything to those beautiful boys. I was busy hunting my own prey. Say hello, Angel.”

“Logan?”

My heart stopped.

No.

And Shelby wasn’t alone. Her father’s voice sounded out from the background.

“Just do what he says, sweet pea. Everything will be fine.”

This dumb fuck probably thought this was another debt shake down. He had no idea. It wasn’t going to be fine. It was so far from fucking fine. Didn’t stop me from trying to comfort her, because right now, it was all I could do.

“It’s gonna be okay, baby, I’ll find you. I swear to fucking God, I’ll find you.” And I meant every single motherfucking word.

“Aw, isn’t that sweet, the boy’s trying to console you. He might actually care about you. That’s too bad.” My old man tsked, mocking my proclamation. “You were just an inconvenience before. Now you’re a puppet.”

I heard the resounding sound of a slap, followed by Shelby’s angry voice.

“Screw you, you creep.”

My heart lifted as I listened to their struggle and silently prayed she’d get away. It was a prayer that wasn’t answered. The echoing vibrations of a gunshot filled my ear and just like that, my whole world fell apart.

I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move. Images of my beautiful girl flew through my mind. The smile on her lips. Those bright shining eyes, and her sweet melodic voice. Things I’d never experience again.

And then the greatest fucking thing I’d ever heard rang through the other end. My girl wasn’t gone. She was full of piss and vinegar, and snarling back in the face of darkness himself.

“You hit like a girl.”

My knees gave out. I collapsed on the ground and let out the longest breath of my life. She’s alive.

Thank fucking God.

“This one’s got fire.” My old man chuckled. “I like it.”

I bet he did. Sick fuck.

“If you touch her, I’ll never stop. I’ll hunt you down to the ends of the earth, until the last thing you see is me smiling over your corpse, holding your fucking heart in my hand.”

“I look forward to it, son. In the meantime, I have some pretty new toys to play with.”

“This doesn’t end well for you. You took Finn and Junior. Every single member of The Order is gonna be hunting your ass.”

Not only that, he killed Finn’s dad. A King. He wasn’t coming out of this in one piece. He’d be lucky if he came out of this alive.

“Not a lot of places a man alone can hide.”

“Am I?” My old man said, “Yes, I have the boys, and now your girl, but ask yourself this, son. How can a man be in two places at once? I couldn’t have gotten all three on my own.”

Son of a bitch. I wasn’t hunting him in the woods. It was his accomplice. A decoy, so he could go after his true target. My girl.

“I’m never alone, son. Never.”

“What do you want?”

“For you to feel my pain. While I’m playing with your pretty little girlfriend, I want you to think what it felt like, being dumped in that cold water and left for dead.” His voice deepened with every word. “By my own fucking son. I told you to make sure the job was done, boy. Now you’re going to learn what happens when it’s not.”

The clicking of a gun cocking twitched my ears, followed by Shelby’s desperate scream.

“Say goodbye to Daddy, Angel.”

He fired, and then the line went dead.