To Hunt A Wolf

A dozen motorcycles are parked at the curb outside Inferno, each one painted with a fiery skull across the tank. The red and black gloss gleams underneath the flood lights. In this seedy part of town, nothing is sacred, but even out here where theft and vandalism are commonplace, no one touches the bikes. Not the ones with the skulls, anyway.
A lump forms in my throat as I study the painted emblem. Once upon a time, I rode shotgun on something very similar. Not anymore.
Never again.
Ignoring the pang in my chest, I scan the row again and then zero in on the one bike that matters. A black Harley with orange tassels hanging from the handlebars.
Bingo.
Looks like my mark has arrived, and that means it’s show time. When I reach for the seat belt buckle, a dainty hand grabs my wrist with surprising strength.
“You don’t have to do this.”
I look over at my best friend, Kari, who sits in the driver’s seat. Her curly brown hair is a mess after riding here with the windows down. Dark brown eyes that remind me of Bambi for all their innocence stare back at me.
I look away again, unable to hold her soft gaze. Inhaling, I note how her SUV is new enough to still smell like stiff leather; a gift from Daddy for her twentieth birthday. I don’t know what that’s like—no gifts for me and no Daddy either—but Kari’s never made me feel weird about how much economic privilege separates us. She’s the only person in our entire pack I call a friend. She gets me. And she never makes me feel cast aside, not like the others.
Not like him.
She’s also my complete opposite. I am my mother’s daughter—tough, fearless, and reckless enough for us both. Kari, on the other hand, is kind, caring, and way too trusting for her own good. In this moment, the divide between us is very obvious, and it has nothing to do with the fact that she’s the only one of us who currently owns a car.
With her hand still gripping my wrist, she tries again.
“I mean it, Mac. Inferno’s a cesspool. You really don’t have to go in there.” Her brown eyes are so wide and intense that they gleam in the street light we’re parked under.
I shake my head at her, resigned. “You know I do.”
“Is this about the money?” she asks. “Because I know you’re saving up to travel but—”
“Who told you that?”
She softens. “You suck at keeping secrets from me, Mackenzie Quinn. I know you too well. And I saw your browsing history when I used your laptop to look up when the next season of Euphoria comes out.” I sigh. Busted. “If you need money, you know you can just ask me—”
“Absolutely not,” I tell her. “Besides, it’s nothing. Just a fun getaway I was thinking of.”
“You’re a terrible liar.” She flashes a rueful smile, but it turns sad. “I know you want out. And you deserve so much better than this pack has given you. You should go somewhere. Start over. Forget this pack of assholes who’ve done nothing but hurt you.”
She stops short of saying his name, and I’m grateful. Even after three years, I can’t bring myself to admit he’s the reason I want to disappear. Besides, Kari’s forgetting one important thing.
“You know I’m not going anywhere,” I tell her. “Not without you.”
She hesitates. “I can’t just leave,” she says quietly.
I scowl. “I know you still feel loyal to your father.”
“He’s a hard man, but he’s my family—”
“Your brothers are your family too, and they would kill you if they could,” I snap, but even after a thousand arguments just like this one, I can see her mind is still made up.
If she won’t leave, neither will I.
I can’t abandon my friend to the cruelty of her family. But I don’t know how to save her from them either.
I lean back again. “Your father’s offer included too many zeroes to pass up. And I need to provide for my future—wherever that takes me.” There. I can at least admit that.
She scowls, her nose crinkling in disgust as she lets me go and stares out the windshield. “My dad’s a dick for making you do this.”