UNDYING: A Bad Boy MMA Romance (Midwest Alphas) (Book 3) Read Online Free Page B

fighter will ever agree to fight for us again and any ally leagues we have won’t dare risk exposing themselves as well, especially after news of a police raid gets around.” She looks at each of us. “It’s time to fold our hands.”
    Amy takes a step forward. “What’s your idea, Pike? You’ve obviously got a trick up your sleeve.”
    “No trick,” he says. “Just muscle.”
    “Meaning?”
    “Meaning…” Tobias pushes off the wall and steps forward, his voice drawing every eye and ear in the room. “We appoint a new leader and we keep fighting.” I sense the exhaustion in his tone, mixed with hesitation, but I say nothing of it.
    Veronica breathes a heavy laugh. “You’re joking…”
    “I suppose that means you won’t be volunteering,” Pike quips.
    “Of course not!” She rolls her eyes. “There’s no damn point.”
    “I beg to differ.” He stands up from his chair. “Lillian would have done the same.”
    “And Lillian’s dead — just like you’ll all be if you keep resisting the Kings.”
    “Sounds to me like you’ve already given up, Veronica.”
    “I booked a plane ticket the second I found out about Lillian,” she admits. “I just came out here tonight to urge the rest of you to do the same.”
    He shakes his head. “Is this how you repay her?”
    “Repay her?”
    “Yeah, repay her. You and I both know what she did for you, so don’t sit there and tell me you don’t owe her anything.” Veronica falls silent. “Lillian was no saint, but she deserves to have her legacy protected.”
    “But at what cost?” she asks, her voice small and broken. “Our lives? No, I refuse to die for this.”
    “She’s right.” The words fall off my lips, passing directly through any filter I have. “No one deserves to die over this. It’s why I came back here. I can stop it…” Tobias takes a quick step forward, but pauses just as fast.
    “What do you mean, Claire?” Amy asks.
    “I…” My tongue ties in knots. I look to Tobias, regretting that I didn’t tell him about this before, but he didn’t give me much choice. “I spoke with Rick—”
    “You what?” he spits.
    “He told me he killed Lillian,” I continue on, ignoring his interruption. “He killed her as a warning… said that he was going to hunt down the Dames one-by-one, unless…”
    Veronica heaves a sigh of impatience. “Unless what ?”
    “Unless I go back to him,” I finally say. “It’s why I came home… I won’t let any of you get hurt because of me.”
    “Claire…” Tobias speaks my name slowly, anger boiling in his voice.
    “Well, there you have it then,” Veronica shrugs. “Claire takes one for the team and life returns to normal. Sounds perfect.”
    “That’s not going to happen,” Tobias says to her.
    “So you’d risk all of our lives to keep your little girlfriend?” she asks. “Fuck that.”
    Kimi stands up slowly, letting the blanket fall off her shoulders. “I mean… if Claire is willing to go, then why not?”
    “I don’t want to die for this,” Lisa adds. “No offense, Claire…”
    “Hand her over to the Kings,” Veronica says. “It’s the best thing for all of us.”
    My skin burns from their stares. They eye me like a pack of hyenas, ravenous for a delicious gazelle.
    Tobias takes a step forward and shifts around to stand before me; my fierce protector. “If any of you try to give her up, I will kill you myself,” he growls.
    “Whoa, now—” Ryan throws up his hands. “Tobias, think about this. It’s her or everyone—”
    Amy spins towards him. “Excuse me?!” she shouts.
    “Amy, I’m just saying we should all get to vote on this. I’m thinking about you here,” he argues.
    “And that train of thought leads you towards betraying my best friend ?! I don’t think so.”
    “Amy—”
    “ No , Ryan.” She takes a step back. “That’s not how we do things here.” She turns to me and grabs my hands. “I won’t let you go through with this, Claire.