by Kathryn Moon
Bullet growled, “A fucking different pack?”
“—One that can protect her. Keep her out of this life.”
“Who’s gonna protect her from the Hangmen?” Bomber asked, voice hard and chin lifting. “Some Uptown snobs? You think an ivory tower will keep her safe? Come on, Scorch. She’d be miserable, and who the hell knows what would happen. We know the Hangmen, pulling her out of our pack isn’t going to take the target off her back.”
“We are what protects Baby,” Bullet snarled, eyes glaring at me.
Shit. I knew they would say this. Maybe I planned on it, being talked out of what would be best for Baby. I wasn’t convinced Baby would be miserable, not for long. Bomber was right though. A fancy uptown apartment building might keep the Hangmen out of reach, but one step outside and they’d have their eye on her again. I wanted her safe, not imprisoned.
The doorknob turned and opened, revealing Green filling the narrow opening, amber eyes glaring at the three of us. “Baby can’t hear what you’re saying, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t know you’re talking about her. Get inside. We make decisions as a pack.”
“Agreed, brother,” Bullet said, snarl snagging in his voice as he pushed past me.
Green was edgy, watching me, waiting for me to push back. I’d always thought of him as mellow to the point of apathy. He made good money for the club, didn’t start shit with any members, never talked back. He was a model member, aside from the fact that I sometimes wondered if he really wanted to be a member. Until Baby. He was devoted, and not just to her, but to her finding a home with us all. He also had a bite on him, and I suspected he could dominate me if he ever felt the need to.
I wondered how he would react if he knew how glad I was to see his obvious attachment, his loyalty to making us a family. Imagining the sour, solemn expression he might wear almost made me laugh.
I followed Bomber inside, Green stepping out of my way and shifting back to the couch where Baby was sandwiched between Books and Tornado. My eyebrows shot up with surprise as Green sank down on the floor in front of Baby, taking her legs and draping them over his shoulders, hands cupping around her ankles. I turned away before he could glare at me again.
“Do we retaliate?” Chef asked as soon as the door shut behind me. Emmy was at his side on the window sill, uncharacteristically quiet with her hand enveloped in his.
“No,” I said. “We’re never going to be that club. We defend, but we don’t go looking to escalate a situation. Especially not when we’re being so obviously baited.”
“We could recruit more members. Build up the ranks. Have some grunts to keep an eye on the place at night, patrol the city,” Cole said. He’d pulled a chair close to the couch. Close to Baby. In fact, all of the alphas she’d taken a shine to were finding ways of hovering close. Bullet was even risking the structural integrity of the coffee table in front of the couch.
“Pulling in strangers at a time like this adds risk too,” Bomber said, looking to me.
I nodded. “I know most MCs are meant to grow, seek to add to their numbers. But we became a pack as we established ourselves. And right now bringing in new people, people that aren’t family, is going to create some shaky dynamics.”
“Because I’m unbonded,” Baby said from her seat.
She looked pale, although maybe that was my imagination, and smaller while squished between three alphas. Her expression, however, was as steady as ever.
“We’re not going to lock you up in this apartment so that new recruits don’t catch your scent and get any ballsy ideas,” I promised her. “So, no. We keep this amongst family.”
“Jonah, just claim me,” she said, words plain as day.
Except that after her words came a ringing silence, the entire room holding its breath.
I swallowed and it was like forcing rocks down my throat. There was only one answer I could give, and I wondered if it might kill me.
“No, baby girl.”
The flinch was subtle, but in the two weeks of her stay I’d become so obsessed with watching Baby—studying her reactions to us, the club, and all of her new environment—that it was now impossible to miss. The fall of her shoulders, the quick flash of her eyes tearing from mine, the brief wobble in her chin. It was like the fall out after knotting her all over again. This time was worse because I’d known what I was doing.
Green let out a low and steady snarl, and Baby leaned forward, threading her fingers into his hair and tugging on the strands to soothe him.
“Scorch, you better have a damn good reason for—“ Dusty growled from the corner.
“We promised you, baby girl. Anything but bonding,” I said.
She sucked in a breath and her eyes were too hopeful as they found mine again. “That was about…you know, the heat making me say stuff in the moment. This is a rational conversation, and I’m making a conscious decision.”
“I dunno how rational it is for you to be making a decision this big in response to a threat,” I said.
“It’s not because of that!”
“So you’d’ve said something tonight even if Buzzard and Indy hadn’t shown up?”
Baby’s lips pressed together and her eyes narrowed at me. She didn’t contradict me though. On the table, Bullet sighed and tugged on his beard, eyes flicking between Baby and I. I wondered if any of the others would’ve hesitated on making Baby theirs.
“Can you keep her safe here?” I asked Bullet.
He frowned and nodded. “But it won’t be easy. If I’m focused on Baby, it might leave them openings to strike in the neighborhood. Even in the complex.”
“I don’t want that,” Baby said softly. She was fidgeting in her seat, playing with Green’s hair as he held her feet steady against his chest. “Look, I’m not gonna say I can take care of myself, because… I probably can’t. Not if you really think they’re that determined to get me. But I’m not completely helpless, and I don’t want them to take shots at any of you, or anyone else, just because they can’t get to me.”
“You should take her out of the city,” Red said. Books sat up on the couch, glaring at his older brother, who shrugged in response. “It’s true. Hustle her out. Get her somewhere safe. Whole pack can’t go, ‘cause that just leaves Old Downtown in trouble. But Baby’s still in heat so she’ll need her alphas.”
“Split the pack up and pull their focus from the city on a hunt for her?” I asked, frowning and looking to Bomber.
I didn’t like it. Mostly because it meant I would have to choose between representing as Prez to the club in the city, or as alpha to Baby while on the run. And I didn’t think I would get my first pick.
“Love, do you have anywhere out of the city we could take you?” Tornado asked, his arm spreading across the back of the couch, fingers dipping inside the collar of her t-shirt.
Baby shook her head, the collective eyes of the whole room watching her. “I went to the coast once as a kid with my parents, but I’ve only ever lived in the city.”
“I have somewhere we could go,” Bullet said, his eyes on our omega.
“Is it safe?” I asked.
He nodded. “And I know it like the back of my hand so it’ll be easier for me to get us set up, keep my eye on the area.”
“How far away is it?” How long would it take me to get there if something happened and I was in the city?
Bullet blinked at me. “Far. Far enough. Let’s keep it need to know so if anyone gets asked, they can be honest when they don’t know.”
Meaning if Hangmen came looking and cornered one of the pack alone, probably a sweet butt, they wouldn’t be able to offer any information.
“Do I really have to leave?” Baby asked, her gaze drifting over the room.
It made my heart twist in my chest to see the reluctance, the worry in her gaze. Was this really for us? Was she for us? I kept waiting to wake up and hear it was a mistake that brought her to our door.
“Only until you’re bonded,” Green said, making
Baby’s lips curl in the corners before she turned back to me and sobered.
“He’s right,” I stepped forward, wishing I could reach her, but there were four alphas guarding her and in my way. Instead, Baby lifted her leg over Green’s head and stepped out of the frame of her protectors, coming to join me in the center of the room.
“I meant it when I said it,” she said, lifting her chin. “I mean it now. I’m committed to this pack, Jonah. We don’t have to jump through hoops and hide me somewhere.”
“I believe you mean it,” I said, which was mostly the truth. I just wasn’t convinced she’d mean it tomorrow, or the week after, or a month from now. Better to take our time to find out. I bent, settling my head to Baby’s and murmured in her ear. “I don’t wanna be thinking of Buzz and his goons when I make you mine, baby girl. And I don’t ever want you to remember them as the reason why you bonded your pack. We’re gonna take precautions and let ourselves have all the time in the world to settle this connection.”
My hands wrapped around her shoulders, felt them soften under my touch, her head tipping back to press her cheek to mine.
“Don’t make me wait too long,” Baby said in my ear, her voice low and breath warm. I wasn’t sure if it was a tempting suggestion or a warning.
I nodded, and Baby nodded against me, pulling my scent onto her cheek until I purred at the touch. She settled back on her heels, and I glanced around the room at all the watching members of our pack.
“Bullet will be with you, obviously. Who else?” I asked.
“You and Seth,” Baby said immediately. “Ryan, if Tom can spare him. Mackenzie and Tornado and…” she hesitated and her brow furrowed. She looked everywhere in the room but one exact place. The chair by the couch where Coal was sitting, tense and frowning. “Maybe Cole too,” she said softly. “If that’s not too many.”
It was half the alphas in the pack, but I’d rather she was comfortable than worry about the loss here. Between Dusty, Chef, Red, and Flea, the streets would be suitably intimidated into safety.
“Green can work from the safe house if he needs to,” Bullet said, nodding to the man.
“Just finished a crop, the rest can wait,” Green said.
I wanted to ask someone else to be Prez of the club. If Baby wanted me going with her, that was where I wanted to be. Hell, even if she didn’t, I still wanted to be there. I just happened to be a lucky enough asshole that she did.
“Can’t be away from the club, the bar, the whole time,” I said, heart sinking as disappointment rained down on her expression. “Cole will be there when I’m not, and Bomber…” I’d leave it up to him.
“I’ll keep an eye on our man and make sure he pays his visits, yeah, precious?” Bomber asked her.
At least he got her to smile. She passed me, stepping up to Bomber and rising on to her bare tiptoes to press herself to his chest. “You’d just better,” she said, lifting her chin to accept his kiss.
“Girls, you go ahead and get Baby packed up, if you wouldn’t mind,” Bullet said, standing. “I’ve got calls to make. Boss, better come with me to hear all about it.”
I nodded. That was the worst part, I wouldn’t even get to spend the next few hours making all this up to Baby in bed. It was time to get to work.
I escaped from the apartment before Baby could suggest me biting her again. I wasn’t sure how many more times she could say it while I resisted. In the hall, Green caught up with me and Bullet.
“Need a word with you both,” he said, glancing back over his shoulders where the others were filing out. “My place.”
“Can it wait?” Bullet asked. “Got enough to do as it is.”
“It can fucking not,” Green muttered, passing us and heading for the third floor.
I sighed and scrubbed my face, following after the other alpha, shrugging at Bullet. I don’t know when the last time I’d seen the inside of Green’s apartment, if I ever had. It was fairly sparse but full of plants. And not the kind he grew for sale. Baby would probably like it up here, I thought.
“I don’t know if Coal should be allowed to go to wherever we’re hiding Baby,” Ryan said.
“Wait, what?” I asked, tearing my eyes away from an overflowing windowsill.
“Why? Because he used to be part of the Hangmen?” Bullet asked.
“Hold up!” I said, raising my hands and turning to Bullet. “You’ve got concerns about that?”
Bullet’s arms crossed over his chest and he shrugged. “I wouldn’t be a very good enforcer if I didn’t at least consider it.”
“It’s not that,” Green said, catching my eye. “I smelled Coal on Baby the other day…”
“I’m not tryin’ to be a dick, but I’ve smelled a lot of us on Baby,” Bullet said, head cocking.
I nodded and grimaced. “He has a point.”
Green frowned, jaw flexing and his hands stuffed into his pockets. “Baby was… she smelled stressed. She didn’t name him, and she didn’t say anything happened but…” he nodded as a growl escaped my throat.
“But she asked for him,” Bullet said, looking between us. “I mean. It coulda been about how he’s still toyin’ with Lizzie. Maybe she wants some time with him away from the other girls.”
“Could be,” Green said shrugging. “If she wants him, he’s a fucking idiot to be wasting his time elsewhere.”
“Am I?” I asked, thinking of Bomber. I knew I wasn’t, but did Coal feel for Lizzie the way I felt for Bomber? I was just getting lucky that Baby liked my beta every bit as much as I did.
“It’s different,” Green said. “She was clear on you and Bomber from the start. Look, I don’t know what it was that happened, I just…”
“You’re looking out for her,” I said, and he stared at me for a pause before nodding. “Good. Keep doing that. Bomber and I will head out with you guys first. If she doesn’t change her mind about Coal taking our place, we’ll have to trust her feelings, yeah?”
Green’s eyes narrowed on my face for a beat. “Trust her feelings. Absolutely, yeah.”
“Got it, boss,” Bullet said.
25
Baby
I rolled over again, tucked between Tornado and Books in the nest we would be leaving behind in the morning. It wasn’t a perfect nest, I could admit that now. But it was mine. Mackenzie said that Bullet said the new place had a nest, a real one and not just a room that needed to be turned into a blanket fort, but until I saw it all I could imagine was that basement room under the bar. I would throw everything from this nest—all wonderfully scented with my alphas and myself—into bags last minute before we left, and curl up with it in the backseat of Bullet’s truck on the way to…wherever we were going.
“You can say if you’re nervous,” Mackenzie said, stroking my hair off the back of my neck.
We’d been quiet for ages, the only proof of my being awake was the nearly constant rotation I kept up, rolling and rolling and rolling, hoping at some point I would just slide into sleep.
“I’m nervous,” I whispered. He laughed, or snorted. “There, now we both know what we already knew.”
“Fine,” Mackenzie said, shifting and sliding against my back, his hands molding around my hip and my waist. “Will you tell me what’s making you nervous?”
“Tornado’s sleeping,” I said.
“No, he’s not.”
“No, I’m not.”
They spoke at the same time. I wiggled my way up to see Tornado, his dark eyes opening and finding me immediately.
“I was waiting for you to fall asleep,” he said.
Waiting for me to sleep, and then he would leave so his night terrors didn’t wake me, and his thrashing couldn’t hurt me.
I huffed and fell back into the pillows, wrapping my arm around Tornado and tugging him closer. He turned to face me, lips pressed to my forehead and one hand landing below Mackenzie’s to pull my thigh over his narrow hips.
“I’m nervous about leaving here and not liking where we’re going.
And about whether or not it really will keep the neighborhood safe, or if I’m just taking you with me and leaving others vulnerable,” I admitted.
“Are you scared of the Hangmen?” Tornado asked.
Nervous was not the same as scared. “No. I mean of them, yes. Of them getting ahold of me? No. I trust all of you.”
Mackenzie purred and Tornado was silent. “Bullet would tell you to be more cautious, but I think you’re right. We won’t let anything happen to you,” Mackenzie said.
I rested my hand over Tornado’s chest and felt more than heard his wavering sigh. “Tell me about your nicknames,” I said to push the topic away.
This next sigh I definitely heard, and it ruffled the hair on my head before Tornado spoke. “Got mine when I had an episode, lost sense of where I was, who I was with. Afterward, the room looked like a tornado had been through it so…”
“And you don’t mind it being your nickname?” I asked, frowning.
“I still feel sometimes like I lost myself while I was serving. Being Tornado now makes me feel…changed rather than lost. I may not be the man I was, but I’m still someone.”
I hummed and kissed his chest before leaning back into Mackenzie. I smiled as I noticed he was slightly hard, cock nudging against me in response to my movement. I focused on Tornado instead. “Is it better now? Your episodes?”
“It’s…controlled,” he said slowly, glancing over my head to Mackenzie.
“I’m not a professional, but I did a lot of research, tried a lot of techniques,” Mackenzie said.
“Is that why you’re called Books?”
“Ehn. Kind of. Brody called me Books ever since I was a kid and I read a lot. And then… I dunno…”
“Books is smart. It’s mostly computer skills and information he hunts down on the internet,” Tornado offered for his friend. “But aside from Green, he’s probably the smartest of us. The nicknames aren’t always real thought out.”
I smiled at that. Like how Brody was Red because he was the first redhead in the group.
“And… what you did in the bath?” I asked Mackenzie, turning to catch his eye. “That was for Tornado?”