Shifting Life (Skull Shifters MC Book 1)

by Tricia Wagner

  From the time I woke up after Veronica hit me in the head, to the flash I saw before I got knocked out one last time. It was not easy. We took three breaks for Brantley to clear his head, but he didn’t explode. I got it all out and even without Justin being found I hope that this will help with the nightmares. Brant took the bad thoughts from me. I just hope his shoulders are as big as I think they are.

  Chapter Fourteen

  I’m finally settling back in at work. My face is basically clear and makeup covers up mostly everything. My body is healing and so is my mind. I just got a text telling me that Brantley was coming to take me to lunch and I couldn’t be more excited. I lock up the office as I hear a bike approaching. I shake my head at him while he smirks. “How am I supposed to ride in this sundress?” He nods toward the door, “Unlock. I brought you a change of clothes babe. Come on.” I grab the clothes and run in to change. I throw on the clothes and notice a new piece of leather in the mix. I open the back and it says “Property of Skull Shifters MC President Brantley” I squeal at the sight of it and go running back out the door. “Oh Em Gee I love it babe. Do I have to ever take it off?” He smirks, “You better not.” I squeal again as Brantley laughs. I hop on the bike and we roar down the road. I see where he is taking us before we stop. It’s his thinking place. I haven’t been back here since our first official date. He kills the engine and I take in the small path. Over the last month if there is anything I have learned it is not to take anything for granted. Even something as simple as a surprise lunch with the man you love. Happy sigh.

  He leads me down the path and stops when we come to the opening. He sets down a blanket and opens the basket he has packed. I smile just thinking about how far we have come since the day I was so unsure of myself. And unsure of what to do. Before I have a chance to sit down Brantley starts talking. “Baby, can you stand here for just a minute?” I look around and nod, “Yeah, sure.” He stands up in front of me holding my hands. “I have had a question that has been needing answered for a while now. I wanted to wait until the whole Justin thing was settled and behind us. Since this morning at 11:03AM Justin is no longer a problem.” My mouth gapes open, “Oh my Gosh are you serious?” He gives a sharp nod, “Very. Now, with that out of the way, I woke up on a Friday morning almost four months ago and had no idea what I was going to walk into that evening. That night, I met the most important person in my life. I never want to live without you. What we went through just made me realize a little sooner that you are it for me. I want you. Forever. Melanie Elizabeth Doran, Marry Me?” With that he was on one knee and pulling out a box from his pocket. Before he could even open the box I was tackling him on the ground and squealing yes. Over and over again. I could hear Brantley laughing and my ribs were burning so badly, but I didn’t care. I was going to be Mrs. Brantley Silverman. “Babe, give me that mouth.” I gave him my mouth and his kiss was hot and heavy. As we laid there on the blanket we eventually stopped kissing and he was able to pop open the ring box. It was a beautiful antique ring with a big rock in the middle surrounded by lots of platinum work with little diamonds surrounding it. It. Was. Gorgeous. This moment was absolutely perfect as he slid the ring onto my finger and it fit perfectly. “I was going to ask you the moment your eyes opened in the hospital, but I figured you would want to wait until you were a little more healed.” My smile got bigger, “You got that right. Tonight, we are celebrating and no more telling me NO! I am almost fully healed. I need you!” That bought me a full on smile, “Ok, babe. Tonight.” I squeal again and kiss him hard. We finish our picnic and he drops me back off at work. I call my parents and tell them that Brantley proposed followed by the squeals of joy when I tell Kris and Soph. Also, letting them know about Justin. Everything is coming together in a way that I couldn’t possibly have wished for. I don’t think his dad will be jumping for joy like everyone else. Brant says that the club is holding a party tomorrow night so I will need to take the next day off of work. I quickly agree and stop at nothing to get home tonight.

  I pull in the driveway and I see Brantley is already here. Great, proving his Dad right every day I come home later than him. I rush inside and don’t see him right off, but Outlaw is there. He comes running up to me and the first thing I see is that he is covered in some kind of slimy stuff. “Outlaw, what did you get all over you?” I lift my hand up and see that it’s red. Oh God. Please be paint. I follow him back the hallway to our bedroom. I see that it looks like stuff was smashed up in some sort of struggle. Oh no. I pull out my phone and call Trance. “Trance, it’s Melanie. Brantley was here at the house it looks like there was a fight of some sort and Outlaw has blood on him that isn’t his.” Instantly he says, “I’m on my way.” I hang up the phone and put Outlaw in his kennel so he can’t get into anything else. This seriously can’t be happening. On one of the happiest days of my life it’s going to end like this? I hear the roar of pipes and I see Trance with a whole slew of guys. I go running to meet them at the door. They come marching through and Trance takes one look at me and says “Justin isn’t in custody.” I fall to the ground and grab my ribs. This seriously can’t be happening. Trance picks me back up off the ground. “I need to get out there and find him. Who can I call to be here with you?” I shake my head, “I’m fine. Just go and find him. Please.” He gives me a nod. “I’ll bring him back Mel. You have my word.” It was my turn to nod. With that he was gone. I called Kris and she said she would call Soph. They would be on their way soon. I walk around the house unsure of what to do. I start with cleaning up the mess in the bedroom. When Kris and Sophie get here I am still right in the middle of it. “Girl, please don’t tell me you are cleaning right now.” I look to Sophie, “Well, I need to give Outlaw a bath, but he’s covered in b-b-blood and I don’t think that I can do it on my own.” She nods, “We’ll help, let’s get him out of there.” We bathe the dog and finish cleaning up the bedroom. “We need a new lamp. I should also look and see if we need g-g-groceries. We were supposed to be celebrating our engagement right now. He was supposed to b-b-be here.” I couldn’t hold it together anymore. I needed Brantley. It was different when I was taken. I knew I was ok. I don’t know how he went through this for six days. “Mel, Trance and Jason are the best in their field. They are not going to let anything happen to Brant.” I give a short nod. “I just need to be near him.” I walk away and head into the bedroom. I pull on a t-shirt of his that I sleep in. I walk right out and take Outlaw over to the clubhouse with me. We’ve spent a lot of time over here together in the last few weeks. I’ve gotten to know everyone so well. They all respect Brant so much. I really should call his mom, but I know that Brantley wouldn’t want them to worry unless there was really something to worry about. Oh God. I already lived six days thinking I had lost Brantley forever. That was enough for me. I sink down into his chair. I’m not really supposed to be in this room. This is where they hold church. I just need to feel him somehow. This room is so him. Another silent tear falls from my eye. My phone hasn’t rung; I’m just dying to know that everyone is ok. “Brantley you need to be ok. I can’t do this without you. Please, come back to me.” I sit there and take in the silence.

  I don’t know how long I sit there, but I am just about to fall asleep when I hear a roaring of pipes. Lots of pipes. I jump up out of the chair and go running outside. I see a SUV behind them and I pray to God that someone has good news. “Mel.” This was Trance. “Trance. Is he ok? Did you find him?” He nods, “We got him. He’s in the truck.” I go running ignoring the searing pain radiating up and down my body. “Brantley.” Yes, I’m yelling. Cut me some slack, my fiancé was just kidnapped. “Mel, I’m ok. I’m so sorry it took so long to get back.” “You’re really here? You’re really ok?” He hugs me tight, “By the time they found me I had already gotten away from Justin. Stupid motherfucker underestimated me. He caught me off guard here when he tased me, or he never would’ve gotten me.” I shake my head. “Is Justin?” “Unfortunately, when I got out of there to try and fi
nd someone to call you guys he got away. He’s beat up pretty good though. He won’t get far. I had to get back to you.” I had to ask, “Are you hurt anywhere?” He shakes his head, “No, he didn’t hurt me I’m fine.” I slam into his arms biting back a scream of pain of my own. “Mel, easy. That had to hurt.” It did. “Like a bitch, but I need to be in your arms and you were taking too long.” He chuckles lightly, but wastes no time in picking me up. I wrap my legs around his waist. Then his mouth is on mine. Oh God. I missed him and he was only gone for a couple of hours. I hear everyone whooping and hollering. Brantley slowly lets me down and we break the kiss. I go straight from Brantley’s arms and turn to Trance. I go in for a big bear hug and once again crush my ribs. “Thank you, thank you so much for giving me your word and then delivering.” He hugs me back, “Hey, no tears. He’s here. I told you he would be good.” I nod into him, “I know you did. It was just, just, just well everything.” Brantley gets close, “Hey, can I get my fiancé back again please?” Trance lets me go saying, “Sorry man. She came to me.” I sigh, “He’s right. I did.” I turn around and go back to Brantley’s arms. “I think we might have a problem.” “What’s that baby?” Ugh. “I may have just re-broken at least two of my ribs.” He sighs, “I told you to be careful. Let’s get you inside. I need to get cleaned up.” We head inside and the girls are there waiting patiently. Both of them tell him how happy they are that he is ok, and we go back to the bedroom to get him cleaned up. He hops in the shower and shakes his head when I tell him I’m going to stay in the bathroom with him. I now know why he had very tight reins on me right after my kidnapping. I’m broken from my thoughts when I hear the shower turn off. I grab a towel and hand it to him as he exits the shower. “Babe, I really am ok, yeah?” I shake my head no and he gives me a pointed look. Just as I burst into tears I shove myself into his arms. I just stand there taking in the fact that he really is here and he is holding me. “Baby, this is a happy day. I hate to see these tears.” I don’t reply I just stand there holding on. He soothingly rubs up and down my back as I bring myself back together. He kisses my forehead and pulls me back at arms-length. “We gotta go get everyone out of here so I can celebrate with my girl properly.” I nod my head, but obviously he was done with my silence. “Melanie. Give me the words.” My eyes snap to his and he swipes a few stray tears. “Ok. Let’s go.” He gives me a nod and gets dressed quickly. We head out to the family room where everyone is sitting. Jason asks, “B, should we hold church?” I see Brant shake his head, “Not tonight. I need to celebrate with my fiancé.” That is when I hear, “Oh, yeah. Now that Brantley is ok can I see that fabulous ring?!” Classic Kris. I hear Sophie squeal as they come running to pull up my left hand. I hear Brantley chuckling as he pulls me into his side. Sophie says, “Brantley, oh my God you did so well.” This was not only true, but it was a little bit of an understatement. I give her my best smile as Brantley gives me a good squeeze. I am extremely happy, but I still can’t get this feeling that a larger threat is ahead of us than we realize. “Ok, we need to get out of your hair.” I smile at Kris, “Thank you for coming to be with me.” She hugs me, “Anytime, you know that.” Everyone leaves and we were finally alone. I stand there looking at Brantley and for the first time since our first date I didn’t know what to do. I was overwhelmed with so many different emotions I felt like I had just agreed to marry someone that has the potential to completely obliterate my soul. How could I let myself get so attached to someone? If something happens to him, I don’t know what I will do. He comes to hold me again and I step back. “Baby, what’s going on?” I start to stutter, “I-I-I don’t know.” At this point my body starts shaking and I feel like I’m going to have a panic attack. It was then that I felt the breath just leave me. Brantley must see the panic in my eyes as I try and catch a breath. He jumps into action and has my head between my legs. I can hear him trying to talk to me, but my brain is not comprehending anything. He holds me using a soothing voice. Just to point this out, recovering from broken ribs and having a panic attack? Not exactly the best moment in my life. I don’t know how much time passes, but eventually I can hear everything that Brantley is saying and my breathing starts to even out. It still takes a long time for me to get back to normal and when I finally do Brantley lifts my head up and hugs me. It doesn’t take long for me to make my decision. I can’t put either of us through this. He is in this position because of me. Justin wouldn’t have even been around had it not been for me. “I can stand Brant.” He lets me go and I stand up. I go in search for my purse and I wonder if I will make it out of the house before he catches on to what I’m doing. I see him head into the kitchen for something and that is when I wonder to myself, should I say something to make it clear that we are over? We were over before we even began. What was I thinking? Then I realize I need to give back the ring. I set it on the kitchen table and head for the door. It’s an open concept, so I’m sure it won’t take him long to figure it all out. I make it to my car before I see him at the front door. He looks like I feel. Completely crushed. I mean the man was just kidnapped and almost killed, he comes home thinking he’s going to finally celebrate with his fiancé, and she leaves? Yeah, to say the least I am a complete bitch. I take my eyes from him as I pull out of my spot in the driveway. I see Brantley running to my car as I speed down the driveway. I need him to know that I cannot do this. It just isn’t physically possible for me to live like this. It doesn’t take long for me to get behind the gate at my home. I couldn’t go anywhere else. I had to go home. I haven’t been here except to get a few things here and there over the last few weeks in my recovery. Most of my stuff is at Brantley’s and honestly at this point I’ll just go and buy new of things. I need to just pull the plug completely on all of this.

  It doesn’t take long before I hear the roaring of a set of pipes and my driveway beeper go off. Obviously since being fixed no one can bypass it. I hear the buzzer go off and I look at the screen. Oddly, I see Trance standing there next to his bike. “Melanie, I know you can hear me. Buzz me in.” Well, might as well get this over with. At least it isn’t Brantley. I beep him in and open the front door. Before I can even say anything he starts talking. “Melanie, what the fuck is in your head right now?” Well, jumping right into it are we? “Trance, I can’t do it. I just had the worst panic attack that I have ever had. I just keep picturing him being taken. I put him there. Look at everything we have been through. We are both better off not being with each other.” He starts with, “Do you really believe that?” No. “Yes.” “You’re lying.” I was. I totally was. “I am not. You may not understand this, but I don’t want anything to happen to Brantley. In order for that to happen, he needs to stay away from me.” He points in the direction of Brantley’s house, “Yeah, well he is completely crushed. When you put on that cut you took on a responsibility. Not only to Brantley but to all of us. We are your family and guess fuckin what.” “What?” Yes, I snapped because I know he’s right. “Family doesn’t let family fuck things up the way you have. So I am going to leave, Brantley is going to come in, and you’re going to fix this. Together.” I stand there in shock at the second part of his plan as he walks back out the door. He totally played me. Brantley was out there the whole time.

  I head for my bedroom hoping to be able to lock myself inside. At least then I can give myself some distance from him. Ok, so I’m being extremely immature about the whole thing, but I knew from the beginning of this that we were never going to work. I almost make it to the bedroom when I feel an arm sling around my waist and I stop with an “oomph” then an “Owww” yes. That hurt. “I’m sorry, you left me no choice. We are going to talk and you are going to be done running. I am not going through this again Melanie. You’re going to listen to everything that I have to say, and then you’re going to come home with me. First, you’re going to put this goddamn ring back on your finger because that is where it belongs. Never, ever do I want you to give back this ring again. Ever. Do you hear me?” I flinch a litt
le at that, “You’re scaring me Brantley.” I had never seen him like this before. “Good. Now we’re going into this room together and we’re going to come out of it together as well. While in there, you can tell me what the hell is in your head to make you think we would be better off alone.” Good, that will give me a chance to justify all of this. I nod and walk into the room with him. I sit in a chair because the bed is not something I need to be thinking about with Brantley. I let out a little sigh as he looks at me in the chair. He sits on the bed right in front of where I am. He tries to take my hands, but I pull back. I need to keep some of the cards in my hand. “Brantley, can I just say, first, I am sorry about the way you’re feeling right now. Leaving was not a good feeling for me either. I really do love you. That is why I’m leaving. You’re the only person in the world that could completely crush me. I already went through six days where I thought I lost you. Now, let’s add tonight onto that. Look at us. We’re a mess. We can’t live like this. Always looking over our shoulders never knowing when the other shoe will drop. I want to go back to my predictable, boring life. Please.” He reaches for me, “I can’t let you do that. The main reason being you have completely captured my heart. I went through those six days thinking I had lost you too, Melanie. The difference being that I know what it means to take a moment like that and learn how to live from it. I want to take every minute that I can and spend it with you. The reason I want to do that is because I know how short life is. I want to spend this life, however long it may be, with you, and I don’t care what comes with it. The good, the bad, the pain in the ass.” I shake my head at him. “Look at the panic attack I had today.” He continues, “You’re scared, I get it. I’m scared too, but I want to be together and I know you want that, too. So, there is nothing you can say here to make me believe anything else.” I sigh a little because I don’t know how else to make myself clear. “There is nothing you can say here that will make me leave without you. I love you Melanie, and I know you love me too. You’re scared. Do you think it doesn’t scare the shit out of me too?” Is he crazy? “You’re never scared. You were kidnapped and fought your way out. I was weak, and couldn’t find my way back to you.” He is shaking his head at me as he says, “You were not weak. You went through a tragedy and came out on top. The reason that you didn’t have to find your way back to me was because I found you. Melanie, that’s the point of a relationship. It’s give and take. You give when I take and I give when you take. That’s how this works. It’s ok to lean on someone.” Why doesn’t he understand? “Not for me. What happens when it’s all over?” He gets close again, “Why does it have to end?” Seriously? “Look at the close calls we’ve had since literally the first night I met you.” He nods, “Yeah, and look at all we have come out on top of. I don’t want to fight anymore. I want you to put this ring on your finger, and I want you to get your ass in my truck, so I can take you home. To our home.” I clarify, “It’s your home.” He didn’t like that, “Not for long. I want you in by the end of day tomorrow. I won’t take no for an answer here. I love you Melanie. Move in with me. Marry me. Make babies with me. As mortifying as this sounds right at this point, I want little you’s running around. Pain in the ass or not.” I give him a little squinty look for his pain in the ass comment. I don’t see any other way out of this. I stand and go to move out of the room. “Melanie, we aren’t finished. Where are you going?” I turn to look at him, “You said that I had to get my ass in your truck.” I see him smirk at me. “Yeah, but I believe there was something else you had to do first.” Huh? “What?” He holds out my ring. “It only belongs to you.” I nod as he slips it back on my hand. “I never want you to take that ring off ever again.” I give him a nod and he must not like that too much because he tags the back of my head and says “The words, Melanie.” I immediately say, “I won’t ever take it o-.” Before I can even finish the sentence his mouth is on mine taking me in an unforgiving kiss. He pulls away, “Celebration and makeup sex at the same time. You have your work cut out for you Ms. Doran.” Yum. “I think I’m up for that challenge.” I kiss him back and he pulls me at arms-length. “Not here. In our home. Get your ass to the truck, baby. I’ll lock up.” I give him a nod and one more kiss before heading out the door. We get into the truck and he starts talking. “I meant what I said. I want you moved in by the end of the day tomorrow. You can finish your interviews for a new assistant on Monday. Tomorrow night the party is still happening. Trance is the only one that knew you left. No one else has a clue that anything has gone on. We will celebrate tomorrow night after we have everything moved. The guys will help, but you will have a busy day ahead of you.” Whoa, hold the phone. “Brant, it doesn’t have to happen all at once ya know.” He shakes his head, “The sooner you’re in, the closer I am to making this all permanent.” Time to rip this off like a Band-Aid, “Speaking of that, I was thinking since we haven’t been together too long, that maybe we should make this a long engagement.” To this, I kid you not, he throws his head back and laughs. “I wasn’t joking.” “I know, that’s what makes it so funny. Babe, we’re not making this a long engagement. I want to make you my wife, and soon. Are you wanting a big thing?” Huh? “Am I wanting a big thing?” “Wedding, are you wantin something big?” Were we having the same conversation? “I was just thinking we weren’t getting married and now you’re asking me to do this as soon as possible? Don’t you think we have some things to work out, oh I don’t know, as a couple first?” He kisses my nose saying, “Probably, but at the end of the day, we’re getting married so it really doesn’t matter how long we take to work on things. The result is going to be the same. So I say, we get married as we work on things. Like I said the sooner the better, please?” I roll my eyes, “Oh, since you asked so nicely…” He gives me a little chuckle and I stop discussing this. This is not something that my brain as the capacity to hold on to right now.