Shifting Time (Skull Shifters MC Book 3)

by Tricia Wagner

  They both listened diligently, but neither could possibly have any advice for me. “So, Brantley asked me to come back and continue pretending to mourn. I have to go about my days as if I think Trance is still dead. On top of that, knowing that he’s so close, and staying away from him. I can’t see him. He let me believe all of this. He let me mourn, and then he came to me making me think I was going crazy. Literally, they all had me thinking I was losing my mind. The whole time, they knew he was alive and right down the fucking road.”

  Sophie rubbed my back as she said, “We all feel betrayed, but knowing the love you had for Trance, how are you not going to speak to him? Now that he’s here, and he’s alive, how do you stay away? He’s the father of that little peanut in there. Kris, you two belonged together.” I shake my head, “He lied. He let me go through hell, Soph. I’ll never get over that. I would never keep him from his child, and if he wants to be a part of his or her life, I would allow it. In regards to my life, it’s just not something I can do. I’ll never get over this feeling of betrayal.”

  I hear her sigh as her arms get tighter. It was Mel’s turn to talk, “Kris, I need you to listen. No, I don’t just need you to listen, I need you to hear me.” I swing my eyes to her, “I’m sorry, when did you become all Brantley Silverman?” She shrugs, “It happens. He talks to me like that a lot.” I smirk, but give her a nod telling her to continue. “Trance loves you. We’re mad at our men, but we’re going to get over it. You and Trance belong to each other. Yes, what happened was terrible. Yes, you mourned him. The problem is, he’s here. How can you waste a second chance like that?” I shake my head, “It isn’t a second chance. He was never gone.”

  She let out a sigh, “I think it’s all too fresh, for us to think you could look at this reasonably.” My mouth drops, “Don’t patronize me. I am not in my head. I have a little peanut to think about. It isn’t just me. I can’t surround myself in a situation like that. I need to focus on this baby. That’s all. The only reason I’m here is because Brantley asked me to be.” With the finality in my voice, they both turned their attention to the TV. From there, I found myself falling asleep in my best friends’ arms.

  When I wake up, I stretch out my muscles, looking at the three of us huddled together on the floor. That was going to hurt today. I felt movement at my side, and I felt Mel give me a squeeze. I look to her and she says, “Hungry? I’ll make you breakfast.” I smile, “I could probably eat. I just have to slowly get to that point, so I don’t throw up.” She nods, “I know the feeling. It won’t be like that forever.” I smile, “I don’t mind.” She squeezes my shoulder and hops up heading to the kitchen.

  I seriously had the best friends in the whole world. Both of them were fighting with their men because of me. I needed to make sure they got over that quickly. I wouldn’t have that over my head as well. That’s why it was no surprise that my doorbell rang. I slowly stood up and I hear Mel say, “If that is Brantley you tell him to go away.” I hear Sophie mutter in her sleep something about telling Jason to kiss her ass. I roll my eyes, “I’ll get it.”

  Opening the door, I see Brantley standing there, “I need to see her.” I smile, “I know. She’s going to get over this, you can’t feel guilty. You did what you thought was right.” He nods, “We all did.” I sigh, “I’m not getting into that. Is Jason with you?” He nods as Jason comes out of the side of the house. “Come on in. Mel was making me breakfast.” He smiles and nods. When I see Jason go to Sophie on the ground, I knew I had to give them some time. I went upstairs to get myself together.

  Coming back down the stairs I hear the girls talking about me, “I don’t know. Her focus is on the baby. We stand behind her no matter what, and after what the two of you have done, I suggest you support her as well. Don’t push this, and keep him away from her.” I had to smile at that. My girls always had my back, and we were on the same page. They didn’t agree with my stance, but they were letting me have it.

  I finish the stairs, and smell eggs. I come around to the kitchen and Mel has everyone sitting at a table. “These eggs smell so good. Thanks, Melly Belly.” She smiles at me, “Of course. Anything for you and our little peanut.” I smirk. My little nickname was sticking. He or she was my little peanut, and I couldn’t wait to meet them. Eating my breakfast in silence, the guys talked about security. They told me that I still needed someone here, and I made it clear that that someone would not be Falcon. Brantley said he wouldn’t be happy, but he would make sure Falcon stayed away too.

  I guess my standing my ground when these two were feeling guilty, got me my way a lot easier than normal. I was not going to complain about that! I got everyone out of my house, and decided I needed to go about my day as normal. That meant, I was due at a cemetery. At an empty grave. Looking back at everything, I should’ve suspected all of this a lot sooner. Shaking those thoughts from my head, I grab the tequila and head out.

  I sat at my bench, but the tears didn’t find me today. Instead, I set the tequila down and looked to the tree line. Just like before, he stood there. He was set back in right now, but I knew he was watching. I needed to get Brantley to convince him to stay out of sight. The last thing we need is for them to find out, and something happen to me and the baby.

  I set the bottle down, and kneel down toward the headstone. Running my fingers over his name, I think about the day they put the headstone here. I was here just after the installation, and the finality of it seemed to weigh down on me. Only it wasn’t final. He was out there watching me. I felt a tear slide down my face, and I swipe it away. I didn’t want to cry anymore. I didn’t really have a reason to cry anymore. The only problem being, I was now mourning a relationship that I thought was lost forever. Lost forever, but now right at my fingertips. The fact that I had to push it away was reason enough to cry.

  Chapter Seven

  Heading into work, it seemed like anything that could go wrong, did. I was ready to be done by noon, and I still had a full day of work on my desk. At two-thirty, I got a call that just solidified my horrible day. There was a fire at my house. The call came from the alarm company, and they had firetrucks in route. Locking up my office frantically, I headed to my house.

  Turning the bend to my house, I felt like I wanted to throw up. I could see the smoke. This wasn’t just a fire, it was blazing. There were firefighters everywhere, and I had to stop about a block away from my house. A man tried to stop me as I said, “That’s my house.” He looks around behind him, and doesn’t let me go until I hear Falcon say, “Let her through.” I roll my eyes as I move passed the man.

  “Kris, we’re so sorry.” I give him a weird look, “What do you mean?” He sighs, “Brandinger did this. The house, its, there’s nothing…” He shakes his head, “There wasn’t any way for us to save anything.” I move passed him and come around the firetruck. My house was almost burnt to the ground. The fire was still blazing as the fireman comes up behind me. “When we got here it was uncontrollable for yours, but we had to try and stop it from getting to your neighbors.” I nod, “Why did it take so long for my alarm company to call you?”

  The man turns his head, “You have an alarm?” I nod, “That’s who called me.” He runs a hand over his soot covered hair, “We will have to look into that. There’s no reason there should’ve been any kind of delay of us getting here. That fire was way beyond what it should’ve been.” Great. I look to Falcon, who I just remembered I’m not speaking to. “You gonna fix this?” He nods, “We’re on it.” Perfect.

  I move over and sit on the curb away from my house. I sat there watching everything I own going up in smoke. No tears came. This was just exactly what I needed to finish out my week. Sitting there I let my head fall into my hands. How did any of this become my life? Pulling in a cleansing breath, I try to think of a gameplan. I had no clothes, no bed, and no roof over my head. Of course, I could stay in a hotel until I figured out what I was going to do. I could also stay at my office.

  As if the world around me
heard me say my solution, my phone rang. I look to it, and see that it’s the alarm company. “Hello?” I hear, “Miss Tessa, I apologize, but it would seem that the alarm is going off at your office building.” They tell me that more firefighters are on their way to the building, and I was ready to throw in the towel. My phone drops to the ground, and Falcon comes to my side. “My office is on fire.” He turns around and runs toward my house. Then I see Brantley and Jason come around the corner. “Kris, we will fix this.” I close my eyes and put my head back in my hands. “I literally have nothing left.”

  Brantley gets close, “You have nothing of possession left currently. That may be true, but in you and around you, you have everything. We’re all here, and no one was hurt.” I swear, people should just stop talking. As soon as he finished his sentence, there is an explosion. Swinging around, we all see my car up in flames. This was some sick cosmic joke.

  “I quit.” Brantley puts an arm around me and says, “Let’s go. There isn’t anything you can do here right now.” Numb to it all, I go where Brantley leads me. All of this was just solidifying that I needed to get out of Missouri. When Brantley pulled up to his house, he led me inside. Melanie was at work, although I’m sure seeing my building on fire, they have her on her way here. Brantley, big tough MC President, fixed me some decaffeinated tea. When he handed it to me he said, “This helped relax Mel even though it isn’t caffeinated. The routine of just drinking it was soothing for her. I hope it helps.”

  Well if that wasn’t the sweetest gesture I’ve ever seen; I don’t know what is. The worst part is, all I could think was it should be Trance fixing me tea. It should be him doing the sweet things for me, and instead he was busy being selfish. He could’ve told me that he was alive. I would’ve acted as if he were gone. Instead he chose not to trust me. I sigh into my tea. Sitting on the couch, I set my tea down. I pull my feet up and curled into a ball. I don’t know if it’s the pregnancy, or all of the day’s events, but I find myself falling to sleep.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Those were the words that I heard from Melanie. She sounded pissed, and I was warm and comfortable. I didn’t want to wake up. That is until I hear, “I just needed to hold her. Please.” Trance. I open my eyes to a brick wall of chest. No wonder I was so warm and comfortable. I go to swing off the couch, but Trance’s arms get tighter. His head gets close to my ear as he says, “Kristina, please. Just let me hold you.” I push at his chest, “This isn’t fair. You br-br-broke my heart.” I felt the sob break out as he pulls me closer into his body.

  I was so caught off guard by the contact that I didn’t know how to get out of it. He was rubbing my back soothingly as he said, “I know. You have no idea how hard it was for me to let you go through that.” I shake my head; it was time for me to snap out of it. I push harder on his chest, and he released me. “You can’t ambush me like this.” Getting to a standing position he was now sitting in front of me. “Kris, please just talk to me. Hear me out.” I shake my head, “It’s too late. It’s all broken.” He tried to reach for me but I stepped back. “Just please let me live my life.”

  He stood abruptly. “You can’t do this. I have rights. That’s my baby in your stomach.” I gasp at the roughness in his voice. I didn’t want to fight. I wanted to hug him, and tell him how much I missed him. I needed to put aside what I wanted to do. That’s why I threw my hands onto my hips and said, “I don’t want to discuss this right now. I would never keep you away from your child. That is if you don’t decide to not trust us, and make us think that you’re dead for two months. In which case, I would keep your child away from you.” He closes his eyes, “We can’t get passed this if you don’t let me explain.”

  To this I laugh, “You had plenty of opportunities to come to me. Hell, you did come to me! You should’ve trusted me to do what you needed me to do. Unfortunately, for some unknown reason you wanted me to mourn for you. It’s sick Trance, and I’m done with all of this. If I had a car, a house, or an office to escape to right now I would. Obviously, you know I don’t.” He nods, “We’re fixing it.” I laugh again, “Fix it fast. I want all of this to be done with.”

  I look to Mel who looked torn. I know she was excited that Trance was alive, and I know she was glad that Brantley hadn’t lost a brother. She was torn with her loyalty to me. I didn’t know how to fix that for her. That’s why I said, “I need to get a hotel.” She shakes her head, “The guys have already arranged a room for you in the clubhouse. I thought it would give you your own space.” I swing my eyes to Trance, “Aren’t you staying there?” He nods, “Mel, I can’t stay there.” She nods, “Sophie and I are in the middle. We’re…we weren’t allowed…that’s the only place we’re allowed to let you stay. Safety precautions.” No. No. No.

  “I’m a grown ass woman. You cannot force me to stay here. Mel, you’re seriously not going to let me stay in the house with you.” She looks to the side and I see Brantley come around the corner, “She’s not able to do that. Don’t think that hasn’t cost me. We need you where we can lock you down if need be. The fires are just the beginning, and we can protect you better in the clubhouse than in here. That’s all there is to it.”

  I scoff, “It’s about safety? Not because of him.” Don’t think I forgot Trance was still standing in the room. I could feel his eyes on me. “This has nothing to do with him. Although I think you’re dumb not to at least hear him out.” My mouth drops, “I won’t stand here and have you insult my intelligence. Is my room on the opposite side of the clubhouse?” Brantley sighed, but Trance interrupted with, “You’re in my room. I have to stay in the back for the most part anyways, so I moved my stuff out and we have you in there. Sophie and Mel just got back from the store getting you your basics.” I look to Mel, “Thank you.” She nods, “I wish I could do more, but I’ve been forbidden. Don’t think that hasn’t cost him.” I nod. There wasn’t anything else I could do. I needed somewhere to sleep and if I left they would find me. Not that I had a way to leave.

  Mel walked with me over to the clubhouse, and got me into Trance’s room. She had bought me clothes, and all of the necessities. “How are you feeling?” I sigh, “I’m fine.” She nods, “I’m so sorry about your house, and your office, and your car. God this is just awful, Kris.” I shrug, “No one was hurt. So, I mean I guess that’s a bright side.” She nods, “Kris, can I overstep for a minute?” I laugh, “As if you aren’t going to anyways?” She smiles, “He loves you so much. Don’t you think we should at least listen to them, and see if there really was a good reason behind all of this. We haven’t given them much of a chance to explain.” I think about it for a minute, “Maybe eventually? I just can’t think about all of that right now.” She nods, “Well I’ll leave you to get settled. We’ll go tomorrow to get you anything else you need.” I smile, “Thanks girl, I owe you.” She laughs, “Oh please.” With that she walked out and I was left standing in Trance’s room. Lovely.

  Ten minutes later I hear a knock at the door. I look up to see Trance standing there. This wasn’t going to be okay. “I just want to show you a couple things. Anytime you were here, I was here with you. I want you to see the safe locations.” Well, I guess that was something I could use. All I could do was nod my head and follow him out the door.

  He walked me down the hall, and moved an entire wall panel that I didn’t know was removable. He turns to me, “It’s the fourth panel from the end of the hall. Push in and up.” He shut it and had me do it. I pushed in and then up, and the wall moved. He pushed the door behind the wall and it opened up to a hallway.

  “Whoa.” I heard him lightly chuckle and I smiled at him. It was natural until I realized what was happening. I stopped smiling and indicated for him to lead the way. He turns and leads me down the rest of the hallway. In the back, there was a room. At first glance, I see the basics. A couch, a small kitchen with a refrigerator, and a couple beds.

  “Why have this?” He sighs, “Unfortunately, with the club it’s needed. Enemies are in
evitable, and when Brantley built the safe room in his own house, we found a way to make this. It just gives us somewhere to put any women or children that may be here if someone shows up uninvited.” All I could do was nod. They were thinking about the women and children. “Kris, have you been sick at all? Are you eating enough?” I sigh, I didn’t want to hear the feeling in his voice. He was worried about me, and he was wanting to know about the baby.

  “I’ve been sick, but it’s just a daily reminder that I have this little peanut growing inside of me.” He gives me a half a smile, “Just so you know, the guys aren’t the ones who told me. I was at the grave that day when you told me. I knew that I needed to tell you that I was still alive. I wanted to keep you safe, but I wanted to go through this life change with you.”

  I sigh, “I’m sorry, I can’t do this. It feels like you’re wanting to act normal, and I still feel like I see a ghost when I look at you.” He nods, “I understand. I do want to talk though. I also want to be sure that you’re taken care of. You and our baby.” I look down to my stomach, “We’ll be fine.” He nods, “You will be, because I’m going to help. Kris, we have to get passed this, even if it’s just for our little peanut.” I feel the tears pricking at my eyes, “You can’t be seen outside, how will you be a part of our lives? When I’m having this baby, you’ll be on lockdown. Trance, none of this makes sense to me. Why would you choose to keep me away from you?”

  “The night before I left, Brandinger came to me. You were there, but you had just fallen asleep. I caught him outside the house, and we made a deal. If there was a way for him to kill me, he would. If I didn’t fight back, he would leave you alone. He had already gotten close to you. We didn’t know it, but he had been to your office and planted cameras. He had pictures of you that he couldn’t have unless he was walking down the street beside you. I could also see the red dot on your chest that the sniper was holding there. Kris, I took the deal.”