by Silver James
“What I am? What the hell are you talking about, Easy? I’m me. I’m human. You…aren’t. You’re some kind of…crazy…something. I don’t even know what to call you.” She glanced toward the body lying at the edge of the woods. “Except cold-blooded killer.”
“Yeah, I killed the motherfucker, Sam. He’s wearing Hell Dog colors. He followed me out here. When my wolf took him down, he had a fucking gun in his hand ready to shoot me. That’s self-defense under the rule of law. What if he’d killed me instead? And took you.” Oxygen turned to concrete in my chest as I said the words. My biggest fear danced in the flames of the fire—that something would happen to Sam. “I’d kill the asshole again—fuck, I’d kill any man who hurt you. Do you understand that? I would ride through the fires of hell to keep you safe. You are everything to me, Sam. Every fucking thing.”
“No. Don’t go there, Easy.”
“Too late, baby. You want to know what I am? I’m a Wolf, and Wolves mate for life.”
She settled, finally. Asked more questions. I answered as honestly as I could. Information about Wolves and the Nightriders was on a need-to-know basis. She needed to know, but until she wore my patch, until she agreed to be my mate, I couldn’t answer everything.
We talked until the stars no longer fell, until night turned to day, the gray fingers of dawn peeking over the horizon to chase shadows across the landscape. The fire burned down to embers, the snap and pop of the cooling coals breaking the silence stretching between us. She left without saying goodbye. I couldn’t leave what I was behind to go after her. Alone, I shifted, raised my muzzle and howled. I’d lost her, and no matter how many stars I wished on, she was gone.
Chapter 14
SAM
I drove like a crazypants race-car driver on meth, and I was freaking lucky there wasn’t a cop between me and Mission Springs. I’m not sure why I automatically headed back to the Nightriders’ clubhouse. It wasn’t home. Except…it was. That’s where Jonah and Noni were, where Easy was. My chest hurt, and it was still difficult to draw a deep breath. What was wrong with me? The guy was a freaking monster! A werewolf. Or something. Holy crap.
Waiting at a traffic light, I started shaking and couldn’t stop. I managed to pull around the corner and into an empty parking lot. It was still early morning though traffic picked up while I sat there reviewing everything Easy had said.
I couldn’t become a werewolf. Wolf shifter. Whatever! Bodily fluids, bites, nothing would infect me. Only what he had wasn’t an infection. It was inherent in his damn DNA. He was born that way. Hyperventilating, I rested my forehead on the steering wheel of my Jeep until I could breathe normally again. Whatever alien thing he carried inside him, it was passed on with the Y chromosome. But not every little boy born to someone like him had the ability to shift.
Easy and babies? Why would my mind even go there? I already have two to take care of, I wasn’t married, and I damn sure wasn’t having monster babies! A full-body shudder racked me. My cheeks were wet from tears I didn’t realize I was crying. When had Easy wormed his way so deeply into my heart?
He was a bastard. And a major asshat. But Jonah and Noni loved him, and he was so gentle with them. Yeah, he roughhoused with Jojo, but he never let the boy get hurt. In fact, all the Nightrider officers took special care of the kids. The rest of the members? Not so much, but they mostly ignored the kids because they knew the wrath of the Russian, Hardy, Gravedigger, Repo, and Radar would fall on their heads. Heck, Easy was even quicker to jump on people, especially the club whores when the kids were around. He took special care to keep the kids away from the darker stuff that went on.
Being honest with myself, I admitted Easy took special care of the kids, period. He built the door between their room and his, where I spent every night. If one of the kids didn’t feel good or had a nightmare, Easy got up and went to them. Most times, I didn’t even know until I woke up and realized he was gone. I scrubbed at my face with the heels of my hands. I didn’t know what to do. Self-preservation dictated I grab the kids and run like hell. Except the Hell Dogs were still out there. ’Cause d’uh. Dead one on top of Sweetheart Hill.
I had nowhere to go. No job. Not much money in the bank. And no way to take care of the kids—or keep them safe. Jonah’s father had been found in his police car, apparently dead of natural causes though the last news report said his autopsy was pending. Not that I’d have gone to him anyway.
There was relief in the fact I wouldn’t have to fight him for Jonah’s custody. Which left the Bastard, who was still out there. Sarah had been stupid to put his name on Noni’s birth certificate, and if he had a copy, he could cause serious problems. If I couldn’t afford groceries, I sure couldn’t afford an attorney to fight a custody battle.
With no choice but to suck it up, I wiped my face, started the Jeep, and headed for the clubhouse. I’d just stay out of everyone’s way, and away from Easy. If he got pushy, maybe I could talk Repo and Sunny into making him stay away from me and the kids. If not, we’d just stay behind locked doors whenever Easy was around. He wasn’t always at the clubhouse. He worked as a bounty hunter, or sometimes as a bouncer at some bar the Nightriders owned. And he’d been assigned to what was mysteriously referred to as “the night shift.” When I complained about his long absences, he explained he was taking extra jobs for the money. So he could buy us a house.
And remembering that is all it took. I was boo-hooing again and had to find another parking lot. Ten minutes later, I got myself under control enough I could drive. Rush hour traffic hit, and it took me almost an hour to get back to the clubhouse. The guys on the gate let me in, grinning hugely until they got a look at me. Then both of them sobered up, their expressions morphing into narrowed glares. I drove around back to the parking area wondering what I’d done now, and found Jonah and Noni watching Repo put something together.
I used a wet wipe to wash my face, but my eyes were still red-rimmed. I climbed out of the Jeep and headed over to find out what was going on. Noni was ear-to-ear grins, and Jonah looked pretty pleased too.
“Aunt Sam! Look! A fort.” Jonah bounced on his toes.
There was a big pile of wood, a couple of swings, and other paraphernalia for a kid-friendly play set. Repo glanced over his shoulder, a big smile on his face for about two seconds. His expression turned carefully blank. What was going on?
“Where’d all this stuff come from?”
“Easy got it for us, Aunt Sam.”
Easy. Again. Looking after my kids.
“You okay, hon?”
Noni had wrapped around my leg, and I pried her loose to pick her up. I glanced at Repo over her head. “Yeah. I’m fine.”
He studied me for a minute before shrugging and returning to work. Something was definitely going on, but I was too stressed out to figure out what it was.
Jonah finally picked up on my mood, and he stared at me, even going behind me to stare at my jacket. “Aunt Sam? Where’s Easy?”
“He’s not back yet?”
He shook his head. “Nope. Miss Sunny said you guys would be gone awhile because Easy was doing something special for you, and you guys would be doin’…stuff.”
“Sam!” How would he know about…stuff?
Speaking of Sunny… The woman barreled across the grass, all smiles and excitement until she skidded to a stop in front of me. A small vee creased the skin between her eyebrows as she spun me around.
“Where is it?”
“Where’s what?” I had no clue what she was talking about.
“The jacket.”
“What jacket?”
Her eyes went wide. “Didn’t Easy ask you?” Sunny leaned closer and got a good look at my face. “Sam? Have you been crying? What’s wrong?” She glanced around, her expression morphing from happy anticipation to concerned. “Where’s Easy?”
“I don’t know where he is. Why is everyone giving me the fish eye this morning?”
“Last night. Didn’t Easy ask you?”
Her face fell. “Oh no.”
Something was obviously wrong. “You’d better tell me right now what’s going on, Sunny.”
Repo glared at her, but she shrugged as if to say, “What am I supposed to do?” She inhaled a couple of times then reached for Noni. Putting her on the grass next to Jonah, she told the kids to help Repo and gestured for me to step away.
“Honey, what went wrong? Easy had plans for last night.”
How could I tell her that Easy was a freak of nature, that he could change into a wolf and chew the hand off a man, could rip out a human’s throat. Instead of answering, I just stared at her.
“Easy had it all planned. He had your jacket custom made. He even bought flowers because Ginger said you’d think they were romantic. He was going to ask you to wear his patch. To be…his.”
Everything caved in on me at once, and I sank to my knees. I wasn’t all that familiar with MC life, but even I knew it was a huge deal when a member offered his patch to a woman. I didn’t like the idea of being “property,” but after talking it over with Sunny and Ginger, and a couple of the other old ladies, I realized it was tantamount to a proposal and marriage.
If I hadn’t seen him change, with all that blood on him, I would have said yes. I would have been tied to a monster. Thank goodness I’d escaped that fate. Even if my heart felt like a dead lump in my chest.
Sunny squatted in front of me and touched my shoulder. “Sam? What happened?” Something in my expression must have leaked my thoughts. “Oh, crap. He showed you his wolf.”
I landed on my butt in the grass. “You…” I gulped. “You know what he is?” I had to stay in control so I didn’t scare the kids, but my voice wavered between a squeak and a screech.
“Well, d’uh, Sam. We all know.” She blinked a couple of times. “Well, not all of us. The human brothers don’t know, or the club whores, but those of us mated to Wolves do.”
Unable to breathe, sparkles formed before my eyes right before darkness sucked me under.
I WOKE UP IN BED, completely disoriented. Jonah perched beside me, his expression anxious. Repo sat across the room bouncing Noni on his knee. Sunny walked over and touched Jonah’s shoulder.
“See? I told you she was fine. Probably didn’t eat breakfast, s’all. Why don’t you and Noni go back outside and help Repo put your fort together, ’kay?”
Jonah touched my arm as if to reassure himself that I was there. “Are you okay, Aunt Sam?”
“Yeah, Jojo. I’m fine.” I lied—I wasn’t fine at all—but what could I tell him that would make sense? I patted his knee and gestured toward Repo with my head. “Go on back outside. I know you’re excited to get the fort built. Maybe Repo can draft some help so it goes faster.”
“Yeah, I can do that. C’mon, boy.” Repo stood up and tucked a giggling Noni under his arm. The ease with which some of these men handled the children just blew me away, especially since they didn’t seem to have any of their own.
Repo shut the door behind them, and I looked around. This wasn’t the room I shared with Easy. I’d been carried to the kids’ room and put on Jonah’s bed. I glanced over at Sunny and sucked in my breath. She looked furious, hands fisted on her hips, chin jutting aggressively beneath a slash of tightly pressed lips and narrowed eyes.
This was Sunny—bright, sweet…sunny. She never got angry.
“What the hell is going on with you, Sam?”
“With me? Holy crap, Sunny. Easy changed from a wolf to a man covered in blood.”
“Wait! What? Is Easy hurt?” Her anger melted into concern.
“What? No. Easy ripped the throat out of a guy. He said it was a Hell Dog. I didn’t go over to look.”
“A Hell Dog? A Hell Dog was up on Sweetheart Hill? Why didn’t Easy call? The club needs to know that. And he hasn’t come back. He’s gonna be in so much trouble.”
“Wait. I just said Easy changed from a wolf into a man and you freak because a Hell Dog was there? Why aren’t you freaked about the whole wolf to man thing?”
Sunny stared at me like I’d grown a second head. “Why would I freak out? Repo does it all the time. He’s a Wolf too.”
My heart thudded, and I thought I might pass out again. Repo was one of the monsters, and at that very moment, he had my kids. I must have said something to that effect because all the sudden, Sunny slapped me. Hard. My cheek stung from the blow and when I touched it, I could feel a raised welt in the shape of her hand.
“You bitch!” Her eyes filled with tears, and now she looked like I’d ripped the heart out of a puppy or something. “How could you say that? After everything we’ve done for you. You don’t know shit, Samantha. And you damn sure don’t deserve Easy. God. He must be heartbroken. No wonder he hasn’t come back. Everyone knew he was giving you his patch. It’s a huge deal like getting married. Only with the Wolves, it means even more. Wolves mate for life.”
She flicked a tear off her cheek and stomped across the room before turning to face me again. “You know what? To hell with you. Why don’t you just pack up all your crap and get the fuck out. We’ll take care of the kids. You don’t deserve Easy and you don’t deserve them.”
The door slammed behind her, and I just sat there, stunned. How was Easy the good guy in all this? What did I do wrong? I stared at the door, expecting Sunny to come back in and apologize and tell me we’d go share some mocha ice cream in the kitchen and talk about our men. Only she didn’t, and an ominous silence enveloped the whole compound.
Chapter 15
SAM
EASY DIDN’T COME BACK. Three days, going on four now. I mostly stayed in the kids’ room, sharing Noni’s bed with her. I only went downstairs or over to the kitchen in the clubhouse at the butt-crack of dawn when everyone was either passed out or had gone home. Most of the guys lived off property and all the married couples had houses. Easy once mentioned he had a one-bedroom apartment, but the inner circle all had quarters in the Barracks. There were other rooms where the members could shack up with their whores or pass out and sleep through their hangovers.
The first time I ran into one of the Nightriders in the clubhouse, he backed me up against the wall and tried to feel me up. I kneed him in the balls and ran back to our room. I was scared, but mostly pissed. None of the members had ever disrespected me like that. Then I remembered. I wasn’t Easy’s girl anymore. But the Russian had told them I wasn’t a club whore. Had he rescinded his order because I’d turned Easy down? Confronting him to ask did not seem like a bright idea under the circumstances.
After that nightmare encounter, I stayed out of sight. Jonah was a smart kid, and he figured out real quick that I was in some kind of trouble with the MC. He sneaked peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to me and bottles of water. I never heard any noise in Easy’s room, and the one time I tried the doors, they were both locked.
Noni’s nightmares came back, and she’d cry out for Easy. One hit just as I was sneaking out to dash to the bathroom. Since I couldn’t get into Easy’s room, I had to use the communal one down the hall. I sure wasn’t going to pee, much less shower, with freaking bikers wandering around. I came back to bed, and held her in my arms. Her sobbing plea for Easy shredded my heart. Rocking her in the dark was a light-bulb moment. Easy wouldn’t return as long as I was here. If I left, he’d come back, and Noni would feel safe again. She was only three, but she trusted Easy more than she trusted me.
“Shh, Noni. It’ll be okay. Aunt Sam is gonna fix it. Easy will be here soon. Go back to sleep, baby girl.”
I rocked her until she cried herself to sleep. Tucking her in, I gathered up my stuff, wrote a quick note to Jonah explaining why and how to reach me if he or Noni needed anything. With a heavy heart, I slipped out. It was time for me to leave.
GRAVEDIGGER
I HEARD THE BITCH stumble downstairs. She was doing her best to sneak around, but she sounded like a herd of buffalo. She’d been raiding the kitchen around this t
ime every night so I waited for her, standing back in the shadows. She skulked by and was silhouetted in a window seconds later. I recognized the shape of a backpack slung over one of her shoulders. Where the fuck did she think she was going?
Her scent washed over me, and I almost sneezed. Ammonia. Burnt toast. Pepper sauce. The bitch was definitely conflicted. I expected fear and maybe anger, but determination? I probably should have anticipated that, too, based on the crap Easy said about her.
Fuck. Easy. No one had seen or heard from him since Sam came back alone. I’d gone to the hill, saw the traces of his kill. He’d cleaned up after himself, but then disappeared. The only fresh scents were his, the bitch’s, the Hell Dog’s. He left under his own steam, but unless he was dead or mortally wounded, he should have returned to the clubhouse. Russki was beyond pissed.
At least I’d make money on this deal. Hollywood owed me a hundred. I thought it was a sucker bet when I made it because he figured the bitch would run before now. Hardy, in wolf form, prowled out in the yard. We didn’t care if she left, but she damn sure wasn’t taking the kids out of here. I voted to kill her, but Repo, Hardy, and Radar overruled me. It would upset the kids and truthfully, I didn’t want to rip out Easy’s heart any more than it already had been.
I knew all about that heart ripping thing. I’d lived without mine for years now. Whoever said time heals all wounds was full of shit. My chest still felt empty. I stuffed my memories away when the lock clicked on the back door. It creaked as Sam pulled it open and headed outside.
Watching through the window, I picked up a shadow of movement near the garage. Hardy. Sam unlocked her Jeep, tossed the backpack in. She turned to stare up at the window of the room where the kids stayed, and the mercury security light caught her in its pale orange glow. Her expression was despondent, as if she’d not only lost her puppy, but also discovered it had been eaten by wolves. I almost laughed. She’d been nothing but trouble, but she was Easy’s mate. He was my brother, and I worried for him. Been there. Done that. Burned the fucking tee shirt. The bitch swiped at her cheeks with the back of her hand. Crying. What the fuck did she have to cry about? She mounted up and started the Jeep. Huh. Maybe she’d grown a brain, and was smart enough to leave the kids here where we could keep them safe.