by Silver James
“She stayed low key after that, and we never noticed bruises on her again. Then, when the Russian took down Brick, things got a little screwy. As the former Alpha’s mate, she had to offer herself to the new Alpha, since he was unmated. The Russian turned her down. She…sort of committed suicide. Walked in front of a bus a couple of weeks after the Blood Moon challenge.”
Wait. The Alpha’s mate had to offer herself to the winner? That was all kinds of screwed up, but before I could comment, Sunny’s next sentence sent chills down my spine.
“The Alpha who arrived tonight? He’s Brick’s son.”
Well…hell. The light bulb clicked on. “And he’s the one?”
Sunny’s eyes had gotten even bigger. She wet her lips and nodded. I didn’t have to read the writing on the wall to figure this out. They believed Brick McIntire’s son had returned to challenge for club leadership.
EASY
I’D BEEN A GREEN KID, hoping to be accepted as a prospect when Ian McIntire made his first visit to the Nightriders. We all knew he was Brick’s offspring. They looked too damn much alike not to be sire and pup. Except pup didn’t describe the younger McIntire. He was some Special Forces badass, and he was pissed that Brick hurt his mother. He damn sure put the fear of the gods into Brick that day. Thing was, it wasn’t a Blood Moon challenge, and the guy just walked away after taking the Alpha down.
By the time the Russian arrived, I was a prospect looking to get patched in soon. What McIntire and the Russian had done? They were the only two Alphas I’d ever seen able to pull it off. If they ever clashed, it would be like a nuclear blast, and the fallout would stick around for years.
McIntire’s second had been introduced as Boomer. The guy wore this shit-eating grin like he knew something the rest of us really wanted to know. He didn’t seem too worried that there were seven Wolves in the room, plus about ten human members. I figured if things went to shit, McIntire and the Russian would go one-on-one, and that left Boomer to face the rest of us. The dude didn’t even break a sweat. Watching him closely I caught the feral glint in his eyes. Boomer had killed. More than once. And we didn’t fucking scare him at all. Digger, Hardy, and I were all strong alphas. If this guy had been anywhere but standing next to McIntire and Russki, he would have been Alpha.
Shit. If we got out of this room without bloodshed, I’d call it a good night.
“You are here why?” The Russian didn’t waste time on niceties.
“A couple of reasons. I heard the old man was dead. I wanted to confirm it.”
The Russian smiled—the smile that meant death wasn’t far behind—but didn’t respond.
“I recognized the pelt. Neat trick.”
Laughing, the Russian spread his hands in a gesture that translated as, “What can I say?”
“What happened to my mother?”
Something flickered in the Russian’s eyes, some emotion I couldn’t translate. “They were mated. I was not.” McIntire didn’t move. “You know the Nightriders’ tradition. I refused her.” He glanced over to Hardy, who took up the story.
“I’m sorry, Sergeant Major. We kept an eye on her, making sure she had food, money. Then one day she just…” Hardy shrugged, and real sadness infiltrated his expression. “She’d gone into Kansas City. Stepped off the curb in front of a bus according to the cops. She was DOA.”
Hardy seemed to know McIntire, since he called him by a military rank. Then I remembered he’d been a soldier too. Some sort of special unit. He ended up doing time in Iraq and Afghanistan before finally coming back to the Nightriders.
“I haven’t been a sergeant major in years, Hardy. I’m just Mac now.” Mac’s voice dropped, but I could still hear it with my wolfy senses. “We need to talk. Just the Wolves.”
Hardy’s gaze slid over to the Russian when he spoke, “This need to talk, it is the only reason you are here?”
There was a soft boom and the floor shuddered. Seconds later, the doors were kicked in, and a blonde woman armed to the teeth stood there wreathed in smoke.
Before anybody could react, Mac yelled, “Hannah, what the fuck?”
Chapter 20
EASY
NOT ONE NIGHTRIDER MOVED. The woman was loaded for bear, and I recognized the look on her face. She’d kill the first one of us that so much as twitched—and do it without blinking. She gestured with a mean-ass automatic combat rifle, a weapon that could cut any one of us in half, and then she flashed a crazy smile at McIntire.
“I gawddamn told you, Mac. You had twenty fucking minutes. I’m double-parked.” She moved her arm so the combat watch on her left wrist caught the light. “Time’s up.”
Not sure what to do, I watched the drama unfold like it was some action-adventure movie, and I was sitting in the front row eating popcorn. Then I realized Boomer was doubled over laughing.
“Shut up, Boomer,” McIntire ordered.
“Hey, she’s your mate, Mac.”
The Russian relaxed, and one corner of his mouth tugged up in amusement. Huh. Something new and different—humor instead of deadly retaliation.
“Everything is fine, Hannah, except you owe these nice gentlemen some new doors.”
The woman didn’t look very contrite. In fact, her eyes did this shifty side-to-side thing. “Yeah, about that…and the two guys at the gate? Fuck it. They’re gonna have headaches when they wake up.”
That got us moving. Two of the human brothers edged toward the door, but halted when she pointed her weapon at them.
“You will let them pass.” The Russian wasn’t smiling now.
“Ah, Major Jackson?” Hardy took a half step toward her. “Things are a little tense right now, and we need guards on the gate. There are kids at risk.”
Her entire attitude changed. She stepped closer to me and left a clear path through the door. “First Sergeant Tyree. Didn’t expect to see you here. And it’s just Hannah McIntire now.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Every man in the room stared at Hardy. He’d earned his road name because he was a first degree hard ass, but he was acting all polite and shit with this woman. She turned to stare at me. “I may be old enough to be your mother, but I guaran-damn-tee I can shoot your balls off if you so much as breathe wrong.”
I cut my eyes to Hardy. He nodded. Fuck. Who was this bitch? Annie Oakley?
The Russian’s laughter defused the situation. “I had planned to offer you the use of one of our women once our business is concluded. It is probably good you brought your own.” He glanced at Boomer. “And you? I’m sure the whores are lining up to spread their legs for you.”
“Thanks, but no thanks. Mated. And I’m pretty damn sure Annie gave Hannah permission to shoot my ass if I step out of line.”
Tension ratcheted down while Mac and his mate stared at each other. She finally shrugged. “Fine. It’s your funeral.” She glared at Boomer. “Annie is rather attached to that smart ass of yours. Make sure it stays in one piece because I won’t be responsible if something happens to it.”
“Uh…” I started to raise my hand like she was a fucking teacher, and I swear my balls shriveled a little when she looked at me. My respect for McIntire went up exponentially. “The old ladies are in the kitchen. You’d probably rather hang out with them than the club whores.”
Da-yam. The look she gave me cut clear to the bone. There was no “if looks could kill” with her. Her glare was gawddamned deadly. And I sort of worried that I was steering her in the direction of Sam, Sunny, and Ginger.
The Russian released the regular members, ordering the cadre to stay. Mac’s woman waited until the others filed out to hit the bar and the whores. She stared at her mate again, rolled her eyes, and left, closing the doors the best she was able behind her.
Then it dawned on me. Holy hell! They were true mates. The til-death-do-we-part-for-life mates. They could communicate psychically. I’d heard of the phenomenon, but it was the stuff of Bigfoot and Area 51 urban legends. I rubbed at my chest and realized my
heart hurt a little because Sam and I didn’t have that. Not really. I’d imagined that one time when she was fighting the Hell Dogs. It’d been a weird-ass feeling. What would it be like being so close to someone they lived in your head?
The Russian gestured for all of us to gather around the table at the end of the room where the council usually met. None of us sat down.
“What is this news you wish to share?”
“Have you ever heard of a corporation called Black Root?”
“Why would we be noticing corporate things? We are Nightriders.”
“You are also Wolves and you aren’t stupid, Sergei Rusakovavich.”
Holy fuck. This guy knew the Russian’s real name? I figured the dude was dead, but Russki just folded his arms across his chest.
“You are a man of many talents, Ian McIntire, but you are in my house now, and standing here only by my leave.”
“Dammit, Sergei, this is important. Black Root has declared war on Wolves. On all Wolves. And they are after our pups.”
Hardy shifted slightly and cleared his throat. At the Russian’s nod, he spoke. “I thought your team handled that problem in Virginia, Mac.”
“We cut off some of the heads, but the damn corporation is like a hydra. And there’s government backing.” Mac stared at Russki for a long moment. “You say you have a security situation involving kids. Are they pups?”
“No. Children of a woman who helped one of my men. A Hell Dog claims the little girl. She is under my personal protection, as is her half brother.” The Russian shifted his gaze to me, and I read his message loud and clear. I kept my mouth shut about Sam.
Boomer cocked his head. “Hell Dogs? Have they raised their ugly heads again?” At nods all around, he glanced at Mac. “Remember those assholes in Texas? The Wolf Pack? They owed their allegiance to the Hell Dogs.”
“Connections,” Mac agreed.
The Russian, along with every one of us, studied both of the other men. “Explain.”
“Several years ago, a small group of Wolf Pack members were working with Black Root to kidnap Wolves and their pups. Including little girls who carried the Wolf gene. We thought we’d taken care of the situation after they kidnapped my son until we discovered another secret lab in the Louisiana bayous. They took a newly-mated couple, and when we rescued them, we discovered a child. She’d been held so long, she didn’t remember her name.”
Growls rumbled in the room, and a few of us had a little trouble maintaining our human forms. The Russian’s eyes turned to ice. “Where is this child now?”
“One of my men and his mate adopted her. She’s loved and safe now.”
Digger had never looked deadlier when he asked, “What do they want with us?”
“What humans have always wanted.” Mac’s voice was filled with bitterness. “More strength. Better senses. Super soldiers. We stopped in for the reasons I’ve explained, Russki. I needed to confirm the old bastard who sired me was truly dead and to find out what happened to my mother. We plan to check in with various packs to give them the heads up. Black Root may not be called by that name any longer, but there are those out there who have taken up the banner. I know I don’t have to say this to you, but I’m going to. Protect your people.”
SAM
WHEN WE HEARD ONE of the whores scream, followed by what sounded like a small explosion, the three of us scrambled for the clubroom. The doors to the church room hung open and smoke swirled. I heard angry voices, but nobody came out. I exchanged looks with Sunny and Ginger. Were we under attack?
A few minutes later, four guys raced out and headed through the front door, probably headed to the gate. Something was definitely going on, though when most of the other Nightriders walked out and bellied up to the bar, the three of us were pretty clueless. Then a woman walked out. Older, with blonde hair a bit longer than mine. She was dressed in jeans, a leather jacket, and carried a damn big gun. She rolled her eyes at the crap going on with the Nightriders and the whores and walked straight to us.
“You must be the old ladies.”
Sunny, as the senior of us, nodded and cleared her throat. “Yeah. And?”
“I’m Hannah McIntire.” She glanced over her shoulder and saw the wolf pelt on the wall. “Huh. So that’s my dead father-in-law. Good riddance.” She returned her attention to us, and I wanted to straighten up, like come to attention or something. “I need a beer.”
That broke the ice a little, and we ushered her into the kitchen. Ginger snagged another round of beers, and we sat at the table. I noticed Hannah picked a seat allowing her see both the back exit, the door to the clubroom, and the windows.
Once again, Sunny was the one who spoke. “You…you’re mated to that Alpha?”
“Mac? Yeah.”
For a minute there, I thought Sunny was going to kneel beside the woman’s chair and pay homage. Hannah twisted the top off her beer and took a deep swallow. “So…” She glanced at Sunny. “You belong to Repo. Any kids?”
A look of such sadness washed over Sunny’s face my heart almost broke.
“No,” she whispered.
Hannah made a move that surprised us all. She reached over and snagged Sunny in a hard hug. “I lost three, but I have a son, strong and in his teens.”
Stunned, I curled into my seat and glanced over at Ginger. She had tears in her eyes when she said, “Radar and I…we haven’t tried. I’m too scared.”
Hannah watched me over the top of Sunny’s head. “You’re newly mated.”
“Yeah. So?”
Her mouth thinned. “Turn around.”
I did, and she growled as she read the patch.
“Easy? The little pissant on the door? Hell, I should have shot his fucking balls off when I had the chance. He hasn’t explained the facts of life, has he?”
“Excuse me?” I gave her my best go-to-hell face because nobody but me was going to touch Easy’s balls, much less shoot them off.
The woman shook her head. “You need to talk to your mate. Fuckin’ assholes. They forget all the important shit while their pheromones are swirling and their cocks are doing all the talking.”
I laughed. I had to. “Gee, tell us what you really think.”
“Go ahead and laugh, but I’ll tell you something right now. We’ll see if those assholes still in the meeting happen to mention what they’re talking about in there to you all, who happen to be the ones most affected. Are there any other mates in this pack?”
“MC,” Sunny corrected. “The Nightriders are an MC, not a pack. Not really. The inner cadre are Wolves, always have been. But there are human members too, and some of them have old ladies. We’re the only three mated to Wolves. At least here. There are others in club, nationwide.”
“Here’s the deal. There’s a group out there looking to take Wolf DNA, and they’re not too fucking particular how they get it. They’ve done bad shit. Kidnapping. Murder. And that includes kids. They took my son. We got him back and blew the facility to hell and back. They took a mated couple in our pack. We got them back. Along with a little girl they’d kept for years. Her father was a Wolf.” She stared at each one of us, her gaze lingering until we acknowledged her words. “They took a group of soldiers and ran experiments on them. Only one survived. He wasn’t born a Wolf, but he carried a recessive gene. They did bad shit to him and then they forced him to change. Your mates may not take the threat personally. You’d better.”
I continued to stare at her. The woman believed every word she’d just said. “What are you saying?”
“That everyone mated to, descended from, or born a Wolf is in danger.”
Chapter 21
EASY
THE BLOOD MOON WANED without a challenge and only minor bloodshed, mostly due to heavy doses of booze and testosterone. The cadre exhaled a collective breath of relief. Since we’d delivered Lumpy, and left him nailed to the Hell Dogs’ front gate, they’d been noticeably absent. Rumors filtered in about a rogue MC cruising through the region—one
full of guys so tough not even the Nightriders would go up against them—and that was the reason the Dogs were laying low.
Nightrider chapters snuffed that shit right out. Rogue MC, yeah. Dogs pissing themselves and hiding, damn straight. But we made sure everyone knew the rogues were passing through with the Russian’s permission and that they’d come to him first to get that consent.
A month passed, and life settled back into a normal rhythm. Well, normal for us. I finally got off the shit list, but Repo was still on it, despite Sunny making nice with Sam. He was currently hiding out from the cops. Sandhog ran the Nightriders’ payday loan company. Like his name, Repo collected collateral when the jerkwads missed a payment. He’d gone after a guy’s Jaguar, and the guy got run over. Wasn’t Repo’s fault the idiot jumped in front of the wrecker. Cops thought different.
Sam felt sorry for Sunny so she and the kids spent a lot of time with her. Maybe they’d make up and be nice. Men? We just beat the crap out of each other. Women had to do this whole emotional dance thing that made no fucking sense to me or any other male I knew.
I mostly worked for Ryder Bail Bonds. Radar managed the place, and he was currently kicked back at his desk drinking a beer. I’d settled into another chair and had my boots propped on the corner of said desk when my phone buzzed. Sam.
“Hey, baby.”
“Are you working tonight?”
“Love you too.”
That made her laugh. “Get your mind out of the bedroom, you freak. That’s not why I’m asking. I mean, jeez. Didn’t you get enough this morning before you left the house?”
“Darlin’, I can never get enough of your sweet pussy.”
“You better be alone, pervert.”
I winked at Radar, and he saluted me with his bottle. “You love it when I talk dirty to you. Want me to tell you how I’m going to fuck you tonight when I get home?”
“Easy!”
“Nothin’ easy about it, babe. I’m gonna bend you over the couch and fuck you until your cum drips down your legs. Then I’m gonna use your cum to lube up that sweet ass of yours and finger fuck it while I—”