KIKO (MC Bear Mates Book 3)

by Becca Fanning

  Mars rubbed his hands together. “Exactly what we need for this deathtrap of an idea.”

  “That’s not fair,” Kiko retorted. “Those three guys could easily take on Jefferson’s allies. Moses, Junkers, and Logann talk the talk, and they’re good at licking ass, but they’re not the strongest fighters. They never were. We all know that. Harvey, Justiss, and Graver, on the other hand, are all bears I wouldn’t like to see in a challenge circle.”

  “Fuck, do you think this might work?” Mundo asked, hope in his voice. “The last thing I need is a mate, a cub, and a goddamn target on my back if the MC goes to war.”

  “It’s the last thing we all need,” Mars snarled. “Hell, I’ll take Annette away before that happens. And I’d say we were all in agreement on that.” When the three of them nodded in sync, Mars folded his arms against his chest. “How do we approach them? I don’t want to raise suspicion. I think it’s best, even if it’s sneaky as fuck, to get them to throw down the challenges without it looking like the Council has interfered.”

  “That is a banging idea,” Mundo exclaimed. “I mean, if we can keep this all on the downlow, then we can cover this shitty situation up ASAP, and things can go back to normal.”

  “What the fuck is normal, Mundo?” Kiko asked with a smirk. “Life ain’t never gonna be normal in The Nomads.”

  Mundo shrugged that off. “You know what I mean—as normal as this fucked up place will ever be.”

  “Stop giving Mundo shit, Kiko,” Mars ordered as he scrawled something down on the pad in front of him. “I’ll take Graver. I’ll go and see his ma, get her on side, and wait for him to come home to discuss this. Mundo, you and Harvey work at the shop together, right?” Mundo nodded. “You take him then. Might be wise to ride to the shop together in the morning, pull over for some breakfast or some shit. I’ll have a word with Hank, get the boss man off your back for the morning.”

  “Won’t that look suspicious?” Kiko asked.

  “Nah. Hank won’t mind. Plus, he’s on our side all the way. Last thing that old man needs is to get into another war,” Mundo retorted. “I’m like a son to him, anyway. He’ll have my back.”

  “That leaves me with Justiss, which makes sense. We’re friends. He knows I never believed the shit Jefferson spread. Calling the guy a pansy because he had a brain in his head was always fucked up. Jesus, I’m glad you’re Prez, Mars.”

  The man in question grunted. “Any fucker is better than Jefferson. Make it known that I never agreed with that bastard either.”

  “Me too,” Mundo inserted.

  “I think Justiss knows that. We’re the only ones who didn’t treat him like he had leprosy.”

  Mars shrugged. “Ya never know. I had to keep my distance when I was second in command. I kept my head low to stay out of some of the bull that might have looked like I agreed when I didn’t. I had enough shit on my plate trying to keep Jefferson from going through with some of his batshit crazy ideas…”

  Mundo gawked at that. “You mean, he wanted to…? What the fuck is worse than human trafficking?”

  Mars massaged his temples. “Yeah, Mundo, there’s worse. And I really don’t want to talk about it.”

  Considering all of them had seen the state of the women who’d been trafficked in the shipment Mischa had been transported in, it was hard to imagine anything worse than that. Even Kiko was curious, but that inquisitiveness was offset by just how badly the women had been treated, how they’d been ‘stored’ like they were fucking cows off to market. He didn’t want to know what kind of shit Jefferson had been interested in pulling. Kiko was just grateful the perverted bastard was rotting and was no longer polluting the world.

  “Well, all I can say is thank you for stopping him, Prez,” Mundo practically breathed, hero worship escaping out of every pore.

  Kiko hid a grin. No matter how old Mundo felt he was, he’d always be the cub. Well, he and Graver alike. They were both of a similar age. Graver just had to prove his worth to the Council.

  “You’re welcome,” Mars stated wryly. “Look, we need to get on with this shit. And if any of you see Major, send him to my quarters. I want to know why the fuck he wasn’t here when I called for him. You got me?”

  Both he and Mundo nodded and then got up, chairs scraping as they nudged them out of the way and headed out of the Council room. When he made it out there, he saw Mischa was waiting for him.

  He smiled at her then grunted when Mundo, reaching her before he did, tucked her into a hug and swung her around until she squealed a little.

  “Congratulations!” he crowed and laughed when Mischa whacked him on the back.

  The only thing that stopped Kiko from decking the idiot was the fact his mate was laughing too. The female who had spent half her time ducking around corridors, bangs covering her face so that her features were hidden, walking around like a ghoul, was laughing.

  Openly. Head flung back, joy on her face, no fear in her soul.

  He gulped, overwhelmed by her beauty in that moment.

  “Thank you, Mundo,” she replied, her accent thick as her focus was split. “I am very happy to be one of you now.”

  “You always were. Hell, all the women were. It’s just a shame they didn’t stick around long enough to realize it.”

  Mischa made a face. “We wanted control of our destinies. Me too. I almost left, but I felt the pull with Kiko.”

  Mundo snickered and shot Kiko a look. “She had a crush on you, bro. You hear that?”

  “You gonna let me have hold of my mate?” was all he said, ignoring Mundo’s ridiculous wink as he set Mischa down like she was porcelain in front of Kiko and then waved them both off with a grin.

  As he watched his brother walk away, probably in search of his own mate, he realized Mars hadn’t said anything to Mischa. So he turned back, expecting to see the Prez, but he hadn’t come out of the Council room yet.

  When he started to go back in, Mischa grabbed his arm. “No,” she told him. “Leave him.”

  What? Why?

  “I’ll tell you when we’re in our room.”

  I need to speak to one of my brothers. Mars has agreed to my plan. We need to set it in place.

  She nodded. “Okay. It’s not urgent. Not really.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yeah. It’s just about Annette.”

  Fuck. Now I’m curious. Mars was pricklier than usual.

  She laughed a little. “It’s okay. You have important business to handle.” She reached up on tiptoe and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “More important than kissing your mate hello, it seems.”

  He grabbed her around the waist and hauled her against him. “Nothing’s more important than that,” he declared, then cupping her ass, he lifted her up until she squealed again, parting her legs to grab hold of his hips with her inner thighs. “You should have said you were hungry, Mischa,” he growled against her lips, enjoying the taste of her smile as she laughed at him.

  “I didn’t say I wanted to be devoured,” she chided, pulling back so he couldn’t kiss her without straining his center of balance. Her words didn’t match the twinkle in her eye though.

  “A mate translates what can’t be said,” he told her piously, carrying her away from the Council room and toward their rooms.

  She hooted out a laugh. “Fancy way of saying you do exactly what you want.”

  He grinned. “If I think it will make you happy, then yes.”

  “More stretching of the truth.” She quirked a brow at him then murmured, “I want you, Kiko.”

  His heart quickened. “I want you too, Mischa.”

  When she let out a sigh, he frowned. Then, he frowned harder when she continued, “I also want you to sort out this situation with the MC. I don’t like it.” She bit her lip, and his arms were too full to chide her for it by tugging the tiny morsel away. He’d already seen the bruises on her lips from yesterday. She’d bitten through the bottom one during the Claiming. Either she was healing quickly—a good s
ign—or the situation concerned her enough that she didn’t feel any discomfort by biting at the tender area.

  “You’re safe, Mischa. I promise you that.”

  “I know I am, and I know you do, but I still don’t like it. I can feel the tension in the air. It’s been there for a while, really. I think, well, knowing what I know now, I can imagine the sudden influx of women changed all that. It lightened the tension a little because everyone was hoping they’d find mates within the group. But because things are back to normal, and everything is back to how it was, it’s uncomfortable. It makes me worried.”

  He clenched his jaw, reading between the lines and not liking what he was hearing. He slipped his hands up her back and pressed her against him, holding her in an embrace meant to comfort not to entice.

  “I can’t tell you to stop worrying, but I can try to resolve the situation that has you so on edge.” He nodded, more to himself than her. He hated what she’d had to endure to make it to this moment, but he couldn’t wrap her up in cotton wool, no matter how much he’d have liked to. But in this, he could protect her without clipping her wings.

  It would be so easy to baby her, but she wasn’t a child. She was a woman, and treating her as anything less was doing her a disservice. She’d had to deal with more than any one woman ought to, but still, she was here, standing strong. His mate was a survivor, just like him, and trying to shove that aside would do their relationship more harm than good.

  She said that she wanted him to protect her, not coddle and baby her, so that’s what he’d do.

  That being said, he helped her down to the ground and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. “I’ll be back up soon. I just need to deal with some business.”

  She nodded, but he could tell she was relieved. He wanted to be mad that the MC was getting in the way of the honeymoon period that all brothers were given when they’d just discovered their mates, but how could he be?

  The MC had been his home for a hell of a long time. These brothers weren’t blood, but they might as well be. Mars was family. Shit, even Mundo was, regardless of the fact he was a brat and a pain in the ass.

  They were brothers by choice. That made them all the more important. Plus, they were all recently mated… all of them having to take time away from the women who mattered most. It sucked, but Jesus, so did a lot in life. Being tortured by his own government to see if they could create some kind of Captain Shifter America wasn’t exactly a piece of cake. He’d handled worst shit in his life.

  Mischa flinched, and the motion was so minute he almost missed it. Before he could ask, she whispered, “Be safe.” She grabbed his hand and, lifting it to her lips, pressed a kiss there. Touched at the tender gesture, he was about to speak when she continued, “No, it’s okay. Just go. But… you know things have changed between us now, yes?”

  How could he not? Instead of avoiding him, she was actively seeking him out. That was a hell of a lot of difference in twenty-four hours. But still, maybe it made him a shit, but he wanted to hear her say it out loud—wanted her to hear it too.

  “What do you mean?” he asked, pretending to be a complete dipshit when he was well aware of the change in their status.

  She narrowed her eyes at him and with a grimace, grumbled, “This started as a…” She sucked in a breath. “I liked the idea of you as a protector. It’s more than that now. I don’t know what, but know that it’s all messed up in my head.” When he started to protest, not particularly appreciating that fumbled explanation at all, she mumbled, “No, it’s literally messed up in my head. I can’t translate it very well.”

  He frowned at her, uncertain as to whether he should believe her or not. Her English was excellent, her accent only appearing when she was under strain or in emotional situations like these. Then it hit him. There wasn’t a scenario much more emotional than this, so, with that in mind, he nodded when he wanted to prod and murmured, “Don’t worry. These things translate themselves. And yes, I do know that things have changed between us.” He pressed a hand to his heart. “You’re where you’ve always been, even when I was waiting for you to be born.”

  Before she could say a word, he ducked his head, bussed her forehead with a kiss, and took his leave. The things he wanted her to say, she needed time to process, time to analyze and handle. And by the sound of it, she needed a few moments to translate.

  His lips twitched at the thought. He liked the idea of her being confused about their relationship. He wanted her to feel settled, but at the same time, she’d been so set on him being her guard, the barrier between her and the world, that it was nice for him to know that her mindset was changing—and at a pace he’d never prayed for.

  Chapter Six

  “Thought you’d be snoring away between the sheets.” Then came a huff. “As snug as a bug in a rug.”

  Justiss’s first words had him grimacing. “Nowhere else I’d rather be. And you’re a biker, dude. Bikers don’t say shit like ‘as snug as a bug in a rug.’”

  The smirk on his brother’s face would have annoyed the hell out of him if they hadn’t always been close. Plus, he could sense that Justiss was pleased for him, not jealous. The man suited the name. Hell, it was why they’d nicknamed him that all those years ago.

  No bear was fairer than Justiss, which was why it sucked so fucking hard that Jefferson had made a laughingstock out of him.

  “The very fact I’m a biker means I can say whatever bullcrap I want, and only other bikers dare pull me up on it.” Justiss took a shot at the pool table where he’d been playing solo.

  They were in the central room of the clubhouse—the rec room. It was a bar, a sitting area, and a dancefloor when the bunnies were out and the music was on loud. It was where everyone congregated if it wasn’t too hot inside, but that wasn’t often. This was, after all, fucking Texas. Even in winter when it was cold, a room full of bears never chilled the place down.

  Justiss was at the pool table, a half dozen or so brothers were at the bar, and two dozen more were dotted around the cavernous space. It wasn’t an ideal place to talk, but the truth of the matter was, it was perfect.

  Why?

  Because it was the best way to manipulate Justiss into doing what he wanted, and though that made him sound like a complete bastard, there was a method to his madness.

  Kiko and Justiss were as much blood bros as he and Mars. Only, there was no way Justiss would make it onto the Council without doing something like this challenge. It was the key to saving his reputation.

  Only problem was, the brother had to put his goddamn life on the line to do it.

  It wasn’t fair, it wasn’t right, but those were the cards Justiss had been dealt.

  Kiko wanted to rectify it, and this was a way of putting Justiss back on the club’s good side.

  “Why have you never left, Justiss?” he asked, the question a little out of the blue, but the room’s layout said it all.

  This place was big, sure, but it was full enough. Had Justiss not claimed the pool table, there would be at least a half dozen brothers around it, gambling, shooting the shit… Instead, Justiss was alone. Why? Because Jefferson had ruined his good name and turned the MC against him.

  Only those loyal to Justiss had stayed by his side, uncaring if the taint spread. The only thing fortunate about Justiss’s current position was the fact that most of the guys who had had his back were now on the Council.

  Justiss potted the red stripe, swiftly followed it with a purple, then grabbed the chalk and started dusting it over his cue tip.