by Khloe Wren
CLAIMING TINY
Charon MC
Book 4
Table of Contents
Title Page
Claiming Tiny (Charon MC, #4)
Books by Khloe Wren
Charon:
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Epilogue
Inking Eagle
KHLOE WREN
ISBN: 978-0-9876275-7-5
Copyright © Khloe Wren 2017
Cover Credits:
Model: Deposit Photo edited by Claudia Bost
Digital Artist: Khloe Wren
Editing Credits:
Editor: Carolyn Depew of Write Right
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the author.
If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, please delete and purchase it legally. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
Books by Khloe Wren
Charon MC:
Inking Eagle
Fighting Mac
Chasing Taz
Claiming Tiny
Fire and Snow:
Guardian’s Heart
Noble Guardian
Guardian’s Shadow
Fierce Guardian
Necessary Alpha
Dragon Warriors:
Enchanting Eilagh
Binding Becky
Claiming Carina
Seducing Skye
Believing Binda
Jaguar Secrets:
Jaguar Secrets
FireStarter
Other Titles:
Fireworks
Tigers Are Forever
Bad Alpha Anthology
Scarred Perfection
Scandals: Zeck
Mirror Image Seduction
Deception
Kings of Sydney: Daniil
Charon:
Char·on ˈsher-ən, ˈker-ən, -än
In Greek mythology, the Charon is the ferryman who takes the dead across either the river Styx or Acheron, depending on whether the soul’s destination is the Elysian Fields or Hades.
Prologue
May 2017
Missy
Of all the times I’d thought about my future, this was never something I’d considered. Being a club whore to a motorcycle club wasn’t exactly something a woman aspires to. But life is full of unexpected turns and to survive, I was being forced to some extreme lengths. One such turn had led me to where I currently found myself in Bridgewater, Texas, sitting in the office of Scout, the president of the Charon MC, seeking permission to join the club’s whore room. When I’d first come up with this idea, I’d figured getting in would be easy, that no one would ask questions before putting me to work.
I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Scout was full of questions, and I had no clue if I could trust him. So far I’d avoided answering anything other than my name and age, but that wasn’t going to last.
“Sweetheart, don’t look so scared. No one here is gonna hurt you. But I need to know if you’ve got shit following you that we’re gonna have to deal with. Any information you give me ain’t gonna leave this room.”
Tears pricked my eyes as the man before me just transformed from gruff biker to concerned father-figure. I had no idea who my biological father was, and my stepfather wasn’t worth the air he breathed. He’d certainly never spoken to me like Scout just had. The friendly tone loosened my lips before my mind knew what was happening.
“I don’t know if they’ll try to look for me.”
“Who are they, darlin’?”
Nerves had me biting my lower lip for a moment.
“My stepfather and his family. You see, my mother, she died and, ah, since I don’t like my stepfamily much, I left.”
I might be talking, but I didn’t want to say too much. Not until I saw what he would do with the little bit of information I gave him. It didn’t help me gauge his reaction, when his expression stayed carefully blank, but I got the sense there were a whole heap going on beneath it. That he wasn’t unaffected by my words.
“Where did you live?”
“Soule. It’s north-west from here, nothing but a speck on the map in the middle of Texas, really.”
“That where your stepfamily still is?”
I gave him a nod as I wiped my palms on my thighs. He was going to grill me until he knew it all. I shot a quick glance at the closed door. I should leave, keep running.
“As far as I know.”
Maybe this was all a huge mistake.
When I fled Soule, I’d been desperate and risked hitchhiking to get far away from there. The trucker who’d stopped for me was on his way to Houston. He’d made me the offer that if I didn’t mind taking care of him on the road, he’d take me all the way with him. I’d done worse for less, so I’d agreed.
As we’d travelled, he’d told me about a motorcycle club near where he grew up. The Charon MC had a reputation of taking care of everyone in their town, Bridgewater, Texas, and for keeping drugs and trouble out of it. Apparently, this club also kept a number of women around the clubhouse for the sole purpose of looking after the club’s sexual needs. He’d assured me the club looked after its whores well, even providing housing if they required it. He’d also told me he’d never heard any rumors of any of the women in the club being mistreated. By the time we’d reached Houston, he’d had me convinced it would be a good next step for me. And after I’d agreed to spend the night in his bed, he’d given me the money I needed for the bus fare to get from Houston to Bridgewater.
Scout stood from behind the desk and I stiffened when he sat next to me on the couch. Was he about to tell me to get the hell out? Sitting at an angle, he caught and held my gaze with his.
“Mercedes, I can keep asking you questions all damn day, or you can save us both some time, and a lot of bullshit, and be fucking straight with me. What are you running from?”
I searched his gaze and expression, weighing my options. But really, what options did I have? Either I put my trust in Scout and the Charon MC, or I left and kept running. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. I had no money, and I knew I’d gotten lucky with that trucker. Next time, I could end up dead.
Since leaving the commune, I’d come to realize just how little I knew about the outside world, and how to survive in it. But with my mother gone, I literally had nowhere to go. So, I decided to put my life in the hands of the Charons and tell Scout everything.
“I was born in Mexico. My mother snuck across the border with me when I was a toddler. I have no idea what she was running from, she never told me. And I don’t remember much about those early years, just the odd flash of memory here and there. Somehow, we ended up at this commune in Soule, Texas. I guess she figured it was remote enough we’d be safe from whatever it was that sent her running in the first place. Or maybe my step-father found us and took us there.”
I shrugged, because in truth, I wasn’t sure about a lot of things.
“It wasn’t long before Mama ended up marr
ying one of the elders of the commune. That was right about the time she started sending me to school.”
I had a feeling that the commune’s idea of school wasn’t anything like the ones the outside world had, so I didn’t give Scout any details. He didn’t need to know what I was taught there to understand who might come looking for me.
“The school days were long, then when I was old enough, I moved from school to work, which also meant long days. It also meant I moved into the bunkhouse with the other unmarried women. So I had no idea what was happening. I barely saw Mama, let alone what she was being put through.”
Tears pricked my eyes. Maybe if I’d fought harder I could have stayed living at home, and would have seen what was going on. Found some way to get both of us out of there before it was too late.
“The commune had this big kitchen were most of us ate all our meals. I worked there, washing dishes mainly, but I also did a little of the cooking. Yesterday, while we were cleaning up after breakfast, another of the girls told me she’d seen my stepfather at breakfast, but not my mother. We were both worried something had happened, so she helped me slip out the back and I ran to my stepfather’s house.”
Dashing the tears from my face, I stopped talking as I tried to get my emotions under control.
“What’d you find, sugar?”
The image of how I’d found my mother filled my sight. Her naked body had been a mass of old and new bruises, and so much blood. And the pain etched on her face was something I’d never get out of my head. I couldn’t bring myself to speak about how she used her last breaths to tell me to run. To warn me what would happen if I stayed, and that it wasn’t worth the risk to go back and get any of my belongings before I left. I couldn’t admit to Scout how I’d been a coward and ran. How I’d left my mother behind, without even attempting to get her medical help.
I cleared my throat.
“I found her dead, then I ran.”
“Tell me what happened to your mother.”
The growl in his tone told me he’d already worked it out. Did I really have to say it?
“You can guess. I can’t―I’m not ready to go into it.”
“Yeah, I can. I can also understand not wanting to talk about it, but I need you to. At least a little. I gotta understand what the fuck is going on with you before I can let you stay. And I’m also guessing she wasn’t dead when you found her. Because if she was, you’d have called whatever that commune had in the way of law enforcement, or medical help to try to revive her, but you didn’t. You fled. Why?”
My shoulders slumped and I let my head drop down. “I watched her take her last breath before I left. She told me that my stepfather had given his blessing to another of the elders to claim me for his own now that they were finished with her.” I looked up and locked my stare with Scout’s. “I swear I had no idea what had been going on.”
Nope, I’d not had a clue that my own mother was using her body to pay for my freedom. A shiver ran up my spine and I dropped my gaze away again.
“I was so naive. So stupid. Even after having spent just a little time outside of that place I can see how fucked up it was. The women, both as children and adults, were little more than slaves―”
“Mercedes, none of what happened was your fault. You were raised there, you didn’t know anything better. I’m actually a little amazed you ran and got out like you did.”
“Mama didn’t waste words telling me what my life would be like if I stayed. And I saw her, saw what those animals had done to her.”
I was now trembling with rage and grief. So much so I was struggling to speak through it. Up until now, I’d been focused solely on getting as far away from the commune as possible. I hadn’t given myself time to really process what had happened that day.
“Well, you did the right thing in leaving that place. However, I am curious about how you ended up on our doorstep. How’d you hear about the Charon MC?”
“I ran south until I found a highway. Then, wanting to get away as fast as possible, I risked hitching. A trucker picked me up. He, ah, he grew up around here and was on a run to Houston, and on the drive we chatted and he told me about the Charon MC, that you keep your town safe and have women you keep here at the clubhouse.” I shrugged. “I had nowhere else to go. I’ve got no family or friends I can call on. Your club seemed as good a place as any to land.”
He nodded and adjusted the bandana wrapped around his head. He seemed to do that a lot. “Okay. So, in the last twenty-four hours have you seen any signs of them following you?”
I shook my head. “No one saw me leave. The other girl in the kitchen only knew I was going to check on my mother, and she wouldn’t rat me out. She’d get in a lot of trouble if she admitted to knowing anything about my disappearance. So, I’ve got no idea how long it took my stepfather to realize I was gone. I haven’t seen anyone who looks familiar at all as I travelled.”
Scout’s gaze turned more serious. “If you do, if you see or hear anything that makes you think they’ve found you? You need to come tell me, or any of the other Charons. We will keep you safe, Mercedes. Now, about what you came here for. You sure you want to join the whores? We could probably work out something for you elsewhere, work-wise. Maybe waitressing at a cafe, or bar.”
Sucking back the last of my emotions and locking them away, I gave him a small smile. “Is that your polite way of asking if I have any experience? I didn’t think bikers were that polite.”
He shook his head at me with a smirk. “Well, yeah, I was trying to be nice about it. But my men can be rough on a woman, and if you come in here as a club whore, pretty as you are, you’ll be used often and well. You prepared for that?”
Not wanting to go into why I was well trained for the job of a club whore, I skated the truth the best I could.
“I know I’m not ready to function out in the world. The commune hasn’t given me the knowledge I need to work out in the public. What if someone who knows my stepfather came in and noticed me because I was acting strangely? It’s too risky. Something that keeps me out of sight is perfect. And don’t worry, I’m not as innocent as you apparently think I am. How do you think I paid for my ride here?” Determined to not give Scout time to ask the questions I could see he wanted to, I pushed ahead. “So, when can I start?"
He frowned for a moment, as though he was going to still ask his questions, but then he simply shook his head and his expression cleared.
“Right now, if you want. Later we’ll go over everything else you need to know, and I’ll show you to the room you’ll spend most of your time in when you’re here at the clubhouse. You can live in with a few of the other girls. We have a house close by where some of the whores live. The others will tell you how things work. You need to know the most important rules before we do anything, though. Don’t fuck with the old ladies. You don’t get to pick and choose who you wanna fuck―a brother wants you and you’re able―you’re his. Don’t lose your heart to any of these men, you’re not an old lady in waiting, you’re a whore here to help my brothers scratch an itch. And you don’t leave that room until after ten pm. If any of us see you outside that room while there are still kids running around the place, there will be hell to pay. Understand?”
I nodded.
“One more thing. You’re gonna need a different name to use. You want to stay hidden from the world, we’re gonna need to call you something other than Mercedes.”
With no idea what to call myself, I sat there in silence until he filled it again.
“How about Missy?”
That made me smile. At only five feet three, I knew I was short and it made me look younger than my twenty-one years.
“Sure, why not?”
He smiled at me with a suddenly very heated look that had nothing fatherly about it. Thankfully.
“Well, how about you getcha ass over here and show me your skills then, Missy?”
Hoping like hell I hadn’t misjudged Scout or the club, I plastered on a smile a
nd with a smooth slide, I shifted closer to him and began my new life as a Charon MC club whore.
Chapter 1
November 2017
Tiny
With another run successfully completed, I was more than ready for a little R&R. Since we were hosting a bunch of the brothers from Satan’s Cowboys for the weekend, the clubhouse was hopping when I rode in at a little before ten with the others who’d joined me on the run. Nitro, the Charon’s sergeant in arms, had been in charge, so he went straight for Scout’s office to do his thing while the rest of us headed out to the bonfire, via the bar to grab a drink.
When I hesitated as I passed the whore room, Keg started chuckling behind me.
“Just go and get your girl already.”
A growl rumbled up my throat and I spun to storm the rest of the way down the hallway, unfortunately, with Keg on my heels the whole way.
“She ain’t my girl.”
My younger club brother scoffed. “You can lie to yourself all you want, brother. The rest of us see the way you two look at each other. Tell me, have you noticed how she’s always available when you go looking?”
“She’s a club whore, Keg. It’s kinda her job to always be fucking available.”
And didn’t that very thought set my teeth on edge. Dammit.
“And that look on your face right now, would be the reason why the prettiest girl in that room is the one used the least.”
Clenching the hand not holding my beer into a fist I spun on my brother. “You got no fucking idea what you’re talking about.”
He shook his head with a sad expression. “Whatever, Tiny. Your loss. Because with the amount of Cowboys here tonight, she won’t be left alone for long. Your choice whether you fucking man up and get to her first or not. Despite the rule against it, you wouldn’t be the first Charon to pick his old lady from the club whores, you know?”
Knowing that punching Keg wouldn’t do anything but prove his point, I took a deep drink from my beer and shoved out the back door and into the shadows of the rear yard. I made the rounds and greeted several of my brothers and a few of the Cowboys who were hanging around before I settled on a log seat toward the rear of the yard. After Keg’s little lecture, I wasn’t feeling overly fucking sociable. Maybe I should’ve just headed straight up to my room.