Sky’s aunt and uncle weren’t bad people; they fed her, made sure she had clothes on her back, and a roof over her head. They didn’t abuse her or treat her badly, just differently. All in all, her life wasn’t all so terrible; it was pretty average. Uncle Hank taught her how to build and design bikes, and Aunt Betty could tell and make up the best stories. Things changed for all of them when Aunt Betty died during a supposedly normal medical procedure. Uncle Hank was left with two adolescent girls while trying to deal with his grief. The poor man checked out and started to throw money at Shelby to make her happy, spending most of his time between builds stuck at the bottom of a whiskey bottle.
Sky ached for him and tried to help in the only way she could by working with him, learning from him, and eventually covering for him. By the time, she was sixteen, Sky was completing all the new orders for custom bikes that came into the family business. Uncle Hank’s road name in the biker world was “Junkyard.” His bikes had a reputation for being the best of the best and bikers from around the world would order and commission one of his creations. Sky was proud to follow in his footsteps even though the biker world wasn’t exactly female business owner friendly.
Sky had been working under Uncle Hank for so long that she started to establish a reputation of her own. And by the time she hit eighteen, Sky was able to run the family business without hiding behind the once great man. Uncle Hank died a few years later of cirrhosis of the liver, and his last request was that Sky continued to take care of Shelby. She had been honoring that request for seven years, but this recent incident sealed Shelby’s fate
"Listen, you need to clean this place up and pack your crap. My build is in the final stretch of completion. Once I get paid, I’m going to give you enough money to get started over somewhere else as far away from me as possible."
Sky hated the gleam that was now evident in Shelby’s eyes at the mention of potential money, and she was all in with the money plan. The problem was, Shelby wasn’t listening to anything else, and Sky needed to get her point across in its entirety.
Shelby wasn't listening, so Sky repeated herself, "I mean it, Shelby, no more handouts or anything else. From this point on, we are no longer family. Don’t use my name or call me when you get into trouble. I’ve done all I can for you. It’s time for you to make it on your own. Didn’t someone say tough love was the way to get through to someone? I’m sick of taking all the shit for the crap you pull. That man could have arrested me and thrown me in jail, and you don’t even care. I will not go down for something you caused."
"How much are you going to give me?” Shelby questioned. “You know a couple of hundred bucks isn’t going to cut it. I need to get an apartment, furniture, and a car. That is going to take thousands." Shelby was genuinely smiling to herself at the thought of it. Leave it to Shelby not to concern herself with anything beyond the money.
"It doesn’t matter. I will give you what I can, and you’re just going to have to deal. I don’t care anymore. Find a sugar daddy, shake your ass on a pole, or sell yourself on the corner. I absolutely don't give a fuck anymore. I’m sick of cleaning up after you while all you do is hold out your hand."
"That’s not very nice, Skylar. After all, you’re using my daddy’s business to make that money. I should be entitled to at least half of the money. Without his name, you wouldn’t even be able to get a job in one of those oil change places. Junkyard’s Hogs is half mine, and I expect my half of the profits."
God, Shelby was a piece of work. The woman was still sitting on the messed-up bed with condom wrappers scattered about, looking just like the princess she believed herself to be. Her contribution was less than nothing. She had been born, that was it.
"Yeah, about that, Uncle Hank signed the business over to me and only me when I turned eighteen. I have all the paperwork to prove it. You’re not entitled to anything, sorry to burst your bubble. But please feel free to try any one of those things I can see swirling around in that brain of yours. Without me the bikes don’t exist. I design them, build them, and sell them. You, on the other hand, do absolutely nothing. I am Junkyard’s Hogs and have been since I turned sixteen and took over for Uncle Hank."
"You have four days, and that is it,” Sky warned. “I want this place cleaned up and you for you to get your shit together and be gone! I’m not kidding this time. Bring your car to the shop in the next couple of days, and I will make sure it is up to snuff. Beyond that, you’re on your own. If you don’t want to wait for the money, then take off now, otherwise, do what I say."
Turning, Sky was going to leave with confidence she didn’t feel. She knew deep down that this was the right thing, but she also felt sorry for letting her aunt and uncle down. Not watching where she was going, she tripped on a pile of clothes and almost landed on her ass. Shelby, in turn, started laughing, and that was the last straw for Sky. Straightening her body, Sky was determined to get the hell out of there before she hurt her, or worse. Was it wrong to want to kill your cousin?
She was almost to the door when Sky heard Shelby say," Hey wait, you forgot to leave my allowance." When Sky didn’t show any indication of slowing down in her pursuit of the door, the little tart jumped out of bed and grabbed her by the arm, holding her hand out, and tapping her foot like she was put out for even having to move.
Standing there in all her naked glory, Sky wondered how evil could come in such a beautiful package. Shelby was tall, about 5’10”, and thin with the perfect model body. The long, blonde hair and bright, blue eyes added to her appeal. The fake boobs she conned some man into paying to get her when she turned 18 only added to her already perfect figure. At one time in Sky’s life she was jealous of Shelby. Her cousin had everything everyone ever wanted; classically beautiful looks, if she laid off the make-up and stripper gear, parents that loved and cherished her and placed the world at her feet.
That jealousy was thankfully short-lived. Sky would take her petite, chubby body, work ethics, and morals over anything Shelby had to offer. Shelby was the epitome of every girl's dream, that was, until you looked at her eyes. If you paid attention long enough, there was no way not to notice the lack of anything behind them. No feeling, no emotion, nothing but cold blankness.
Reaching into the pocket of her jeans, Sky grabbed the money she had stashed there earlier and handed it to Shelby. Without saying another word, she left, knowing she couldn’t look back. After this build, Skylar Thomas didn’t have any family left. Shelby was on her own. As bad as it was not to have any family left, she felt as if a weight had been lifted off of her chest.
Chapter 2
Sebastian “Bas” Frost was pacing the conference room like the caged animal he was. He couldn’t force himself to take his seat. His animal was tearing him apart inside, demanding the blood of his best friend and teammate, Wyatt. The human side of Bas couldn’t wrap his brain around what was going on with his animal. The only thing Wyatt had done was mate Peyton, his sister. Bas was all for the union personally, but the beast inside of him was going off the rails.
His control was slipping a little more each and each time Bas had no idea when or what was going to tip him over the edge finally. He should be feeling some peace right about now; the guys were all together, completing their missions. The woman that had now joined their group had enhanced, enriched, and added to all their lives more than what Bas never thought possible. Thankfully they all seemed happy as well. The problem was, for the unmated men, it also added to their growing doom of what the future possibly held for them individually.
Looking around the conference room table, he tried to calm his restless beast. His team had gathered for yet another sit-rep with Declan “Senior” Jonas, their boss. Senior ran NAC, and in a roundabout way, all of their lives. Bas couldn’t force himself to interact with any of his teammates just yet. He needed to keep pacing and trying to calm himself before he was obliged to sit and endure what was to come. Bas knew this meeting was going to recap all that had been happening recently. The
y had been over it so many times before that he wanted to throw a temper tantrum like a two-year-old and insist that he didn’t need to be involved, but his loyalty and professionalism dictated otherwise. He would sit there and listen to everything, and then, when it was over, he was going to ask for leave.
Jacks, his Alpha, wasn’t going to like his request, but Bas couldn’t come up with any other alternative. If space and time away from the Team didn’t help what was going on in his fractured mind, he knew his next step would be dire in nature. Bas couldn’t risk going rogue. It was something they all feared, and Bas’ concern was becoming eminent. He believed that he might be on the verge. All his irrational feelings were pointing in that direction, and it scared the fuck out of him.
Bas continued his pacing; hoping none of the men in the room would comment on his weird behavior or engage him in any way. If he wasn't stuck is this room and out in the lodge, the tension in his body would be more controllable. However, confined in the same room with Wyatt, smelling his sister on his skin and clothing was like waving a red flag in front of a bull. He didn’t have any creepy incestual feelings about Peyton; that was gross and abhorrent to Bas. The real problem was his bear was a possessive son of a bitch. If he deemed something his and someone else dared to touch it, all hell broke out.
It didn’t even need to be something as important as a person. It could be anything; a blanket, book, CD, or his bed. His bear was more territorial than most. It had been that way since his first shift when his brother, Link, tried to borrow one of his shirts. The beast went nuts. His old man had to come in and break up the fight bragging Bas out of the house, into the woods, and teaching him a lesson he never forgot. The old man was a bastard, and his lessons always involved pain. No wise words of wisdom for Frank Frost to bestow on his boys. No, that would be too civilized and painless for his tastes. His lessons were always harsh.
That time, though, Bas had gotten more than the pain. He also got the realization that if he didn’t maintain strict control at all times, then he could batter someone brutally without even trying. The fight had resulted in Link having a broken arm and some ribs. Bas loved his entirely human brother and never dreamed he would snap so fast and been as brutal to him as he had been that day. Link forgave him, but Bas still harbored regret and guilt that the incident ever went that far.
For years after that incident, Bas learned to control his bear and fought every day to make sure nothing like that happened again. He conditioned his mind, body, and soul to counteract the beast’s wills and wants. That was why, after all these years, Bas was having such a hard time with the new feelings coursing through his body. He had thought he had complete control over the beast, but he couldn’t have been more wrong.
All of Alpha Team was finally back at their base in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Three of them had been fate blessed and mated to their partners. It was something Bas should have been happy about because those mating’s provided the rest of them with hope. Three of the men on his team had chances at long and happy lives. He only wished all of them had the same opportunity, but the odds were against them. It was hard to believe that only a few months ago, they hadn’t even realized having true mates was possible.
The Shifter in them needed a binder, a ground so to speak, that would anchor their humanity in the here and now. It would unite both animal and man. The bond the mating created would calm the beast and complete the man. Otherwise, the animal took over, and the man lost not only his humanity to the beast, but to everyone else as well. Rogues were unreachable. His human side would disappear and die, causing him to be nothing more than a maniac, a natural born killer with the skills and strength to cause significant damage. That couldn’t happen. Their kind needed to stay as far under the radar as possible.
Just because of that, it might be stupid to consider what he was going to do with his brothers, his human ones in order to try and gain back some of his control he had been losing. He couldn’t risk exposure, even to them. His only other alternative was to head out to one of the other NAC teams. His bear didn’t have any attachments to any of them, so it might work. The problem was, his bear also bristled at the thought of being around other animals.
The Clans believed they were safe living under the radar of peering eyes for many years, until they discovered some humans did know of them. Knew way too much about them, in fact. Those were the people NAC and The Holly Group were hunting now. Even with the threat of discovery, it was still the job of each group within the Shifter race to govern their men. If a Clansman went rouge, they were taken out, generally by and Alpha or the Second. For Alpha Team, it was Jacks’ job to do just that. And if for some reason, he couldn’t, then Cash would have to take over. Bas didn’t envy either man with that task.
Bas wanted nothing more than all the teammates to find their true mates and live happily ever after, but looking at Cash, he knew that wasn’t possible. The man had changed over the last couple of months, and he wondered if he was having or feeling some of the same things Bas was at the moment. Cash had lost his true mate at a young age, and his chances of combating going rogue were slim.
Legends said that when a Shifter met the woman that destiny intended for them, an overwhelming peace would settle between their animal and the man. Bas knew it was true because as he watched the other men of his Team, they also changed. The guys with mates were calmer, happier, and things around base seemed to settle. No random fights or bloodletting, at least for those three. The other two, including himself, were still fighting, clawing, and hanging on by a thread. They were also all trying to keep it from the happy couples.
Damn, thinking about the women, Bas could feel the light they brought to all of them; Ryleigh with her quirky personality, Emma with her mothering, and even Peyton with her sense of humor and laughter. They all brought something new and extraordinary to the place. Then there were the babies, Kenna and soon to be Jacks and Ryleigh’s son. Didn’t they say new life was supposed to bring hope? Bas wasn’t so sure that statement rang true anymore.
There were people out there that meant all of them harm, and that killed Bas and the rest of the Team because none of them knew how to fight all the people that were coming after them. Bas knew that if anything ever happened to any of the women, the men attached to them would follow them over the veil of the living into the dead. It was the Shifter way; once you found your fated mate, nothing, not even life and death, kept them apart.
Bas caught himself wondering why the mated men didn’t just take off, go underground, and protect what should have been so precious to them. Bas knew his bear would insist upon that if he were ever lucky enough to find his fated mate. The bruin wouldn’t trust anyone else to her safety, even Alpha Team. Was it even reasonable to think a woman would be okay with that on any level? Bas didn’t know. He just knew how he felt, or assumed how he would feel.
Bas found a corner and propped himself up, leaning into it. It was the only way he would ever stop the incessant pacing. He needed the security of having clearly defined boundaries right now. The walls on either side of him provided that security. Looking at his watch, he knew they only had a couple of minutes before the meeting got started and Jacks dialed in the other that would be joining them. He had a bond with the men in the room; Jacks, Cash, Ethan, Wyatt, and Dalton. He grew up with them, and in some ways, he held them closer than his blooded brothers. These men had fought at his side and saved his ass on more than one occasion. But would they be able to help him get over the weakness in his animal the insanity that was currently coursing through his mind?
Bas knew that getting his shit together was more important than ever. He just couldn’t shake the feeling that there were so many shoes left to drop, too many secrets left to be revealed, and too many lives left to be ruined. He just hoped they all made it out of the storm that was yet to come.
He hated having these thoughts and feelings, and he needed to get his shit together. These people were relying on him, and he wasn’t going
to let them down. Being a member of this Team was the most important thing in his life. He liked what NAC did and stood for; saving the less fortunate. It was something that, while he was in the military following orders and doing things no man should be asked to do, he had never gotten. Now they choose whom they would help, and as far as NAC was concerned, no one was expendable to the greater good. That was something the military and government never quite got the concept of. Their motto was for the greater good, not lining some politicians or businessman's pockets. NAC's was for anyone that needed them, regardless of who or where they were.
If he went rogue, all those good deeds would be for nothing. He would just be a mindless monster with only one thing on his mind; blood. He would also force Jacks or Cash to take him out, killing a little piece of them. Bas knew that if he were in that position, it would indeed destroy a part of him to carry out the act. He didn’t want either of them to be in that position ever. So, he stood in the corner and breathed deep, trying to calm his mind and his bear.
These men were his family, not by blood, but by bond. He wasn’t going to let any of them down like he had Link so many years ago. Bas refused to let that happen. Destiny, the fickle bitch that she was, could kiss his ass. He would find a way to fight this and keep on doing what he did best; helping people while still trying to live life to its fullest, even if that meant fighting themselves and everything in-between to make that happen.
Bas needed a distraction. All this thinking was getting to him, and his deep breathing wasn’t helping him one bit. Tilting his head up and looking a small stain on the ceiling, he wondered how in the hell something got up there. He tried to figure the stain out. When he realized that in the middle was a glob of paper, Bas chuckled to himself. He wondered which of the guys decided spitballs were the way to break the monotony of having to be in this same room day in and day out for hours on end. Damn, with the firepower in this meeting room, he was kind of surprised that they had reverted to childish antics instead of decorating the walls with bullet holes and fist marks.
Sebastian: NAC & The Holly Group (Alpha Team Book 4) Page 3