Chapter 3 – Jude
Ican”t believe my mate got away from me last night. I took my eyes off of her for a split second and she bolted. I tried to go after her, of course, but by the time I got through the crowd and followed her scent to a parking lot, she was already peeling out. My only consolation was that Caden seemed just as upset that his mate got away, too.
I stomp around my office at the clubhouse, grumbling under my breath to myself. My bear is pacing inside of me, growling and snarling at me every now and then. He’s pissed that we haven’t claimed our mate by now. The problem is that I have no idea where to find her.
She could have just been passing through! We need to be out looking for her,my bear snaps at me and I grit my teeth.
We spent all of last night looking for her with no trace. We need to come up with a new plan.
He bares his teeth at me and I do my best to ignore him.
“Prez,” Caden says, looking just as tired as I feel.
“Have you found them?” I ask him and he nods.
“Yeah, but I don’t think you’re going to like what I have to say.”
“Did you find my mate,” I ask, enunciating each word.
“Yes.”
“Where is she?”
“With the Midnight Rebel MC.”
My stomach drops and my bear roars in my head.
“They took her? Shit,” I shout, starting to pace back and forth. “Did they kidnap her last night? Where are they keeping her?”
“Prez,” Caden starts, but I keep going.
“We need to get everyone together. Or no, hell, for my mate, I’ll rip all of those bastards to shreds myself,” I snarl.
“Jude!” Caden interrupts me and I spin to face him.
“What?” I bark.
“She’s one of them. She’s the daughter of their president.”
At first, his words don’t really compute. She’s one of them? She’s a Midnight Rebel?
“No, that can’t be.”
”It is. I saw her myself this morning.”
”I would have seen her around town before now then. I would have smelled her before last night if she was.”
“I think both of our mates just got back to town,” he goes on. “She’s his daughter, Jude,” my friend feels the need to remind me.
“But… she hates bikers. She told me so.”
He gives me a sad look, shrugging. He turns and heads out and I let him go.
She’s a Midnight Rebel? Or her family is at least. She must not be close to her dad and brother then if she hates bikers. What could they have done to her to make her dislike a whole group so much?
Find out and fix it,my bear suggests and I roll my eyes.
Obviously, I’m going to do that.
Right?
I want my fated mate, I always have, but this changes things. I have to think about more than just myself here. If I claim my mate, I’ll have to deal with the other MC even more. We would be linked forever. I’d have to step down as president of the Devil’s Pack MC. I’d have to give up my pack, which I would do in a heartbeat… if I knew that my mate wanted me back and wasn’t going to just reject me. My mate is a human so she’s not used to shifters and mating. And by “not used to it,” I mean she doesn’t know we exist or our rules or anything about fated mates.
Talk to her and find out then,my bear says in annoyance. Convince her to be ours.
Yeah, I doubt it’s going to be that simple.
Now it’s his turn to roll his eyes at me.
We’re not the Midnight Rebels. Who knows what her family did to her? We can convince her that we’re different and maybe she’ll change her mind about bikers.
He has a point. I know that the members of that MC aren”t good. They could have mistreated her, abused her, or worse. She could be looking to be rescued from them.
We could rescue her,my bear points out and I sigh, sitting down behind my desk.
I look at the paperwork there and then push back to my feet. I need to get out of here. I’ll go for a ride, clear my head, and figure out what to do about all of this.
I head out of my office and nod distractedly at a few members as I head out to my bike. There aren’t a lot of people around the clubhouse this morning, since it’s still early. I head outside and climb onto my bike, pulling out of the drive and onto the road.
I spend the next hour cruising around the backroads of town and trying to figure out my next steps. When my gas tank starts to hit E, I head into town and stop at the gas station. I’m climbing off my bike when I look over and see my mate walking across the street toward me.
It feels like fate and when I realize I have my answer. I’m going to claim my mate, her family be damned.
She looks up and her eyes lock with mine. She pauses on the sidewalk and I raise a hand, waving at her.
She doesn’t look thrilled to see me, but she heads my way.
“Hey, I was looking for you. I was worried when you ran off last night.”
“Why?” she asks bluntly.
I open my mouth, intending to tell her that she’s my fated mate, but I catch myself before I do. I know that if I told her that, she would go running for the hills in an instant.
“Things just got kind of dicey there,” I say instead.
She nods, looking away from me.
”I”m Jude, by the way.”
She eyes me, debating for a moment, but then she finally tells me her name.
“Nara.”
“Nara,” I say, loving the way her name feels coming off my tongue. “Are you new to town?” I ask her and she shakes her head.
“No, I was born and raised here. I just got back.”
“From where?”
“College.”
“Cool. What did you study?”
”Education.”
She’s a teacher? That doesn’t really fit with her family who are drug runners and worse.
”That”s nice. Are you working at the school here in town?”
”Not yet. I”ve been applying for jobs but haven”t heard anything back yet.”
I nod and I see her frown.
“Why am I telling him this?” She mumbles to herself and I can tell that I’m going to lose her.
“Have dinner with me,” I say and she blinks.
”No.”
Then she turns on her heel and starts to walk toward the convenience store.
“Wait!” I shout and she pauses. “Just hear me out. Give me five minutes.”
Her mouth twists, but she gives me a stiff nod after a moment. This is it. This is my chance to get my foot in the door with her.
“You said you hate bikers,” I start and she nods.
“I do.”
”Is that because of your family?”
She stiffens, glancing around and I hope that I didn”t upset her.
“I’ve been around enough bikers to know that I don’t like them or their… lifestyle choices.”
“I’m not like that.”
“Sure, you aren’t,” she mutters.
“I’m not. I’d like a chance to prove that.”
She eyes me warily and I hurry to go on.
“What are you afraid of?” I ask. “That I’ll prove you wrong?”
Her eyes spark at the challenge and I hold my breath to see what she has to say.
“Of course not,” she says.
“Then prove it. Go out on a date with me. Give me a chance.”
“Why are you doing this? Is the dating pool around here really that bad?” she asks in exasperation.
“Because we’re meant to be,” I tell her plainly.
She snorts at that and I know that she’s about to reject me. My bear paws at me and whines, begging me to fix it, but I don’t know how.
”Well, I”ll give you a three for your pickup lines. I”d maybe work on that before you try to start dating,” she suggests with a laugh.
She thinks this is a game to me.
Tell her she’s wrong!My bear yells.
”Wait!” I say, grabbing her arm before she can leave. ”There”s more.”
She raises an eyebrow at me and I take a deep breath, debating how much I should tell her about shifters and fated mates right now.
How much can she handle?I wonder.
She’s going to have to be able to hear it all,my bear says and I swallow hard.
But will she believe us?