Chapter Twenty-Two
Werewolf
Halloween had always been the club’s excuse to throw the biggest party of the year. Usually, I liked the noise. The fire. The chaos.
Tonight, it just felt like a distraction from everything we didn’t want to say out loud.
The parking lot was already full by the time Demi and I pulled in. Bikes lined shoulder to shoulder, and there were orange bulbs strung across the clubhouse roof. Someone had dragged out two barrels for the bonfire, and smoke rolled over the crowd like fog.
Demi climbed off the bike, tugged her jacket tighter against the chill, and stared at the clubhouse doors. “There sure are a lot of people here,” she said quietly.
“Always is, babe.”
Inside, the music was loud. Everyone had dressed up with cheap masks, face paint, devil horns, and everything in between, but it was just more hiding. You could see the truth under it if you looked long enough.
Coup was at the bar chugging a beer, and Mac stood near the door with his arms crossed, scanning the room the way he always did when there was a party. Tremor was at the pool table, cue in hand with a grin sharp enough to cut.
He looked at Demi first, then at me. “Hell, look who showed up,” he said. His voice carried just enough to draw attention. “Didn’t think you’d make it, brother.”
“Wouldn’t miss it,” I said.
His smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Good. Be a shame to celebrate without family.”
That word, family, used to mean something. Tonight, it sounded like a threat.
Demi moved closer, and her arm brushed mine. Her voice was steady when she said, “I know what you did, Tremor. Everyone does.”
You could’ve heard a pin drop.
Okay, looked like we were doing this shit right now.
He set the cue down, slow and deliberate. “You got a big mouth for someone who doesn’t wear a patch.”
“She’s got more backbone than half this room,” I said. I would always have Demi’s back over anyone in this room.
Mac shifted his weight, just enough to let me know he was watching, not stopping. Prez sat at his usual table, silent, unreadable. No one around us said a word.
Tremor chuckled once, like he enjoyed the attention. “You’ve been running your mouth a lot lately too, Wolf. People are starting to wonder if you forgot where your loyalty lies.”
“I remember exactly where it lies,” I said. “It’s just not with you.”
He took a step forward. “Careful.”
“Or what?” I asked. “You gonna handle me the same way you handled Tyler?”
A murmur rolled through the room. Someone’s drink hit the floor. Tremor froze for half a second, then smiled that same slow, dangerous smile. “Watch it.”
“I’m done watching,” I said.
Prez called first. “Enough. Not here.” His voice was calm but sharp enough to slice through the noise. “Church at midnight if you’re gonna swing your dicks around.”
The room eased, but only on the surface. Tremor backed up a step, and his eyes never left mine. “Church it is then,” he said and walked off toward the back.
The second he was gone, Coup muttered, “This is bad.”
No fucking kidding.
I walked to the bar, poured a shot I didn’t want, and tossed it back just for the burn. The liquor didn’t help. It never did.
Demi stayed by my side and watched everyone with a bit of fear in her eyes. “They all knew, didn’t they?”
“Yeah,” I said. “They just didn’t care enough to say it.” I had cared, but I hadn’t been man enough to stop it. Now I was, and I was going to make sure it never happened again.
“And now?”
“Now they’re waiting to see who bleeds first.”
She leaned in close enough that I could smell the faint sweetness of her hair. “You don’t have to fight him. We can just leave.”
“Yes, I do.” This had to end. Tremor was going to know exactly how I felt about him taking Tyler’s innocent life.
Her jaw tightened, but she didn’t argue. “Then make it count.”
I threaded my fingers through hers and led her outside.
Outside, the huge fire cracked and sent sparks into the night sky. The laughter was louder out here with people dancing, drinking, and pretending the world wasn’t about to shift under their boots.
Tremor stood near the flames next to a small group of patched brothers. Every so often, one of them glanced at me. I didn’t look away.
Mac came up beside me. “You planning something stupid?”
“Not stupid. I’m going to finish this once and for all.”
He almost smiled. “You don’t walk away from this clean, Wolf. You know that, right?”
Only one of us was going to come out of this, and it was going to be me. “I stopped expecting clean a long time ago.” Going up against another brother was never a good idea unless you knew you were going to win.
I never lost.
He took a drag off his cigarette. “For what it’s worth, I never liked how it went down with Tyler.”
“Then why didn’t you say something?”
“Because loyalty’s louder than guilt around here.” He flicked the cigarette into the dirt. “You’re the first one in years to change the volume.”
By midnight, the party had split in two.
Half the club was inside, drunk and loud.
The other half lingered outside, waiting for something they couldn’t name but could feel coming.
Demi leaned into me near the bikes. “He’s been watching me all night,” she said.
“I know.”
“I hate that he smiles like he’s already won.”
“He hasn’t.”
“Then stop letting him act like it.”
She was right. She usually was.
The bell from the church room rang.
I looked at Demi. “Stay out here when they go in.”
“No.”
“Demi—”
“I’m not hiding while you fix what he broke. This is about my brother.”
I let out a breath. “Then stay close. If I tell you to run, you run.”
She nodded, with her eyes fierce. “Deal.”
I reached into my cut and checked to make sure I had my knife.
When I looked up, she was watching me like she already knew what I was about to do.
“Tonight,” I said, “we finish it.”
Her hand brushed mine once as a silent promise that she was there no matter what. “Then let’s go.”