Chapter 9 Bear
BEAR
The pain coursing through my body was horrendous.
Of course, I’d never fucking admit that to anyone.
But damn, this shit was no joke. I groaned as a pair of soft, cool hands came down onto my skin.
I sighed as a needle pierced my skin. I felt the warmth of a woman beside me and smiled, ready for my eyes to peel open and see the beauty of Margot as she stood beside me.
“Morning, big guy. This should help,” Piper said.
My smile faded, though, when I didn’t hear her voice.
Piper giggled. “Don’t worry. Margot’s still a resident, you know. Had a shift last night. I told her to get some rest after her shift, then she could come in to check on you.”
I cleared my throat. “She works nights as a resident?”
“Mhm. She can work any shift she wants after initial introductions and the required shadowing credits are out of the way. And she chose night shift. Only resident I know that’s done that, too.”
I grinned. “She was always a night owl.”
Piper laughed softly, then slid the needle out of my arm.
Hell, I didn’t even realize it was still there until she moved it.
And as the tip of the needle made its way out of my arm, warmth filled my veins again.
I had no idea what the fuck they were giving me for pain, but I didn’t want them to stop.
That shit was good, and incredibly effective.
“So, she is gonna come back?” I asked, my eyes falling closed.
“Yep. I made her promise,” Piper said.
“Good. Glad she’s not just… gone…”
“You fall back asleep. I’m just going to check your stitches and everything. Then, I’ll leave you alone,” she said.
“That’s—yeah that’s…”
I yawned as my head fell back over to the pillow and I was out like a light. I didn’t feel Piper doing anything. I didn’t feel her checking anything on my body. The only thing I felt was sleep. Darkness. Relaxation.
In my dreams, she was there again. Kissing me.
Caressing me. Traveling down my body. I was eighteen again.
Virile and hornier than I could have ever imagined.
Her lips wrapped around my cock. The warmth of her cheeks sucked me to my point of no return.
Her hands pressed into my thighs as my fingers wrapped around the tendrils of her hair.
Pulling her closer and sliding my cock all the way down the back of her throat.
Her gagging around my girth shot my eyes open, and I felt the blanket of the bed slowly rising away from me.
“What the—”
I was groggy. Everything was spinning. And I felt that damn blanket moving away from me.
It wasn’t until I ripped the blanket back up to my chin that I felt it.
That searing pain between my legs. Fucking hell, I’d woken up with the biggest erection of a lifetime, and I was ready to blow like a teenager who didn't know what the fuck to do with it.
“Knock knock,” Piper said softly.
“Don’t turn on the light,” I grumbled.
“I wasn’t gonna. Just heard you shifting around. You okay?” she asked.
“Fine.”
“You sure? Because you can have some more—”
“I said I’m fine.”
“Oh-kay, then,” she said.
I sighed. “Sorry, it’s just—”
I dipped my hand underneath the covers and shifted myself around. Hoping beyond all hope that Piper couldn't see what the fuck I was doing in that dark-as-hell room.
“It’s just what? Are you sure you aren’t in pain?” Piper asked.
Not the kind you can treat.
“Why did you choose Margot?” I asked.
Her footsteps padded across the floor before she sat on the edge of the bed.
“When I first met Margot, I saw a lot of myself in her. Willing to help people, no matter the cost. Willing to go out of her way, even if it affected everything about her life. I saw a dedication and a fire within her not many residents have at that point in time during their education. So, I took her on. I became her mentor at the hospital,” Piper said.
“So, you two interact a lot,” I said.
“Very much so. I’m the one who’ll eventually sign off on her residency and hand over her true doctor’s coat when she’s done,” she said.
“That’s nice.”
“It will be, yes. When I saw the kind of condition you were in, I knew Margot would help me. With a little convincing, of course.”
“How much convincing?”
“About thirty seconds’ worth.”
“Not bad,” I said, chuckling.
But that laughter soon turned into coughing.
“That should go away within the week. You’ll be sore when breathing heavily, but the coughing should stop,” Piper said.
“Good,” I said, sighing.
“I knew once Margot saw the kind of pain you were in, she wouldn't be able to say no to helping you. That’s why I called her. And I was right.”
I smiled brightly, because she was exactly right. That was Margot to her fucking core. And it was so refreshing to know that hadn’t changed.
“How are you feeling?” Piper asked.
“Not as swimmy-headed,” I said.
“Wanna try getting up and walking?” she asked.
I looked over at her and found her smile etched into the darkness. I wasn’t one to covet other men’s women, but Rock was a lucky man with her at his side. I nodded as I tried to sit up, but not without wincing. Or groaning. Or generally feeling as if my body was about to fall apart.
“Well, you just go for the gold, don’t you?” Piper asked.
“Generally speaking,” I grinned.
She got her hand around my body and slowly lifted me to my feet.
And after walking a few steps with her at my side, I unraveled myself from her.
I propped myself up against the doorway, feeling weaker than I had in years.
But, slowly—with my arms outstretched to prop myself up on either side of the wall—I walked myself down the hallway. All the way to the living room.
Where the guys sat.
“There’s the big boy,” Diesel said, smiling.
“Nice to see you up and about, Hairy,” Toxin said.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Barely, but sure,” I said.
I dropped my hands from the wall and tried steadying myself on my two feet. But Piper slid her hands along my back every once in a while. I wasn’t quite steady on my feet. I still needed support. Help. Guidance.
But it was better than lying in that damn bed all day long.
“Well, since you’re up, how do you feel about church?” Grave asked.
“Grave,” Diesel murmured.
“I mean, it’s worth a shot. Right? We gotta figure out what the hell’s going on,” Knox said.
Diesel looked over at me. “You up for something like that?”
“Can I get a drink first?” I asked.
“I’ll get you some water. You need to sit,” Piper said.
“Then, you need to take a break,” I said.
“No rest for the doctors!” Piper exclaimed.
“Water, then break, doc,” I said.
“‘Atta, boy,” Rock murmured.
I wobbled over to the recliner and practically fell down into it.
It groaned and splintered, but that didn’t matter.
It got my legs up and kept blood from pooling in my feet.
Which was the whole reason I was lying in bed in the first fucking place.
Piper came over with a massive glass of ice cold water and instructions to finish the entire thing. Water, included.
Then, I was to try and eat a light dinner.
“Got it, doc. Now, go rest,” I said.
“Sure thing, Bear,” she said, smiling.
And after she placed a kiss to her husband’s cheek, she left us alone to conduct our business.
“Okay, church,” Diesel said.
“Can I just say, I think us prospects need to be involved in this. I think it should be all hands on deck for something like this,” Toxin said.
“He’s right,” Saint said.
“I’m done,” Ryker said.
“As much as I hate to admit it, the youngins’ are right,” Grave said.
“Youngins?” I asked, chuckling.
But, again, that laughter turned into coughing real quick. And I hated the pitiful glances the guys were giving me.
“I’m fine. I’m fine. Keep—keep going,” I said.
Diesel nodded. “Yes, I agree. Prospects, this is your time to stand up for one of your own. Bear’s been brutalized. It’s time we figure out a plan.”
“So, what do we do?” Cage asked.
“That’s why we’re here. To come up with an answer to that question,” Diesel said.
“We need to retaliate. This is insane, and I won’t stand for it. It’s my fault that fucker’s still alive. And it’s my responsibility to put him down,” Cage said.
“If it’s even this Lars guy behind this,” Brewer said.
“Has anything weird happened at the apartment since you guys got moved in? Anything out of the ordinary? Because if this man is alive, I would think he’d try to get to his daughter. After all, she did put some bullets in him, too,” Diesel said.
“Nothing. And I’ve been up at night keeping watch so Sutton can sleep,” Cage said.
“Good man,” I murmured.
“Either way, taking on the mafia or whatever the hell this syndicate is head-on isn’t the best idea. We’re outnumbered, at best. Even with the Black Hornets on our side. We need to do recon. We need to play this from the shadows,” Diesel said.
“I second that,” Knox said.
“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. You mean we aren’t going to put these guys down?” Cage asked.
“After we know what we’re dealing with, we’ll talk about ways to do that,” Diesel said.
“And what if he slaughters us all!? I’m not watching a crew I’ve come to care for go down again at the hands of this asshole!” Cage exclaimed.
“Which is why we’re going to do this the right way,” Grave said.
A fight broke out among the guys as the rest of the prospects stood around my recliner.
I looked up at them, watching the old geezers fight to the death over this shit with the newest of the new guy.
Toxin looked down at me and grinned that wild grin that never quite reached his eyes.
I looked up into Saint’s face and saw him nod down at me.
And Ryker? Well, he cleared his throat before yelling in order to get their attention.
“Hey!”
Everyone stopped arguing and looked over at him. The man who barely said a word. Then, Ryker turned his dead eyes down to me and nodded.
“Thanks,” I murmured.
“What?” Cage asked.
“I think I should have a say in this since I’m the one beat to shit, yeah?” I asked.
Rock paused. “He’s right. What’s your take on this, Bear?”
I sighed. “I do think we should retaliate.”
“Thank you,” Cage said.
“But we need to be smart about it. We can’t just go into another shootout scenario. We had the advantage of them not knowing we were coming last time. But we have to assume we won’t have that luxury this time around,” I said.
“Fuck,” Cage grumbled.
“We have to find a way to take out Lars specifically,” I said.
“If it’s even Lars at the helm of this thing,” Grave said.
“Something in my gut tells me he’s still alive. That bastard can weasel his way out of anything. And I think he got out of that diner somehow a couple months back,” I said.
“I’ve got the same feeling. Had it for days,” Brewer said.
“Not gonna lie, same here,” Knox murmured.
“We do recon, we cut the head off this snake, and we put down anyone who gets in our way of that. After the recon,” I said.
Everyone turned their eyes to Diesel and waited for him to nod his head. But instead, he only had more questions.
“Okay. So, let’s say we go with that plan. How the hell do we go about finding a man we thought was dead?” he asked.
Rock shrugged. “We do it the old-fashioned way. I get on my laptop, I run down some traffic cameras. We already know what Lars looks like. I can run facial recognition software through traffic cameras and things of that nature. Once I can figure out where these goons are holed up, we can do recon the way we always do. With our bikes on the highway, or our quiet cars on the backroads. We gather as much information as we can, study their movements, figure out their arsenal of weapons simply by watching them.”
“That’ll take too much time. Sutton’s in trouble with all this. If anyone’s in trouble—”
“We’re all in trouble at this point,” Brewer said, cutting Cage off.
“Every single one of our families is in jeopardy right now. We all have a stake in this. If you want to learn how to roll with us, Cage, you have to learn how we do things. And this is how we do things. Right, by the book, and slowly.”
Cage murmured underneath his breath, but he finally backed down. However, he wasn’t the only one that was upset. Grave wasn’t happy about any of this, either. And neither was Ryker. I saw a bloodlust in their eyes unlike anything I’d ever seen.
It made me wonder why, too.
“In the meantime, I’m about to do something you guys aren’t gonna like,” Diesel said.
“Fucking really?” Grave asked.
“I think it’s the only way to keep us all safe. I’m also gonna be instilling protective details on the girls, should they need to go out for any reason,” Diesel said.
“This place is gonna get crowded. You know that,” Knox said.
“Which is why I’ve been working with Brewer on finding us a larger place to call home in instances like this,” Diesel said.
“What the fuck are you guys talking about?” Toxin asked.
Diesel grinned. “Until this is all settled, all of us are going to be staying in the lodge. Together. So we can keep a watch on one another. But we also have a new lodge. One that still needs a few loving touches, but will give us more room to maneuver since our clan is growing.”
“You sure it’s ready to house us all?” Brewer asked.
Diesel shrugged. “It’ll have to be. This place is much too small for us now.”
The guys fell silent as our president looked around.
“All in favor?” he asked.
And as our hands slowly inched themselves into the air, Diesel nodded his head.
“All right. Everyone is due at the new location by nightfall. I’m sending the address to everyone’s phones. Pack up your shit, and make sure you’re over there with your bikes, your cars, and with enough time to settle in before family dinner,” he said.
Then, with a clap of his hands, church was dismissed.