21. Shane
21
SHANE
T he rest of the guys were situated. Crow wasn’t too happy to be outnumbered, but he also knew he couldn’t say anything about it. Still, I was catching his eye more and more. Suspicion was building, and there’d be a talk brought to the table pretty soon. I could feel it, like an annoying itch.
I did understand his perspective. This was his charter, his area, and we were firmly moving in.
“Ghost.”
I was grinning before I even turned around, because damn , I had missed this man.
My brother. My best friend. My partner in so many godforsaken situations. Boise was his biker name, and he was my other half—as much as I had one at this point. We called him Boise because of a simple conversation we’d once had.
Where are you from? Boise.
What’s your name? Boise.
You ride a lot? Boise.
So his biker name was Boise. One time he’d said he was Shoshone, but he didn’t talk much about his tribal family. I respected that, and once he became a Red Demon, he became my right-hand man. It had felt weird to be here without him, so seeing him coming my way, that long-ass dark hair swinging in the wind, I just shook my head and couldn’t hold back the smile.
“It’s been too damn long.”
He hit me hard, and I wrapped my arms around him. None of that masculine bullshit here; we were hugging tight and pounding each other on the back.
I clasped him on the back of his head. “Missed you.”
He hugged me tight one last time. “You too, brother. You too.”
He stepped back, and we laughed, holding onto each other’s arms a moment before we separated fully.
“I thought you’d stay back with Prez,” I told him.
His face twitched, and he almost snorted. “I hear Estrada is here and you think I’m staying to guard an ailing man? You loco.”
“Yeah. Maybe.” Still, the club came first. Boise took that seriously, so for him to choose my side instead of Max’s said a lot.
“I’m told you have a woman?” He raised an eyebrow.
Now I snorted. “That’s a battle for a whole other day.”
He chuckled, and Crow headed our way. All the other guys were on their bikes or moving toward them.
“You still good with the plan?” Crow asked me.
I inclined my head toward Boise. “I’m going to add the new guys around the perimeter. They know what to do, but we’ll keep some here to guard the women and kids.”
Crow nodded, giving Boise a once-over.
There’d already been introductions. Crow had been the one to greet the guys as they drove in, but he was seeing a new dynamic here. I got it.
“When we ride in, do I need to know the reason you’re here?” Crow asked.
I felt Boise tense. I did too. I’d known this was coming. Just came faster than I thought.
“Your president reached out to Max,” I told him. “He’s in prison for the long haul, and he wanted us here to help situate you guys for new leadership. Said you were having problems with a few of the guys.”
Crow nodded because he knew that. He’d been told that. It’s the reason our trip here wasn’t a surprise, but it wasn’t the only reason, and he must’ve sensed that by now. His eyes danced between Boise and me.
“That’s true,” he said. “You guys being here has settled some of those guys, but I’m thinking we might need to have another conversation after tonight.”
I’d asked Max for three months. I wanted to smooth my way in, not kick over any rocks that had snakes underneath. But with Estrada’s presence and the new guys from our charter coming in, I didn’t have much choice.
“I got a call,” he added after a moment. “The food’s ready. A couple of the sweet butts stayed back to play pretend girlfriends. We’re ready to go.”
I nodded, and since I was the highest ranking member here, I led them out.
Crow came next, right beside me. We interspersed my guys and his guys so they were riding next to the new guys, but at the end of the day, we were all brothers.
The women came out to watch us go. I glimpsed Kali in the window as we rode down the driveway.
This part was sacred.
It was us, our bikes, and the open road—nothing separating us from nature. The wind. The sun.
We were free.