Chapter 17 - Dash
CHAPTER 17 - DASH
“Do I even want to know what that was about, Prez?” Ryda wiped grease from his hands from his quarterly servicing of our bikes.
In an MC, the road captains were charged with the club’s protection during rides and bike maintenance and efficient running of our tools came under his domain.
“You let her run free?” The drumming growl in my throat promised him punishment for failing me. I’d tear the sun and moon from the sky for her to live.
“Steady, Prez.” Ryda grabbed his wrench and started to work on his suspension the way Alaric, the Jackals’ Road Captain, taught him. “I don’t make your business mine.”
“Not good enough.” My growl hitched a notch, my wolf wanting to make him see the error of his ways.
Fuck, the error of mine for bringing her here. Snap of judgment, courtesy of my wolf seizing control. Until the full moon’s effect on me waned in two days, I was at its mercy and would struggle to keep my damn animal in line.
I scraped my forehead. “The Malices know we’re Lunar mated, and she’s in danger. The allegiance you swore to me as your president and heir extends to my Lunar mate as well. Do I make myself clear? She stays here where the Malices can’t touch her.”
Castor, the Jackals’ Wrath MC Enforcer, made sure to ward up the clubhouse with ancient spells lost to the well-practiced witches, including Gable. Pack Malice wouldn’t stand a chance of getting inside, but a siege would fuck us.
Ryda bent his head in submission. “Yes, President.”
I lowered my wolf’s temper, and rubbed the back of my head, studying the jet-black hair of my road captain and the concern in his stark blue eyes.
Fuck. What a headache. One I didn’t need on top of everything else. Liv’s slippery cunning wouldn’t fool me again, which is why I shoved her in our cell. Let her cool off for a bit. Bring her around to my plan.
She had every right to distrust me. Honorable men didn’t break the hearts of their Lunar mates. Kidnapping her and holding her hostage took things too far to escape unscathed. One day she would understand. Ryda too. For now, I kept my secret under lock and key.
That wasn’t my only concern. When Liv didn’t return home, Heather would raise the alarm, and Umbra Hester would be on the phone to my father before the day’s end. Ryda never betrayed me yet, and we got ourselves into a lot of jams over the years. I worried about his loyalty failing if Father’s Alpha dominance commanded him to spill information.
“Ryda, I don’t need to remind you what will happen if anyone knows she’s here.” The end of the Lithgow chapter of Jackals’ Wrath MC before it got a chance to thrive…because of my damn wolf. “I’ll take the heat if any comes.”
Air locked in my lungs as I waited for his reply.
He twisted the C-spanner to relax the suspension’s shock absorbers. “Your secret is safe with me, President.”
A relieved breath sawed from my lungs. “When’s Alaric coming tomorrow to inspect the bike pre-ride?”
“This afternoon.” Ryda’s answer clenched my gut.
I had to keep Liv out of the way, keep my distractions to a minimum, and focus solely on the ride. Difficult when my dick steered my mind to her.
I rubbed at my palms to soothe the longing ache to hold my mate again. Spank her bouncy ass again. Sink my teeth into her soft flesh. Teeth only. No mate bite.
My gaze drifted to the back of the shed, to the lone bike sheathed in a dark motorcycle cover. A huge stone sank in my stomach at Father’s wedding present, bestowed me to sweeten the arranged marriage with Liv. A Victory Gunner 2014 model. His first bike. The one he used to ride before Chase’s accident. 1731cc, four-stroke, six-speed transmission, and titanium metallic finish. Classic damn bike. I hated the way he wielded the bribe when I made my opinion on a mate very clear.
Frustrated thoughts switched gears to erotic ones. Liv on the back of the Gunner, thighs clenched over mine, fingers digging into my stomach, the engine driving her to orgasm like it had on my Honda. Fuck, what I wouldn’t have given to see her face as she crashed or to control her pleasure. Dangerous territory, if my wolf assumed pole position and marked her.
This had been too much of a close call. Too much of a temptation. I couldn’t afford for her to get under my skin again. Spending time with her let break down my walls. Nothing must threaten my mate’s safety. Not even me.
The rumbling of a bike engine dragged our attention to Steele’s Road King rolling into the driveway, pulling up in the garage beside my Honda, per club designation. Another fucking man to seek loyalty from.
“Get Heather back safely?” I asked Steele when he peeled off his helmet and set it over his handlebar.
“I don’t like whatever you’re up to.” Steele scowled and alighted.
Creaks of the wrench indicated Ryda minded his own business, though I needed to talk to Steele in private. Club rank must not fall apart when easing the pack’s financial strain relied on its success. I tipped my head at my VP and best friend to walk with me. Little remained secret in an MC full of wolf shifters with predator’s hearing. Heavy steps accompanied my lighter ones into the kitchen.
“Where is she?” Steele got right to the point the second I leaned on the counter.
I admired his no bullshit attitude, his preference to know all angles, and have a remediation plan in place. It was exactly why I selected him as my VP. The one person I would never lie to.
“In the basement.” I grabbed a beer from the fridge, flipping off the lid and taking a long draw to still my nerves.
My VP rubbed his wary, lined forehead. “You kidnapped her?”
I shut him down with the next line. “I didn’t have much of a choice when my wolf didn’t stand for TJ assaulting her.”
Taking Liv was a spur-of-the-moment decision to contain a fire. Not my smartest decision. Animals didn’t think with logic. Instinct screamed to protect my mate, and that was what my wolf did.
“Fuck, man.” The old Steele was my ride-or-die man. That changed after Whitney’s disappearance. “You’re gonna start a goddamn war, Dash.”
I washed down more beer. “War commenced last night when you beat the shit out of TJ to avenge your fated mate, and we jumped in to back you up.”
Steele’s rapid-fire growl lasted five seconds before petering out. Growing up, we sorted out our arguments with a tussle in wolf fur. Sixty percent of the time I won. Forty percent he kicked my ass due to his size and strength. By the flint in his gaze, we were going to sort out our differences the old way.
I washed down more beer. “I made a hasty fucking decision that keeps Liv out of a war zone. TJ saw my Lunar tattoo and knows we’re mates. He’ll come for her. This is the one place he can’t get her.”
Steele groaned and scrubbed his beard. “Fuck, Dash. I will follow you to the ends of the Earth. But you are riding us straight into the mouth of Hell.”
I chuckled and clapped him on the shoulder. “Ride or die, brother.”
My VP shook me off, and thumped a hand on my chest over the patch inscribed with the words President. “Dash, you’re not thinking clearly.” He repeated the move, slamming the Jackals’ logo. “You’ve got to take her back.”
Oh, my mind was sound. Made up. Set on her. I lost her once. Never again. And I was not going to fucking let her be mated, owned or harmed by that motherfucker, T.J. I’d deal with our arrangement once she was safe.
I thumped my friend back on the word VP. “No.”
I didn’t trust the pack’s wards would hold if the Malices deployed counter spells to cross into our territory. Gable couldn’t remove them and redo them because they were linked to my life, which was why I asked for him to establish fresh protection lines… if only I could afford them.
Steele hooked a finger on my necklace and fished out my amulet. “It’s not TJ I’m worried about.”
“The Umbras can’t force me to marry her if they don’t know where she is,” I said, taking it back.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to take her as my Lunar mate. At. Fucking. All. I wanted what belonged to me, like nothing else. I just couldn’t have her. Taking her as mine let her fall into the wrong hands. Something I forbid, even if I had to forfeit our relationship forever.
“Your dad’s not stupid.” He patted my chest. “He’ll put it together soon.”
“Until then, we’ll put it to a vote.” A custom with MC law. Every member had to support this decision since they risked their standing and membership in the pack by keeping my secret.
My men in the club knew the danger facing Pack Lumbry. We all went out that night when everything changed for us. Not one of us remained free of scars, tethered to an enemy that held us hostage.
Steele snatched my beer and threw half of it back. “Does Ryda know?”
“He witnessed an argument.”
Steele rubbed his tired eyes. “Off the record, and this is said as a friend, so you don’t have grounds to fire my ass. You’re a fucking idiot, and sometimes I question why we’re friends.”
We argued, said our piece, then made up. We never held a grudge. Respected the shit out of each other and accepted our faults, fuck-ups, and achievements. We went through hell and back to save the pack and get this club off the ground, and we weren’t about to divide on one misstep. Not when we were both guilty of mistakes.
“You love me.” I gave him the middle finger salute.
“Love your dead ass.” He clapped me on the backside to show it.
One order of business down. Onto the next. Deal with another problem before it turned into a larger one that got out of hand.
“I got some shit to deal with.” I dug my phone from my cut. “Wanna ride back to Bathurst with me?”
“Sure. Why not dig my grave deeper?” That was why I considered Steele more of a brother than Chase ever was.
I laughed, chugged down a bit more beer and dialed Castor’s number, the temporary VP of the Bathurst Jackals, and he answered in three rings. “Yeah?”
Time to enact stage two of my plans.