Pyre (The Berserker’s Rage MC: Wyoming Chapter #2)

Chapter 1

Raeleen

Life is short. Precious. But most people know that. They spend the entirety of their time ensuring that they’d lived it well. Likewise, they spent a lot of their time trying to figure out what their afterlife would look like. I don’t deal in life. Or the afterlife.

I deal in death. Specifically, in that short time where you’re no longer living, but haven’t been laid to rest yet.

There were a lot of people who thought that I was strange because things like death and dead bodies should make people feel uncomfortable.

I understood. Well, I understood that it made them uncomfortable.

But none of that bothered me. I just wanted to make the passing for those whose time here was over as easy as possible.

And I liked to help their families find the closure they needed.

Seeing people grieving and in pain hurt my soul.

If I could ease that transition for them, I’d do whatever was in my power to do so.

We weren’t talking about anything mystical or spiritual here.

I was a mortician. I made people’s loved ones look presentable and arranged a beautiful funeral to hasten them off into that afterlife of theirs.

And because Sentinel, Wyoming, was a small place, I had also become the town’s medical examiner.

I’d moved away from the city to get away from that job.

There was too much violent death for my liking.

I needed a slower pace. I was tired of seeing homicides and suicides and wanted to work in a role where there were other options for why someone ended up on my slab.

But the former sheriff wasn’t willing to allow the opportunity of a well-known medical examiner moving to town to pass him by, and talked me into taking the job here.

I could be a bit of a people pleaser. I was working on it.

But my one condition had been that I be allowed to also open up my own funeral home. So now I did both.

Being a medical examiner and mortician at the same time might seem like a conflict of interest. “Sorry for your loss folks, but with our bundle package you get an autopsy and funeral all in one.” No, I didn’t do anything creepy or awful like that.

There were two simple reasons I continued to do both.

One, it was convenient for the town to have both jobs located in one building.

Two, no one else was here to do either job.

It kept me busy. Happy. Mostly.

Looking up, I waved as Ainsley, the former new sheriff in town, and Harlow, our mayor, walked in.

Ainsley moved here and became our sheriff, then she fell in love with a biker and the conflict of interest between dating Warrant and upholding the law was too much for her.

So now, she worked for Sentry Securities, the business that Cypher—the head of The Berserker’s Rage MC—ran.

No one fully knew what they did, but all the guys in the MC were military or federal law enforcement at one point, so Ains fit right in with them.

She was just as secretive about what her new job was, but one of these days Harlow was going to dig the information out of her.

These two weren’t here today in an official capacity.

They were just here to see me because they were my friends.

I wasn’t sure how it had happened. It was almost like Harlow had adopted me when I’d moved here and now I had a small circle of female friends who all held important positions within Sentinel.

Making friends was never my forté. Again, people tended to think you were weird when you worked with the dead.

Harlow made a face. “I’m going to pretend that’s ketchup on your sleeve, Rae,” she said.

I glanced down. “It actually is ketchup. I never get blood on me when I’m embalming a body.”

Her skin went slightly green as she choked back a gag and turned around quickly. “Don’t say that.”

“That’s kind of cool,” Ainsley said, then flinched. “I mean…not that they died. That’s sad.” She paused and cocked her head. “Is that Mrs. Templeton?”

I nodded, placing my gloved hand on the old woman’s cold shoulder. “She died in her sleep last night.”

Ainsley’s eyes soften. “I’m sorry. I know she was your friend.”

“It’s okay,” I told her with a soft smile. “I’ll make sure she’s ready to make her trip. That was something that was important to her.” I pulled the cloth draped over her from chest to feet a little higher. It wasn’t always easy for people to see dead bodies.

Ainsley was fine with it. As a former cop she was used to it.

She understood in a way someone like Harlow couldn’t.

We didn’t stop seeing the dead as people.

They had lives, loved ones, and though our missions were different, they intersected.

Ainsley had spent years tracking down anyone who was involved in the death of the person while I comforted anyone left behind.

“Sorry,” Harlow said, lifting her fingers to her mouth as she turned to face us again. “Still haven’t quite gotten used to that.”

“It’s okay,” I told her, in a gentle tone. This was common. It was typical. Normal. People were uncomfortable with death because it reminded them of their own future demise. While people liked to consider the afterlife they really didn’t like to think about their own deaths.

Harlow cleared her throat. “Are you okay?”

“Of course,” I responded, confused as to why I wouldn’t be okay.

She blinked then looked down at the cover. “Like Ains said, she was your friend.”

I nodded, understanding dawning with the explanation. I spent many evenings at the local retirement home. I enjoyed speaking with the residents there. “She was. I’m sorry she’s gone, but passing in her sleep was a peaceful way for her to leave us.”

“True,” Harlow said. “Uh…”

The silence stretched out as she tried to think of a way to explain why they’d come to see me.

“We came to tell you that you’re coming out with us tonight,” Ainsley said, taking over.

I was so glad she was a part of our friend group now.

I loved the others, but Ainsley’s straight forward way of doing things meshed well with me.

Not that Harlow wasn’t straight forward.

The woman would bulldoze the Great Wall of China in order to get her way.

In a very charming manner, of course. I adored Harlow.

But in situations like this people didn’t know how to deal with me.

And I was always in situations like this.

There were always the dead to usher into the afterlife.

It was my turn to make a face. “Going out where?”

“The Last Round Up,” Harlow said with a glint in her eyes.

“I’d love to, but I have-”

“Nothing,” Harlow said, putting her hands on her hips. “You have nothing to do. You don’t get to skip out on ladies’ night because you want to read a book.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but she was right. I’d planned to listen to my latest audiobook and crochet a new pattern I’d found on Pinterest. That was my speed. Not a country western bar.

“It’ll be fun,” Harlow said in a tone that verged on pleading.

It’ll be fun. Those words were always the worst promise. It either led to six hours of shopping with Mom, or a horrible hangover. One time it led to both.

Ainsley rolled her eyes. “It’ll be something anyway.”

“You have a boyfriend,” I replied. “How did you get roped into this?”

“No pun intended,” Ains said with a grin because The Last Round Up was as much of a cowboy bar as you could get. “Eh, you know Harlow. The more, the better.”

“And Warrant doesn’t mind?” I asked.

She snorted in derision. “Like he’d have a say. But no, he doesn’t mind. We’ll be lucky though if he doesn’t drag his brothers there tonight. Then we’ll have to deal with cowboys and bikers.”

Warrant was the Sergeant At Arms for the local motorcycle club, The Berserker’s Rage.

He’d pursued Ainsley with an intensity that made my heart swoon in my chest. Their relationship started much like those in the books I loved to read.

The possessive though happy-go-lucky golden retriever woos the black cat female main character and they fall in love…

eventually. Although in Warrant’s case wooing had been a combination of theft, stalking, and breaking and entering, according to Ainsley.

I bit back a yearning sigh. That wasn’t going to ever happen for me.

I’d all but given up on it. Especially now that I lived in this smaller town that new people rarely moved to.

Plus, I wasn’t the outgoing confident type like Ainsley and Harlow.

Like the rest of our friends. I was…me. Quiet and unassuming.

And that was okay. I really liked me. Changing to try to get myself a man wasn’t in the plans.

Not anymore. I’d tried that when I was younger, but once my fiancé figured out who I really was he’d left.

I suppose it hadn’t been fair to hide who I was from him, but it hurt none the less.

Men had been interested enough over the years, but people who were…

typical…found me off-putting. Which was why I’d been shocked when I’d managed to find, and keep, seven women who would be what the cheerleaders in my high school would have deemed normal.

I never fit their description and they made sure I knew it.

My friends were lively and vivacious and gorgeous and I doubted they had trouble making friends. Yet, they’d welcomed me.

“Do I have a choice?” I asked, hesitantly.

“Absolutely-” Ainsley started to say.

“Not,” Harlow finished for Ainsley, nudging her in the side with her elbow. “Come on, Raeleen, we haven’t been out in forever. It’ll be fun,” she echoed that sentiment again.

I sighed because I knew I was beat for two reasons.

One, whenever Harlow used my full name she was going to win no matter what.

It was a given. Thankfully she didn’t use that power very often.

Not that she really needed to. She got her way most of the time with most people.

And secondly, she used the dreaded phrase a second time.

Whenever people had to say, it’ll be fun, to convince you?

It was never fun. But how did you decline that?

There was no way without looking like a complete stick in the mud.

“Okay,” I acquiesced.

Harlow squealed and grabbed Ainsley’s arm. “This is going to be great!” She hurried out of the room before either of us could say another word or change our minds.

“Yeah, great,” Ainsley said with a sarcastic smile. Her eyes narrowed. “If you really don’t want to go, I can talk to her.”

I sighed again. “It’s okay. I probably should get out and see people.”

“You see people.”

I looked down at the cover. “People who are alive.”

She barked out a laugh. “I meant you see their relatives, but yes.” She cocked her head. “Harlow can be…”

“Pushy?” I suggested with a grin.

Ainsley nodded, returning the smile. “I was going to say bossy, but that works too.”

“She means well.”

“She does,” she agreed. “But you get to have a say in things, too.”

“Thanks, Ains. I don’t mind. And I love Harlow.”

“I know you do. So do I… For some reason.”

We both laughed. “It’s impossible not to,” I replied. “She means well, so all her…bossiness…isn’t meant in a malicious way.”

“She’s so damn endearing,” Ainsley said with a sigh. It was mournful enough that it made me laugh again.

“How much fun are we expecting tonight?” I asked with a worried look.

“Don’t worry, everyone there will likely be on their best behavior,” she said with a wink. “Hard to misbehave when the former sheriff is watching you do it.”

I smiled and waved goodbye as she followed Harlow out the door.

Looking down, I folded the cover down. “What do you think, Beatrice?” I asked my friend.

I knew she couldn’t respond, but talking to yourself was a hazard of this job.

And talking to the bodies was a certainty.

It was also another one of those things that made people think you were weird. “Maybe it will be fun?”

Continuing with my work, I chatted to my friend as I did her make-up and dreamed of the day when maybe I’d find my own prince charming.

Except, he wouldn’t be prince charming. The prince went after princesses.

I wasn’t a princess. I needed someone else.

Someone like the head of the guards. The man who was strong and protective, but didn’t expect some gorgeous, perfectly made up woman who was the prize every man was trying to win.

I needed a man who could see the potential in the uncut diamond.

Because I was a jewel, dammit. I was beautiful in my own right.

I just needed someone to see it. Who knew?

Maybe I’d find him. Or he’d find me. Even though I’d told myself to give up hope, there was always that little spark inside my chest.

I was missing love in my life. I wanted a man who adored me. Who wanted to marry me. Who would build a life with me that we both dreamed of. Someone who would make everything better and complete me. One day…