Chapter 17 #2
"Obviously." Judge grabs a helmet from the back that’s strapped to the bag, one with a full face cover, and pulls out a thicker leather jacket that’s far too small for him. "You have to wear these."
I can’t help but slightly chuckle to realize he planned this out so much, shaking my head slightly as a few strands of my hair get in my eyes.
"Where's yours?" I ask, watching him take off his long jacket to stuff it in the bag as he pulls out a jacket very similar to the one he wore when I first saw him in New Bunker.
"Worried about me?" he asks, flashing a small smile that creases a small line around his stubbled mouth. Oh, that makes something flutter in my stomach.
My gaze lifts when I hear a hawk screech over us, and realize it must be the one he’s been using with the way she flies abnormally low. “Oh, whatever. Where is your helmet, by the way?”
"I don't wear one." He throws a leg over the bike, settling into the seat, the bike slightly moving. “You don't have the option, though."
God I don’t like that answer, but I also see there’s literally not another one. And I just don’t have the spoons to tell him he needs to be wearing one right now.
"I've never been on a motorcycle," I admit, eyeing the bike like she might bite.
“Her name is Widow.”
“Why?”
He gets the bike turned on, the loud engine coming to life and making me jump.
He almost looks normal-sized on it with how massive the bike is.
“I actually got it from this middle-aged woman who is an incredible mechanic. Can’t get her to join Dominion to save my ass…
She got this bike when her husband died and worked on it to get her out of that rut. So I named it Widow.”
There he goes again, saying things that make him sound interesting.
I take a few steps near it. He turns slightly to the side1, motioning to the exhausts.
“Rule number one: don’t ever fucking touch those.
They’ll burn you. Rule number two: you always lean with me.
Rule number three: if you start to fall asleep, tap me, and we’ll pull over.
.. Just go ahead and put your legs over once you get your things in that bag—it’s strapped.
Then lean against me and put your feet on those pegs. ”
My heart races with something other than pure fear. There’s an excitement that follows, like I’m about to actually do something fun. I’m with my alpha, there’s no one chasing me, and I feel lighter in a way that still doesn’t make sense to me.
Judge helps me get the helmet on when I struggle, lowering the visor for me. "You do realize getting on the back of a bike is a big statement?" he asks, his voice dropping lower as I start to climb on, placing a hand on his shoulder for stability. "No one rides bitch on Widow.”
"Oh, I'm so privileged to ride bitch,” I drawl through the helmet, but my heart is doing something complicated in my chest. And damn, does that make me feel better.
He smiles as he looks over his shoulder at me—an actual smile, transforming his face into something entirely inviting. “Remember to lean with the bike. Tap three times on my side if you need to stop for any reason. Don't fall asleep." He points at the exhaust pipes. "And don't forget about those.”
“I’ll be okay, Judge,” I say, almost amused by his concern for me. And when the bike starts to take off, I grip him like we’re going a hundred miles an hour despite him not even getting into first gear, nerves fluttering in my stomach like trapped birds.
"Stop freaking out, sweetheart. I've got you,” he yells out as the bike picks up speed, and I cling to him like he’s full of shit.
I can see why this might be called riding bitch now.
Wrapping my arms around his waist in a hold like this, while the seat has me angled so I have to lean against him, is more intimate than I realized.
I start laughing to myself at the image of seeing Beast on the back of this, even though it probably wouldn’t get very far with their combined weight.
The terror of the bike is gone as this experience becomes exhilarating.
The engine roars to life beneath us, a deep, throaty sound that vibrates through my entire body. The road is a blur beneath me, but the small mountains in the distance hardly move as I keep my eyes on them, the wind tearing at my clothes with greedy hands.
The ride is beautiful, I can't deny it. We’re on this for hours, passing ruined cities, their skeletal buildings reaching toward a sky that's turned impossibly blue.
Faded billboards advertise products that no longer exist, promises from a world that ended before I was born.
A herd of wild horses watches us pass, their manes streaming in the wind.
I don’t even know where we’re going, but I let go as I lean my head on the back of Judge.
I feel every shift of Judge's body as we ride, the way he leans into turns, muscles bunching beneath his shirt; the flex of his thighs against the bike; the controlled power in every movement. The bond hums quietly between us, constant, inescapable.
At some point, I realize we're heading south with the way the sun starts to fall closer to the horizon.
My heart races, nerves and confusion spiking through the bond because this is the opposite direction of the Iron Castle.
If Judge can feel that, then I’m not aware of it.
He just continues to drive, and I guess I’m stuck going wherever he takes me.
If he betrays me again, I now feel like I’ve gained a touch of the wastes into my system and will take this fucker out with me.
And honestly, I’m a little fascinated to wonder where we’re heading. The trees have thinned out, giving way to scrubland. I swear I smell something different through the helmet, like metal. But not the oiled kind, just salty?
My whole body stiffens.
The ocean.
My arms tighten around Judge as the road opens to a low cliff, and suddenly there it is, a vast expanse of gray-blue water stretching all the way to the horizon, waves rolling in and out with a rhythm that sounds like breathing.
I've never seen the ocean before.
Never even imagined I would.
Judge pulls us off the main road and down a narrow path until we reach a strip of beach sheltered by a building thats been hollowed out and missing two of its walls, just out of reach of the remains of seawalls and piers.
He kills the engine, kicking out the stand as the sudden quiet makes my ears ring. I rip off the helmet so I can smell it even more, the fresh air so crisp on my face.
That gentle breeze… it really does smell like salt. My hair is probably a mess, but I can’t be bothered to care as I stare at the gentle rolling of the waves, the way they drag back in a fluid unevenness.
It’s so vast. Pictures don’t capture the way it’s endless, side to side, all the way back. I close my eyes to the sound of the ocean waves, that warm yet cool brush of air making me forget everything.
"We can stay for a night," Judge says. "Rust will bring more gas tomorrow, and then we'll head out.”
“Where are we going to stay?” I ask, glancing around to see nothing but ruins. Maybe we’ll just sleep inside this building that’s completely open to the elements.
“On the sand,” he replies, as if I’m four.
“What?” I ask, getting off when he motions for me to.
“Did you think I slept in shacks while riding on the road?” he asks, smiling at me before he towers over. “There ares two blankets in the side saddle, and the other has food and water.”
For once, my body isn’t scanning for threats or wondering how safe I am. Something biological tells me that my alpha has this figured out… and I can rest.
"We're really at the beach?" My voice sounds strange to my own ears. Full of wonder I didn't know I still had.
"You wanted to see it," he says simply.
My legs are unsteady as I stand there. “Can I go near it?”
“Can you swim?”
“Yes.”
“Then you can. Just don’t go deep. I don’t know the waters here and if they have strong riptides or not.”
I rip off my boots and socks, walking into the sand, stopping to roll up my pants.
I laugh when my feet sink into the softness, moving so unsteadily until the ground is harder from the moisture.
The wind catches my hair, lifting it off my face, filling my lungs with salt.
My back is an aching mess, but I don’t even care, moving quickly to the receding water and waiting with bated breath for it to ride toward me.
The water comes in quickly, and I jump back like the smallest bit will knock me over, but it just swiftly goes around my ankles. The cool, salty goodness brings happy tears to my eyes.
Seagulls wheel overhead, shrieking like maybe they're laughing at the absurdity of a broken omega standing on a forgotten beach at the edge of a broken world.
I wrap my arms around myself, suddenly feeling very small, and loving everything about it.
I can feel Judge approaching, and glance back just to make sure it is him. I can’t see anyone anywhere, but I still wouldn’t put it past this world. I’m delighted when I see he even removed his own shoes, rolling up his pants too.
His eyes are already locked onto mine.
I face back ahead and enjoy the subtlety of my toes sinking in further, watching each unique wave crest and break. We’re there for long enough that the sun gets closer to the horizon.
It’s then that a natural grief starts to creep back in. Selene and I planned to come here one day. To any beach.
"What's going to happen to Selene?” The question escapes before I can stop it, my voice holding strength rather than sorrow.
"Please don't ask me that."
Oh, shit. That’s worse than any real answer.
"I want to forget," I whisper, the sound of the waves drowning out my mind’s misery. "I want to forget all of it. The running. The fear. The way she looked at me before she walked away."
"Then tell it to me," he gently suggests. "Give it to me, and I'll carry it… after I get us a fire going. Don’t go further than this.”
“Stop trying to make me feel good things about you,” I say, the closest I can currently get to admitting that I’m enjoying him more than I expected.
“I can’t help it if you fall for me, nurse.”
I grin to myself as I feel him move away, the bond always a gauge for his location when he’s this close. He’s minding me like I have no idea how to care for myself, and some part of me loves it, because it shows that he might actually want what’s best for me. And again, I don’t try to decode it.
No, fuck that for now. I’m going to let this moment be beautiful.
I deserve one good memory since Dean.