Iron Wolves, Lyric & Rowan (Iron Wolves 2 #1)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

Ieyed the trio of giggling women on the dance floor, then looked at my best friend, Syn Styles. “Tell me again why we hang out with those three?”

“Should I count them off, or do you just want the number one reason?” Syn sipped on her margarita, laughter sparkling in her blue eyes.

We both knew the main reason we had come in a group was that our big brothers would never let us come to a nightclub alone, but we also loved the three women.

Renee shimmied her ass in a tight red leather skirt against the groin of a random dude, making him grab her around the waist. I watched the couple for a few seconds, making sure my friend hadn’t gotten into a situation she couldn’t get out of.

Only when Renee tossed her long brown hair back, laughing, and the grabby dude eased off, did I turn back to Syn.

“Maybe we should rescue them?” I pointed my beer bottle toward Magee and Jozlyn, who were the center of attention of what looked like a frat party.

Syn looked at me like I’d grown two heads.

Renee—better known as Nene—Magee and Jozlyn were great friends, but they definitely didn’t need anyone to rescue them.

They’d come to the party wearing tiny bits of fabric, while I wore a pair of comfy jeans similar to Syn’s, which fit like they’d been made for us.

Strategic rips kept us both just this side of decent.

While Syn wore a tight V-necked T-shirt, I wore a tank top with a lace back.

Since we’d driven our motorcycles, Syn and I had worn boots, unlike our friends, who were sporting heels that screamed fuck me.

“Excuse me, but I like my freedom. Could you imagine the look on Kellen’s face if he saw me try to walk out of the house dressed like that?

” I thought of Syn’s brother Kellen and the look of horror he’d have if he saw his baby sister dressed in a miniskirt short enough to show her ass and a crop-top barely covering her voluptuous breasts.

Kellen wasn’t only the head of the Iron Wolves MC, but he was also their alpha.

What he said was law, and nobody, not even Syn, crossed him.

My own brother, Xander—better known as Xan—was his second-in-command and was just as scary, if not scarier.

Both stood at over six feet two inches tall, but that’s where the similarities ended.

Kellen was black-haired and blue-eyed. He and Syn looked very much alike in their coloring and tall stature, while Xan had blond hair and brown eyes.

“I think we’d have to go into the witness protection plan if we tried it.” I laughed.

Raising her glass, Syn clinked her drink with mine. “True that,” she agreed.

I got up from the table. “Let’s dance, girl.”

“Bottoms up, baby.” Syn downed the rest of her drink before standing.

Our shifter metabolism kept us from getting drunk, but we enjoyed the slight buzz we got from the alcohol, even if it was only short-lived.

We ignored the college guys who called out from several tables as we passed on our way to the dance floor.

I was tempted to flip a few of them the bird or toss a couple backward, but I restrained myself.

“Seriously, do they think yelling hey baby, come sit on my face, will get them laid?” I asked, scooting between the tight tables.

“I’m thinking the answer is yes,” Syn tossed over her shoulder.

The DJ played a mix of country, hip-hop, and rock.

The song that came on was for a popular line dance.

Over half the people on the floor sat down, including Renee, Magee, and Jozlyn, because they didn’t like or know the steps.

Syn shrugged her shoulders and got in line.

I smiled as our three friends flipped their middle fingers from one of the tables, even though I couldn’t hear what was said over the music.

I got lost in the dance steps, enjoying the beat and movements.

Several songs later, all five of us were on the dance floor.

I loved letting loose; I loved feeling the loud bass vibrating all the way up, from my toes to my head.

I rolled my body with the music, imagining what it would be like if I were with a lover, and thought of the amazing orgasms it would cause.

Of course, living with my older brother, I’d not had the chance to experience anything of the sort with anyone, other than my trusty vibrator.

“What’s put that frown on your face?” Renee asked.

I bit my lip, but a nervous giggle escaped. “I think it’s time for me to get my own place.”

Jozlyn and Magee stopped dancing, their eyes looking ready to pop out of their heads.

Only Syn seemed to understand my need for independence, since she had just recently been given a cabin by her older brother.

It was still on his property, but not in his home.

Kellen was giving his sister a little breathing room, unlike Xan, who I swore still thought I was in grade school.

“Xan will never allow that,” Jozlyn and Magee said at the same time.

Syn growled at both younger girls. “And when did either of you become so in the know when it came to the second of the MC?”

Oh shit! I recognized the anger blazing in my best friend’s blue eyes and was shocked to see it aimed at our friends. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think Syn was jealous. Which was absurd, since we each considered both Kellen and Xan brothers.

Renee stuck her finger in her ear and shook it. “Excuse me, but did you just growl at us?”

Before a fight could erupt, I stepped between them. “I gotta pee. You need to go with me.” I jerked on Syn’s arm.

By the time we wound our way through the throng of gyrating people and into the bathroom, Syn seemed to get herself under control.

“What the fuck was that all about?” I jerked my thumb toward the closed door and the club beyond.

A deep sigh left Syn in a gush as she leaned against the counter.

“I have no clue. There’s this wild feeling inside me that seems to be growing lately.

I feel like I’m going to snap, and if I’m not careful, I’m liable to bite someone’s head off.

Ya know?” She placed her palm over her heart, tears swimming in her eyes.

I did the only thing I knew how to do. I wrapped my arms around my best friend. “I understand, truly I do. Maybe that’s what I’m feeling, too.”

“You should move in with me.” Syn pulled away, wiping her tears away with the back of her hand.

Laughing, I shook my head. “You think Xan would let me?”

“If it’s safe enough for me, then why not you?”

The logic wasn’t lost on me; however, I wasn’t sure my brother would see it the same way. “When do you move in?”

“Next week. Well, I guess it’s more like nine days, but who’s counting?”

“You owe the Bitches an apology.”

We were all referred to as the Bitches by our friends. Each of us had a nickname that ended in Bitch that we’d chosen.

“Fuck me running, I know. I was such a beotch.” Syn’s voice sounded chagrined.

I walked back toward the last enclosure. I really did need to go to the bathroom. I shut the stall door and let the silence stretch.

“You know, you could’ve disagreed with me,” Syn groused.

“We pinky swore when we were kids, we’d never lie to each other.”

I laughed when my friend kicked the door on her way out, calling me a name as she went.

Straightening my blinged-out belt, I stared at my reflection.

People always assumed I colored my blonde hair—having dark brown eyes and tan skin, it didn’t seem natural—until they met my brother, Xan.

He shared my coloring. Even in wolf form, we were blonde wolves, a rarity in the wolf world.

Syn and Kellen were both black as night with the bluest eyes.

Alpha eyes. Although Xan had the same brown eyes in his human form, when he shifted to his wolf, his eyes also turned a beautiful shade of blue, while mine shifted to amber.

Had he wanted to be alpha, I had no doubt he could’ve been, but Xan was happy being second.

Our parents had been best friends with Kellen and Syn’s, who’d all left the pack ten years earlier after a war nearly took their lives.

Their injuries were so severe that the link tying them to the pack couldn’t hold the borders.

Luckily for the Iron Wolves, Kellen’s wolf was strong enough to take the alpha position.

I shuddered and pushed the memories away, grateful my brother, along with Kellen, had been there to protect me.

Xan, all of twenty-five at the time, had been left to raise his fifteen-year-old sister.

Now at twenty-four years old, I felt like the world was passing me by.

I’d gotten my degree at the local college instead of going away to school.

South Dakota was a huge state, but with the club being so tight-knit, and shifters even more so, I wanted to stay with my pack.

Now I wish I’d at least gone off to one a couple of hours away.

The MC built custom bikes on one side of the shop and was the local mechanic on the other.

Syn and I ran the office, while I did more of the creative side of the business.

I planned out what I’d say to my brother about moving in with Syn, and before losing my nerve, pulled my phone out of my back pocket.

Knowing him, he’d be with his flavor of the week and not see it till the morning, but at least it would give him a few hours to simmer down before I had to face him, since I was staying overnight at Nene’s.

Once I hit send, I turned my phone off and put it back in my pocket.

Butterflies danced in my stomach as I walked out into the dark hallway. When I got bumped from behind for the third time, I finally turned around and met the steely gaze of a truly mean-looking wolf. I had smelled him and a few of his pack when they came in earlier. I hadn’t thought anything of it.

“Excuse me, darling. Can I have this dance?”

I saw the way he looked me up and down, stopping at my chest and continuing down to my boots, and then back up. “Sorry, I was just going to get a drink.” I pasted on a fake smile, trying to step away from him.

His quick-as-a-snake reflexes caught my bare arm, squeezing hard enough to bruise. “Now, that’s just rude. I watched you shaking your ass for the last half hour. I think you can dance just one more.”

Looking around the crowded dance floor for Syn, I knew I was no match for the wolf, even in his human form. “You are so fucked if you don’t let me go. Do you know whose territory you’re in?”

Although I wasn’t strong enough to take him on, any wolf with an ounce of smarts knew better than to come into another’s territory and threaten their members.

I was technically property of the Iron Wolves; therefore, he’d just stepped over the line.

If I could get Syn’s attention and a little help from my friends, he’d move along, and all would be well. Or I hoped he would.

He leaned in close. “Your little friends ain’t gonna help you, bitch.”

I tried to pull away from him, coming up against another solid form behind me.

“What is wrong with you? Do you know who my brother is? Do you know who the Iron Wolves are? If you let me go now, there will be no harm, no foul. I’ll pretend like you don’t exist. But, if you keep fucking with me, I will bring the wrath of my pack on all your asses. ”

The last wasn’t an empty threat. My brother Xan would kill any man, or wolf, for putting his hands on me without permission, some even if they had my permission.

“Do you hear her? She’s gonna call her big brother.” He sneered.

At some point during my struggle with the large man, they had maneuvered me closer to a side hall.

If they got me outside, I had two choices.

Let my wolf out and fight or run. Either way, I had little chance of escape.

Pack law stated you couldn’t show yourself to humans, and the bar was filled with way too many for me to shift inside.

I opened my mouth to scream for Syn or anyone to help me, but one of the men slapped his hand over my lips before I could make a sound. I counted three men with the leader, but the smells from the bar made it hard to be sure.

I pretended to be docile, allowing them to maneuver me outside, while I planned what I’d do as soon as the door opened. I’d only have one chance, and that was a slim one.

The lights from the parking lot speared into my face before they could drag me outside as someone opened the door.

“Excuse me, boys, looks like you got a problem there,” a man said in a deep rumble.

“Mind your business, punk,” the leader growled.

I felt the hair on the nape of my neck stand on end.

The man standing by the door was tall and muscular.

He was also one hundred percent human. I wanted to ask him to help, but I changed my mind when I heard the simultaneous growls around me.

Although the newcomer was every bit as big as my brother and Kellen, in a fight against a group of wolves, he’d be massacred.

The man held the door open like a gentleman, nodding as they passed.

I had to tilt my head way back to look up at him.

The arms holding me captive didn’t allow me to do any more than get a quick glimpse of black eyes.

I tried to memorize his features, breathing deep to take his scent in before I was shoved outside, and the door was shut behind us.

“Beck, I don’t think this is the best place for us to take care of business.”

I stumbled when the man named Beck released me, shoving the one who’d just spoken against the wall. “Are you questioning my leadership, Raul?”

Claws erupted from Raul’s fingers. “Get the fuck off me, Beck. I’m pointing out the fact that we should just take the bitch back to the hotel and have some fun with her.”

“I agree with jackass, for once. Let’s just simmer down. We can take the chew toy and play with her for a while.”

Beck released Raul. “Kristof, go get the van and take Raul with you while Dean and I get acquainted with our toy. Call Marcus and have him get word to her brother. I want him to sweat knowing his baby sister is with us, and there’s nothing he can do.

” He turned his cold gaze back to me, licking his lips.

“I was just going to kill you and leave you for Xan to find, but plans have changed.”

“Over my dead fucking body, asshole,” I snarled, unsheathing my claws.