Epilogue Whiskey
There are only two rules when you learn to ride a motorcycle.
Rule one, respect the fuckin' bike.
Rule two, don't tell Thane.
"Whiskey, I don't know about this."
Ivy is standing in the driveway of the pack house, staring at the bike with her arms crossed, which means she's talking herself out of something she already wants to do.
I know this girl.
Want always wins with her.
"Babe. You literally said you wanted your own bike."
"I said I wanted one like Hogzilla. Someday. In the future. The distant future." She waves her hands around, fighting back a grin.
"The future is now, wildcat."
To be fair, the bike waiting for her isn't Hogzilla. Hogzilla is a motherfuckin' war machine. This bike is a smaller cruiser she can actually manage, one I work on in my spare time that would fold in half if I hopped on. I painted it the same color as her eyes.
I lean against the seat and pat the gas tank.
"She's a quarter Hogzilla's weight. She's got a little scrape on the fender from the last guy, so she's already done all her crashing, by law of averages."
She bites her lip.
She wants this so bad she's vibrating.
"Thane is going to kill you," she says, losing the battle with the grin.
"Thane is at the gym with Valek doing some kind of Russian torture workout, and Plague is at the library, and Wraith is with Shadow at the vet for her follow-up." I tap my temple. "I planned this, babe. I'm a Marine. Operation Easy Rider is a go."
"Plague is going to feel how nervous I am through the bond."
"Plague thinks everything you feel is amazing, so he'll just be like, 'hmm, Ivy's feeling spicy today,' and go back to alphabetizing with a hard-on."
I toss her the cat-eared helmet that'll actually fit her, unlike mine, which was like a bucket on her head when she rode with me to see Wraith's psycho mom.
She catches it, that grin splitting her whole face.
Hell yeah.
I've got her.
Hook, line, and sinker.
We start out in an empty lot nearby, close enough we can walk the bikes. Nobody's around but a couple of crow bros hopping around, play-fighting over some treats Shadow rejected.
I check Ivy's helmet twice, then a third time, just to be safe.
"Okay. This is the clutch. This is the throttle. You tickle the throttle, you don't squeeze it. It's like…" I pause, considering. "It's like when Plague—"
"WHISKEY."
"—when you need Plague to do something he doesn't wanna do. Light touches. Persuasion."
She snorts.
I walk her through everything, especially what to do if she dumps it. Jump clear, and let the bike fall, because the bike doesn't matter.
"I'll catch ya before you hit the ground anyway. I'm an alpha. An alpha Marine. I'm not gonna let you break your neck."
She grins at me from the seat. "Romantic."
"Damn right."
I swing a leg over Hogzilla, parked facing her, and nod.
"Alright. Fire her up."
The engine catches on her first fucking try.
That's my girl.
Her whole body jolts and her eyes go huge behind the visor, and even with the helmet muffling everything, I hear her laughing her ass off.
"CLUTCH!" I yell over the engines. "EASY ON THE THROTTLE!"
She lets the clutch out slow, and the bike creeps forward before she grabs the brakes and stalls it, and she's cackling so hard now she throws her head back.
"I DID IT!"
"YOU DID THREE FEET! I'M SO PROUD OF YOU, BABE!"
"SHUT UP!"
She does it again.
Three feet becomes thirteen this time, and then the whole length of the lot. By the fourth run, she's doing whole circles around me. Even the crows are losing their collective shit, flapping their wings for her every time she laughs.
We take it to actual streets when she's ready.
"Just around the neighborhood," I say into the helmet comm. "You lead, I'm on your six."
"Yes, sir."
Shit. I could get used to sir.
She pulls out ahead of me and I hang back a few lengths, close enough to intervene if anything goes sideways but far enough she doesn't feel like I'm hovering.
Last thing I wanna do is go full-on helicopter mode, like a certain mother hen pack alpha who's gonna lay a fuckin' egg if he finds out about this.
I watch her, enjoying the view.
And not just how cute her butt is, perched high on that seat, jiggling a little from the engine's vibrations. I let myself look, too, considering she likes to poke my belly when it does the same damn thing.
So it's revenge.
The first block, she's got a death grip on those handlebars, elbows comically locked. Classic new rider, bracing for the crash before it happens.
By the second block, she's sitting up a little taller, and her head turns just enough to glance at the trees and buildings going by. And then stopping at a light to look up at one of the crows from the lot wheeling overhead.
She's having fun. Doing whatever the hell she wants. Making those fuckin' cute excited squeaky sounds into her comm, and I don't think she knows I can hear her.
It's just her, the road, and me at her back making sure nothing touches her.
I have to blink hard a couple times behind the visor.
Goddammit, not yet. Save it, Marine.
We cruise past a coffee place where a couple of our fans wave at me, then do a double take at the tiny rider in front of me in my spare armored leather jacket that she's swimming in, and all their phones come up.
Oh well.
Thane was gonna find out eventually anyway.
"Whiskey." Her voice crackles through the comm. "I just realized something."
"What's that?"
"I love my life."
"You just realized it?" I tease her, laughing even though my throat's already closing up and she probably heard how I choked on my words just now.
"No," she laughs. "I mean… every day I wake up and I get to want things. Fun things. Here I am now, riding a motorcycle. You know how huge that is? Getting to want things, just for myself? Wait… Whiskey, are you crying?"
"Crying? Me? Nope." Sniff. "It's, uh, pollen, wildcat. Allergies."
"Pollen? Through your visor?"
"IT AIN'T A RESPIRATOR, brO."
She laughs so hard she has to pull over, and I park behind her, keeping my visor down so she can't see I most definitely am fucking crying. She gets her phone out to take a selfie of us and I double check the visor's covering it all up.
"To torture Thane with," she says, showing me.
I chuckle, trying not to sniff again. "You gonna tell him?"
"Oh, he already knows."
She shows me her screen.
THANE
Ivy
Why is there a video of you and Whiskey on motorcycles all over social media?
She sends the whole group chat the shot like the little maniac she is.
IVY
Cuz Whiskey and I ARE on motorcycles!
WRAITH
Cute
PLAGUE
OH. Um. Are you being careful?
IVY
Of course! Whiskey's a great teacher. But you know that.
PLAGUE
…
VALEK
HA
THANE
At least you're wearing a helmet…
I grin so hard my face hurts.
"Worth getting in trouble?" Ivy teases.
"Hell yeah, it's worth it."
Every single time, worth it.