Chapter 8
Chapter
Eight
WILDER
“Did you fuck this up?” I ask, glaring out at the yard while I speak to Storm.
We are leaving for Minneapolis today, and I am pissed off.
Devon is having internal issues with his club, and I’m itching to get on the road.
Lore refuses to let the kid drown because they shared a womb at different times in their lives.
Some people just need to learn the hard way that the old guard needs to die so they can lead.
“I fixed one thing and broke another,” Storm says. “Marie acts like someone who's been beaten down by life. She’s super independent, and doesn’t want anyone to help her. She seems to think it’ll mean she owes people things she won’t be able to afford to pay back.”
“You offered to fix her car, huh?” I guess. I heard Ace tell us before we all left about the current state of it.
“I offered to buy her a new one,” he mumbles. “She’s living in some type of shelter for omegas because she is tight on money. Marie has a brother I went out to see. She said some things I was concerned about.”
“Like what?” I ask, confused.
“He hurts her when he’s pissed off,” Storm explains. “I don’t think it really clicked until she talked with her brother that she’s hiding from him… because she’s afraid of him. He’s also part of the mafia in Minneapolis.”
“Shit,” I curse. We try our best to stay out of their hair whenever possible. If Marie decides to stay in Minneapolis, we’re going to have a talk with the old farts. “Did anything else happen?”
“I’m stalking her and I can’t seem to stop,” he admits. “Her brother and I also beat the shit out of each other before we went after Marie. She can’t walk home from work at the odd hours she gets out.”
“What time is she leaving work now?” I ask.
“Five in the morning,” he sighs. “A lot has happened since you’ve been gone. I had to alpha bark her. She was going to reject me.”
“Dammit,” I breathe. “We need to fix this, Storm. She can’t reject us.”
“It’s messy,” he says. “She said that she’s on heat blockers now. Marie is trying to cut us out of her life in every way possible. She thinks we threw her away by leaving her.”
“We couldn’t stay,” I remind him. “We’re going to have to convince her that she belongs with us.”
“Why does she belong with us?” Lore asks me, coming up beside me as he crosses his thick arms over his chest. “I’ve been really thinking about it. Do I want her? Yes. Should I though?”
“Hold on, Storm,” I grunt, putting the speaker on so that he can hear Lore as well. We don’t keep secrets from each other.
Devon is holding church now so the yard is pretty empty outside of a couple of prospects at the gate. We’re not worried about anyone overhearing us.
“Why don’t you think we should want her?” I ask.
“What do we have to offer her?” Lore asks in return. “We have a lot of money she doesn’t want and no permanent address. We’re outlaws and she’s this adorable little nurse.”
“Her brother is attached to the mafia,” I say, sharing what Storm just told me. “She’s not a stranger to crime.”
“Her brother actually owns a club with an underground fighting ring,” Storm chimes in. “I don’t think the illegalities bother her. She doesn’t trust us.”
“That’s fair,” Lore sighs, rubbing his face. “I’m not saying that I’m interested in letting her go. However, I think we need to make sure we have something to offer her that she actually wants. So what is that?”
“She wants stability, but she wants to earn it for herself,” Storm grumbles. “Fuck, I think she ultimately wants to be wanted, Lore. Not for what she can do for others, but for herself.”
The three of us are quiet as we think.
“Did you really beat the fuck out of her brother?” I ask finally. “This goes deeper than our brief history with her.”
“My contact seems to think Marie has issues with being the disposable baby sister,” Storm says. “And yeah. I fucked up his pretty face.”
“None of that,” Lore snorts. “We’re not dating her brother.”
“Good, because he’s packed up and taken,” Storm chuckles. “For real though, we’re dealing with some underlying trauma that goes beyond us.”
“Then we show her that this goes beyond biology and the roll of a dice,” Lore says. “And we steal those goddamned heat blockers.”
Guess he heard that part earlier.
“What is she doing right now?” I ask, desperate to know.
“She’s at the shelter. She goes into work at five,” Storm says. “Why?”
“I want to be the first thing she sees when she gets out of work,” I smirk.
“That didn’t go so well for me the last time I did that,” Storm mutters. “She owes us a date though. We could collect on that.”
“I don’t even want to know how you managed that,” Lore says. “Let’s get the fuck out of here before I get pulled into Devon’s drama.”
“We’ll see you soon,” I tell Storm before disconnecting the call.
Lore and I walk to our bikes, and I can tell he’s deep in thought.
“What’s up?” I ask, lips pursed as I prepare to wait him out.
Lore does exactly that as he climbs onto his bike and gets situated. It’s only once his helmet is in his hand that he answers.
“Has Storm found a home base yet in Minneapolis that’s more permanent?” he asks.
“I think he’s working on it,” I admit. “A lot has been happening in a really short period of time.”
“I know,” he says, blowing out a breath. “We can technically take a break after this last job. The guys can handle anything else to keep them from getting into trouble.”
“They definitely need the help,” I chuckle. “I love them like my brothers, but they’re not exactly calm fuckers.”
“It’s what I built this club on,” Lore says. “A safe place for the wanderers. What happens when wandering isn’t enough though?”
Staring at the shiny chrome of his bike, I nod slowly.
“I think a lot of things need to happen before we make that decision,” I admit.
“You’re too far ahead of our current position.
Storm is making us more money than we could ever dream of spending.
Our brothers are also set if they want to be.
We do this shit because we need the adrenaline rush. That wildness will never go away.”
“That’s why you’re my VP,” he grunts, smirking. “Okay, I’ll take a chill pill and let it ride for now.”
Pulling up my neck gaiter to keep the dust out and putting on my helmet, I nod as I turn on the bike.
Sometimes, you just have to let things simmer before you can make a decision.
MARIE
There are three bikers waiting for me when I walk out of work in the morning, and I can’t help but roll my eyes.
“I’m not adopting, go away,” I say in greeting. “You have to stop bothering me at work or I’m going to get fired.”
“I think that I would cry if you got fired,” Dr. Royal says on my heels. He warily glances at the guys, his hand fisting. “Are they a problem, Marie?”
The president curls his lip at Dr. Royal as he watches him.
“I think that’s between us and Marie, don’t you think?”
“Do we need to make this a party and add Cian Sullivan to this?” Dr. Royal asks.
I recognize that name and glance at him in surprise. Cian Sullivan is Aisling’s dad. Shit.
“I just got into town, so I have a grace period before I need to call him,” the president says nonchalantly. “Are you just a doctor or someone I need to know?”
“I’m a doctor and Marie’s coworker,” Dr. Royal says. “She’s really fucking good at her job, and our patients deserve her in their corner. Don’t fuck up her life.”
“I’m just here to take her to breakfast and drive her home,” the president says. “She just needs to agree to it first.”
“You promised, Kitty,” Storm says with a grin. None of them are wearing their helmets, and the neck gaiters they usually use are nowhere in sight.
I hate how smug and gorgeous they look too.
“I’m pretty sure you backed me into a wall,” I mutter.
Tommy and I talked yesterday morning for a while before I went into the shelter. He admitted that he couldn’t force me into doing things the way he coerced his employees. I’m his sister, not one of his fighters.
I’m still really leery about spending a lot of time with him. It’s going to take me some time to recover from a lifetime of being manipulated by Tommy.
I’ll probably need to be over the top in asserting what I want or need so he’ll get it. My brother has a very thick head.
“I’ll drive you home if you need a ride,” Dr. Royal says, frowning.
For a doctor, he’s tall and muscular. He’s also really attractive, which I figure is why Storm, Wilder and the President all fucking growl at him. If I had a name for “the Prez” I’d use it. However, I don’t because they didn’t exactly use names.
I only know Wilder’s because they used it when I was gagging on his cock. Shifting my weight, I decide to just get this over with. I’ll go on this date, eat, and then tell them I’m not interested in whatever they’re offering.
I may not be able to reject them, but I’m capable of doing this much. At the end of the day, they’re bikers who lead a different life than what I want.
“I should just get this over with,” I mutter. “Thank you though. Are you working tomorrow?”
“Unfortunately,” Dr. Royal sighs. “I have a couple of days off afterward though. Are you?”
“Yeah, I’m on shift every night this week,” I shrug.
“Marie, that’s insane,” he says. “Did you ask for that?”
“I did,” I shrug. “I told you, I need this job.”
“You did, but these hours are grueling. You’re not going to be able to sustain that.”
“I have a number in my head that I need to hit,” I say sadly. “I’ll slow down once that happens.”
Waving goodbye to the doctor, I begin to walk closer to the alphas waiting for me. They wait until Dr. Royal leaves before Storm leans forward.
“I don’t like that you’re working yourself into the ground,” he growls.
“And I don’t care what you think,” I say cooly, glancing at their president. “Why are you all here, other than this ridiculous trade I lost.”
“So goddamned sassy,” the president says. “We haven’t met properly, little scent match. I’m Lore.”
“Do you all just have one name, like Madonna?” I ask, rolling my eyes.