Bound (Wolverine MC Book 1)

by Alexi Ferreira

  “Yeah, yeah, sugar,” she says sarcastically.

  “We’re not playing around here. What he said is true. If you attack this guy, you will come out the loser,” Hawk says as he stands up straight and takes a step closer to Gloria.

  “Fine, I get the message,” she mutters as she stands up. “Act like a helpless female.” The anger in her stance is visible, and from what I have come to know about Gloria, she doesn’t like to be helpless. Just then, I see Hunter and Hawk tense and know that they have sensed something that the two of us haven’t, and then a minute later, we hear more bikes approaching.

  “What, are you all meeting here now?” Gloria asks sarcastically just as Hunter pulls his hand away from my cheek and turns to face the street. I realize that he has stepped to the side where he is in a better position to shield me from anyone passing outside the window.

  “That’s not us,” Hawk says just as we see four bikers riding slowly past, and all of them are looking directly into the salon.

  “What the fuck are they doing on this side of town?” Hawk mutters as he pulls out his phone and dials.

  “Yeah, we are at Dakota’s work and four Hades have just cruised past.”

  “What the hell is going on? Are you bringing MC feuds to my door?” Gloria asks as she walks to stand before the window and look after the bikers. Hunter warned me last night after we discussed Jason that they were having some problems with the Hades MC and that he wanted me to be vigilant and not trust anything where they were involved.

  “No,” Hunter says as he looks over at Gloria. “They have always been a problem. You know that.”

  “Yeah, but they have never targeted the salon.”

  “They’re not targeting the salon. They are just showing us that they’re not scared of us,” Hawk says when he disconnects the call. “Don’t worry, Gloria, we have your back.”

  “Why doesn’t that make me feel better?” she says with a frown as she looks over her shoulder at him.

  “I’m sorry, Gloria. I’ve brought you a bag full of trouble and all because you helped me,” I say, which has her turning to face me and shaking her head.

  “It was my decision to hire you. You didn’t hide anything from me, and I knew what baggage you brought. Now this”—she points towards where the Hades MC guys headed—“this is all your boyfriend’s fault and his club.” With that, she turns to face Hunter.

  “How do you see that?” he asks, his shoulders tense as he faces her.

  “They just rode past, didn’t they? And you two are in here.” She throws up her hands in agitation. “They better not trash my place.” Just then, a client enters. She must be in her early thirties, and when she sees Hunter and Hawk standing there, she stops. I can see by the way her eyes lighten up that she’s excited to see them in here.

  “Hi,” she greets with a cheeky smile. “I have an appointment.”

  “Of course, Dolores, come on in,” Gloria says with a practiced smile. Dolores approaches with a sassy smile. Well, if she doesn’t stop looking at Hunter like that, she’s going to lose that smile really quick, and then I won’t need any protection because I’ll be in jail. I feel Hunter’s hand once again, this time on my neck, which has me jumping in surprise.

  “Calm, baby girl,” he whispers as he leans down and kisses my lips. “She doesn’t have a chance.” He stands up straight and winks mischievously at me. “I’ll be here when you’re finished to escort you back.” He then turns to leave. I only now realize that through this whole interaction, the other three were talking to each other, something that I completely missed since the minute Hunter touched me.

  This man has the power of completely distracting me from everything and everyone, and to be honest, I love it.

  HUNTER 13

  “How the fuck do they know about my mate?” The fury raging through my body is volcanic. To think that those fuckers know that Dakota is mine has me wanting to howl in anger. To ride threateningly past the salon like they did has my wolf wanting to go out there and rip all their fucking throats open. Hawk and I acted calm in front of the women, but I wasn’t calm. I wasn’t calm at all. I know that Dakota could feel my rage, but I also know that she won’t be able to understand yet that it’s me she’s sensing.

  “I don’t think they know that she’s one of us, but they most probably suspect that you’re sweet on one of them. The same way we have eyes on them, they might have eyes on us,” Goliath says from where he’s leaning against the window. We arrived back at the club about half an hour ago, and I immediately sought out King.

  Goliath, King, Hawk, Gunner, and I are all standing in the meeting room while I rage over the Hades’ audacity. “If they fucking threaten Dakota, I’m killing every single one of them. I’m telling you now, King.”

  King raises his left hand, rubbing his face, I can tell that he’s also at his limit by the way his muscles are bulging in anger. “One of the prospects will accompany your mate and stay there until this mess is all over,” King states as he moves towards the window and stands there, looking out. We have five prospects, but they usually patrol the area in their wolf forms and haven’t mastered enough self-control to be out there like the rest of us.

  “None of them are ready,” I state.

  “Trent can do it,” King states as he continues to look out the window. “And it’s time we bring him in more. He has been with us for three years.” The prospects are part of our club. They know about everything that we are involved in and sometimes help with cases, but in a minor capacity. To place him in charge of Dakota doesn’t appease my worry that one of those fuckers might try something and he isn’t up to scratch yet.

  “I don’t like this,” I argue as I rub my fingers through my shaved head, with enough pressure to alleviate the tension.

  “I know you don’t. Do you fucking think I like this?” King says as he snaps around to look at me. “But this is the only option we have for now, and you know that Trent will do his best to keep Dakota safe. All the prospects we have are ten times better than any of them. Just the fact that they’re Wolverines already makes them superior in combat.” I know what he says is true. I just hate the fact that another male will be protecting my woman instead of me.

  “Do we have any idea why they were on that side of town? It’s not their usual hangout,” Gunner asks as he pulls out a chair and sits down.

  “No fucking idea, but I can tell you whatever it was, they will do it again after seeing us at the salon,” Hawk says. “But we all know Gloria can stand up for herself. They also have the panic button if needed, and Hunter programmed all our numbers into Dakota’s phone in case of an emergency.”

  “Well, no time like the present,” King states. “Goliath, go get Trent. Hunter, wait here. The rest of you go get some work done.” King doesn’t say anything until we are alone, and then he turns to face me fully.

  “I know this is hard for you. I can just imagine the rage your wolf must be in, but you need to hold it back, brother. We will send Trent. He will keep her safe and be her shadow, and when we do catch that fucker who thinks he can hurt women, he will be all yours.” A knock interrupts our conversation as Goliath sticks his head in.

  “Here he is. Found him in the kitchen.” He steps back and Trent walks in. He is the oldest of the prospects but only twenty-two. I know that Trent is capable of protecting Dakota, but not as capable as me. I know that is what I’m having a problem with, as I want it to be me protecting my mate, but there is nothing I can do, as I also know that for now, I need to help the others with the Hades MC, or this war will touch more lives than we want.

  “You’re looking for me, King?”

  “Yes, come on in and close the door.” When Trent has done as requested, King continues. “We need you to do something for us. Do you think you’re ready?”

  Trent stiffens. “Yes, I think I am.”

  “We have a problem; Hunter here has mated.”

  Trent looks over at me and frowns. “I don’t see how th
at is a problem?”

  “Not that, but the fact that we are at war with the Hades MC and there is someone after Dakota, Hunter’s mate.” King walks away from the window and comes to stand before Trent. “We need you to be Dakota’s shadow, to keep an eye out for any danger to her.”

  “I’ll keep her safe.” He looks over at me.

  “With your life,” I state, and he swallows before he nods.

  “Hunter, direct Trent on what he needs to do. I need to go.” King walks out, leaving Trent and I standing here, looking at each other.

  “She’s working at the hairdressers in town. I want you to go there and keep an eye on her. If you see any of the Hades men riding past or hanging around, you phone me. As you know, we have cameras everywhere, but sometimes by the time we see what is happening, it can be too late.” I scrub at my face in frustration. I wish I could just make her stay here, but I know that that would be the worst thing I could do to her. After being abused by someone for so long like she was, the last thing she needs is another man telling her what to do.

  “I understand.”

  “No, you don’t understand,” I say. “The man after Dakota is her ex-boyfriend.”

  Trent frowns. “Is he from the Hades MC?”

  “No, but that doesn’t mean he is less dangerous. I will send you a photo of him. He is dangerous, so if you do see him, you contact us immediately, and don’t try to confront him alone if you can help it.”

  “You think he can overpower me?” he asks, his shoulders tense.

  “He was a marine, and even though you’re faster, stronger, and can hear him from a mile away, he is versed in combat, which you haven’t seen much of.” I walk towards Trent until I am standing right before him. “Be smart. Keep your head and keep my woman safe.”

  “I will.”

  “Okay, then, I will send her a text to let her know that you are coming and that you will be her guard. You can go.” Trent nods and then turns and leaves. Fuck, I know it’s good to have Trent there to keep Dakota safe, but I still feel uneasy. Pulling out my phone, I send her a text to let her know that she will have an escort when she leaves, and that Trent will be there for anything that she might need.

  Okay, but this is temporary, she replies, which has me shaking my head in frustration. This woman will be the death of me.

  As I walk out of the meeting room, I stop as I see Blue walking towards me. “About fucking time,” I mutter.

  “Miss me?” he quips with a grin.

  “Not a chance. Finally having peace and not having to listen to your squawking voice every day,” I tease.

  “Yeah, yeah,” he mutters just as he reaches me. He frowns. “There’s something different about you.”

  “I’ve grown even more handsome,” I tease, knowing that what he’s sensing is my mate, but I’ll let him stew on it for a bit before I tell him or before he figures it out.

  “Still not as handsome as me,” he states as he punches me in the arm.

  “Well, look who’s here,” Goliath says as he comes through the door of the comms room, followed by Gunner and Hawk. “You sure took your time.”

  “Welcome back, brother,” Gunner says as he comes to stand next to us. “There’s a lot going on here. We need you.”

  “Oh, what’s up?” Blue asks as he looks around at all of us.

  “Well, first of all, we are having a party tonight to welcome you back,” Hawk says as he pushes jokingly at Blue.

  “A party, hey! How did you convince King to let you guys have a party after last time?” Blue asks with a raised brow.

  “He was all for it,” Hawk quips.

  “Now that I don’t believe,” Blue says with a grin, as he knows as well as all of us how much King dislikes parties.

  “And you’re right not to,” I say, “but we can get you updated with everything after the party. What do you say?”

  “What the hell is different with you?” he asks as he stares at me.

  “Nothing, you’ve just been away way too long,” I state, which has the others all grinning as they realize that I haven’t mentioned to Blue that I’m mated. It’s going to drive him crazy trying to figure out what the difference is. Meanwhile, it’s just that my wolf is calmer.

  “There is something, I know there is,” he says as he looks around at the grinning faces, “but I see none of you are going to tell me.” With that, he shrugs. “I’ll figure it out.”

  “Well, enough talking. Hunter, Frost is looking for you. Something about the food for tonight,” Goliath says, which reminds me that I haven’t organized the collection of meat I ordered this morning.

  “Shit,” I mutter, which has the others laughing as I hurry out of the room and towards the garage.

  “Hey, where are you going?” Hawk asks as he hurries after me, a grin still on his face.

  “You know where I’m going. I forgot to collect the fucking meat.” I look around, looking for one of the cars we use, finding that they are all gone. “Who the hell has taken the cars? We’re bikers, for fuck sake.”

  “We are having a party tonight. Maybe that’s why all the cars are gone,” Hawk quips from behind me. “The others are also collecting stuff.” Pulling out my phone, I’m about to dial Frost’s number, when Hawk bumps me with his shoulder. “Relax, Frost has gone to get the meat.”

  “You ass,” I mutter, knowing that they all knew I would forget the fucking meat and were revving me up. “I didn’t even remember the fucking meat.” Which is unusual for me when it comes to food.

  “You have a lot going on, bro. It’s understandable,” Hawk says as he squeezes my shoulder in understanding.

  “Thanks,” I mutter.

  “Come on, let’s go identify some of those Hades fuckers. Gunner already has a few photos.” I would rather be going out to see how Dakota is, but I know if anything happens, I will be the first to know, and besides, I can sense that she’s calm. Grunting, I turn and make my way back inside. When I enter the comms room, Goliath and Gunner look up from a map they are looking at and grin at me.

  “Very funny,” I mutter as I approach, knowing that Hawk is right behind me. “What are you guys looking at?”

  “We are looking for new locations to set up the cameras,” Gunner states as he points to the map. “What do you think of setting up a camera on each side here?” Looking closer, I see that he’s pointing at the main intersection that leads into town. “We would be able to see everyone coming in and out of town in either direction.”

  “We would have to set it up in a way so that they don’t know they are there,” Hawk says.

  “We were thinking one on the billboard right in the corner. Another on the light post on the other side of the intersection, and the last one on the electricity pole on the other side.”

  “Will we be installing more cameras on the other three roads that lead in and out of town?” I ask as I point at the ones I’m mentioning. After agreement of where all the cameras will be located, we start with trying to identify the Hades we already have photos of. I am just looking through images of one of the videos, trying to identify one of the men, when I sense Dakota close by. Looking at the time, I realize that I have been so embroiled in work that I didn’t even notice the time pass.

  Standing, I turn and make my way inside where I know she will be. I am just walking into the bar area when she walks in through the other side, Trent right behind her. When I see her, I feel a calmness that I hadn’t realized was missing settle over me. When she steps up to me, I pull her into my arms, taking her lips in a passionate kiss that leaves us both breathless.

  “Mmm, should I leave and come back again?” she murmurs against my lips, and I can hear the smile in her voice. All the worries that have been plaguing me the whole day wash away when she’s in my arms, her scent an erotic trigger that has me as hard as steel.

  “No, woman, you are just where you are meant to be.” And I kiss her again, feeling her body moulding to mine.

  DAKOTA 14


  After the day I’ve had, a party isn’t exactly what I had in mind, but I’m also excited to see how these bikers party, because I have a feeling it’s going to be wild. When I got here, Hunter had me upstairs and naked before I knew what was happening, making wild love to me that I wish hadn’t ended. That man can have me as hot as a poker with no effort at all.

  He left about ten minutes ago so that I could get ready, and said he would be back in an hour to take me down to the party. Looking at the clothes I have, I’m not sure what I should wear for a bikers party, but considering that all Hunter put on was his low-waisted blue jeans and a black T-shirt with his kutte, I don’t think I need to wear anything too lavish. Finding my tight black jeans and my gold tank top, I lay them out on the bed before I find my only pair of sexy lingerie. I need to make a note to buy some more.

  I love feeling sexy and wearing lingerie, and a nice pair of heels can make any woman feel sexy, but ever since what happened with Jason, I left all my lingerie behind except for this little black number that I couldn’t bring myself to leave behind. In regard to my heels, I also left all my nice heels behind as I had to travel light. Now that I’m settled, I’m hoping to get my life back, a life that I will be sharing with Hunter.

  I know it’s not normal to feel so attached to someone that you have only met in such a short time, but I can’t help it. He’s like a magnet when he’s close; nothing else matters. Looking at myself in the mirror, I smile when I think about the look on Hunter’s face tonight when I take off my clothes. The lingerie moulds to my breasts and body like a second skin, the silk bow between my breasts calling to be undone. I smile and look up at my face, my hair falling around my shoulders in loose curls, my mouth turned up in a smile, which has my smile widening when I think of all the times I have looked at myself throughout the past months and how that smile was absent.