Reckoning: An MC Shifter Romance

by Aja Foxx

That was exactly what I meant. Anyone could be a part of a motorcycle club, but Soldiers of Fortune were different. For one, all patched members had to be shifters or mates of shifters. For two, they had to be willing to put their life on the line for their brothers at any time and for any reason.

  I turned to look at Butch, knowing there was one more thing we needed to discuss. "I was talking to Henry about Harry. He was explaining to me what leukemia was and the symptoms Harry had."

  Butch glanced at Henry. "Oh?"

  "I didn't know much about leukemia, so I asked Henry to tell me a little about what it's like. For instance, the symptoms of the disease were brought on when Harry hit puberty when he was twelve."

  Butch stiffened. The gesture was so slight, I would have missed it if I hadn't been watching him so closely. I doubted Henry noticed it.

  "Yes," I continued, "he said that Harry's muscles began to hurt a lot and he was hungry all the time, but he didn't gain any weight."

  "Is that normal for leukemia?" Butch asked.

  "It is," Henry said. "He was so tired all the time and he said his bones ached. For awhile, Mother thought he was just going through a growth spurt, but when it didn't stop, she took him to the doctor. They eventually diagnosed him with leukemia."

  "I see."

  I couldn't get a read on Butch because there was no expression on his face, but I could guess what he was thinking, and I was pretty damn sure it was the same thing I was.

  Harry was a shifter.

  The only reason I could think of why his symptoms had been mistaken for leukemia was because the doctors who were treating him had never encountered a shifter. Apparently, the symptoms of a shifter going through puberty—a time when a shifter started to shift for the very first time—closely mirrored that of leukemia.

  I had no idea how they'd worked on his blood and not seen an issue, unless they attributed the differences to him having a disease. That was something we might need to look into.

  Butch frowned as he glanced at Henry. "Were you able to arrange a meeting for us?"

  "Not yet." Henry sighed heavy like. "Things have been kind of crazy."

  "Why don't you give him a call?" Butch suggested. "Maybe we can settle one of your worries."

  "I...uh...I left my phone back at my apartment when Detective Ross took me."

  I immediately dug my phone out and handed it to Henry. "Use mine."

  Henry flashed me a smile. "Thank you."

  I glanced at Butch while Henry dialed his brother and then began talking to him. I sometimes wished we were like those fiction books where shifters had telepathic ability, but this was the real world. I could stare at Butch all day long, but I wouldn't know what he was thinking until he decided to share.

  "Okay," Henry said as he pressed the phone to his chest. "My brother says our mother and father have driven to the capitol for some sort of charity event. They booked a hotel overnight and won't be back until tomorrow. This is probably our best time to go see Harry."

  Butch's eyes flickered to mine. "We'll take the SUVs."

  I nodded, knowing why we would be taking a vehicle instead of our bikes without Butch giving me a reason. For one, it wouldn't be good for a bunch of bikers to drive through the neighborhood where Henry's parents lived. And two, if Harry really was a shifter, we'd need to bring him back here.

  "I want Bear to drive the other SUV for backup."

  I stood. "I'll let him know."

  "Have Rooster and Ink stay here to keep an eye on things. I don't want to leave the clubhouse unprotected. I'd also like to check Bug's tummy before we go."

  "Bug's tummy?" Henry glanced at Butch. "Is he sick?"

  "Uh...no, not exactly," Butch hedged.

  I almost smirked.

  I'd love to see how Butch explained this one.

  "Bug can...uh..."

  "Bug has a really strong intuition," I said, trying to help Butch out. "His stomach gets all funny when something bad is going to go down. It's happened enough times, and he's been right enough times, that we trust it."

  Henry's eyebrows lifted clear up to his hair line. "He's psychic?"

  "I'm not sure you could call it psychic exactly," I hedged, "but he's saved our butts enough times that we trust it."

  "Huh." Henry frowned as if considering my words. "There have been studies concerning people with strong intuitions. I'm not sure if there is concrete medical proof that is approved by the AMA, but I've seen enough weird stuff as a doctor to not discount something like that. You shouldn't either."

  My eyes widened in surprise. "You believe in psychics?"

  "I believe in things I can't always see."

  "I thought doctors were all supposed to be about science and stuff."

  Henry shrugged. "Like I said, I've seen enough in my time to not discount anything."

  My heart beat a little faster as I glanced toward Butch. Maybe explaining shifters to Henry wouldn't be so hard after all.

  Butch chuckled. "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

  Henry swung around to stare at him. "Hamlet Act one, scene five."

  Butch nodded.

  "How did you know that?" Henry asked.

  "Your mother likes Hamlet."

  "Yes, she does," Henry agreed.

  Butch shrugged. "I read up on him, trying to impress her."

  My jaw dropped.

  That wasn't something I ever thought to hear come out of Butch's mouth, but it made me wonder what else he'd done.

  "Call Tex and make sure Henry's parents have left."

  I dialed quickly. "Tex, this is Gunner. Have Henry's parents left yet?"

  "Yes, sir," Tex replied. "They left about an hour ago."

  "Has anyone else left?"

  "Just some old lady in a maid's uniform."

  "Okay, we're headed your way. Call me if the Doc's parents come back."

  "Yes, sir."

  I hung up and gave Butch a nod. "All clear."

  "Then we need to get going," Butch said. "I want to get over to see Harry before his mother gets back."

  I'd never personally met Sarah Nash, and I was really hoping not to. Any woman who would lie to her children about who their father was wasn't someone I wanted to know. Butch might be in an MC, but he'd proven he was someone trustworthy. He would have been a good father.

  He still might be, depending how things went with Harry.

  I reached out and rested my hand on Henry's shoulder. "You can ride with me."

  Henry nodded as he stood. "Okay."

  I placed my hand on the middle of Henry's back and escorted him through the clubhouse to the back where the SUVs were kept. I helped him into the backseat and then climbed in beside him. Butch climbed into the front passenger side. Ryder got in the driver's side.

  "Where are we headed?" Butch asked.

  Henry gave him an address and then we were underway.

  I kept a close eye on our surroundings as we drove down the street. "Ryder, take the scenic route. I want to make sure no one is following us."

  "You got it."

  I knew it would take a bit more time to get to our destination of we took the long way, but if anyone was watching the clubhouse, I didn't want them following us to Harry, especially if we had to take him out of there.

  Butch glanced toward us from the front of the vehicle. "Is there anyone at the house besides Harry?"

  Fuck.

  I should have thought of that.

  "We have a housekeeper, but she'd be gone by now," Henry replied. "Other than that, there's just the butler and my brother's care nurse."

  "Are they going to be a problem?"

  "As long as I am there, they shouldn't be."

  "Are they going to tell your mother we were there?"

  "The care nurse might, but Jefferson won't say a word if I ask him not to."

  "Can you be sure of that?" I asked.

  "Yes," Henry said with more confidence than I had. "Jefferson has been wi
th us for years. He is not a fan of either of my parents, but he's devoted to my brother. I'm pretty sure Harry is the only reason he's never left."

  I shot Butch a worried look. The crinkle of his forehead told me he was thinking the same thing. Was it possible that Jefferson was a shifter? And if so, could he be Harry's mate? That was the only reason I could think of for a shifter to stick around for so long if they didn't like their employer. There was also the fear that he could be rogue or working for one of the other shifter groups in the area.

  That was assuming Jefferson was a shifter.

  Chapter Eleven

  ~ Gunner ~

  "Is there any way you can get your butler to get the nurse out of the room?" Butch asked. "I'd really prefer that your mother never learn of my visit. I doubt she'd take it well."

  Henry snickered. "No, I don't think she would."

  When the SUV slowed and we pulled into circular driveway and we stopped in front of a small white mansion, I once again got that gut wrenching feeling as if I wasn't good enough for my mate. "This is where you grew up?"

  Henry nodded. "My parents bought the place right after me and Harry were born."

  I tried to smile when Henry glanced at me, but it just wasn't happening. Even before I joined the Soldiers of Fortune MC, I hadn't lived in a place like this. I'd never even visited a place like this. It was way fancier than I was used to.

  I was pretty sure tossing back a whiskey with a bunch of other rough and tumble bikers wouldn't be acceptable here. I doubted you could even put your feet up on the coffee table.

  I could feel the agitation in the others as we climbed out of the vehicles. They no more wanted to be here than I did. The only one who didn't seem affected was Henry. He walked right up to the front door and pushed it open.

  I made sure I stayed as close as possible to Henry as we all followed him into the massive house. I didn't know what we were facing, but the tension running through the room was thicker than mud.

  "Jefferson?" Henry called out.

  "I'm here, sir." A short man in a dark suit came walking out of the hallway to the back of the large entryway. His reddish hair was short and cut close to his scalp. He looked to be a bit older, but looks could be deceiving.

  He got a wary look in his eyes when he spotted us.

  "These are friends of mine, Jefferson," Henry said. "I brought them to meet my brother."

  "Of course, sir."

  "I need you to get the care nurse out of the room before I take them in there. If mother were to find out..."

  "I understand perfectly, sir."

  Henry started up the stairs.

  Butch grabbed the arm of the butler before he could even take a step and leaned in close to talk to him in a low tone. If I hadn't been a shifter, I wouldn't have heard him.

  "You know who I am."

  "I do," Jefferson replied. "And if you're here to hurt either of—"

  "Henry and Harry are my sons," Butch replied. "I won't hurt them."

  Jefferson paled. "Your sons?"

  Butch grunted.

  My jaw dropped when Jefferson grabbed Butch's arm, clutching it tightly. "You have to get Harry out of here. Those drugs, they are messing with him. I'm afraid they are going to kill him."

  Butch's eyes narrowed. "You're his mate, aren't you?"

  Jefferson's lips pressed thin as he nodded. "My clan banished me because my bear is not a fighter. They refused to allow me to claim him. I've only been allowed to stay in the area because I give them half my salary. It was the only way I could stay close to him."

  "You do know he's probably a shifter, right?"

  Jefferson's brow furrowed. "I've never smelled shifter in him."

  "I think it's all the drugs they are pumping into him."

  I agreed with Butch's assessment. From what Henry said, Harry had been on one type of drug or another for years. The stuff had to be seeping out of his pours.

  Butch glanced up the staircase Henry had gone up. "Can you get the care nurse out of there without letting her know we are here? It's really not a good idea for Sarah to learn I even know about the boys."

  Jefferson's nostrils flared. "I will take care of it."

  "Why don't you like her?" I asked. I was curious as to why he hated the woman so much.

  "I imagine there is some part of her that loves her sons, but you'd be hard pressed to find it. She spends way too much time carrying about what other people think than what her sons want or need in life. I know she gets it from her father. He's a real bastard, but Mrs. Nash does everything he says, even to the detriment of her children."

  "Well, if I have anything to say about it, that won't be a problem much longer."

  Jefferson stared for a moment, a long hard moment, then nodded as if he had come to some sort of conclusion. "Come with me. There is a sitting room connected with Harry's room. You can wait in there until I get rid of the nurse."

  We followed Jefferson up to the second floor and then down the hallway to a small sitting room. "I'll knock on the connecting door when it's safe for you to come in."

  Jefferson left through the same door we'd come in and shut it behind him. Butch and I moved over to stand next to the connecting door. I heard another door open and then Jefferson's voice as he addressed someone else. A moment later, I heard footsteps going down the hallway.

  When the connecting door opened, it was Henry standing there, not Jefferson. "You can come in now."

  I wasn't sure what I was expecting when I stepped into the room, but it wasn't the overwhelming stench of chemicals and illness. No wonder Jefferson couldn't tell if Harry was a shifter or not. The place reeked. I was surprised he could even tell Harry was his mate.

  The man in the bed was even more of a surprise. Harry looked enough like Henry to make my stomach knot, but there were distinct differences. For one, Harry looked frail and way too thin to even be breathing. There was an IV hooked up to his arm and a bandage on his hand. His skin was pasty white and, while he shared the same brown hair as Henry, his fell flat against his head, almost as if it had given up the will to be lustrous.

  The man was clearly dying.

  "Harry, this is James Cassidy, better known as Butch," Henry said. "Butch, this is my brother, Harry Nash."

  I walked over to stand behind Henry as Butch moved to sit on the side of Harry's bed. I didn't know what the two men saw when they looked at each other, but Harry smiled.

  "So, a biker, huh? Bet that threw Mother for a loop."

  "I was less a biker back then and more of a bad boy."

  Harry started to laugh, but ended up going into a coughing fit instead. When Butch started to get up, Henry rushed forward and grabbed the glass of water on the nightstand and brought it to Harry's mouth. Harry took several sips before turning his head away.

  Henry set the glass back down on the nightstand and then walked back over to stand in front of me. This time, he leaned back into me. I lifted my hands and rested them on his shoulders.

  "It's going to be okay," I murmured into his ear.

  "Bear, open the windows so we care air this place out," Butch ordered. "It's stinks of death in here."

  Harry snickered. "Yeah, well."

  Bear walked over and pushed open the two windows on the far wall. A cool breeze instantly began filling the room while the stench of death and chemicals started to fade.

  "That's better," Butch said.

  "Nurse Ratchet is going to be pissed you opened the window," Harry said.

  "Nurse Ratchet?" I asked.

  Henry chuckled. "His name is Nurse Bradley, but Harry calls him Nurse Ratchet from that character in the movie One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. They are both old battleaxes."

  "Ah."

  Butch glanced at me and gave me a nod.

  Oh man. I wasn't close enough to smell it, but apparently Butch had.

  Harry was a shifter.

  "Henry," Butch said. "I'd like to speak to Harry alone for a moment."

  "Oh, uh..."
/>
  I reached down and grabbed Henry's hand, tugging him back toward the sitting room. "Come on, Doc. You can show me your room."

  "Well, I don't really have a room here anymore. I live in my condo, but my old room is still here. I guess I could show you that."

  "Sorry, man," Harry said. "Mother turned it into a guest room."

  Henry frowned. "What did she do with all of my stuff?"

  "Boxed it up and put it in the garage."

  Henry's shoulders slumped.

  "We could get it and put it in the car so you could take it back to your place." It was just a suggestion, but Henry seemed really upset that his childhood room had been taken away. I didn't exactly know how to fix that, and I didn't like it. I felt useless.

  It wasn't a comfortable feeling.

  Henry led me down the hallway to the bedroom next door. He pulled me inside, shut the door, and then leaned back against it.

  "What does Butch want to talk to Harry about?"

  "You'd have to ask Butch that." I knew. It just wasn't my place to say anything. Not yet.

  "Is he going to help my brother?" The words were almost desperate.

  "He's going to try." Just not in the way Henry thought. "Butch will do everything within his power to make sure your brother is okay."

  That was the best I could give Henry at that moment.

  I stepped close enough to Henry to feel his chest press against mine as he inhaled. I reached up and brushed the hair back from Henry's face. It was short, but long enough to fall over to tops of his ears and the edges of his face.

  I pressed our foreheads together. "You have no idea how much I want to kiss you."

  "I'm okay with that."

  I was afraid to kiss him.

  "If I started kissing you, I might not stop."

  Henry's eyes dropped to my lips. "So, kiss me already."

  I didn't know if that was a dare or a demand, and I wasn't sure I cared. Henry had given me the go-ahead to kiss him and that was just what I was going to do.

  When our lips met, I felt as if my soul sighed. My movements were so languorous, so subtle, and so sensually slow that Henry opened his mouth to me before I knew it. He raised himself to meet my kiss as if needing the close contact. It wasn’t a kiss awash in passion, but rather a promise of what the future could hold.