by Zoey Harper
He didn't have a middle road. Which was why he was acting cold toward Damon, and why he’d left his father's clan.
It was probably for the best that Tegan didn't answer. Colton didn't need his bear to attach to another woman. He'd found himself unable to so much as touch another woman after Emma left him. In his bear's mind, Emma was well on her way to becoming his mate.
So, Colton left the tail that hung around their MC house to Damon. His best friend happily took up the slack, while Colton brawled, needing a way to get his frustration out.
Colton watched Tegan lower her head. There was an air of sadness about her. He couldn't stand it, so he acted out of character and offered a bone.
"How long have you lived here?"
Tegan pointed the finger at herself, and Colton rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I'm talking to you. What other timid but sexy she-wolf do you see in this restaurant?"
Tegan smiled sheepishly, and a light blush covered her cheeks. "I've been here six months."
"Where did you live before?"
Tegan froze and parted her lips. Colton raised a hand. "You'd rather not talk about it. That's fine."
"What about you?" Tegan asked shyly. "How long have you lived here?"
"I'm not from here. I'm from Bolsend."
"That's quite a distance."
"Still in Kentucky. Just colder up there. I like the warmer weather here."
Tegan smiled. "It's one of the things I first liked about Stonewick."
So, it was cold where she used to live.
Colton mentally scoffed. He wasn't going to crack the code on this one. It was best to keep the smile on Tegan's face.
God, he loved the way her round face lit up when she smiled, and his stupid heart liked it, too. He had fucking goosebumps on his skin.
"Uh, Colton?"
"What?" he snapped.
Tegan leaned back in her seat, shrinking away from him. Colton mentally cursed. "Sorry. What did you ask?"
"What you're in town for."
Colton chewed the inside of his lip. He'd forgotten all about Patrick's mission to find Flynn, the eagle shifter. It was time to get back on track.
Patrick had sent Colton all the information he needed, including photos of Flynn, and his last known location. The cheap sucker claimed he had paid a lot of money to a tracker to get the information and wouldn't spend another cent. So, Colton was on his own, with a fast-closing deadline.
Fuck my life.
"I'm in town to find someone," Colton said.
He couldn't divulge more than that. There was no telling who Tegan was affiliated with. Although Colton had a feeling she was a lone wolf, he couldn't take that risk.
"Are you a bounty hunter?"
Tegan's eyes lit up, and Colton's heart dropped. That was a lot more honorable than what he was doing. Heck, if Tegan knew the life he led, she probably wouldn't be sitting with him at this table.
"No. I'm a mechanic. This is a side gig."
Tegan's eyebrows shot up. "A mechanic, huh?"
"What? I don't fit the bill?"
Tegan shook her head. "You're a little big for that. I thought mechanics had to crawl under cars."
"Not in modern garages. Anyway, I work with motorcycles. That's never an issue."
"Are you part of an MC?"
Tegan cocked her head. She was inching too close to the truth. And he didn't need her making assumptions.
Most shifter MCs were violent and deep into the underground world. Colton didn't want Tegan thinking he ran with that crowd, even though he kind of did.
"No. My clan owns a garage. That's where I work."
"So, you fix people's bikes?"
Colton smiled. She was trying to wrap her head around what he did, and it was so damn cute.
Emma had never bothered to find out anything about him, and most of his "girlfriends" had only been interested in fucking the bastard son of the Gray Shade alpha. Thinking he'd help them raise their status somehow.
Plenty of rumors had gone around about Colton challenging his half-brother for second, but they were unfounded. While Colton could have done it, and indeed several other clan members could, it wasn't the kind of thing a person wanted.
Challenging the alpha's son would bring the wrath of the alpha himself down on a person. How many times had a person turned up dead or beaten to a pulp for pissing off the alpha?
No. Colton had no intentions of challenging Ramsey for second, and all the shallow women he dated soon fell off like flies when they realized he wouldn't help them elevate their status within the clan.
Colton didn't mind their shallowness, though. In fact, he preferred it. His heart had always been Emma's. But then she'd gone and stomped on it.
"We build bikes, too. That's the part I'm excited about. We find old bikes that have been damaged and restore them. We take everything apart and salvage what can be used. Then we order new parts and create even more awesome builds.
"Max, our designer, has a crazy imagination. And Damon, our fabricator, is great at bringing them to life. You should see what happens when Kane, my painter, gets his airbrush on the bikes. Last time, he painted a mural across the gas tank. That shit was sick!
"You should see the custom build we're working on. It's for a human that's got far too much money and time on his hands, but it's amazing. Well, first, you should know we're building a chopper. Damon's already built this sick gas tank that will blow your fucking socks off. Then there's this wraparound effect Max designed for the exhaust pipes. It's fucking amazing!"
Colton snatched his hand back when he found it reaching for his phone to share pictures with Tegan. What was he doing rambling like a fifteen-year-old girl?
He was supposed to be in Stonewick to catch an eagle shifter. Gabbing to a stranger about his passion would not help him reach his goal.
"Wow." Tegan smiled and rested her chin on her fist. "It must be great to be so passionate about something. I've never been good at anything or had the opportunity to explore my interests. You're lucky you get to do what you love."
The wistful tone in her voice tugged at Colton's heart. He wanted to tell her that sometimes in life you have to leap to find the things that you love. As hard as life with the Red Claw Rising was, he did finally get to live his dream, even though that dream was taking a loss, and Patrick interrupted it from time to time.
She's not your girl. You've got no business opening up to her like that.
"Yeah. Well, that's life for you."
Tegan straightened and shook her head. "Why do you do that? Why do you blow hot and cold? One moment, you're sweet and thoughtful, the next, you shut down. Sometimes you're rude. Is it a bad boy act? Are you playing a role to protect yourself?"
Colton's head jerked back. What right did Tegan have to ask him such questions?
The right you gave her, a voice in his mind whispered. You saved her, took her out to lunch, and became a real chatty Cathy when she asked about your bikes.
"I told you I'm no hero. And you must have figured out I can be a real dick sometimes. It doesn't matter anyway; I'm not here to make friends."
Colton picked up his phone and checked the time. "Twenty minutes are up. It's time we get going. I've got shit to do."
He got up, threw a few twenty dollar bills on the table, then walked out of the restaurant. A cold wind hit him when he stepped outside, and a stabbing pain twisted in his gut when he saw Tegan walk past him toward her car.
She hadn't finished her food, but she left anyway. Colton was a grade A tool for ruining what was becoming a great conversation. And now, he was about to become a bigger one by walking over to her car, his need to somehow end things on a decent note eating him up inside.
He knocked on her window. Tegan pulled it down and stared ahead. "I'll follow you home, then take off."
Tegan nodded. Colton felt stupid bending over like he was. Hadn't he just told her he wasn't here to make friends?
"Sorry about before," he said, before tapping the roof
of her car, then getting into his truck.
"I'm such a bitch," he thought, before pulling out of the parking lot and following Tegan. He didn't want to let the beautiful woman get too close, but at the same time, he couldn't help his need to protect her emotionally and otherwise.
Colton was a mess, and Tegan was the exact type of Kryptonite he needed to stay away from. She was shy and timid, but she also challenged him. Add the fact that she was running away from someone, and Colton's bear was ready to swoop in and take her under his care.
Colton shook his head. Tegan was a dangerous little thing. Not only was she extremely fuckable; he could picture picking her up and throwing her on his bed. But, she was also a pure soul that had somehow managed to slip past the walls he'd carefully built over the last few months.
"I've got to stay away, for both our sakes," Colton whispered.
But as soon as the words escaped his lips, he knew that he was lying to himself. Tegan was the kind of woman a man didn't forget. Especially the type whose broken heart found her to be a salve.
His stupid little heart was already aching at the idea of being away from her.
Fuck my life.
5
Colton settled onto one of the stools surrounding the small tables at the far end of Club Lime. The admittedly classy joint lived up to its name.
The strobe lights pulsing from inside were in various shades of green, and everyone from the beefy bouncers checking IDs to the bartenders wore lime-colored shirts.
The place crackled with energy, but the wrong kind. It had been a while since Colton had been to a shifter nightclub, and now he remembered why he preferred to have his fun at a bar.
Far too many filled the dance floor, humping against each other. As this was a shifter club, plenty of people were having sex in the corners. The scent of sweat and body odor added to the already stale, hot air, and Colton had to breathe through his mouth to keep from gagging.
"Miserable little shits," Colton said to himself.
The loud thumping music kept his voice from carrying to any of the revelers. Colton shuffled in his seat as recognition dawned on him. He wasn't too different from the people here.
Sure, he had more of his fun in bars than clubs, but he'd used fights to drown his sorrow, just like these shifters were using sex.
Colton shook his head. Seeing himself and the life he'd been living from the outside made him vow not to be so damn pathetic. Well, starting when he got home.
Sitting in a nightclub, three days after getting sent to find a smuggler, was a pretty pathetic move.
Fucking Patrick.
After dropping Tegan off, Colton had returned to the seedier part of Stonewick where the gym had been. He'd gotten yet another hair wash, gone grocery shopping, and bought a few clothes, all to talk to the locals.
Finally, at the last shop he visited, he'd heard a bunch of guys raving about the girls they were going to meet at a place called Club Lime. Scenting that the guys were crow shifters, Colton quickly got his phone out and found the location based on messages on a shifter forum.
Most shifters were social creatures. According to Patrick, Flynn had been on the run for a week. The eagle shifter was bound to come up for air sometime, and in quiet Stonewick, Colton would bet that a club would be the perfect spot for him. A few hours later, Colton had driven his truck to the club.
He'd been there an hour already and was starting to get tired of the whole scene. The loud music was beginning to grate on his sensitive hearing while the sight of drunk people staggering and bumping into others, setting off fights that bouncers had to break up, was getting boring.
Colton thought of the fights he'd been involved in. They were pretty tame compared to what was going on at Club Lime, but there was a real air of danger to them.
Sure, the worst that could happen was a few broken bones and scrapes, but the adrenaline he got kept his bear calm.
What pleased his bear were the fights he got involved in on official Gray Shade business. The Gray Shade Clan was the largest, most-dominant MC in Bolsend. They owned half the shifter territory and protecting it was a full-time job.
Colton and Damon had been a part of the security detail. They'd dealt with everything from stragglers causing trouble to full-on invasions where over a hundred bikers rode into their territory and started a war.
Colton's bear stirred within him, the memories making him antsy. Colton sighed. He'd have to shift soon, but he couldn't see an opportunity yet.
Then there was the fact that while he was fully conscious when in animal form, his bear had a habit of going a little crazy. Taking off and making it hard for Colton to shift back.
There's also the murderous rage thing. I don't want to cause any trouble and mess up the mission.
Whenever Colton shifted, he preferred to have Damon or Keith with him. They'd make sure he didn't do anything too stupid and that he'd shift back. But things with Damon had changed, so Colton hadn't risked a shift, and his bear was getting a lot more vocal about it.
"Hey, sexy," a female voice purred in his ear.
Colton turned to find a skinny, skimpily dressed young woman standing by his table. Getting no response from him, she settled onto the stool beside him.
"You having a good time?" she asked, her southern drawl more evident with every word.
Colton glared at her. He'd purposely chosen a table and chased everyone that approached with a snarl for a reason. This woman had snuck up on him and dared to smile at him when he was giving fuck-off vibes.
"Get," Colton spat.
She smiled. "Now, I know you don't mean that. A handsome thing like you shouldn't be all alone on a night like this. Why don't I—"
"Stop."
Colton leaned forward and looked at the woman. Really looked at her. She wore far too much makeup, and her pupils were dilated. Most of the groupies that hung around shifters fell into two categories. The desperate and the thirsty.
Colton let his eyes run up and down the young woman. He couldn't scent her in the stale air of the club, but he had a feeling she wasn't a shifter. The way her ribs poked through the tight dress confirmed his suspicions; she was a desperate human.
Colton leaned forward and raised his voice so that he didn't have to repeat himself.
"Listen, human, I don't know what your sad story is, but this place is only going to make it worse. Shifters make shitty boyfriends. Do yourself a favor and go back to your world. I'm sure someone there will be happy to let you suck their dick for some decent cash."
The young woman got up and raised a hand, ready to strike him. Colton caught it and shook his head.
"What did I tell you? You don't belong here. Try that with any other shifter, and you'll find yourself beaten to a bloody pulp."
Colton held on for a few more seconds as the woman struggled to get out of his grip. He wanted to do a small act of service and prove to her that she was out of her league. Humans and shifters could mate, but the results were often horrible.
Just like Mom and Dad.
Colton released the young woman's arm and let her walk away. He took a deep breath and exhaled. He didn't like to think about his mother and father together.
They were two separate entities in his mind. His mother was kind and thoughtful. His father, cold and selfish.
But Colton knew that at some point they'd had sex, and he'd been born. He wondered how they'd gotten together. Had his mother been just like the young woman he'd just chased away?
Not a lot of humans knew about the shifter world. Those that hung around unsavory types were often exposed. When it came to the underground, money spoke louder than words. Shifters and humans happily collaborated when the deal was right.
Colton clenched his jaw. The idea that his mother had been just like the girl at his table was too maddening to fathom. But the other explanation was even worse.
Colton's father was a real asshole. He didn't know how to treat anyone but himself right. Hence, the reason he kept a l
ot of women, even though he had a mate. Colton had been the one mistake in his stellar, "horny asshole, no baby mama" record.
Although Colton and his mother had rarely spoken about how he was born, because he was only twelve when she passed, thoughts had crossed his mind.
What if his father had raped his mother? His mother was a beautiful woman, and her kind personality had Colton seriously doubting she was anything like the groupies that hung around shifters.
Heck, when she'd been alive, she'd kept Colton away from shifter culture, only sending him to visit his father over the weekends. Colton could tell his mother loathed shifter culture. She was the one that always pushed him to be kind and thoughtful.
Of course, his shifter heritage had won out, and life with the Gray Shades had led to him becoming the man that he was. But now that he really thought about it, he couldn't shake the feeling that his mother hadn't been a love interest of his father's.
His father certainly never looked at Colton as if any pleasant memories had come from his time with Colton's mother.
"Enough," Colton said to himself.
He got up and made his way to the bar, shoving and growling where he needed to. Colton had decided not to drink on this op. He needed his mind clear for the mission, but now he needed something to drown out the noise in his mind.
It doesn't matter how I came to be. I'm a bastard.
Before Colton could throw back his shot of whiskey, a bit of commotion filled the club. A tall, blonde man walked in, flanked by three bodyguards. The man himself was lean, but his bodyguards were beefy.
Colton left his drink at the bar and made his way closer. He needed full recognition before he made a move.
As he pressed closer to the table where the blonde man and his bodyguards sat, a woman threw herself at him and started grinding against him.
Colton growled and bared his teeth. The woman quickly backed off him and scrambled away. All it took was one glimpse.
Colton promptly pressed through the crowd and walked out into the club’s parking lot. The bouncer nodded at him before he pulled out a pack of cigarettes and leaned against the building wall to have a smoke.
