Shifting Life (Skull Shifters MC Book 1)

by Tricia Wagner

  He leaves the door open and I lay with my eyes focused on the door. Hoping that he will come back through it and Justin isn’t coming out of the bathroom after me. It had to have been real. I know I saw him. I start to shake again and I see Brantley come back through the door. “Baby, I need you to calm down here for a minute ok.” I nod, but really don’t know how to calm myself down. “I just need you to tell me if I’m crazy or if he was in there.” At this point I think being crazy is the better of the two. “Baby, unfortunately you aren’t crazy. Trip saw someone running out the back of the house just around the time you screamed.” That is when I turn my head over to the waste pan sitting there and puke my guts out. “Baby, it’s ok. He’s out in the open now. Trip is on his trail, we’re going to get him and then we never have to worry about him ever again.” I throw up again completely emptying my stomach contents. Oh god. This is awful. “How are you so calm?” “Trust me I’m not I just need to make sure that you’re ok. I need to get out there and be looking for him.” “Please, don’t leave me. If you leave he’ll come back and then there won’t be anyone here to help me.” “If I leave here I will find him; I will not let him touch you again. He will not get to you. Do you hear me Melanie?” “I hear you, but you can’t make that promise until he is dead or gone.” “I am making that promise, right here and right now Melanie. He will not touch you.” “Ok Brantley. What am I supposed to do?” “I will be back and we will figure it out from there. I need you here on lockdown. I’ll send Sophie in with you and it sounded like Kris was coming here with Trance.” I give him a nod as his kisses me hard. “I swear to Christ baby I had no idea he was in here. I will kill that motherfucker.” “Don’t do anything that you could regret Brantley. I need you here not in prison.” “I will not be going to prison. Sit tight and wait for your girls. I’ll have guys posted outside.” I give him another nod as he walks out the door. “Wait Brantley!” He swings back around to face me. “I love you.” “Christ.” He walks up to me and kisses me again. “I love you so much baby.” I let another tear fall as he walks out the door.

  I see Sophie walk into the room and she looks extremely unsure of what to do. “Soph, I’m not gonna break. I just seriously can’t believe this is happening.” “Well, wanna hear about my night then?” “Yes, please anything that isn’t about what is going on right now.” “Sure, well let’s start with how we walked into the clubhouse and there were people just having sex like everywhere. Out in the open, with the doors open, with each other I mean like groups.” Oh shit. I should’ve warned her about the clubhouse after hours. “I can see by the look on your face that you knew this was probably going on in there. As Jason directs me to his room, thank God no one was in there, he shuts and locks the door for me and tells me to get comfortable. He hands me a t-shirt and a pair of sweats. I put on the sweats and find a condom wrapper in the pocket. He tells me “I was no choir boy before I met you.” Oh god. Brantley used that line too. “Your impression of him is impeccable.” “Thanks, I’ve been practicing. I just seriously can’t believe what I walked into. Then he what, expected me to just spread my legs for him? I told him fuckkkkk that. He said he wasn’t expecting anything from me. That I’m the type of girl that has staying power, whatever that means. I stood there for a good five minutes while he laid in bed. Finally, he gets up and pulls me onto the bed himself and tucks me into his side.” I shake my head at her and smile. “He wants you bad babe. If not, he wouldn’t have cared if you stayed if you weren’t putting out. He wanted you there.” “I just don’t know how to even begin to process any of it. Then this morning I wake up to find out this is all going on and I just don’t have time to think about any of it.” “Girl, Justin was in the bathroom while I was showering. He was waiting for me somehow. I don’t know if he was in here all night or what. I just know he touched me again and I feel like if he gets that close to me with Brantley right there and does that what would he do if he had me to himself. Imagine if Jack wouldn’t have stopped him. I wouldn’t even be me right now.” “Let’s not think about it that way please. Let’s just focus on all of this that is happening as a means to an end. Justin messed up by coming here and getting this close. Trip was on him like white on rice. No way they won’t catch him.” I nod as she gives me a hug and we sit on the bed in total silence just waiting for something to happen. I hear the beeper go off that the door has opened and I hear Kris yell as soon as she is inside. “It’s me! I’m alone I just sent Trance to fight off bad men. Where are you bitches?” “Bedroom.” That was Sophie. I really don’t have it in me to even say anything at this point. I seriously can’t believe that this is happening all over again. She makes her way back to the bedroom and takes in the scene. “Ok, well I didn’t get a full debriefing from Trance because he told me it was “Club business” whatever that means. Why don’t I get to know what is happening?” “You do, just not from him. If he were your man he would probably have given you a full disclosure.” “Yeah, even I got more than that from Jason.” “Seriously? What am I supposed to do?” “Well, tell us about your night first, I’m dying to know what happened after the fireman’s hold he had on you.” “Oh God.” She throws up her hands to cover her face. “I don’t even know where to begin. We still aren’t that great this morning, but we’re better than yesterday. He said that until I know that I want to be his though he won’t sleep with me. I just wanted to fuck him out of my system and he’s not gonna let me unless we’re in some sort of a committed relationship. That’s total bullshit.” “Whoa, when did you become a guy?” To that we all started laughing. “Ok, well last night after you left Soph and I finished off the tequila, I believe there was some fire jumping, then some slutty dancing, and then I came in here where Brantley fucked my brains out and Soph went to the clubhouse and saw other people getting their brains fucked out and then she went to bed tucked into the side of a guy who wants her. Bad. Then we woke up Brantley proceeded to tell me I have to have lunch with Lord and Lady Silverman today and when I went to get into the shower because I lost that argument I turn to have my mouth covered by a Justin who was devouring me with his eyes. I bit his hand after he delivered a not nice message and then I screamed bloody murder. He got away, but Trip saw him leaving. So they all went after him.” “Seriously? You guys jumped the fire without me. And slutty dancing, I live for slutty dancing.” “That’s really all you got from that story.” “Well, no but I figured you didn’t want to focus on the other stuff.” “You got that right sister.” She snuggled into bed with me and held me tight. They put me in the middle so we could all hold on to each other. We stayed like that until I think all three of us fell asleep.

  Chapter Eighteen

  I know I need to wake up. I couldn’t possibly be taking another shower. I just got out. I hear the click at the door and turn to see Justin standing there with blood running down his face. Oh god. He was shot right in the middle of his forehead. I look down at my hands and see a gun. There is blood all over my hands. Oh god I killed him. As his body starts falling toward me I snap my eyes open and I’m screaming. Instead of feeling Justin falling on me, I find I’m awake and in bed with Kris and Soph. I see one of the prospects come running to the door. “Sorry, I had a nightmare.” Kris and Sophie are giving me extremely worried looks. I haven’t had a nightmare in a long time. “It’s ok Mel. Do you need anything?” I shake my head, “No, Murphy. Any word?” He nods, “They’re on their way back. I will let them have the word though.” I give him a nod. He is a good prospect. Very respectful. He walks off and I hear the door beeper go off. Brantley comes walking in through the doorway and I see regret on his face. “Did you have a nightmare baby?” Oh about that. “Yeah, but I’m fine.” He doesn’t believe me but he lets me have that. “Ladies, mind if I talk to Melanie? The guys are waiting in the great room for you.” Kris says, “Sure, we will wait to see you before we leave.” I give them a nod. I must be getting bad news. He comes to the bed and pulls me to him. “Mel, Justin shot Trip. We had to choose betw
een finding him and saving Trip.” Oh. No. “I-I-Is Trip ok?” He half nods, “He will be, he’s in surgery at the hospital.” I stand up immediately, “We have to get there like now.” He runs his hand down my cheek, “We will. I need you to know that we will find him and he will never touch you ever again.” I instantly say, “I believe you Brantley. Please can we just not talk about it?” “Sure I’ll give you that play baby.” He kisses my forehead and the six of us rush to the hospital to wait to hear about Trip.

  It doesn’t take long before they come and tell us he is in recovery. He lost a lot of blood, but he should make a full recovery. Thank God. I don’t know what I would do if something happened to Trip because of this mess that I created. They let us see him two by two and even though he is sleeping I stay with him the longest. Visiting hours are over, but apparently that doesn’t apply to the MC. They seem to be a little too familiar with the guys being there and that freaks me right out. I am lost in thought holding Trip’s hand and it seems like we’ve been here for hours. Oh probably because we have. Brant just walked out of the room to check in with the guys and I think he’s contemplating getting out there and finding Justin. He says he has guys on it, but he needs Jason and Trance because the three of them together will find him faster. I feel Trip’s hand move and I look up to see his eyes are open. “Oh, Trip. It is so good to see those eyes open. I am so sorry.” Before I can even help it I have tears pouring out of my eyes. I hear him say “Shh, babe. No cryin. I’m fine.” I ignore him and say, “Let me get a nurse, and some water.” He gives me a nod as I stand to get him what he needs. I walk out and see Brant is on the phone. “He’s awake. I’m just getting the nurse.” He gives me a nod and I head to the nurse’s station. “Excuse me, my friend just woke up and I was wondering if I could give him some water or ice chips?” She gives me a smile, “Sure, sugar. Let me have a look and you can get him some water to sip at.” I nod and head to get the water. I get back in the room and I hear Trip semi laughing at the woman. I shake my head, seriously Trip you were just shot and you’re worried about flirting with the nursing staff. Men. I walk the rest of the way in and help him with some water and the nurse says “Everything looks good. He will have some time here and then we will get him into a regular room. Once there, we will make sure he’s getting up and movin around.” I nod and she smiles. “Mr. Trip, I will see what I can do about that sponge bath.” She says on a laugh and walks out the door. “Seriously? You were just shot and you’re worried about your next lay?” He gives me an unforgiving smile, “Hey, she was hot. Can’t pass that up.” A voice from the door says, “Got that right.” There’s Brant. “Hey, man. It is good to see you awake. We’re gonna fix this.” He smiles at him, “I’m good man. Just find that bastard. I can’t believe he got me. I almost had him.” I shake my head not wanting to hear about this at all. The guys realize my face because they change the subject. “Mel, we gotta let him get some rest. The guys will be here on watch to make sure nothing happens. Let’s get you home and into bed.” I give a slight nod even though I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep. I give Trip a kiss on the cheek and tell him to call for anything he needs. He gives me a reassuring smile and a nod and we head out. Sophie and Kris are sleeping in the waiting room both snuggled into Jason and Trance. “They probably don’t want to get up from that position. At least not Trance anyways. That’s the nicest Kris has been to him.” Brant gives me a chuckle as he makes a signal to move out. I wanna learn that. “What was that babe?” Shit. Did I say that out loud? “Nothing.” “Babe, what did you say?” “I wanna have a special signal that tells everyone I wanna move out. Then have everyone start scurrying around me. I’m gonna do something like that at the office when I hire on these two new architects to work with me.” He laughs at me and says “Two new architects?” Oh shit. “I guess it’s not the greatest time to tell you that I decided to expand?” “That’s great baby. Does that mean less time with me?” Sigh, “No, actually once I get them on their own two feet it will mean more time with you.” “I’ll support you in any way you need.” “Thanks Brantley.” Especially since that will mean I should be able to be home before him in the evenings. I will get to have the best of both worlds. Success and Brantley. Cue heavy sigh. “You all right babe?” “Yeah.” I know he doesn’t believe me. He opens the door for me as I crawl in and the guys get into the back. Good thing his Durango has third row seating.

  We finally make it back to the house and I tell the girls I will talk to them later. They all go their separate ways and Brantley and I head into the house. “Babe, you gotta eat.” Oh. Food. “I’m really not that hungry.” “Please, I won’t feel right you going to sleep with nothin in you.” I give a slight nod and I head to the kitchen. I make a piece of toast and pick at that until I can’t really force myself to eat anymore. “I really can’t Brantley.” He gives me a slight nod and we head to bed. I don’t know how long it’s going to take before I can take a shower here without freaking out. “Baby, what can I do to fix that look on your face?” “I don’t know Brantley. I’m sorry.” “You’re sorry? You don’t have anything to be sorry for.” Sigh. “This is all my fault. I never should’ve told you the Justin story.” His hand cups my cheek, “Honey, if I didn’t know about it, then that would mean that you weren’t open and honest with me about the stuff that had happened. I brought this back on you which means this is all my fault. It’s all on me. Not you. I brought Jack into your life by making it known you were mine and then he brought Justin back into your life. I did all of that. Not you.” So he was feeling guilty. That’s what this was all about then. “Brantley, I don’t hold you responsible for any of that. You know that right?” He nods, “Yeah, I know. It doesn’t change the fact that it shouldn’t have happened and I could’ve prevented it.” Oh no. “We’re not going there. I won’t justify your thinking at all. I just want to lay down and have you hold me. Everything is better when you’re holding me.” He gives me a nod as I go into the closet to get changed. I hurry and change and get back into the main part of the room. “Baby, I swear he isn’t here. I don’t know what to do to help you with this. He shouldn’t have ever gotten that close to you again.” I sigh, “It’s not your fault Brant. I promise I’m fine.” He gets close, “Yeah, except you aren’t fine.” I put my hand up, “Please.” He stops talking about it because he knows if we keep going like this I’m going to lose it. “Trip said he’s going to recover in Kansas? Something about staying with his brother for a bit?” “Yeah, it’ll be a good vacation for him, he’ll be back in no time though.” I give a nod, crawl into bed, and curl into a little ball. It doesn’t take long before Brantley is in behind me and pulling me into his body. I let out a little sigh and try and close my eyes. Sleep does not find me tonight. I toss and turn until I think I am completely annoying the crap out of Brantley. Even though he wouldn’t say anything. I lay completely still until I know for sure that he is asleep. I slip out from his hold and grab my robe. I don’t know what I’m going to do, but I know I can’t sleep. It’s only 3AM so I know Brantley needs to get all the sleep he can. I’m sure that he won’t be around for the next couple of days while he hunts for Justin. I head into the kitchen and make some hot tea. I see movement at my side and I jump when I see Jason turn the corner. My hand goes to my heart. “Sorry, Mel. I thought that Brantley told you we would be around.” “He did. I just forgot. What am I allowed to do here?” “It’s your home Melanie. Do what you want.” “Yeah, but you’re in the great room I don’t want to disturb you.” He smiles, “Nah, come on and keep me company. Trance is outside and a few of the other guys are still out getting info.” I give him a nod and head into the great room. I pull out my kindle while Jason continues to watch reruns of Gilligan’s Island. No joke. With the noise in the background and the book I was reading I started to dose off into a light sleep.

  I heard a crash and came out of my sleep to see Jason lying next to me with blood pouring out of his chest. No. This can’t be happening. I look up and Justin ha
s a gun pointed at my head. I scrunch back into the corner of the couch with nowhere else to run to. I look over at Jason and see that he isn’t breathing. “No, no, no. Why did you do that? What did I do to you? Please just leave me alone. Please don’t hurt anyone else that I care about. Please. Just kill me and be done with it.” I see him pull the trigger and that’s when I try to jump up off the couch and my eyes snap open. I’m in Jason’s arms and he is rubbing my back. I see Brantley standing over us with a horrible look on his face and I realize that I was probably saying all of that out loud. Tears are streaming down my face as Jason passes me into Brantley’s arms. “I c-c-can’t breathe.” I feel the panic attack coming on before I even have a chance to try and stop it. Brantley has my head between my legs and Jason is handing me a paper bag to breathe into. “Big breaths baby. Please breathe. Deep breath baby. You can do it. That’s it.” I don’t know how long this one took, but I finally get my breathing to even out. “I’m s-s-sorry.” Brantley’s still talking in his soothing voice, “Don’t be sorry baby. We’re going to fix all of this. No more nightmares, and no more panic attacks. I promise we’re going to fix it.” He continues rubbing my back and soothing me with his calming words. I finally sit up and let the air burn through my lungs. It gets worse every time. “Baby, that was the worst one yet.” I nod, “I know. The nightmares are getting worse.” “You should talk about them.” This came from Jason. I know he knows about dreams. “Do you talk about yours?” Brantley snapped his head to Jason. Woops I guess Brantley didn’t know that Jason was having nightmares. Jason gives me a look that is pained. Apparently, he just suffers through them. “J, are you having nightmares?” “Only sometimes. And nothing like this.” “Yeah, but you still shouldn’t be having them. Do you need to talk man?” “Nah, I’ll get it under control. If not, I’ll see someone. Mel, you need to talk through your nightmares.” I look at him and try not to roll my eyes, why are the rules always different for me? “Fine, yesterday when I was with the girls in bed I dreamt I was in the shower and Justin was there with a bullet in his forehead and I looked down and I had blood all over my hands and I was holding the gun. Tonight, it was like we were sitting here and I woke up to you getting shot in the chest and Justin was standing there with a gun pointed at my head. I woke up when he pulled the trigger.” Still in Brantley’s arms he picked me up and I could see the pain in his eyes. He thinks he did this to me. “Brant, I’m fine. I’m good now.” “The panic attacks are getting worse and it sounds like your nightmares are getting worse too.” “Yeah, but I’ll handle it. I promise, if they get to a point where I can’t handle it I promise I’ll see someone.” He has me back in the bedroom now and I feel like I need to say something to him about Jason. “You need to have the same open discussion with Jason though about his dreams. Make sure he’s all right.” “I will.” He sets me down in bed. “Brantley, I know I for sure can’t sleep now.” “Baby, I don’t know how to make this better for you. I am leaving early this morning though. I need to get out there and find him. I won’t feel ok until he is either dead or in solitary confinement. Preferably dead. I will have every available guy on you. I need you to stay put though. Can you do that for me?” “I can, but if this goes until Monday I need to go into the office because I have those interviews.” “We will figure it out when that time comes baby. Until then I need you here. You can leave, but only with an army with you so make it a worthy trip. If you need anything, please have someone else do it for you. If you need to run I would prefer you did it on the treadmill, but if you feel like you need to get out of here I want you with six guys. No less.” Geeze. He was not messing around. “I can do all of that, except I will probably need to run outside. Please don’t take that away from me.” “I’ll give you that baby. But you need to promise me that when you do go you will have no less than six guys with you.” “Deal. Do you think they can be ready to do that this morning?” “Yeah, we can set that up for you. It won’t be Jason or Trance though. I need them with me. They are hunters, we need our best men on this and I will make sure that you have good guys on you.” I nod and melt into his body. “Brant?” “Yeah, Mel?” “I really don’t think I can sleep. If you’re still tired you stay here, but I think I’ll go back out and watch the sunrise if that’s ok.” He sighs, “Sure, I’ll come with you though. I need to be ready to head out soon.” I stand back up and we head out to the kitchen together. We get coffee and tea and head out to the deck. Brantley sits down in his chair and indicates for me to sit on top of him in the lounger. Many times we have sat here and I never felt like it would be the last time. Why do I feel like Brantley isn’t coming back to me after all of this is over? “Baby, this is all gonna be over soon. I promise we will be normal again hopefully after today. Three days tops.” “Please promise me one thing.” “Anything.” “Promise me you’re coming back and we can do things like watch the sunrise together every day. Forever.” “Forever baby. I promise nothing is going to happen to me.” I give him another nod. I don’t know what I would do if something happened to Brantley at this point. How would I move on? I can’t even think about processing those thoughts right now so I will not think like that. The sun rises and now I am standing beside Brantley who is on his bike and ready to head out. On a mission. “The guys will be ready for your run whenever you are. They know the drill here babe. Listen to them if there are any issues. I need you to bite back the smartass and take orders here yeah?” “Yeah. I can do that.” He gives me a look that says he knows I really can’t. I roll my eyes and say “I’ll really try, I promise.” “Thank you and for Christ’s sake please don’t wear those short ass workout shorts.” Again rolling my eyes. “Just come back to me safe, sound, and soon.” “Safe, sound, and soon baby.” He gives me a hard kiss and he starts his bike. Then everyone else starts their bikes in order. There are at least thirty of them riding out and I have guys from not only our chapter, but other chapters here with me too. Brantley trusts them with his life though so I know that I am in good hands.