by Jayne Blue
“You just keep A.C. awake, that’s the best thing for him. I have to stay with Tracks,” Rose said to me, and she gave Tracks her full attention.
I did what Rose instructed.
“Hey, A.C., come on, buddy. Wake the fuck up.” I shook him gently on his shoulder, and he moaned. He wasn’t bleeding from the gut, that I could see. But there was a nasty welt on his forehead. That was what I was fighting, a massive goddamn concussion.
“I’m sorry. Man, they came out of nowhere.”
“Did you see who?”
“I didn’t, it was dark, they hit me first. They came out of nowhere.” He was repeating himself. Bell, fucking rung, no question.
“Stay awake, Rose’s orders.” I shook him again, a little harder this time.
“Asshole,” he said, and that made me actually feel better. He was pissed. Pissed was better than dead.
In the distance, I heard the roar of the ambulance. Finally.
“Go flag them down,” Thorn said, and he came over to A.C.
“How’s it looking?” I said to him as I watched Rose applying pressure but looking grim in the night light.
Thorn shook his head no. I ran toward the street. The lights of the ambulance were just visible in the distance. Across the street, I saw Ridge was headed toward me on foot.
“What?”
“Someone jumped A.C. and Tracks. Tracks, well, it looks bad. A.C. seems better.”
“I’m going back there.” Ridge was our leader: if there was trouble, he’d take it on his shoulders, if there was blood, he wasn’t going to shrink from that either.
I stepped out to the street. I could see lights turning on, people looking out to see what the hell was going on.
The ambulance pulled up to the curb.
“Two of our guys, this way,” I pointed to the alley, and they ran.
It was a blur of EMTs and then cops.
The bottom line: I had gotten here too late. I didn’t see a damn thing.
But it didn’t matter. Bane had stepped up their attack on the Great Wolves.
Ridge walked up to me as the ambulances pulled out.
“Meeting in the hospital, get the word out. I want all the section sergeants. One hour. I need you to stay here, though.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure. Bane is trying to fuck up our neighborhood. That’s what you have to remember. Keep your head on a swivel. I’m sending Titus and Rex over here. Three-man crews from now until this shit’s squelched.”
I nodded.
There was no question that Ridge was going to be at the hospital. He was going to be hanging on Rose’s every word.
But while he was making sure A.C. and Tracks got the best care possible, he was going to be making sure that the Great Wolves Chicago crew knew this was war. And we’d just taken some major casualties.
As the ambulances drove off and the cops left this neighborhood, it was going to be up to The Great Wolves to make a stand against Bane.
I hoped like hell one of them tried it now.
I was ready to pay them back for fucking with A.C. and Tracks. They may be out for blood, but so were we.
The Great Wolves weren’t so legit that we forgot what it meant to wear leather.
Shit was going to get ugly. Very very ugly.
Dread like I’d never experienced welled up in my gut.
The image of Emlyn came out of nowhere and invaded my mind.
What the fuck, man?
I could only think of her living in this neighborhood. We had to keep it safe. I mean, she was so sweet, open, and vulnerable. I could see her walking here on this sidewalk and it put a new purpose in my gut.
I didn’t know why she was in my head, why all of a sudden, keeping Stickney Forest safe was wrapped up in Emlyn Tierney. But it was, it fucking was.
I scanned the streets.
Come get me, Bane, come fucking get me. I dare you.
Four
Emlyn
My party was nice, life was nice, my degree was nice. But I sure didn’t feel nice about Kase. Since the moment he literally ran away from me like I had the plague, I was having a hard time getting him out of my head.
When I should be thinking about starting the early shift at the pre-school, I was thinking about watching him nap in the backyard.
I’d spotted his legs stretched out long in his worn-out jeans. The way they slung low on his hips and that tight t-shirt. The cotton was doing a hell of a lot of work stretched over those muscles.
And I know, I know, I’m a creeper, but I stole a glance at his face. His tough beard was hiding the gorgeousness. How had I never noticed that before?
Brogan had told me to make sure he woke up at midnight. I was on Brogan’s orders for goodness sake. I did what my big brother had asked, and I found myself stepping over the line and flirting with my brother’s best friend. It was stupid, dangerous, and would only serve to make Brogan livid if he found out.
Brogan had one rule, and that was never to date a biker. Except, for some reason, this biker, who I had seen before, was all of a sudden all I could think about.
Then, he fucking ran from me like I had cooties or smelled like kielbasa. Ha, maybe I did. Frankie had brought a lot of it.
When I touched him, when he was still dreaming whatever biker’s dream about, he’d put his hand over mine. There it was again, the feeling that touching Kase was something different than I’d ever experienced. He’d come to his senses and got the heck away from me and my stupid flirting.
The last few hours were an uncomfortable jumble of me being hot for Kase and me be horrified that I’d been so bold.
Maybe Brogan was right. Bikers were trouble; if nothing else, my ego was in serious jeopardy. Wow.
Brogan was occupied with M.C. stuff after my party, and I barely saw him. That wasn’t unusual though. When the M.C. needed him, he was there. He didn’t get in my business and I didn’t get in his.
I spent Saturday focused on my new shift at the pre-school. I was the early morning drop off. The new hours were actually my idea.
The pre-school I worked at was old. It had been in the neighborhood for a long time, but it hadn’t moved with the times. I knew that a lot of parents needed an early drop-off. They had to get to work, so they had to find quality help early in the day.
I’d made my pitch to Wanda Wilkerson, Mrs. Two Dubs, as she was known around the neighborhood. Wanda had owned and operated Friendly Forest Daycare and Preschool for so long, she was set in her ways. She’d been my preschool teacher, for goodness sake.
I proposed that Friendly Forest open early and serve some healthy breakfast choices.
“That’s what Head Start is for,” Wanda had told me.
But I was worried. Head Start was struggling in the South Side, and so were the agencies that ran them. I knew because I’d done a research project. Over 500 kids needed those services, and yet, the Catholic charities were closing in other parts of town, left and right. It could very well happen here.
“Just let’s try it for the summer?” I had begged. Something in me felt like it was important, urgent, to be more present in Stickney Forest at this moment. Not less. And Wanda’s Friendly Forest was at least already set up, somewhat, to handle the little expansion of hours.
Wanda gave in, and this Monday morning was my time to prove that the services weren’t only needed, but that we could financially sustain it.
It was a lot. I’d promised Wanda a lot. And she’d put it on me to deliver.
I spent Sunday obsessing over whether or not I was ready for our first early morning drop off day.
I had stocked the pantry at Friendly Forest. I had some fun activities for the littles. And I had set my alarm for dark and early! Though, when Monday came, and I didn’t need that alarm. I was too nervous and excited to really sleep.
I got dressed and ready quickly. I pulled my hair up into a top knot and checked myself in the mirror. This was another area Wanda and I had differences of
opinion. Wanda, at 80, wanted me to wear a dress every day! I pushed her to let me wear pants. It was a revolutionary concept, apparently. Today I wore slim-fitting khaki pants. I’d selected a breathable tailored white blouse and a bright summer weight cardigan to match bright red flats. Sure, a white blouse seems silly with kids, except I could bleach it! I hoped Wanda saw that a more business casual approach was just fine at the preschool. Well, one thing at a time.
This was day one, really, of me working. Not being a student, but really working in the profession I’d chosen. I still had to pinch myself. I had thought it would never happen. I had thought my chance was gone when Mamma started to get bad. I thought there was no way we could afford school and taking care of her, and then Brogan stepped in.
I owed my big brother. He said he owed me, for being here, and taking care of things when he was riding down a dark path, and in prison. I guess we both owed each other for a million things. That was family.
I put my bag over my shoulder and set out. Wanda rented the first floor of the building on Woodrow. It was only a few blocks away from the neighborhood section of Stickney Forest, which was nice for me, no need for a car or bus.
It was still dark at 5 a.m. when I locked up the house, put my bag over my shoulder, and headed out.
I went over my plans for the day. I hoped we had some families who would take advantage of the new hours. A few had responded to our flyers. What if no one showed up?
We were going to open at six-thirty in the morning, a full two hours before we used to. I hoped that was going to be enough time for parents to get their children dropped off and get to their own work. I’d hoped a lot of things into existence, so maybe this was going to work too.
I’d never really seen Stickney Forest at this time of the morning. It was quiet, calm, and a little creepy if I was honest. Walking at night was never a great idea in my neighborhood. I didn’t factor in that walking pre-dawn was the same. Except, anyone who was trouble was probably long passed out.
I squared my shoulders and rounded the corner. That’s when I heard his voice.
“What the hell are you doing?”
I jumped what felt like a foot in the air and whirled around, my bag in front of me like a plate of armor. Shit, this was a bad idea! I was about to be murdered on my way to work.
“Back off, my brother is a Great Wolf.” People were afraid of the M.C., maybe it would save my butt.
“No shit, so am I.” The broad-shouldered silhouette took another step toward me. I froze in my spot.
“You better not try anything,” I said, and the figure took one more step. And then I saw him.
“You better not be walking alone, in the dark, no matter who your brother is.”
“Kase!”
“Em, really, what are you doing out here by yourself?
“I’m going to work.”
“It’s the middle of the night, nothing is open.”
“I beg to differ. It’s early in the morning and I’m about to open the preschool.”
“It’s not safe, you’re crazy doing this. Does Brogan know you’re walking to work like this?”
“He’s not my boss, or my dad, and no.”
Kase was about an inch away from my face. I was defensive under his questioning, and my heart was pounding, thanks to him scaring the crap out of me.
“I bet he doesn’t. Where are you going?”
“Work, like I said. I started a new thing, we’re opening early.” I turned on my heel. Kase was not in charge of me. And I was not a kid. He was being ridiculous.
I started to walk, and he grabbed my arm.
“Hey, you can’t do that—” I whipped around. The inch between us had turned into a centimeter. It was a metric system’s ton of difference. I could feel his breath on my cheek, I could smell the musk of his neck. I tried not to inhale it because he was doing something to me that unlocked the parts of me that wanted to run wild.
Out of nowhere, I let the wild takeover. I leaned closer; my lips were on his cheek. The stubble of his beard grazed against my lips. I whispered into his beard.
“I’m not your little sister. You’re not the boss of me.”
I felt his other hand shoot up and around my waist. He pulled me to him and crushed my body up against his. My eyes shot wide open. I knew—right then I knew—he wanted to kiss me. I wanted it too.
We stood, pressed against each other, our eyes locked, for a beat. I wanted him. I softened my body, I stopped trying to pull back, my breasts rose and fell up against him.
His eyes looked like those of a hunter, with me as the prey, and then they shifted to total confusion. His grip on me loosened. I swallowed and realized how close I’d come to breaking Brogan’s rule.
Kase stepped back and seemed to be embarrassed by what he’d just done. What I’d wanted him to do.
“I, uh, I’m sorry,” he said, and I felt a blush rise on my cheeks. I was so glad it wasn’t daylight right now. The bold need I’d felt just a second ago was quickly being snuffed out by the scared new teacher, unsure about every single thing.
“I didn’t exactly object,” I admitted, and it was true. I wasn’t the prey. Part of me was just as hungry as Kase was in that strange moment, now passed.
“We’re not going to do this. Nope. Sorry. I don’t know what came over me. You are like my little sister. Well, Brogan’s my brother, for sure. This is a no go.” He was talking to me but also talking to himself, it seemed.
“Sure. Yes. I get it.” I was also stung. I had clearly signaled that I was open to whatever had just happened. And now, an instant later, my willingness filled me with a weird embarrassment. And, if I was honest, disappointment. But what Kase was saying was right. We shouldn’t get hot and heavy. Brogan would lose it. And Brogan was my family.
Brogan was Kase’s family too.
Kase was right, no matter how much I wanted him to take me back in his arms. No matter how much it stung that he’d been able to reject me in the heat of the moment, he’d done the right thing. I was a hot second away from plunging us both into something forbidden. Something that could hurt my brother, no matter how unintended it was.
“I need to get you to work safely. And uh, with my hands to myself. You’re going to the preschool?” Kase said and looked passed me down the block.
“Friendly Forest Preschool and Daycare.”
“Fine, I’ll walk you. Lead the way. Shit’s happening around that part of the block. I need to let your brother know you need an escort or a cab or something to work. This is your normal shift?”
“It is now.”
“In the dark, on this block, alone? Yeah, not happening.”
Kase positioned me on the inside of the sidewalk. His body was a wall between me and the currently deserted street.
There wasn’t a car or a monster or a mugger in sight, but Kase was there, next to me, to be sure none of them had access to me.
It was sweet, it was old fashioned, and it was only a small bit of what I wanted him to be to me.
But he was right. I did not need to be screwing around with M.C. members. That was my brother’s rule, and he deserved to have his sister’s loyalty.
My first day, other than nearly jumping Kase’s bones on the way to work, was a whirlwind. I had breakfast ready, fun activities, and successfully supervised the two other workers we had on staff.
I was feeling pretty good about the day, which as usual, flew by.
I turned over my little charges to their parents, one by one, as the afternoon wore on.
“Are you going to pick up the slack?”
“Excuse me,” I asked. It was Ericka Johnson, picking up her sweet son, Greer.
“Yeah, it just hit the damn news. I mean, you think they’d tell us first, you know?”
“What?”
“The Catholic Clubs who run the Head Starts are closing down. End of the week.”
“What?”
“Yeah, I mean, you’re going to do a sibling discount or somet
hing, right? Or first come first serve? Greer’s here, but my younger one, Garson, he’s at the 3-year old program at Sacred Heart because they had speech. I just picked him up, and it’s all anyone’s talking about.”
“Uh, no, I mean. I don’t know. That’s terrible.”
“Darn right, it is. But you’ll let us in?”
“Well, that’s up to Wanda, uh, Ms. Wilkerson.”
“Two-Dub needs to get with the times. We need options! Greer, Greer! Stop touching your brother.” I looked down, and Greer and Garson were pushing each other and ignoring their stressed-out mom.
“I’ll let her know. See you tomorrow.”
If the Catholic Clubs were closing down Head Start in the South Side, it would be a mess. So many families depended on them for early childhood care and education.
I heard the same story as other parents showed up to collect their little ones.
When Wanda and I had time to catch our breath, she just shook her head.
“It figures, here I am, ready to retire, and you’re here making this place a viable option. Don’t you know how nice Florida this time of year is?”
“I actually don’t know how nice it is, never been there.”
“Ugh.”
As I walked home, a ton of ideas from work to Wolves swirled in my mind.
I had a lot to think about.
Maybe it was good timing, at least, on the Kase perspective. I could throw myself into work. There was no time to think about sexy bikers right now.
I had an idea. An idea too crazy, too fast, and too big for it to work.
But, well, there was a need. And maybe this was the universe telling Emlyn Teirney she needed to step up and fill it!
Five
Kase
How the fuck was it that I hadn’t run into Em in years, and now, she was all I could see? I hated the idea of her walking to work like that in the dark. In the same place my brothers get attacked in Stickney Forest, she walks by the building with no clue.
Brogan needed to know she was being reckless.
I needed him to make sure she didn’t get caught in some crossfire. It was his job, not mine. He probably just didn’t realize this shit about her new shift.
