And forever didn’t have to be a long time coming.
Chapter 3
Fifteen minutes later, Jessie knocked on Ava’s bedroom door. She’d gone straight from Spyder’s arms to here, and she wanted answers. Now.
“Who is it?!” the older cub shouted.
“It’s me. Jessie,” she replied, fully expecting Ava to ignore her. She usually did. But this time, she couldn’t be ignored. She needed answers. She needed to know the plan of attack, because that was the only way she was willing to wait for her mate.
If she was kept in the loop than she could be put at ease.
“What do you want, Jessie?”
The voice was nearer this time. Close to the door.
“Just let me in, Ava. Why do you always have to be so damn difficult?”
“I lock my door for a reason. I don’t want anyone in here,” came the usual grumble. “Apparently, some people just don’t aren’t getting the picture.”
“Well, tough shit. I need to speak to you about Sammy and Spyder.”
Silence fell on her words, but after at least a whole minute of waiting, the sound of the lock clicking in the door came through loud and clear.
Ava opened the door and peered out at her. “You have five minutes.”
Jessie rolled her eyes. “So generous with your time.”
“I know, but then, I’m busy. I have things to do unlike some people,” Ava retorted, folding her arms across her chest.
“Now, now, ladies. Less of the cat fight. We’re all Bears around here.”
Jessie blinked in surprise at the voice that broke into their conversation. She spun to face the bed and saw that Ava’s new mate, Chris, was laying there. He had his phone in his hand, and as she looked at him, he peered over the screen at her.
“Everything okay, Jessie?” he asked her softly.
She shook her head. “How can it be? I want my mate.”
“Don’t we all,” he replied, “but sometimes, you have to wait longer than you’d hope to finally have them.”
Jessie firmed her jaw and knew that complaining about having to wait for Spyder would fall on deaf ears with these two.
They’d been waiting for one another since Ava had hit puberty and had realized Chris was her mate.
It wasn’t that she wanted sympathy, but it was a good thing she didn’t because she’d get none from these two.
Ava eyed her a second. “You know who Sammy is?” When Jessie nodded, Ava’s lips twitched. “You managed to see Spyder then even though the Council forbade it.”
Ava didn’t sound in the least disapproving but Jessie didn’t want to get any of the moms into trouble. Mischa, Annette, and her own had worked against the Council for her sake. And Ava could be a bitch when it came down to her mother. She and Annette did not have the best of relationships. Plus Chris was on the Council, for Goddess sake.
Because of that, she shifted focus. “Spyder wants to concentrate on freeing his brother, and I don’t blame him. But I want to know what’s going on. He won’t tell me. Just says he wants to keep me out of danger.”
“Then he’s being a good mate,” Chris said softly, dumping his cell in his lap and leaning up on his hands. “You shouldn’t be involved in something like this, Jessie. It’s Council business. That’s why we’ve been trying to shield you from Spyder. To stop you getting too deep into a situation you can’t control.”
“Why is Ava involved then? This has nothing to do with her. He’s my mate.”
Ava rolled her eyes. “Don’t be stupid, Jessie. We all know what I’m capable of. We all know my daddy has dumped more Council crap on me in the last few years than most CPAs could handle.” She pursed her lips. “Of course, if you don’t want me to help your mate, I can always step back.”
The threat had Jessie’s top lip curling with dislike. They’d never gotten on. Being the same age group didn’t necessarily mean they should be friends. Neither did the fact their fathers and mothers were close.
They’d never liked one another. They were just too much like chalk and cheese.
“I know you’re bullshitting because you’re too fucking nosy to back out now. You do like to feel the importance of your own self-worth, don’t you, Ava?” she snarled, then when the other woman’s eyes flared in irritation, stated, “You’re doing this for your own reasons. I just want to know if there’s anything I can do to help, but also, I want to understand what’s happening.”
“There’s nothing a shop assistant can do. So, no. No help is required,” Ava stated bitchily.
“Goddesses, you two. Do I need to knock your heads together?” Chris demanded. “You’re both showing your ages, you know? You’re the ones who are so damn certain you’re ready to be mated, and yet you’re bitching at each other like Mean Girls in high school.”
For a second, his words hit home, and when they did, they stung. Then, Ava’s eyes widened as she caught Jessie’s gaze and the pair of them started sniggering.
“You’ve seen Mean Girls?” Ava demanded, turning on her mate with the ferocity that had so recently been aimed Jessie’s way.
Chris gawked at her. “That’s what you choose to focus on?”
“You’re nearly a hundred years old, and you’ve watched teen rom coms?”
He rolled his eyes. “What was I supposed to do? I was guarding your fucking sleepover when you and those bitch friends of yours from school came and spent the night here.”
Jessie snorted. “I bet he watched it by himself and that’s all bullshit excuse.”
Ava grinned. “You probably saw more of that movie than we did. All the girls were too busy trying not to gawk at you and Jarvis that day.”
“I remember,” he said grimly. “What a fucking duty that was too.”
“When was this?” Jessie demanded. “I don’t remember it.”
“My fourteenth birthday. I actually managed to persuade Daddy to agree to the sleepover. He agreed but only if we slept in the common room and that we were guarded through the night.”
“What? So he put you in the one room that is guaranteed to have alcohol in it?”
Chris snorted. “Why do you think we had to guard them?”
Jessie blinked. “I’m surprised the other girls’ parents agreed to it. Whenever I wanted a sleepover, my friends’ folks never allowed them.”
“It’s called lying, Jessie,” Ava retorted with a snort. “They all told their parents they were staying at another friend’s house. It was the only way to get in here, and most of them had crushes on the bikers so they were desperate to stay.” She chuckled at the memory. “Anyway, you’ll get used to lying now you’re mated. Lies are very important in a relationship.”
Chris hooted out a laugh. “Since when can you lie? You have so many tells I can’t wait to play you at strip poker.” He didn’t seem overly offended at his mate’s assurance that she’d lie to him, simply at Ava’s confidence.
Jessie held up her hands to stem the tide of this particular conversation. “Ew, guys. That’s TMI. Anyway, we’re getting off topic here. Look, I’ve not come to make trouble, and I know that’s all we usually make, but I just need answers. That’s all. There’s no point in going to my father. He won’t say a damn thing. And Spyder seems just as over protective.” She grimaced. “I’ve just spoken to him and he won’t tell me anything about what’s happening. Well, not the details, anyway.”
Ava’s brows rose. “You just saw him?” Her eyes flared wide. “Mom. I saw her half an hour ago with Spyder.”
“Your mom might have helped sneak the meeting,” she confessed.
Ava rolled her eyes. “Of course, she helps you. Just never her own daughter.”
Jessie couldn’t demur; Ava wasn’t half wrong. “Haven’t you figured it out yet? They all do it. They’re dead strict with their own brats, but helpful with the others. You’re close to Mischa, I’m close to your ma... Even the boys are the same. Jayden’s close to your father, but him and our dad act like they’ve been trapped in
a bees’ nest whenever they’re together.” She shrugged. “We love our cubs, and will do anything to keep them young, yet we don’t like being around them all that much.”
Ava sighed. “That’s really sad.”
“And stupid,” Chris argued immediately. “It makes no sense either.”
Jessie just cocked a brow. “Take a look around and tell me you don’t see it.”
Something she said had Ava folding her arms across her chest, looking her square in the eye, and saying, “Back when my mom and dad first mated, the MC was an actual MC rather than just playing at it for commercial gain.”
Chris huffed. “That’s so cynical.”
“And true,” Ava countered. “Now, we look like an MC to keep the cash flowing in, but we’re sell outs. Anyway, back then, we weren’t. And we were at war. A lot of wars, thanks to this Cartel leader called Martinez. He was the one behind the human trafficking ring Mischa was brought to the U.S. in.”
Jessie nodded. “I knew she got into the country illegally, I just didn’t realize the MC had anything to do with it.” She felt a little staggered inside because all her life the MC had been more honorary than anything else, so she asked, “The MC was involved in human trafficking?”
Ava nodded. “Before my dad was Prez, there was some douche who got into bed with this Cartel. Anyway, my dad took over and cut all ties. The shipment The Nomads was supposed to distribute, he stole instead and set all the women free. You following so far?”
“You’re not talking theoretical physics. I think I can cope.” Technically, she could. Emotionally was another matter. She was starting to see that the Council didn’t want to protect her from Martinez, but from the past, from learning what the MC had been like before Mars had taken over as Prez.
Human trafficking... dear Goddess.
Ava grunted. “So, Martinez, quite naturally, isn’t happy. He declares war on us. We get into shit, lose guys, some territory, and my dad decides he isn’t happy with the status quo. Major inadvertently gets involved with one of the Cartel’s women, and they hatch a plan for her to sneak some information to the IRS about this Martinez’s business dealings. It works, Martinez goes down, and he’s been there ever since.” She hunched her shoulders. “That’s a very quick recap, but you get the gist, right?”
She did. “He must be pissed.”
“Understatement,” Chris inserted, settling back on the bed once more now he realized a bitch fight wasn’t about to go down.
“Let’s fast forward all these years later. Martinez has a grudge, and he’s figured out a way to get the MC to pay. He arranges for this kid to be stitched up on a premeditated murder charge. Greases some palms to get it cemented in place, even gets the Assistant DA to play ball. The kid goes down. And wouldn’t you know it? He’s placed in Martinez’s jail. The bastard has the poor guy beaten up and tortured, and then sends the kid’s family a message. ‘Get The Nomads to agree to carry a package across the state border. If you do, we’ll protect your bro’.”
“Let me guess, the kid is Sammy.” She blew out a breath. “Not that it would take a brain surgeon to figure that one out. Goddess. So, that’s why he tried to kidnap you?”
“He figured using me as leverage was a sure fire way to get my dad to carry the package. The only reason I’m helping is because Sammy is innocent in all this, and I’ll do everything I can to get him out.”
“But how can you do that?”
“I donated a huge chunk to Senator Jamieson’s election campaign. The guy is pro anti-gun reform, and he believes the police are becoming a little too martial for the country’s good. I’m trying to find the way Martinez paid the Assistant District Attorney in charge of Sammy’s case, and once I’ve found that transaction, I’m going to take it to the Senator, and I’m going to get him to use it to appeal Sammy’s case. He’ll be out as soon as I find the information. Which is why being interrupted isn’t helpful.”
Reading the truth in that, Jessie nodded. “I’m sorry I interrupted. But Ava, please, keep me in the know. It’s driving me insane not being able to do anything.”
For a second, she felt sure Ava would argue. But she didn’t. Instead, she nodded.
“If anything crops up, I’ll tell you. They’re being dicks about closing down around you on this, but they’re always dicks, aren’t they?”
By ‘they’, Jessie knew Ava meant a mixture of their parents and the Council. It was always a mix because the line between Council and parents was always incredibly fine.
She stepped back and headed for the door. “Thanks, Ava,” she said softly before walking out of the room and down the hall, the few short steps to her own room.
She felt like she’d go insane if she spent any more time in there, but what choice did she have?
She had nowhere else she could go, and nothing else to do.
Irritation flooded her, but she quenched it. “Soon,” she murmured under her breath. “Soon.”
Chapter 4
Spyder peered at the package in his hands, and then, hesitantly, handed it over to his mate’s mother.
It was weird thinking of his woman in that way, but the moniker had caught. There was no other way to think of her.
It was as confusing and as simple as that.
As was the fact that when Spyder had appeared with the package the Cartel leader wanted the MC to carry over state lines, Mars hadn’t called in the big dogs; he’d called in Christie.
She stood in the door, hesitating in the way as the Council took a second to notice she’d arrived.
He was aware she was taking the time to look over the men, and realized why she was hesitating when she found him. He’d yet to meet her in the flesh, and she’d sought him out.
A slow smile creased her lips, and he couldn’t help but smile back.
She looked like Jessie. Or, he guessed, Jessie looked like her.
Well, aside from coloring. Jessie was white blond, as white as he himself was. Her hair was so fine it was like strands of gold were on her head, and they’d felt like silk against his mouth when he’d held her the other day.
Mundo cleared his throat, shattering Spyder’s attention. “I’d be jealous that my mate’s smiling at another male, but considering that male belongs to my daughter I think I can be benevolent.”
Christie snorted. “Aren’t you kindness itself, sugar?”
Her sweet sarcasm had Mundo’s grin widening. He pushed out his chair and patted his lap. “Come here, baby cakes.”
She rolled her eyes but entered the Council room. When she made it to his side, she slapped his shoulder. “You know I hate it when you call me that.”
“Yeah? Well, you know I love calling you it.”
She narrowed her eyes at him, but did as bade when he patted his lap again. She settled on his knee, then did something, Spyder had no idea what and had no real desire to know when Mundo, all of a sudden and for no real reason, started coughing.
Mars snorted. “Whatever the hell you’re doing to him, leave the man alone. We need both of you to focus and molesting the poor SOB ain’t gonna help us do that.”
Christie’s smile was politeness itself. “Of course, Mars.”
“Of course, Mars,” Mundo mockingly repeated. “Like butter wouldn’t damn melt.”
Mars chuckled. “Ain’t you lucky you got that sweet thing all to yourself?”
“No other bastard would have her,” Mundo grumbled, then did something that had her squeaking on his lap.
Spyder hazarded a guess that his future mother-in-law had just had her ass pinched right in front of him.
Dear God, he really didn’t need to see this shit.
“Pass her the box, kid,” Mars ordered.
Spyder had stopped chafing at the name ‘kid’ because he’d realized that in comparison to Mars, he was a fucking baby.
The son of a bitch was a couple of centuries old. Anyone that ancient made Spyder an embryo in comparison. He felt fortunate that Mars wasn’t calling him ‘fetus�
�.
Christie wrinkled her nose. “He doesn’t have to. I can smell it from over here.”
Mars cocked a brow. “You can?”
She nodded. “Sure. It stinks.”
“Am I missing something here?” he asked carefully. It was pretty much a rhetorical question though. He was always missing something when it came time to talking to these weirdos.
Shit, they were family now and it was never politically correct to think of Shifters as freaks, but lord, that was exactly what they were. But he felt certain the fact he was a part of the madness justified his way of thinking. If anyone could believe it, then he could.
Nothing ever made any fucking sense in this place. He was starting to take it as a given. It would have been hella handy to have his mate at his side, guiding him through the minefield that was an MC Bear Clan combo, but they were keeping her away from him.
A fact that was more than chafing at him.
Seeing her the other day hadn’t eased the situation any. If anything, it had made it a thousand times worse.
And the crazy fucking thing was, it wasn’t just about sex. Because sure, he wanted to fuck her so many ways he couldn’t see straight. But more than that, he needed her.
And Spyder had never needed a chick in his life.
Christie huffed out an annoyed breath in reply to his question. “It’s probably the one and only time my gift has come in handy.”
“Your gift?”
She nodded. “Shifter mates get a gift from the Goddesses during the binding.”
“Goddesses? Gift?” he asked, feeling as out in the cold as usual. Hell, he might as well have been out in the Arctic.
Christie pursed her lips. “Should we let Jessie tell him?”
Mundo shrugged. “He can ask her afterward. I told her she could see him because she’d been behaving so well.”
He tried not to show his excitement, but hell, who was he kidding? He lit up like a Christmas tree and everyone knew it, and he didn’t give a damn. A spattering of chuckling followed next, but he bore it all good-naturedly with a wide grin.
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