Big Dog looked around the table, everyone knew the serious nature of the claim Red and just made, and each face held a level of shock, but they all knew what they had to do. “Ok, well then it’s settled, we go find her.” Big Dog said. “Now we just have to start looking.”
They had split up, each group hitting known places that the Hellhounds had been spotted, but none of them had found anything. If it hadn’t been for a tip off from the local sheriff about some bikers causing a disturbance out at the old Turner hunting lodge they might have never found her. That thought sent a shiver down Red’s spine. He hadn’t even had a chance to be with her as a human for more than a few minutes and already he’d almost lost her.
“Hey man,” Donny-O stopped him in the hall, “Ya girl alright?”
“Yeah, mom is taking care of her.”
“Good,” he patted Red on the shoulder, “Listen, shit seems to be getting real around here and we’ve got to figure out what to do about it soon.”
“Yeah, I know,” and Red did, he just hadn’t had time to come up with a plan yet that wouldn’t get him killed.
“No, I mean it’s getting really real. During the fight tonight I saw Trainz let two of the Hellhounds go without even fighting. He just looked them in the eye and watched them go.”
Red nodded, he’d figured as much. The fighting had been chaotic and it was hard to keep track of what everyone was doing but he’d kept his eyes on BillCo and Trainz in particular and noticed that neither one had gotten hurt at all, or seemed to be fighting too hard to hurt the other guys.
He then filled in Donny-O about all the shit that had gone down at the shop while he’d been gone. A little nookie with the staff was understandable once in a while, raping the staff was a whole different damn story. The rest of the club might not think it was that big of a deal but to Red, who worked with these women every day and had come to think of them as an extended family, it was a big damn deal. And Trainz would have known that, he would have known that hurting one of the girls would have been a fast way to get under Red’s skin. But he’d thought Red was dead, so either he was doing it out of vengeance, just to sully anything that Red had been associated with, or he was just that kind of guy. Red wouldn’t have thought Trainz would have been that kind of guy, but he didn’t know anymore, he also wouldn’t have thought he’d have been the kind of guy to try to murder another man without reason. Or with no reason Red could figure out.
“Let’s get this shit settled with the Hellhounds and just keep a close watch on Trains and BillCo, then we can sort those fuckers out without having to worry about Hellhounds up our asses.”
Donny-O agreed. It wasn’t going to be pleasant but it had to be done. They couldn’t be a unified family with people who were backstabbing and trying to get members killed. It was going to be hard on the group when they realized that they had some traitors in their core, but it was always better to cut out the dead part of the wound fast so that healing could begin.
Now all he had to do was figure out what to do with Sidney until he got his shit together.
Sidney stared at the bowl of soup. She was supposed to eat it and it’d make her feel better. The lady with the big hair told her so.
She didn’t think the soup would make her feel better, she thought the soup might make her vomit.
“Here, take some saltine crackers and dip them in it. You need to get that broth in you, I promise it’ll make you feel better. Maybe not whole again, maybe not yet, but it will make you feel better.”
She already felt a little better. The woman had taken all her clothes off and washed her down with warm rags that felt soothing against the skin and had then wrapped her in a big black beach towel with a skull and crossbones on it. It was nice not to be covered in blood and torn clothes. But she didn’t think she could eat the soup. The soup was pushing things just a little too far.
“I killed that girl,” Sidney explained to the woman.
“Good. Bitch probably deserved it.”
Sidney looked at the cracker in her hand. No one deserved to die.
“Look, what would have happened if you hadn’t killed her?”
“She would have jumped on me and torn my throat out.”
“Aren’t you glad that you stopped her?”
“Stopping someone and killing them are two different things.”
The woman threw her hands on her hips, “Lord help. What animal on God’s Earth doesn’t protect itself? Does the lion worry about who he upsets when the hyenas attack? Does killing the one that would have killed him make him lose sleep at night?”
“We’re not animals.”
A laugh burst out of the woman, “Who told you that nonsense? Even people who aren’t shifters are animals just like all the other living things here on Earth. Except insects, I’m convinced they’re aliens.”
Sidney pondered the floating cracker again, before spooning it into her mouth. It’d probably be better to eat than it would be to talk. The broth soaked cracker tasted wonderful, and she found that she was hungry after all. She emptied the bowl and the woman placed a huge sandwich in front of her, Sidney grabbed her hand before she withdrew it. “What’s your name?”
“Glory, I’m Red’s Ma.” Sidney knew that, she’d heard him call her ‘Ma’ when they’d come in. She didn’t look like a mother in her skin tight acid washed jeans and blowout hair, but she acted like one.
“Thank you Glory.”
“Pshh, I ain’t done nothin nobody else wouldn’t do. Plus I know it was you who saved my baby. That debt won’t be paid anytime soon.”
Sidney didn’t reply just took a large bite of the best tasting club sandwich she’d ever had. There was no debt, in her mind anyway, taking care of injured animals was her job.
The door opened and Red entered, looking much better with his still damp hair and clean clothes. At the thought of it she decided a shower would be better than anything that had ever happened to her before in her life.
“How’s she doing?”
“She’s sitting right there, why don’t you ask?”
“I’m fine, turns out that the best way to treat shock is to shove food in your mouth,” she nodded at the empty bowl and plate.
“Ain’t that the truth. Food heals all wounds, that’s what I always say,” Glory took the dishes and stacked them in the sink.
“You’re sure? You’re not hurt anywhere?”
Sidney shook her head.
“They didn’t do anything… else to you did they?”
He meant rape, and her stomach clenched, her fears being brought back to the surface. It would have been so easy for them to do anything they wanted to her. Rape, torture, murder, anything.
“No.”
“Good, I’d hate to have to track down and kill even more of them before the night was over,” his large hand brushed a stray hair behind her ear and she shivered involuntarily.
“How many new bones did you collect tonight?” Glory asked.
He looked down at the bone patches that lined up across the front left side of his cut, there was already a long row. “Too many. I’m tired of fighting other shifters Ma. We should be working together, not constantly at each other’s throats.”
“That’s what your Daddy always said, but would anyone listen to him? No more than a pecker can reason.”
Sidney was watching them, taking in the discussion. “Well, this probably isn’t the best time to discuss it,” he laid the clothes he’d brought for her in the chair beside her. “It’s not what you’d normally wear but it’s the best I could do.”
She eyed the stack of clothes, whatever it was would be better than nothing. “I have some questions.”
Red cocked his eyebrow, the same way he had when she’d thought he was going to be her pet, “I’ll answer anything you want to know.”
“Who took me? And why?”
“It was the Hellhounds, they took you because they wanted to get to us and you were an easier target than one of our women who is
surrounded by her family and can fight for herself too.”
“Doc here didn’t do too bad, earned herself a bone,” Glory pointed out.
“But why would they think that taking me would ‘get to’ you guys at all? I mean you barely even know me!”
There she was wrong, Sidney might think she didn’t know him that well, but he knew her. He knew how she liked her coffee, he knew how she snored softly when she slept at night, how she liked to throw one leg over him and cuddle him close. He knew she was sweet and funny and vulnerable but strong and kind at the same time. He knew she had a freckle on her left ass cheek that he couldn’t wait to bite. He knew that she sang songs from Disney movies when she took a bath and that she ate too much junk food and hated to cook. In the week he’d stayed with her, watching every move she’d made, he knew her better than anyone he’d ever been with before in his life, but what he knew most of all was that he wanted her to know him the same way. But now wasn’t the time to mention that.
“They probably tracked my scent to your house and waited until I left.”
“But just because they smelled you there, they thought I meant something to you?”
“Well I was there a week, maybe they just assumed that we were… together.”
The color rose to Sidney’s cheeks, flustered she spat out, “But who are they? A rival… pack?”
“A rival Club, yes.”
“Club? Like the Rotary Club?”
A burst of laughter shot from his mother, “A motorcycle club honey, it’s all a very big deal,” she continued to chortle as the conversation continued.
“So all werewolves are in motorcycle clubs?” Sidney was incredulous. This was the most ridiculous thing she’d ever heard. Next thing they were going to tell her that all of the Hell’s Angels were actually Angels.
“No, not all shifters are in the Club, we’re just the… protection. We make sure everyone in our community stays safe and has what they need. If someone needs a roof, we put on a roof, if someone picks a fight with one of ours, we take care of it.”
“So this, Three Rivers, is your community? How many werewolves… uh, shifters live here?”
Red exchanged a look with Glory, they didn’t really like to advertise their numbers to people who weren’t one of them, but Sidney deserved her answers, “About 75 percent of Three Rivers is part of our family.”
“Jesus Christ, are you serious?” No wonder no one had wanted to have anything to do with her, they might not be a cult intent on eating her at the apple festival but damn if they weren’t a close second.
“Well, we intentionally built this town up so that we’d have a place to live in peace. Outsiders move in sometimes but they generally don’t like it very much. We’re a bit of a close knit group.”
“You’re telling me,” she said wondering if even her freaky little assistant was a werewolf, “So what’s the deal with the Hellhounds, why are they fighting you if you’re protecting the community?”
“That trash isn’t part of our community,” Glory spat.
“They don’t live here, they want to live here, but we keep pushing them back across our borders.”
“Why? If they’re shifters too, why not let them in?”
He and his mother glanced at each other again, this wasn’t the conversation he wanted to have right now.
“Drugs honey, drugs and human trafficking. They go to bigger cities and steal women they don’t think will be missed and sell them overseas where those perverts like having young white girls as slaves. We might not be quite on the up and up but we draw the line at slavery,” Glory explained.
She’d been kidnapped by a shifter motorcycle club involved in the slave trade, it all made perfect sense now. Sidney rubbed her hand over her face, the day couldn’t get any more screwed up than it already was, “Ok, ok. Do you think it’d be possible for me to get a shower?”
“Yeah, the bathroom is right down the hall.”
“Wait,” she looked down at herself, “Are there people out there?”
“Go on sweetcheeks, half of the people out there will be naked anyway, at least you’ve got a towel.” Glory picked up the bundle of clothes and handed them to Sidney, urging her out. Maybe she’d used up all the motherly care Glory had stored up at the moment.
She followed Red to the bathroom, a surprisingly clean room with three toilet stalls and three shower stalls… none of which had doors or curtains.
“Hey will you…”
“I’ll stand at the door and make sure no one goes in.”
“Thanks,” she shut the door behind her and turned the water on its hottest setting. It’d take more than hot water to cleanse away everything that had happened, but it couldn’t hurt to try.
The clothes Red had found her seemed to be for someone three sizes smaller and with tastes that ran contrary to her own. Beggars couldn’t be choosers, she reminded herself as she pulled up the stretchy skinny jeans and the tank top. It wouldn’t leave much to the imagination but at least keep her covered.
Red, true to his word was still standing outside of the door when she emerged.
“Would you mind taking me home now? I know you’re tired too but all I really want in my life right now is to be in my bed.”
“My bed will have to do.” The blurry image of him pressing down on her in her own bed rose to the forefront of her brain and brought the blood rushing to her face, he probably knew exactly what she was thinking.
“I, uh…”
“Until we get the situation settled with the Hellhounds, I think you’d probably do better staying here. With us.”
She hadn’t thought about that, the last thing she wanted was another run in with those people but sharing a bed with Red seemed to be asking for trouble, “Ok but, I don’t know if…”
“What, you shared a bed with me all week and it didn’t seem to bother you,” his handsome face grinned down at her and he leaned in a little closer.
“I didn’t know you were a man!”
“No, you thought I was a wolf, which clearly shows a lack of common sense on your part. Wouldn’t you rather share a bed with a man, like me, than a hairy old wolf?”
His gaze traveled up and down her, she could almost feel his eyes touching her as they moved across her body, “I, uh…” His mouth descended closer towards hers and she lost all train of thought. She felt his breath mingle with hers, felt his chest press her closer to the wall, and she looked up into those golden eyes and forgot what she’d wanted to say in the first place.
Red’s lips captured hers and molded themselves to her, teasing with their softness, moving gently with hers, driving the growing fire deeper into her belly. It wasn’t the kind of kiss she would have expected from a man like him. Exploring, tongue teasing the sensitive areas of her mouth, gently sucking her bottom lip.
A sigh escaped her and the kiss deepened, became more demanding, questing. She answered him with her own demands, wanting to get lost in the kiss and never resurface.
But with low groan he released her and stepped back, “I’ll sleep in the commons tonight. You probably need some rest after everything you’ve been through.”
She nodded, the loss of the kiss was almost a physical pain, but she didn’t want to be rash about anything, and inviting him to share a bed was something she’d probably regret. At the moment, however, the only thing she regretted was that he wasn’t staying with her.
He walked her to his room and stood at the door, looking uncomfortable to even be there, “In the second drawer there, you’ll find some tee shirts. Those might be more comfortable to sleep in,” he gestured to what she had on, “than that.”
She nodded, unsure of what to say, scared she’d beg him to stay with her if she said anything at all. Scared that he would stay with her if she asked. So she just nodded and watched as he turned around and went down the hallway. Leaving her alone with everything that had happened that day, everything she’d learned, and all the misconceptions she’d had shattered alon
g the way. The biggest one being that her world was safe and sane. Neither of those things were true anymore and Sidney wasn’t sure how she was going to cope with that knowledge.
Red had not had the best of nights. The old couch in the commons was not the most comfortable place to sleep anytime, but when his mind was full of doubts about the Club, worries about the Hellhounds, and the memory of Sidney in that skin tight top that showed every curve of her voluptuous body, including the memory of two rock hard nipples that had tormented him through the night, it was even less than ideal.
He gave up on sleep early, choosing instead to call the shop and take care of some business over the phone. He’d hired a manager a few months ago but he still had to answer about a thousand questions a day and do the majority of the paperwork. When he’d first taken over for his dad he’d hated every moment of it. He hadn’t thought that pushing papers and banging away on a calculator was any type of job for a Club member, any Club member, much less himself. He wanted to be out on his ride, getting into trouble, and keeping shit together for the family, not sitting around listening to hookers bitch about the brand of lube he’d ordered for them.
Wounded (Dogs of War MC Book One) Page 6
