Brain

by Candace Blevins

  On the second afternoon, I fell asleep on the upper deck, and awoke to see Bash picking Harmony up. If I’d seen a picture of it, I’d have been upset at her arm around his neck. However, seeing it in motion, how tender and careful he was with her, how casual and relaxed and… comfortable the whole thing was — it finally sank home just what the men had likely had to do to get Harmony through the three days after her injury, without me.

  And how she’d not only forgiven them, she’d grown close to them.

  Duke, of course, knew I’d seen it, but he kept quiet until they were inside. He turned to me, his eyes solemn as he explained, as if he was afraid I’d be mad. “She needed to use the restroom and didn’t want to wake you.”

  I’d figured as much. With the splint on her knee, she could get around okay as long as there were no steps to navigate, but there wasn’t a bathroom on this level.

  “I need to find a way to thank all of you, for taking care of her.”

  “Come home to us, Brain. We don’t need thanks. You’re our brother, she’s your woman. End of story.”

  For the first time, I began to consider the possibility.

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Harmony

  How annoying that I didn’t dare lust after the five hunks on this boat with me, lest they smell my arousal, because all of them on the upper deck in shorts and no shirt was enough to make any woman swoon. I mean, sure, the only one I wanted was Brain, but with so much eye candy… damn it was hard not to stare.

  Gonzo had horrid scars on his chest, which meant he hadn’t been born a wolf, and he’d been shot or perhaps stabbed when he was still human. The scars just gave him more of a rogue, muscled, bad-ass look, though, and somehow managed to work in his favor.

  The captain had offered to take us by the Great Maya Reef, and said we could stop for some snorkeling, if we wanted. I was paying nearly a hundred grand to rent the yacht and captains, and figured the half-day excursion would help make it worth it — plus, it’d give us more happy memories. Not that anything could erase the bloodbath in the plane.

  The outer wound area on my leg was healing well, and I thought a dip in the ocean would do me some good. I’d have to do one-legged kicks, but no biggie.

  I hadn’t expected the sheer beauty of this underworld ecosystem, though, or the joy the guys would find in it. Perhaps it’s because they’re werewolves, but they pointed things out to me I’d have missed — little fish and other critters so well camouflaged, I had to look at where they pointed a few seconds before I saw what they were showing me.

  It would’ve been so easy to just see the flashy fish, and miss the whole other world of creatures who didn’t want to be seen.

  Our side trip helped with the timing, so we arrived in Cancun in the middle of the night. We disembarked, I tipped the crew, and we picked up the rental car Ranger had already made arrangements for.

  The guys were back on guard, after being relaxed and at ease for a few days, but I understood the danger of travelling in Mexico with over three million dollars cash in our suitcases. However, if we didn’t tell anyone what we had, no one would know.

  Brain could pull off badass when he needed to, but the other three guys looked pretty tough whether they were trying or not. Ranger walked as if he were lethal, Bash and Gonzo looked like they’d just as soon punch you in the face as smile at you, and Duke was just big and muscled and… confident.

  We were all heavily armed, and we didn’t intend to stop during the nearly four hour drive from Cancun to the private airstrip.

  I hoped my bladder cooperated.

  We were in a minivan, and they situated me so I could prop my leg and keep it straight. Duke drove, Ranger was in the passenger seat, and Brain and I were in the middle seats.

  Twenty minutes into our drive, no one had spoken, and I fished for something to talk about. “I know Brain and Duke were born wolves, what about the rest of you?”

  No one said anything for a few minutes, and Bash finally said, “I was born into it, are you thinking of asking Brain to turn you?”

  “No, I was just curious. If I shouldn’t have asked, I apologize.”

  “It’s kind of personal,” Gonzo said from behind me, “to those of us who were turned. Kind of like asking about someone’s first time having sex, but I know stuff about you, so it’s only fair I share, I guess.”

  “No, that’s okay,” I told him. “I didn’t mean to pry.”

  “I won’t give details of how I lost them, but my wife died, and then my children were killed a few years later. A few hours later, I was nearly killed by the person who murdered my children, and when I finally recovered, my life was just… gone. I decided to sell everything I owned and hike the Appalachian Trail while I figured out what to do with myself. I hiked from Georgia to the section on the Virginia and West Virginia border, but I was so tired of being around people. I’d expected solitude on the trail, but some days it was a fucking freeway of hikers.”

  He paused so long I wasn’t sure he’d keep going, but he finally did. “I took off on a side trail, intending to hike to a nearby city, but a local pack had taken some of their adolescents out on a long run. Those who are born have their first change during puberty, and it takes them a while to gain control of their wolves. I was mauled pretty bad before the adults could stop them. They carried me home, and doctored my wounds to keep me alive until my first change could heal me.”

  I could hear the emotion in Gonzo’s voice, and I was sorry I’d asked. Bash picked up the story for him, and I once again marveled at how close the members of the pack I’d met so far were with each other. “During one of his changes, Gonzo ran into the woods and stayed wolf for five months. The pack finally got him back to one of their houses, and the local Alpha forced him back to human. He went through hell learning to control his wolf, since he’d been the wolf so long. It took him nearly a week before he spoke to them, he says he’d almost forgotten how language worked.”

  This explained so damned much about the man. “I’m so sorry to have brought back bad memories, Gonzo.”

  Gonzo ignored me, apparently in control of his voice enough to continue his story. “When it came time to swear loyalty to the pack and officially join it, I refused. The Alpha had helped me by forcing me back to human, but I didn’t want anyone to have the final say in my free will. Honestly, I think they were glad I refused, as it kept my fucked-up energy from mixing into their pack permanently. The father of one of the boys who mauled me gave me a Harley and the RTMC’s Atlanta address, and he let Bud know I was on my way and they should give me a chance.” He took a deep breath, let it out. “Brain and Duke are the ones who helped me find a way to truly be human again. I’d follow them to the ends of the earth, and I thought I was helping when I…”

  “Don’t apologize again,” I told him when he trailed off. “It’s forgiven. I don’t even want to use you as a punching bag anymore, which I wouldn’t have believed possible a week ago.”

  Ranger didn’t offer his story, and I didn’t ask.

  I hugged Gonzo when we got out of the van, though, and thanked him again for sharing his story with me. He hugged me back and said, “I don’t know what the Russians did to you, and I don’t need the details to know the things Bash and I did brought back horrible memories and had to have put you in a terrible place. I’m truly sorry.”

  The flight back was uneventful, and then we had a thirty-minute cab drive before someone picked us up in one of Aaron’s helicopters and took us back to Chattanooga.

  I wanted nothing more than to go home with Brain, alone, but we agreed to stay in a guest room at Duke’s house that night, before he and Gen drove us home the next day.

  I’d heard a lot about Duke’s wife, and I knew she and Brain were close, but after the little bit I’d been around her at Abbott’s, I hadn’t expected to like her as much as I did.

  She lived in a huge house with a killer view, but she didn’t act like your typical rich bitch in ridiculous heels, though
she looked the part when she first arrived home, shortly after us. However, she immediately changed into casual jeans and a plain t-shirt, her feet bare as she gave me the option of, “wine, beer, margaritas, or most anything else.”

  “She likes Long Island Tea,” Brain told her, before I could decline.

  I glared at him and said, “Only when I’m trying to get drunk.” I turned to Gen. “If you’re going to open the wine anyway, I’d like a glass with you, please.”

  The second we sat in her living room, the guys with beer bottles, Gen and I with wine glasses, she told Brain, “Please tell me this means you’re coming back to the MC?”

  “Don’t pressure him, Beautiful. He needs to make up his own mind, in his own time. Same as always,” Duke said, his voice sad, though he smiled at his wife as he said it.

  “He’s my friend, too. I’ll pressure him if I want to.” I smiled at her tone of voice, and grinned at Duke as he rolled his eyes at Brain as if to say, “Sorry, dude, I tried.”

  I’d settled up with Aaron when we arrived back in the ‘copter, thankful he accepted cash. I owed him for the final plane ride, cleanup on the original plane, and for the copter ride at the end. I’d tried to give Duke, Gonzo, and Bash fifteen thousand each, for their time and help, since that’s about what I’d have had to pay for three of Aaron’s men for that length of time. However, they’d all refused the money, saying Brain was their brother and it was the least they could do.

  So now, my heart soared when Brain said, “Harmony and I have a lot to discuss in the coming weeks, to decide where we’ll live, what we’ll do. Coming back to the Chattanooga RTMC wasn’t an option before, now it is, but I can’t make any promises.”

  Gen looked at me, and I told her, “The MC here is his family, and sometimes families fight, but they make up. My vote will be for him to rejoin his family, if we can make it work.”

  She lifted her wine glass towards me before taking a sip and saying, “Thank goodness. I’ve really missed him, and I know the guys have.”

  I learned Gen was a Realtor, and she’d known Duke as a teenager, though he’d never given her the time of day, since he was friends with her big brother and thus she was off limits. Hearing the story of how they’d gotten together helped explain how this well dressed, well spoken, beautiful woman ended up with the rough-and-tough barrel-chested biker.

  Brain and I fit together so well because we’re so much alike, but it seemed in the case of Duke and Gen, it was the whole opposites attract thing.

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Harmony

  In the three weeks since we’d arrived home, my leg had healed enough for me to walk a few miles a day, though I wasn’t doing any legwork at the gym, and hadn’t tried to run, yet.

  And because I couldn’t strain it when bent, Brain had to be on top all the time when we fucked, which had taken a lot of getting used to. Before, he’d often let me on top first, until I was near orgasm, before flipping us around to missionary.

  I’d waited until we were home, alone, to tell him I loved him again. I hadn’t had the nerve on the yacht, but the first time Brain made love to me after we were home, it just kind of came out, and the look in his eyes made me melt as I saw how much my words meant to the man, and how much the sentiment meant to the wolf.

  Now, we were like kids who couldn’t stop saying it.

  After being alone and on my own for so long, I was thankful Brain had cared enough to find me and then refuse to let go.

  Now, I needed to pay him back by reuniting him with his MC family.

  So, as we sat outside on the porch that night and listened to the katydids and tree frogs, I told him, “The Harmony identity officially has four hundred and twenty-seven dollars in the bank, with rent of more than three times that due in a week, and a car payment and credit card payment due soon after. It’s time for me to get a job and start working on ways to launder my cash, so I can pay bills with it.”

  “If I go back to the MC instead of taking Aaron’s job offer, his plan no longer works, as he’ll have no way to pay you what you’re worth.”

  “I’m thinking the best way for me to make sure Ice stays off the radar, is to retire her completely. I want to raise horses, and teach people to ride them, and maybe board other people’s horses for extra income, and do fantabulous adventure camps in the summer. One of my old identities with money is going to buy the place, and then hire Harmony to run the food shack. I’ll hire someone else for that, so I can be the general manager in reality.”

  There had been stables at the private school my father had sent me to, and the horses were my refuge. Teenage girls can be cruel, but the horses were always there for me. I wanted to give that to other teens. I took a breath and plunged in with what I’d already done. “Gen found me some property not too far away from the road you used to live on. Someone bought your old house, but there are a few lots left, and you can buy one from the MC and we can have our dream home built.”

  I’d learned the MC had bought a huge tract of land backing a little-used area of the Chickamauga Battlefield. They’d developed their land into a subdivision, which gave them a place for their wolves to run, as they could literally run out their back door into the forest. They didn’t offer the land to just anyone, but most of the core members lived there, the exception being Duke and Gen, since she was happy with her house and Duke had moved in with her.

  Brain pulled me into his arms and held me several long moments before saying, “Okay, Buttercup. We’ll go look at the land with Gen in a few days. Do you have pictures?”

  “I do,” I told him as I pulled away and reached for my tablet. “It already has horse fencing and an older barn. I can probably start with it as is, and then add buildings and activities as I go.”

  I wanted a climbing wall and a zip line, and maybe a ropes course, for the summer camp.

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Brain

  Bikers don’t get emotional, so I walked into the clubhouse and to the back room for the meeting as if I’d been doing it all along. I accepted my Chattanooga patch back, and then glared at Duke as he seconded Bash’s motion for me to be voted in as VP, and then started the vote.

  The vote was unanimous, and Bash cut the patch off his vest and handed it to me as he said, “Damn, it’s good to have you back. Is Harmony ready for the party tonight?”

  I shook my head. “She thinks she is, but can any of our women ever be ready for their first RTMC party, when they haven’t been part of our world before?”

  “She’ll be fine,” Duke assured me. “Gen and Bethany will take her under their wing, and I’m thinking with the three of them on the women’s splatterball team, we might should go practice our strategy.”

  I shook my head. “I have one more piece of business.” I looked around the table and told them, “My woman prefers a taser over a firearm. I know the usual practice is to get to know someone before we vote them weapons privileges, but I need ya’ll to trust the opinions of myself, Duke, Gonzo, and Bash, and vote to give her permission for her taser, and/or her knife and pepper spray. She occasionally carries a gun, and is damned good with it, but I won’t ask for you to approve her for it on RTMC property, yet.”

  Dawg looked at Gonzo and asked, “You’re okay with her having her toys here?”

  “Yeah.”

  He didn’t elaborate, and no one asked him to. Duke took the vote, and they all voted in favor. I was afraid this’d be a sore point, because they hadn’t voted in favor for Gen at first, and it’d caused problems, but Duke’s smile told me he was happy with the outcome.

  “Need to bring you up to speed on some things,” Dozer said, his voice gruff. “Bash is still in charge of the girls, and the operation is running as smooth as can be expected. We got nineteen now, and we’ve had to turn customers away on the weekends a few times, so we’re still recruitin’. We brought in a few shipments of foreign guns and made a tidy profit, but for a number of reasons, we voted to stop. One of the prospects already
has his FFL. He owns a pawn shop and isn’t doing much with it, right now, and we’re in talks with him to expand his current business model with the club’s backing, if he gets voted in full patch.”

  Right, because I’d screwed the pooch by leaving town before my license could be approved.

  “Our relationship with local LEO went way down after McPherson disappeared,” Duke continued. “We’re trying to build it back, but the trust isn’t there. When we invite them to our parties, most of the ones who come seem to be here as investigators more than guests.”

  “I’ve tried to keep all your systems up and working,” said McGyver, “but I’m not you, and I could never figure out why some of the cameras stopped working. I’ll be more than happy to hand the control room back over to you.”

  “No,” I told him. “Before, I pretty much lived here, and went home a few nights a month. Now, I’m gonna be going home to my woman the same as Duke goes home to Gen. I’ll figure out what screwed up, explain it to you, and point you where to go to learn more. The control room’ll be run in shifts, same as every other position around here. We’re gonna have at least eight people capable of manning it, and three capable of troubleshooting. If some of the prospects wanna learn, I’ll teach some classes, see who can pick it up, and then point them towards online lessons to learn more.” I looked around and added, “No one should be indispensable.”

  Fifteen minutes later, as my ass sat in the chair in the control room, I let myself get a tiny bit emotional, as this truly felt like coming home.

  I’d been working for maybe twenty minutes when the door buzzer interrupted my thoughts. I looked at the camera, saw Margie on the camera holding my preferred beer brand, and let her in as I spun my chair to face the door.

  “Brought ya a beer,” she said as she held it up.

  “Thanks,” I gave her a pleasant smile and accepted it, and hoped she’d just deliver it and go, but had a feeling she wouldn’t.