When he nodded, she squeezed his fingers. The day had started with little promise, but now, her world had been turned completely on its head.
She’d endured many changes of late, had to deal with circumstances no one else could have endured, and yet, somehow, even though she was scared, she knew this man was her reward. And she would never be so churlish as to turn him away.
Chapter Three
Searching for a particular brother, Mischa peered around the corner of the rec room, saw a crowd of men, all of them huge, and then slammed her shoulders back. She’d known she had nothing to fear before, rationally, at least. Now, she knew she was untouchable.
The feeling was electric. Kiko was the second in command in this MC, but more than that, he was liked and well respected among his brethren. No one would touch her. She knew that and loved the security that blanketed her from the rest of the world simply because she was Kiko’s mate.
Of course, it wasn’t fair or right that she needed a man to feel invincible, but that wasn’t the world they lived in. Or, that was to say, it hadn’t been. This was her world now. And here, she was invincible.
She watched as Mundo slammed into a seat, shoulders rounded. He had a beer in front of him but was using one hand to rub the back of his neck.
One of the other men, the one who had helped patch up her hand when she’d accidentally sliced her palm cooking, took a seat next to him. His name was an odd one, Major, but then, they all had odd names. Her mate had one of the strangest! She had always believed Major was a position in the army, but this wasn’t an army. And he didn’t have the bearing of a soldier, at least not that she could recognize.
His words broke into her confusion, a state that wasn’t entirely uncommon with the weird way these people spoke.
“How’s Christie?” Major asked, a concerned frown on his brow as he took a sip from a sweating beer bottle.
Mundo let out a sigh. “Adapting.”
“That sounds ominous.”
“Because it is. She’s better now that we’re mated. At least her body isn’t working against her.”
Having seen that Kiko wasn’t in the rec room, she knew she should go and not listen in to what was obviously a private conversation, but Christie was Mundo’s new mate, and she was a mate too now, so his words intrigued her. She wanted to know more about this position she’d inadvertently found herself in.
Major seemed to understand what Mundo was talking about because he nodded and slapped a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “I’m glad that’s sorted out. But, I get the feeling that just because her body is on track, her head isn’t?”
Mundo gulped down some beer. Once he’d swallowed, he rested the glass bottle on the table and ran his thumb over the lip. His fingers were clean, but there were traces of oil in the corner of one nail. All the men wore these tiny signs of their love of bikes, but that was all there was. It always astonished her how clean they were. Her father had loved to tinker with their old car, a battered Ford Zodiac that had been ancient before he’d bought it. Her mama had always complained when he turned up to the dinner table with dirty nails and oil grafted into his fingers.
A smile twitched across her lips at the memory before her curiosity was tweaked once more by the conversation in front of her.
“She had a couple of nightmares last night,” Mundo eventually admitted. “Nearly scared the shit out of me when she woke up screaming.”
“She was kidnapped, Mundo,” Major murmured, his tone soft.
Mischa’s eyes widened. Kidnapped? But, Mundo was Christie’s mate? Hadn’t he just said that?
Feeling a little nauseated, Mischa rested her back against the wall but kept her ears open.
“I know she was, Major,” Mundo snarled. “You don’t have to tell me that. I still want to go after that fucking gang and rip their heads off, but I can’t. So, I won’t. Doesn’t mean the urge to kill the motherfuckers isn’t there.”
“Do you agree with what Mars said?” Major asked, his voice low. “This no retaliation shit... it’s not going to go down well with the brothers.”
Mundo blew out a breath. “Because it was my mate, I want to say no. But I know he’s right. We’re changing, Major. Adapting. Evolving. We can’t be the same club we always used to be.”
“I’m all for evolving if it seems the smartest option, but evolution is a slow process. Mars is taking us right from Neanderthals to modern day man. Christ, a lot of the brothers don’t understand why the Prez is so opposed to violence. They get that he’s mated. They’re jealous, but they know how that changes a man, so they’re cutting him slack, but for how long will that go down?”
“You been hearing rumbles?” Mundo asked, worry puckering his brow. He peered around the rec room, scanning to see who was listening in. He didn’t see Mischa peering at them from the safety of the hall.
“Rumbles isn’t the word I’d use. Like I said, they get that he’s mated. They understand that shit’s gotta change now we have mates in the building, not just old ladies, but still... A leopard doesn’t change his spots. We’ve had more attacks from the cartel, and we’re not doing anything other than defending our territory. Then this shit with Christie… It isn’t sitting well that we’re not retaliating, and though I get where Mars is coming from more than most, it doesn’t gel with me either.
“That isn’t our war, Major. You know that. They were after her because of her job, not because she’s my mate. That’s irrelevant, unlike the situation with the cartel.”
Major snorted. “Bullshit. It doesn’t matter that it ain’t our battle to fight, Mundo. That isn’t how we work, and don’t be slow, you know that as well as I do. If someone attacks one of our own, and Christie is more than that—she’s at fucking ‘exalted’ status because she’s a mate—then you know we’re all in for the kill.”
“The women don’t like violence.” Mundo sounded ill at ease.
“They’re humans. Of course, they don’t. They don’t understand our world. But what they don’t know doesn’t harm them.”
“They’ll find out,” Mundo’s words were glum. “They always find out. Just because you don’t have a mate doesn’t mean you don’t know how women work. When don’t they learn about shit you want to keep secret? And I can’t go to jail again, Major. County jail won’t be my next call if they haul my ass inside, and I refuse to do anything that would separate me from her. I had to deal with that shit for two weeks… It killed me before we were fully bound, and now? I don’t even think I could survive it.”
“We have men who would be willing to fight for your mate’s honor. You wouldn’t have to do shit.”
“That doesn’t set well with me.” Mundo shook his head when Major started to protest. “No, it doesn’t. Not only because I know Christie would hate that, but because it’s going against what Mars wanted, and as a Prez, I think he’s doing a good job.”
“I never said he isn’t. I think he’s doing a great job,” Major immediately countered. “But I think he’s taking things too fast. He’s not letting the guys adapt to these major changes. I know that’s dangerous. Especially when the truth of the matter is, not everyone hated Jackson. You know he had his supporters, and they’re making more waves than most.”
That had Mundo narrowing his eyes at his brother. “You mention anything to him about this?’
Major grimaced. “No. Not yet. Thought I’d run it past you first.”
“Why?” Mundo frowned. “I don’t have any say in shit like this.”
“’Course you do. We all know you have his ear. And if not Mars, then Kiko, at least.”
Mundo gawked at his brother for a second. “Are you shitting me?”
“No. Of course not. We all know you’re third in command.”
“I’m not!” Mundo wheezed, looking so astonished that it was almost comical to behold. “I’m just...”
Major snorted then slapped him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. I just... I just feel like we’re going too far to
o fast, and I like Mars. I respect him as Prez, and a lot of the guys do too. I wouldn’t want him to fail simply because he’s trying for too much too soon.”
“I-I could talk to him about it, I guess,” came the shaken retort.
“I shouldn’t push this shit on you now, not when you’re newly mated and your mate was abducted yesterday.” Major huffed out a breath. “Talk about the worst timing ever.”
“No. If you figured it was important, then it’s important, Mundo. Christie will get used to the MC and its ways, and I’ll get used to the fact she’s a dentist with more connections than she realized.” He rolled his eyes. “It’s a learning curve. That’s what I’m coming to see, anyway.”
“Is she happy? Aside from the... well, you know.”
“Yeah. Unfortunately, I do. She’d be happier if I wasn’t in the MC, but that’s not going to happen. Now she knows we’re more than just bikers, we’re a clan, I think she’s starting to understand it more. When she thought our enemies were behind the abduction, it was worse. She was mad at me, and I don’t know if I’d have kept her at my side if I’d have chosen The Nomads over her.”
Major frowned, took another sip of his beer, and then asked, “Is it true what they say, Mundo?”
“Probably.” Mundo snickered. “The mate bond is a thousand times better and worse than I imagined. Did I ever think I’d dump my brothers for a chick? No. But for Christie—and it would kill me—I would. I’d have no choice.” He gulped. “Without getting touchy-fucking-feely, Major, she’s my happiness.”
“Too much info, bro,” Major retorted, smirking to show he was teasing.
Mundo flipped him the bird then grumbled, “Anyway, less talk of my feelings. How did Jaxon get on with that delivery last night? Was he...”
As their conversation trailed onto club business and far less interesting matters, Mischa’s attention broke off tangent and spitfired back to Christie and the fact she’d been abducted because of her job, not something the MC did.
Mischa knew the MC was at war with the cartel who had held her and the other women. But from what the men had said, it wasn’t a bloody war. Both sides weren’t out and out at battle. She knew how that worked, had seen it on TV once. The American dramas managed to make everything seem so real, after all, and the last thing she wanted was Kiko involved in something of that nature.
Crazy though it was, Mundo made sense. Now she that understood what connection was binding them together, Mischa could allow the links to strengthen between them.
When it had just been attraction, faint and easily shelved, she could ignore it. She’d pushed it aside in favor of protecting the inner core of her that she had to defend at all costs. But now she knew he was a Shifter, that changed things. It changed them beyond recognition.
This wasn’t just about sex. When Kiko looked at her, he wasn’t imagining her in bed for a quick fuck. He didn’t have one night on his mind, but a lifetime of nights. And to a woman like Mischa, that mattered. That mattered deeply.
The crux of the issue was she had to feel safe with him, but how could she when he was affiliated with an MC that considered being at war with a cartel a regular state of play?
Pondering the thought, she headed back to her bedroom. The other women had returned a short while ago, and she thought it was time for her to spill the beans to Annette.
The Prez’s young-old lady had been trying so hard to understand what had happened during their time with the cartel. She’d had one of the men translate question after painstaking question for some editorial she wanted to write in the paper she worked for.
Mischa wouldn’t lie and say she hadn’t felt guilty about hiding her ability to speak English, but self-preservation was all that counted. And as that thought crossed her mind, Mischa realized she was getting sick of being scared all the time.
Those feelings she’d experienced earlier had highlighted how much of her life she’d spent frightened of something or someone. She’d been so brave as a child, so exuberant. But now, she was a fearful little mouse scared of her own shadow.
Sickening.
Pitiful.
She sucked in a breath and sought out Annette in her small office on the second floor.
As she wended her way up the stairs, she passed brothers, but rather than keep her head ducked and shoulders hunched, hiding from them, she forced herself to straighten up, look dead ahead, and not cower beneath her bangs.
It was hard.
So hard.
Even though she disliked the fact she wanted to hide, it didn’t make the habit any easier to break. She could feel cold sweat beading on her top lip and instinctively wanted to duck behind her fringe to escape notice, certain that the men would see her weakness and pounce on it.
By the time she made it to the second floor, her lungs were burning, and her heart was pounding like she’d climbed the Empire State Building, not a couple of dozen of steps.
Mischa pressed a hand to her chest, felt her heart fluttering away, and shook her head at her own folly.
She didn’t like what she’d become.
Knocking on the door to Annette’s office, she waited for the other woman to holler an invite in. When it was forthcoming, she opened the door and stepped inside. Rather than peering around it as she would have done before, she headed to the space in front of Annette’s desk and waited for her attention.
Annette was looking down at some books she was reading and quickly glanced up then down again. When she realized it was Mischa, her head jerked up like she’d been slapped.
“Mischa? What are you doing here?”
Mischa only came upon request, and even then one of the brothers usually had to ‘remind’ her several times that Annette wanted to speak to her. They weren’t forceful; they just provided an escort.
Annette made a move with her lips then grumbled, “Shit, I wonder where Dickie is.”
He was their translator.
Mischa sucked in a deep breath then murmured, “We don’t need Dickie. I wanted to talk to you about something important.”
Annette’s astonishment was as deep as Kiko’s. Her eyes bugged out, and her mouth worked as she realized Mischa had been hiding this secret for a very long time.
She cleared her throat and replied, “I’d like to say I’m annoyed at you for keeping this a secret when it would have been very useful to have a translator, but I can understand.” She coughed. “I guess.”
“I had to protect myself.” Her words were simple and selfish, but she meant them regardless.
Annette nodded. “I know. I’ve been around enough victims of carnage to understand the mindset.” She rapped her fingers against the desk then eyed her like a detective cornering a murder suspect. “So, what changed?”
“When I sneaked back here this afternoon...”
Eyes narrowing, Annette groused, “Yes, thanks for scaring the hell out of us by just disappearing like that. We thought you’d left.”
Mischa knew Annette didn’t mean ‘left the mall’ but ‘left the clubhouse’—left the MC for good, like so many of the other women Mischa had been huddled with for the hellishly long journey to the promised land.
“You must have realized I wouldn’t. I’m mated to Kiko.”
Annette cocked a brow. “I know that, but I didn’t think you did.”
“When I came back, I saw him as a bear. Things came to a head.”
She grinned. “He claimed you?”
Mischa shook her head. “No. Not yet.”
KIKO (MC Bear Mates Book 3) Page 5
