by Hope Ford
He stares at me but not with interest. When I said the word “money” it didn’t even faze him. He looks like he just wants me away from him and out of his face.
He takes a step toward me and I know it’s to intimidate me. But I don’t back down and I don’t let my gaze on his eyes waver. “I don’t want your money; you have already cost me too much.”
He looks away from me then and directly at another man in his crew. I follow his gaze and see the man, the only man who stood up for me five years ago.
Apparently, he’s paid for that decision.
He meets my eyes, but I can tell he doesn’t want to. He stands there, taking deep breaths and staring me down, almost like he’s willing me to leave. I shake my head at him, as if I actually hear his voice telling me to go. I can’t, though. I can’t leave now. Not yet.
4
Klaus
I knew when Devlin opened the front door and ran to Deator there was something wrong. Dad looks over at me and I can already tell he’s pissed off, but I don’t know what for. Hell, I’ve laid low these last five years. There’s not any trouble that I would be bringing to the club.
Deator storms out the door. I get up, tugging on the ends of my club cut, and follow him and some of the other men out.
But it’s not what I’m expecting. I almost fall over as I look at her.
I recognize her even though she’s not a teenage kid anymore. She’s older now, curvy, sexy. Looking at her now, I know if I knew what was good for me I’d get my ass back in the clubhouse or anywhere that was away from her. Mona. Fuck, just her name is sexy.
I feel Ronan walk up to me and ever so quietly, he whispers to me, “Don’t do anything stupid. Stay away from the wolf shifter.”
I look at my older brother and give him my signature fuck you look. All those years ago, he could have had my back and he didn’t. I’ll never forget that.
Deator stands back and watches as Teddy walks up to Mona, no doubt to run her off. My body is tense. I thought Teddy had left earlier, but he must have only gone outside. Of course he’s right in the middle of the action now. I know what kind of man Teddy is and I don’t want him around her. He shouldn’t be around any woman.
“I want to hire you, or some of you to kill Mandala,” she says to Teddy.
Teddy just stares at her. All the men around me laugh like she’s some joke, but if anyone really looked at her right now, they could tell how serious she really is.
Teddy spits on the ground next to her feet. “Fuck off.”
I expect him to put his hands on her, and I know if he does, I will have to charge him. I won’t have any choice. I couldn’t let that happen. Hell, my bear wouldn’t stand by to let that happen.
When Mona still doesn’t go, Deator walks straight up to her. I expect her to walk away or to back down then, but she doesn’t. Deator may be old, but he’s intimidating. The fact that she doesn’t back down tells me more about her and what she’s made of. It’s a mistake, though. She should leave because I know my father. He’s a chauvinist asshole.
She holds up her bag. “I have money. I don’t expect any favors. If you don’t want money for the hit, I will pay you to get my necklace back. The one that Mandala stole from me and still wears around his neck today. It’s mine and I want it back.”
Deator stares at her and I can see the longer he stands there, the more pissed off he is. He takes a step toward her and my fists clench at my sides. Mona still doesn’t back down; she doesn’t even blink. Deator’s voice is deadly as he mutters to her, “I don’t want your money; you have already cost me too much.”
Deator looks away from her then and directly at me. When he does, Mona looks at me also. In that one look, I see it all. The way she was when I saved her five years ago, I see the horror and the pain that she’s gone through since then. She’s a woman that has lost everything and by her coming here, she’s proven that she has nothing else to lose. Why can’t my dad see that? Or does he see it and just not care?
Mona just lifts her chin. “How much?”
Deator laughs. “New Law wouldn’t help you for a million dollars,” he growls at her. “Last Omens left with their tails between their legs when they were faced with the Eaters. We don’t work with or for cowards. Get out of our territory before I serve you up on a platter for the men to use and throw away.”
I want to go to her, to tell her it’s not a good idea she’s here, she needs to be as far from New Law territory as she can get. But I don’t. I stand there next to my brother like a punk and just wait.
Finally, Mona nods her head. And to my surprise, she looks directly at me before she gets on her motorcycle. I see the recognition in her eyes and it burns me up. She remembers me. I’ve often wondered if she would or not.
I feel like she’s able to see straight through me and I feel like a fucking asshole for not stepping forward to fight for her or at least stand up for her.
When she gets on her bike, she doesn’t look back at me. I’m staring at her as she kicks her leg over the seat of her rusty bike. I’m looking so hard, I almost feel like I’m willing her to turn around and look at me. But she doesn’t hesitate. She drives away and never looks back.
Ronan, who’s still standing next to me, elbows me in the side. “She’s not even a bear shifter. We’re not on good terms with the Last Omens either. It would be a disgrace to help her.”
I grind my teeth. “I didn’t make a move, did I?” And even I can hear the guilt in my voice.
I walk back toward the clubhouse, fighting temptation to go find the wolf shifter, to go find Mona. The only thing that stops me is that my gut tells me that won’t be the last I see of her. Just her showing up here tells me that she’s not the type to give up so easily.
Teddy stops in my path and we stand shoulder to shoulder. I’m already wound tight and I don’t need him in my face again. “Stay away from the wolf,” he tells me.
His words only anger me more. Not a lot of people know it, but when I was saving Mona from Mandala, I also had to save her from Teddy. I no sooner got her away from the Eaters and then I had to defend her from Teddy. He lost my respect that day and I haven’t looked at him the same since.
I know I should back down. Deator is right behind me, but I don’t care. I growl at Teddy. “It’s okay, big man. You still pretending you can get it up?”
When I got him away from Mona, I had kicked him in the balls with my steel toed boots and rumor has it there was lasting damage.
Teddy’s face turns menacing, but I don’t back down. I want him to throw the first punch. This is a fight that’s been coming for a while and I’m ready for it. Hoping for it.
“Get out of here, Klaus! Go guard the territory,” Deator hollers behind me.
I don’t turn around to look at my dad. There’s no sense in arguing with him. He doesn’t know Teddy like I do. And I can’t help but wonder if he’d even care what type of man his treasurer is.
I smirk at Teddy. He’s saved once again by my father. I stalk off toward my bike, cussing myself, damning the whole situation. I helped her once and lost my place in the club, lost the respect of my family. If I help her again, I’ll lose it all.
But as I kick my bike into gear, I can’t help but wonder what I’ll lose if I don’t help her.
5
Mona
I drive my bike further up into the Klamath Mountains. I just need to hang low and wait until I can talk to Klaus. I saw the way he looked at me. He wanted to help me, just like he helped me five years ago. I’ve blocked out a lot of that time, but I’ll never forget him. He saved me and even though I owe him, I’m here again, asking for his help. It doesn’t seem right.
But I don’t have any other choice. If I leave here, I have nothing. To some this is just a necklace. Not something to risk your life for. But not for me. No, to me it stands for what my life was meant to be. It’s like I not only let Mandala take away my innocence, but he also took away the only link I have to my mother. Maybe it would
be different if I had something else in my life, something to keep me going. But I don’t.
Hours go by and I do my best to make a plan of attack, but no matter how I look at it, I know I can’t do it on my own. My last hope is Klaus. Seeing him tonight sent a shock to my system. Five years ago, was he that big, that handsome? I don’t remember him that way. But today, when I recognized him it stirred something in me that I thought I had lost. It was an awakening. My face was heated, my heart raced and there was a pull in my lower belly. Attraction, plain and simple.
I try to shake the image of him from my mind as I come down the mountain. I stay upwind and track Klaus’ position. Even after all this time, I still know his scent.
I find him on sentry duty. I know he’s the son of the president and if he’s on sentry duty, he must be out of favor with his father. But after earlier tonight, I’d sort of already figured that out.
When I see him standing on the side of the cliff, overlooking New Law territory, I stop my bike and sit there for a minute. I know he’s heard me. I know he knows I’m here, but he doesn’t turn to look at me. It’s as if he’s waiting for me to say something. Or maybe he’s hoping that I’ll just drive away. I get off my bike and walk over to him.
But before he acknowledges me, before he turns around to face me, he says, “I’m not going to help you.”
His words gut me. He was my last hope. I know without him, none of the other members of New Law are going to help me. I study him for a few minutes. But he still doesn’t look at me. I walk closer to him and the closer I get, I see his body tauten, like he’s dreading talking to me.
When his face comes into view, I stop. “I never did get to thank you all those years ago. My family was going to leave me. You were the only one that came for me and I, well, I appreciate you standing up for me,” I tell him honestly.
He doesn’t respond, but I can see in his eyes that my words mean something to him. His face softens and his body relaxes, even if it’s only a tiny bit.
I take another step toward him. “I’ll pay you ten grand if you’ll help me get my necklace back. Even if you buy it off of Mandala, I don’t care. I just want it back. It’s all I have left of my mother.”
Klaus sighs deeply. He still won’t look me in the eye, but I can tell even now he’s trying to help me, but this time with his words. “Give it up, Mona. You need to leave New Law territory and go back where you came from. Keep your life and return to the Last Omens.”
His voice is gruff and his tone is probably meant to push me away. But it doesn’t work. My insistence only grows.
I throw my hands up, frustration edged in my voice. “I don’t have a life. Not since I left here. My family hates me; they blame me for losing their territory. My dad can barely stand to be in the same room as me. I don’t have anything or anywhere to return to. That necklace is the only thing I have left that ties me to the one person that loved me unconditionally. I need it back. I can’t move on without it.”
He shakes his head, looking out at the vast land in front of him. “New Law has been ordered not to help you.”
I take another step toward him and now I’m right in front of him, looking up at him with my head bent backwards to see his face. He’s tall and towers over me, but I’m not afraid of him. “You didn’t follow orders from your father when he ordered you to stand aside five years ago.”
He finally tilts his head down to look at me and when his eyes pierce mine, I gasp. The connection I feel for him is strong and it makes me want to tether myself to him. Does he feel it too? Or is it just me, with the feelings like this is it only because he’s the man that saved me so long ago? His eyes are brown, even darker now in the night. But I don’t see any recognition in them. So these feelings must be my own. His voice is low, and I feel like I have to lean in to hear him. “I won’t make that same mistake twice.”
I shake my head and reach out to touch his arm. “You don’t look like you regret what you did. Whereas your brother could hardly look at me. I think he regrets not helping you help me.”
He chuckles then, not believing me. He acts as if everything I just said was wrong. But I know the look of regret and when I saw his brother earlier at the New Law compound, he had that exact look on his face. He may never have admitted it to Klaus, but he’s living with regret.
When he sees how serious I am, he lifts his head back to the night sky. “I won’t help you. Go home or go throw your life away trying to get Mandala, but your business is finished here with New Law and me.”
He walks away from me then and I know he probably expects me to leave. But I don’t. I stand there, looking at him, considering my options.
He’s a handsome man. He’s caring and just from what I know from the past, he’s willing to help those that are in desperate need. Even when I mentioned the ten grand to him, he still wasn’t willing to help me. But I can’t give up. I just have to figure out another way to convince him.
6
Klaus
I try to avoid looking at her, but I can’t stop doing it. It’s like I’m drawn to her and I can’t look away. I see the desperation in her eyes. At first I didn’t understand her need to have the necklace back. But now I understand. I get it. Where I have my family around and even though I may not be on the best of terms, I know my brother would have my back if I needed it. Mona doesn’t have that. She doesn’t have any family. I’ve often wondered what became of her when she left here with her family, the Last Omens. From the sounds of it, she might as well had been left on her own. Something twinges in my chest. Being an outsider with her own family had to be hard for her.
But no matter what I feel for her now, she can’t stay. I don’t want to hurt her or scare her, but if Deator gets word that I’m even talking to Mona, he will lose his shit.
I watch her, trying to think of the best way to make her go, but deep down not wanting her to. She has a gleam in her eye and it makes me nervous just seeing it. She’s up to something.
She licks her sexy lips and slides the backpack with the money from her shoulders. She begins to unzip her leather coat. She lets it fall to the ground and she’s standing before me with a white tank top stretched tight across her breasts. Her nipples are hard, like little pebbles pressing against her shirt, begging for attention. She takes two steps toward me and her curvy body presses into me. The tops of her breasts are visible from this angle and her large mounds make my mouth water.
She says something, but damn, I don’t have a clue what it is. When she asks me again, I tear my gaze from her body and look into her eyes.
Her voice is very soft, and I feel myself leaning in to hear her. “You can have me… as long as you want me… for whatever… if you’ll just get that necklace back for me.”
My whole body tightens. A need to have her rolls through my body right before fury takes over. Right now, if I was a lesser man, I would lay her back on this rough terrain and take what she’s offering me. But the fact that she’s offering it only tells me how desperate she is.
Fury like I’ve never known boils in my veins. I back away from her, my muscles tight and nostrils flared. “You think I’d want to force myself on you? After I sacrificed so much to stand up for you?”
I shake my head, walking backwards away from her.
I don’t wait for her to answer me. I shift into my bear, unable to stop it. I pounce at her and she stumbles backwards, falling with a thud on her ass on her backpack. She grabs her pack, fear covering her face as she walks backwards to her bike.
She holds her hands up, trying to reason with me, but there’s no reasoning now. Not with me. My bear has taken over, and he’s feeding on my fury. He wouldn’t hurt her. I know that, but I won’t stop until she’s back on her bike, going back to where she came from.
I don’t stop until I’ve nudged her to her bike and she takes off down the road.
Even when she’s gone, completely out of sight, I still can’t stop my heart from racing out of control. The idea of all
owing anyone at New Law to “use” her makes me feel like I’m capable of murder. It doesn’t make sense, this reaction I have to her, but at least it came in useful and I could run her off New Law land. If she has any sense at all she’ll return to her side of the Klamath in Oregon.
The rest of the night and part of the next day I spend guarding the territory. I spent most of the time running through the territory, trying to forget about Mona and not worry about where she’s going. And all that anger has me spent. I’m tired as fuck when Zeus shows up to relieve me. No doubt Deator sent Zeus because he’s a Teddy wannabe. Zeus is a badass but he must sense that fucking with me would be a mistake because he doesn’t try any of his usual flexing.
They probably expect me to show up at the clubhouse, but I’m not going. Even though I’m calmer, I’m still on edge and I don’t want to have to look at my father right now. The only thing I want to do is take a shower and get into my own bed. My cabin is in the mountains of New Law territory. I use to have a room at the clubhouse, but five years ago, I gave that up. I enjoy the refuge of having my own place.
As I travel across the mountain, I can smell something delicious even before I can see my cabin. I inhale deeply, trying to make it out and wonder where it’s coming from. I can smell food that’s making me salivate like an animal and I swear I smell the sweet scent of Mona. As I get closer, I don’t even have to see her to know she’s inside my cabin.
I park my bike and look through the front window. There stands Mona in my kitchen. Her hair is up in a ponytail and it looks as if she’s cooking a meal, doing a little dance as she moves around the kitchen.
I stand there and watch as she moves around, almost like she’s familiar with where everything is. I may have thought I ran her off, but I didn’t. Now she’s even closer to me than she was.
