“Time’s up for you.”
“If I don’t do what they want, they’ll yank my cut and a whole hell of a lot more from me,” he says, trying to plead to our sympathies.
“I can’t give information that I’m not even aware existed. I’ve never been so afraid in my whole life.” This could be it. The insider we need.
“Okay.” Six gets right in Tom’s face. “You like breathing. You’re going to get us the information we need as soon as you have it.”
“If I double cross them, it’s my ass.”
Missouri has been sitting quietly in the corner with a whetstone and his favorite KA-BAR. Now he’s up in front of Tom. He runs his thumbnail along the edge of the blade to look for any roughness, then gives it a final test, gliding the blade along Tom’s forearm.
“Do you know who you’re fucking with? I will hunt you down like the dog you are, chop you up, and mail the pieces back to your family.” In true ‘madman’ fashion, Missouri lives up to his nickname.
“Here you go, boss.” Router hands a burner phone to Six.
“Call the programmed number when you have the information.” Six puts the phone in Tom’s pocket and gives it a pat.
“Missouri, make sure Tom gets back to his ride in one piece. For now.” Tom’s eyes go wide at Six’s instructions. If he wasn’t scared of Missouri before, he now looks prepared to shit his pants.
At the big table the rest of us sit around, Wizard and Six continue to press and press for more information about our new rivals
“Some gang out of South Padre, I can’t believe someone would be dumb enough to go against us,” Ace says.
“Maybe we should get a plan and call the other chapters, we’re going to need extra bodies,” I suggest to Six.
“Part of me wants to punch you in the throat, man, for going behind my back, but I can’t argue with good sense, and it makes good sense to get numbers together.” Six pauses for a few moments as he thinks.
“Let’s do this the right way and you keep me in the loop. We regroup here once we have more information.”
Now that I’ve had enough time to blow off some steam, the anger and hurt is gone. I need to get back to Lizzie, so I can update her on the information we collected and figure out where we go from here. I grab my phone to dial her number on my way out the door.
“Hey, Brayden.”
“Um. Listen, Lizzie, I’m finished here and wanted to fill you in. Are you home?”
“Yeah, I’m here. Just have a movie on in the background.”
“Okay, see you in a bit.” If I’m ever going to get a step ahead with her, we need to get this worked out.
I walk in the door and there she is in the chair. Her eyelids are heavy. She really needs to get some rest. I grab a blanket off the basket on the floor and gently cover her up.
Before I slip away, I see two fully opened eyes looking up at me. “Sorry. I must’ve passed out. I’ve been pretty exhausted lately. Have you been here long?”
“No, I just got in, sorry for interrupting your nap.”
“It’s okay. What did you find out?” I fill her in on the details of my talk with Six, leaving out the backlash I got.
“And before you go to bed, there’s one more thing. I want to call a truce. I know I’ve treated you wrong since the day I met you and want to apologize and give you something to start off.” I hand her a bouquet of flowers. Orchids in a variety of colors ranging from white to pink and yellow to deep amethyst.
“You want to call a truce?” she repeats.
“That’s what I said. I believe a person should own their wrongs and right them where they can.”
“I agree with that, Brayden. So, I’m going to apologize too. Knowing and accepting what I am has always been hard for me. It’s something I’ve struggled getting my head around. You’re only the second shifter I have ever met. So, maybe that’s why I’m having a harder time figuring out what this is between us. Maybe we can put it on hold until all of this is over?”
“Sounds like a deal.”
“Thank you for these flowers. They smell beautiful, like coconut mixed with raspberries.””
Starting over is a good idea. I take a step toward her. “What are you doing?” She has a shocked look on her face as she gets to her feet from the chair. I take the flowers from her hands and take them and her into her bedroom.
“Helping my mate.” I unbutton my shirt and take it off, letting it drop to the floor.
“I’m not your mate.”
“You need my help, Lizzie. Let me take care of you.”
What made me stronger in times of doubt and trouble was the support of my fellow brothers. The connection we shared as shifters. If I wanted her to trust me, I needed to be vulnerable in return.
“Go get into the bed, Lizzie.” She does as I instruct and climbs under the sheets. Her face is drained of coloring and I know she needs rest. I turn off the lights and remove my shorts.
“I’m making you a promise. We’re going to get through this together.”
With the last stitch of clothing gone, my transformation is instantaneous. I crouch down before leaping up on the foot of the bed.
“Linda!” she calls out in her sleep. Then her eyes shot open and she gasps for air as if she can’t get enough in to make her lungs work.
“Sorry, Brayden, didn’t mean to startle you.” She leans over and turns on the light on the nightstand. She falls back on her pillows. I crawl up close, nuzzling next to her. I’m close enough to feel the thundering of her heart
