Grin and Bear It
Authors: Jenika Snow
Evernight
Publishing ®
Copyright© 2015
Jenika
Snow
ISBN: 978-1-77233-535-4
Cover Artist: Sour Cherry
Designs
Editor:
Karyn
White
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
WARNING: The unauthorized
reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal.
No part of this book may be used or
reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the
case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
This is a work of fiction. All
names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events,
locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
DEDICATION
To all the readers that have
rooted and shown their support for the Grizzlies!
GRIN AND BEAR IT
The Grizzly MC, 11
Jenika
Snow
Copyright © 2015
Author’s
Note
This
novella is a look into the lives of the next generation of the Grizzly MC.
Although it is written so it can be read as a standalone, it is highly
suggested that you read the previous Grizzly MC books in this series, as well
as
Reckless
, the first book in
The Sons
series, to better know the
characters, their lives, and the world they live in.
Prologue
“You’re
cheating, you motherfucker,” Mason said, teasing, and grinned over at Link.
Link grinned back and flipped him off.
“Don’t
blame your piss-poor poker skills on me cheating.” Link grabbed his shot glass
and tossed it back. “Do another shot with me, man,” Link said after he finished
his liquor.
“Nah.
I’m sober and need to head home soon. I got shit to do for the club tomorrow.”
Mason rubbed his face with a hand, felt damn tired, but was also having a good
time.
Link
flipped him off again, but was smiling. They were partying at one of the bars
the Grizzlies owned in Steel Corner. The place was closed off to the public
because of the hour, and a few of The Brothers of Menace MC kids and The
Grizzly kids were all getting trashed.
Shouting
from the guys off to the side playing darts had Mason looking over his shoulder
and seeing
Jakob
and a few of the other Grizzlies
standing around drinking. He stared at
Jakob
, the
bear shifter he’d practically grown up with, and thought of as a brother. They
were both Grizzly members, both brothers in arms, and although they’d been
friends for a long fucking time, an altercation weeks ago had caused this rift
between them.
“Hey,
I know you probably don’t want to talk about it,” Link said.
Mason
turned back around and faced the Brothers of Menace member. “Whatever you’re
about to say is probably better left unsaid.” He grabbed the water he’d been
nursing for the last hour and finished it off. He wouldn’t mind getting
shitfaced, but he’d been getting drunk and high enough lately, and the feeling
of just being … normal, held an appeal at least for tonight.
Link
grabbed his beer he’d been drinking in between taking shots, and finished it
off. He lifted his hand for the barmaid to get him another, and looked over at
Mason. “You know what I’m going to ask?”
“Come
on, man,” Mason said, lifting his eyebrow as he stared at Link. “I’m not a mind
reader, but I know damn well you’re going to ask what the deal was with me and
Jakob
.” Lincoln “Link” Roberts was a Brothers of Menace
member, and Kink’s son. Link might not be a Grizzly, but this kind of shit
spread like wildfire, especially through the MCs. Rumors had a tendency to also
get warped in the process, and Mason was sure that’s what had happened with the
deal between him and
Jakob
.
Link
didn’t respond right away. There was another round of laughter and swearing
from
Jakob
and the other guys playing darts, and then
the barmaid gave Link another beer. When they were alone again Mason exhaled
and leaned back in his chair, scrubbing a hand over his hair.
“I
just want to know
what’s fact
and what’s bullshit.”
Link took a drink of his beer and set it back on the table. “I mean you know
the shit going around about why you guys fought, right?”
“I
don’t give a fuck what anyone else thinks, and what you’ve heard is probably
bullshit anyway. It is what it is.” Mason was about done with this scene and
this conversation, because talking about it was just pissing him off even more.
“So
it was about you making a move on
Jakob
?”
Mason
straightened, surprised that the rumor had twisted
that
much. “What?”
Link
nodded. “One of the things going around is that you want
Jakob
,
but when you came on to him he turned you down.” Link looked so serious. “You
got pissed and that’s how the fight started.”
Mason
grunted and relaxed against the back of the chair again. “Listen,
ain’t
nothing wrong with a man wanting another man, but I
don’t fly that way, brother. I like pussy too much.”
Link
shrugged, picked up his beer again and took a swig. He set his bottle down, and
when they stared at each other for a few seconds, neither speaking, Mason
cursed internally. He might as well clear the air, because he knew Link would
just keep speculating.
“Listen,
I was drunk the night all this shit started.” Mason had his hand in a tight
fist on the table, knowing that although what had happened wasn’t the biggest
fucking deal in the world because it had been a huge mistake, it also had been
some bad shit. “I fucked a girl he wanted, and that’s why we fought.”
Link
lifted a brow. “You knew before you fucked her that
Jakob
wanted her?” Link asked, sounding a little shocked.
Mason
exhaled. “I’m a motherfucking bastard, I know, but I was wasted, man, and when
I went to my room to crash she followed. It was dark. I couldn’t even see the
chick well enough to know it was the same one
Jakob
was hard up for.” He leaned forward and scrubbed a hand over his face, feeling
the day-old stubble on his cheeks.
“Damn,
man.”
Mason
nodded. “
Jakob
walked in on us, and that’s when I
saw, after he turned on the light, that I’d just had my dick in the sweet-butt
he’d been
jonesing
for.”
“Fuck,”
Link said.
“Like
I said, I’m a motherfucker, but I honestly didn’t know who I was in bed with.
All I knew was that it was a chick from the party, and she wanted my cock.”
Damn, that made Mason sound like a dirty bastard. “
Jakob
left when he caught us, and the next day was when the fight broke out. He was
drunk, as was I, and shit hasn’t been the same since.”
“Have
you tried telling him that it was a mistake, a fucked as hell mistake, but one
nonetheless?”
Mason
looked at him like he was fucking crazy. “Yeah, man, of course I tried telling
him right after the fact, but he was too pissed, and rightly so.” Mason had
pushed all this shit behind him because he didn’t want to dwell on it. He’d
screwed up big-time, and a man he considered family hated him for it. “I just
stopped talking to him about it, or trying to, after the second time he let
into me. I can’t blame him for hating me. Hell, I hate myself most of the
time.” And he felt like a bigger asshole for even saying that out loud,
admitting that to Link. “I don’t know if he wanted her as something more than a
piece of pussy, because hell, he could have tapped that, and maybe did, but he
fucking hated me.” Mason paused a moment. “He still does.”
“Man,
don’t talk like that.”
Mason
shook his head before Link could continue. “No, I do, Link. I fucking hate myself
a lot of the time because of the shit I do. I could have avoided this if I paid
a little more attention. But it’s not just the
Jakob
shit. I’m a bastard. I start in on members of both MCs, thinking it’s funny
when it’s not. I just almost went at it with your brother because I was drunk
and high, and giving him crap over that girl he’s into.” Mason was a punk,
drank and smoked more than he should, and because he’d lived that kind of life,
one that was on the edge and didn’t give a fuck about anyone but himself, he
was a lowdown prick.
He
had no siblings, and being an only child to Court and Lilly shouldn’t have made
him feel lonely. He had a family, blood and extended family within the club
that had always been there. His old man and mom loved him, and had raised him
to be the man he wasn’t acting like.
“You
need to talk to
Jakob
again, straighten this out,”
Link said.
Before
Mason could have responded, even if he would have, the sound of footsteps
moving closer to them had his bear coming alert. He scented
Jakob
,
knew that the other guy was drunk, that he was probably high, too.
“Talk
to who, me?”
Jakob
said in a deep, slurred voice.
Mason
tensed, knowing what was going to come even if he ignored this shit. But he was
not about to go at it with the other bear shifter. He stood, turned and faced
Jakob
, and saw that his instincts and senses had been
right. The man was drunker than shit and high as well. His eyes were bloodshot,
and he reeked of alcohol. “I’m not doing this with you now,
Jakob
.”
“No?”
Jakob
asked.
“No.”
Mason grabbed his jacket he’d slung over the chair he’d been sitting in, fished
his keys out of the front pocket of his jeans, and went to move past
Jakob
. But the MC member obviously wanted to start a fight,
and Mason wasn’t going to go there. He’d tried to apologize, tried to sit down
more than once.
Jakob
wasn’t having that, and Mason
didn’t want to make the already bad blood between them worse.
But
before he could move past
Jakob
the other bear
grabbed his arm, spun him around, and the two faced off.
“You
running your mouth about what a backstabbing motherfucker you are?”
“You’re
drunk,” Mason said, pulled his arm free, and took a step back. His bear was
right there, rising up on instinct, ready to protect himself at all costs. Yes,
this was a man he considered a brother, but he was also a threat right now.
“I’m
not going to do this, not only because I care about you, know I fucked up, and
want to make amends, but also because I’d tear you up right now.” His bear
flashed across his face, and he felt the beast rise up and growl and snap, a
warning, a threat. “I’d fuck you up because you’re drunk,
Jakob
,
and would be sloppy in a fight.”
And
before Mason could leave,
Jakob
reared his arm back
and punched him in the side of his jaw. Mason’s head cocked back, blood erupted
in his mouth as his teeth cut into his inner cheek, and pain consumed him.
Chairs
scraped along the floor as everyone came forward. The front door opened, and he
scented Marcus step inside.
“What
the fuck…” Marcus said and trailed off, obviously seeing the shit going down.
Cain
and Bodhi pulled
Jakob
back; Gabriel and Maverick
went to stand beside Mason, and the whole room grew still. The rest of the club
members and even some prospects were watching with worry but also with anticipation.
Mason stared at
Jakob
, saw the other man’s jaw
clenched tight. His bear was trying to push forward, but
Jakob
was keeping it back with what little control he had.
Mason
turned his head and spat out a mouthful of blood and spittle, stared at
everyone, and cursed internally.
Fuck all
of this.
He turned and left, and walked by Marcus, who tried to stop him.
“Mason,
man,” Marcus said, but Mason just wanted out of there.
He
left the bar, got on his bike, and then he was shooting off down the road, just
wanting everything to disappear, for the world to just swallow him up.
He
increased his speed, took the corners sharp, and didn’t give a fuck if he broke
any laws in the process. He was going faster and faster, the world around him a
blur. Mason entered the square of town, slowing slightly, only because he knew
that if he did get pulled over right now he wouldn’t be able to get this steam
out of him. The intersection in town came up.
Just
as he went to turn to head down the back roads, the sound of tires squealing
had him looking over to the side. And then he saw it, a pickup truck barreling
toward him from the other direction, an arm out the passenger side window, and
the glint of a gun catching the light.
The
truck picked up speed, coming right at him, only a couple of feet from him now.
He heard the gun go off a second before he felt the searing pain of the bullet
slamming into his chest.
His
bear roared out in anger and agony.
The
truck slammed into his Harley at the same time he flew off his bike from the impact
of the bullet. The sound of tires squealing again filled his head, pain
encompassed his body, and then the world went dark.
