WOLF: An Evil Dead MC Story (The Evil Dead MC Series Book 4) (22 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

The afternoon sun shone down on the campground. The full-patched brothers of all the attending Evil Dead MC Chapters were lined up in two rows, facing each other, gauntlet style. Typically, the Chapter Presidents stood at one end, their VPs at the other, along with the prospects currently about to be patched into the brotherhood.

There was only one prospect left to run this year’s gauntlet.

Mack stepped forward, a leather cut with a full three-piece patch on the back fisted in the hand at his side. At the other end, Cole put a hand on Shane’s shoulder and shoved him forward a step.

Mack grinned and held up the last cut. “You want this, Prospect? Come and get it.”

Wolf looked from his President to Shane, and his hand tightened into a fist. He fully intended to get his last swipes in at the man. Wolf watched as Shane’s eyes swept up one side and down the other of the gauntlet of men he was expected to run in order to get his cut. A cut Wolf knew only too well a man would do anything to get, especially after the year of hell the club had already put him through.

Wolf had been were Shane was standing once. He knew the feeling Shane was experiencing at this moment. Wanting that cut so bad you’d do anything for it. Knowing that before you reached it, you were going to be receiving the beating of your life. Knowing that before it was done, you’d be crawling the last dozen feet. And not for a second letting any of that deter you from your determination to get your hands on that fucking cut. Wanting it so bad you could already feel it in your hands.

He looked at Shane’s face. Yeah, he felt it. And he wanted it, badly.

Wolf grinned. Come and get it, indeed, boy.

Shane gritted his teeth and bolted forward. The brothers didn’t let him get ten feet before they were on him, every one of them throwing a punch. They tossed and shoved him back and forth between the lines like a pinball bouncing around a pinball machine. By the time Shane reached Wolf, who was standing fifteen feet from Mack, he was staggering.

Red Dog, who stood across from Wolf, grabbed ahold of Shane and shoved him toward Wolf.

“Last shot, bro, have at him,” Dog chuckled at Wolf.

Wolf hit Shane square in the jaw with a roundhouse punch that took him to the ground. Once Shane was down, Wolf kicked him in the ribs. Shane began crawling toward Mack. And that last fifteen feet took forever as Shane received kick after kick amid shouts from the club ordering him to get on his fucking feet.

Shane made it to Mack, who held the cut high above his head and growled down at him, “I don’t give cuts to men that grovel in the fucking dirt, Prospect.”

Shane staggered to his feet, and then, staring Mack dead in the eye, he grabbed for the cut, jerking it from the man’s tight hold. When he got it free, he swayed.

Mack grinned, grabbing him by the biceps to hold him up and grunted, “Congratulations,
Brother
.”

The significance of being called Brother for the first time wasn’t lost on Shane. He grinned through his split lip, blood coating his teeth and running down his chin. His eyes were already beginning to swell shut like a prize fighter’s after going ten rounds, as Mack pulled him in for a back-pounding hug.

When Mack released Shane, he looped his arm around Shane’s shoulders and turned him to face the club. With all joking aside and in all seriousness, he looked down at Shane. “Always keep the heart of a prospect, and look for ways to make your brother’s lives better. Your brothers and club are lucky to have you.”

Shane nodded. “I’m lucky to have all of them, too.”

“You’re a brother, first, last, and always,” Mack pronounced.

Shane grinned. “Evil Dead, first, last, and always.”

Crash stepped up, having a special connection with Shane, since he’d sponsored him. Mack released him as Crash took Shane’s face in his two hands and grinned at him.

“Loyalty means I’ve got your back, Brother, no matter what. Whether you’re right or wrong. If you’re wrong, you better believe we’re gonna talk about it later.”

That got a laugh from the brothers.

Crash pulled Shane in tight for a hug. “Love you, Brother.”

“Dog pile!” Dog shouted as they all swooped down to pile on the hug.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

The boys entered their third bar of the night. Taking the prospects out on their first night as full-patched members to celebrate was a club tradition. And the older members all took that responsibility seriously.

Wolf moved up to the bar as his brothers crowded around. Crash sidled up to the bar next to him. The place was packed, and it took several minutes to get a drink. When they all finally had one, they made several toasts to their new brothers.

Afterward, Green leaned over to Jake and put his arm around him, leaning in to shout in his ear over the crowd noise and music, “Let me give you some advice about women, now that you’ve got your patch.”

Jake grinned at his new brother, who was already quite shit-faced. “What’s that, Green?”

Green got a shit-eating grin on his face and proclaimed in a sloppy drunken whisper that was really more of a shout, “If you lick them, they will come.”

Jake, who was just taking a hit off his bottle of beer, almost snorted it out his nose. When he recovered, he looked over at his new brother. “Good to know, Green.”

Green nodded and rubbed Jake’s head. “I love you, man.”

“Love you, too, bro.”

Then Green moved over to Red Dog and threw his arm around him.

Dog looked over at Green. “You tell me you love me, and I’ll knock your lights out, you drunk motherfucker.”

Green just gave him a drunken grin. “I’m a lover, not a fighter.”

“Bull
shit
,” replied Crash, having fought the man in the cage on fight night on more than one occasion.

Undeterred, Green continued talking to Dog. “You and me go together like Assault and Battery.”

Wolf chuckled. “More like Asphalt and Road Rash.”

Dog shoved Green away. “Get off me. Go find some dumb blonde to bother.”

Green wandered off.

Wolf grinned and commented to Dog, “He likes you.”

“Well, I
am
a good time.”

Jake looked over at Shane and said with a grin as he raised his beer to his lips, “It’s very possible that our brothers have undiagnosed mental disorders.”

Red Dog corrected him. “Our brotherhood is built on a solid foundation of alcoholism, sarcasm, inappropriateness, and shenanigans. And don’t you forget it.”

Shane held his bottle up. “Amen. To brotherhood.”

The rest of them clinked bottles.

Dog moved in to stand on Wolf’s other side. “I’m halfway through this beer. Time to order another.”

Crash agreed. “You put your order in now, you might get it about twenty minutes after you run out.”

Dog laughed at him. “That’s Sturgis for you. Which is why I always bring my own.”

They watched as Dog pulled a flask out of his pocket.

“Well don’t hog it all. Pass it here,” Wolf insisted. Dog passed it to him. Wolf took a long pull, then passed it back, noticing Dog’s eyes were on something across the bar.

Dog leaned on his folded arms, elbows on the bar and looked at Wolf. “So, you and Crystal—”

“There is no ‘me and Crystal’, Dog. We’re over. We’ve been over.”

“You sure about that?”

“Pretty sure, Dog. Why?”

Dog took Wolf’s jaw in his hand and turned it in the direction of the other side of the bar. “Then I guess this won’t bother you.”

Wolf looked over to where Dog aimed his gaze. There, across the bar, up on a bench was a girl dancing to the old Creedence song currently blasting through the bar and singing along at the top of her lungs. Not just any girl. It was goddamn Crystal.

His eyes swept over her. She was wearing low rider jeans, torn at the knee, that hugged her hips just right, a big old belt, and a white long sleeve top emblazoned with the words ‘Mama Tried’ clearly referencing an old Merle Haggard song. The top was scooped showing a swell of cleavage on top and fell just short of the belt, showing off a teasing inch of skin at the bottom. Her long dark hair was hanging down her back.

Wolf watched in stunned amazement as she lifted her arms over her head, her body undulating to the music, her hips rocking, hypnotizing every man in the place.

Ho-lee fuck.

“Yeah, you’re over her all right. Like hell.”

Crash looked over Wolf’s head to Dog. “And the wall of denial comes crashing down.”

Dog replied back, “Yeah, with a boom.”

“Fucking hell,” Wolf muttered, realizing all over again just what he’d lost.

Suddenly Dog was leaning in to shout in his ear, “You let
that
go? Were you fucking high?”

“Apparently,” Wolf muttered.

“I’m not sayin’ you’re stupid, but man, you make some really bad decisions, bro,” Crash advised.

“Rub it in, why don’t you?”

“I don’t have to. She’s doing a damn fine job of that all on her own.”

“She sure knows how to serve it up, don’t she?” Dog muttered, his eyes on Crystal.

“The way you did her, bro, you deserve it. Every twist,” Crash told Wolf.

“Goddamn, she knows how to gut me,” Wolf whispered in a voice thick with torment. “Why the hell did we have to pick this bar?”

“Sorry, Wolf, but you don’t get to choose off the Karma menu, you just get what’s coming to you.”

Dog grinned, continuing the torment. “Confidence is the sexiest thing a woman can wear. Followed closely by a spectacular push-up bra. Which that is, I might add.”

Crash chuckled, taking in Wolf’s furious look. “Is this where the thunder claps and the sky turns black?”

“I think so, bro,” Dog replied with a grin.

****

Crystal looked over the heads of the crowd from her place up on the bench. When she’d been getting squished by the crowd, Max had suddenly put his hands on her waist and lifted her up onto the bench near the window. And then of course she’d had to start dancing when her favorite Creedence Clearwater Revival song had started playing. Well, that and the fact that she’d had a couple of shots and had been having such a good time with Max and Liam. Now, as the song ended, and her eyes scanned the crowd, she stopped dead in her tracks.

Holy crap. The Evil Dead MC. Not just the MC, but the San Jose Chapter.

Out of all the bars in this town, out of all of the half a million bikers in this town, out of all the MCs roaming Sturgis this week, they had to show up here. Now. On the one night she had a chance to get away from the shop and actually take in the whole Sturgis scene.

Of course, she’d known there was a possibility they’d be here in Sturgis. Okay, more than a possibility. She was well aware that Wolf’s club made the trip here every year. It was their national meet. Every Chapter across the country sent members.

But she’d hoped with as big a rally as Sturgis was that she’d never cross paths with any of the members from San Jose.

Apparently that dream was shot to hell.

Not only were they here, she had absolutely no hope of hiding in the corner and hoping they wouldn’t see her. After that dance on the bench, they’d definitely noticed her. Hell, half the bar had noticed her.

Crap. How stupid could she be? Why had she done that? Then it hit her. She had no reason to hide. She had nothing to be ashamed of. She was a grown-ass woman. And if she wanted to cut loose and enjoy life, then she’d do it. And anyone that had a problem with it could go to hell.

Except she really wasn’t up to a confrontation with Wolf. Although, they hadn’t ended on a completely bad note. He’d let her go, like she asked. He’d told her he was sorry for how he’d treated her. He’d told her if she ever needed anything, he’d be there for her. So maybe she was overreacting, blowing this way out of proportion. After all, those guys were all still important to her.

“Crystal!” She heard Red Dog bellow out, and she picked him out of the crowd, which wasn’t hard. And then, before she knew what she was doing, she jumped down and was moving across the floor, running to jump in his arms.

“Dog!” She hugged his neck.

“Hey, cupcake. How’s my baby-girl?”

She pulled back to smile at him. “Good. Real good.”

He smacked her ass. “Saw you dancin’ up there. Way to shake your money-maker.”

She blushed, burying her face in his neck. “Oh, God.”

He murmured in her ear, “Also saw you ridin’ down Main Street the other day. Why didn’t you tell us you’d be here?”

Her head pulled back and her eyes moved over his head, past all the other members to connect with Wolf’s eyes as he stood at the bar, hanging back, giving her space while the rest of his brothers moved in to greet her.

She shrugged. “You know.”

Dog’s face sobered. “Yeah. I know. Doesn’t mean you had to run off like you did. Doesn’t mean the rest of us don’t miss you.”

He set her down.

“I’m sorry, Dog. You’re right. I should have stayed in touch.” She ran her hand down his cheek. He grinned, pulled her palm to his mouth and kissed it.

“Glad to see you, sweetie.”

Then suddenly she was swept up into Cole’s arms. “Hey, kiddo. It’s good to see you. And where the hell did you learn to ride?”

She grinned and shrugged. “My bosses.”

Cole’s eyes lifted across the bar to the men she’d been standing with. “That them?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

Then Crash was hugging her tight and murmuring in her ear. “Hey, babe. You doing okay?”

The concern in his voice had her wondering if he knew something. If Wolf had told him anything, and if so, just exactly what that had been. Her eyes moved over Crash’s shoulder to meet Wolf’s eyes again. He looked away, almost guiltily, and she knew he had. But what? The baby? The suicide attempt? All of it?

She pushed out of Crash’s arms and put on a fake bright smile. “I’m fine, Crash. How’s Shannon?”

Crash grinned. “She’s good. Real good. You should call her.”

Crystal nodded. “I will. I miss her.”

“She misses you, too. Why don’t you come for a visit?”

Again her eyes slid to Wolf where he leaned against a corner of the bar. “I don’t know.”

Crash followed her eyes then turned back to her. “Go say hello.”

Her eyes flicked up to Crash, who gave her an encouraging smile and a gentle shove on the small of her back.

She really didn’t remember walking across the twenty feet that separated them, she just found herself standing in front of him. “Hey, Wolf. How are you?”

Their eyes met as he moved in for a hug. Didn’t he realize what being in his arms again was doing to her? Hell, she was coming undone, unraveling right on the spot. All those feelings she’d tried to bury came rushing up to the surface and threatened to bubble over. They held each other for a long moment, and then he stepped back, forcing her to take a deep breath and get it together.

Their eyes met, and she wished he’d look off somewhere instead of holding her gaze, searching as if he could see every feeling she tried to hide.

God, why did he have to look at her that way, why did he have to make her keep wanting him?

It was all there again. Like it’d never been gone. It just flamed right up, blazing as strongly as ever.

And then suddenly Shane was there, standing at her side. She turned her head, looking up into his grinning face. He spun, showing her the back of his cut.

“Check it out, Crystal. Full patch.”

Her eyes fell to take in the full three-piece patch, and she grinned, truly pleased for him. “You got your patch!”

He turned back to her, and she gave him a hug. “Me and Jake, both.”

She pulled back to smile up in his face. “That’s great. I’m happy for you.” Her eyes moved past him to search the crowd. “Where is he?”

“He’s here somewhere. Probably hitting on some chick.” Then she watched his eyes move over her shoulder to Wolf. And then he was taking her hand and pulling her along. “Dance with me.”

As he pulled her through the crowd, she glanced back at Wolf to see his eyes on her. He looked pissed, but there was nothing he could do about it anymore. Shane was no longer a lowly prospect that he could push around.

They got to the tiny dance floor in the back corner of the bar, and Shane pulled her into his arms. They rocked slowly, and then he dipped his head to her ear.

“Bet this is pissing him off big time.”

She pulled back to look at Shane. “You mean Wolf?”

He nodded. “Gotta admit, it feels good not to have to take his shit anymore.”

She noticed for the first time, in the colored spotlights of the dance floor, the bruising on his face. Her hand moved up, her thumb brushing over his cheekbone. “You’re hurt.”

“Naw. I’m okay.”

“You were in a fight?”

“Let’s just say they make you earn this cut, right up to the second they give it to you.”