Page 2 of Panther’s Magpie (Mountain River MC #1)

CHAPTER

ONE

MAGGIE

Years later

“Where’s Aspen?”

That’s the million-dollar question. I know where she was when I left, but I have no idea where she is now. I didn’t want to leave my best friend at some little dive bar surrounded by big, scary men, but I had no choice.

Not that the big, scary man in front of me is any better.

Calloway Alstone.

I haven’t seen him in years, but I wouldn’t have recognized him if I passed him on the street. He’s not the same guy who showed up to Aspen’s graduation, only staying long enough to give her a hug and an envelope of cash.

No, he is harder. Darker. Scarier.

Taking a deep, shaky breath, I tell him, “She’s in trouble, and I think she needs your help.”

He rubs a hand over his face before facing me once more with a serious expression.

“Tell me everything.”

I nod. “We were on a road trip. She wanted to stop for a drink at the bar. I told her we shouldn’t, but, well, you know Aspen.”

His eyes narrow. “Where is this bar, Maggie?”

I swallow hard. “Outside of Glenwood Springs. Dirty Hangar.”

I didn’t think he could get any angrier, but the vein in his forehead seems to grow.

“Are you telling me that you let my baby sister go into a bar called the Dirty Hangar? You thought that was a good idea?”

I frown. I mean, I didn’t think it was a good idea to go in there, but no one ever lets Aspen do anything.

“Excuse me? I didn’t let her do anything. She is a grown woman and makes her own decisions. None of this even matters. She’s in trouble.”

“Because you left her there to fend for herself. What kind of friend are you anyway?” he spits out.

My lips clamp closed as tears well in my eyes. He’s not wrong. I should have never left her.

“You’re right,” I whisper before clearing my throat. “We need to save her.”

He shakes his head. “There is no we. I’ll save my sister, then you keep your ass away from her. What the fuck were you even doing all the way over here anyway? Don’t you both have school?”

He’s not wrong. I told Aspen we should wait until summer break to make the trek from California to Colorado to see her brother, but she is impulsive.

She wanted to come this weekend and wouldn’t hear anything of it.

So we skipped two days of classes to make the trip.

We had been planning to skip at least two on the way back too.

Not the most responsible thing to do, but if I hadn’t brought her, she would have hitchhiked her way over here.

If Aspen wants something, she will get it one way or another.

My anger festers inside as he stares at me like I’m stupid.

Like this is all my fault. Truth is, this is his fault.

Aspen only wanted to come this way because of him.

Because she felt she was losing the only family she had besides me.

She confided in me that Calloway had been messaging her less and less.

She was worried something was going on with him, or so she told me.

Deep down, I know she was worried he was forgetting her.

“She wanted to surprise you. She misses you. You rarely call her anymore. It’s always texts here and there that are kept vague. She wants her brother in her life, and it seems like you don’t want to be there anymore.”

It’s a low blow. I know how close they both are. Calloway isn’t her brother by blood, but he chooses to be. That should mean more, and it usually does. It also feeds the insecurities Aspen has about people abandoning her. If her own blood didn’t stay, why would Calloway?

“She shouldn’t have. It’s dangerous around here. Obviously, since you went and left her with unknown men. We are wasting time. What exactly happened? What led to you abandoning her there?”

I sniffle as I think back to what happened.

“We stopped in for a drink. She would have left after one, but the bartender told her she shouldn’t be there.

That is like waving a red flag in front of a bull.

She went to dance while I stayed behind to watch.

She ended up dancing with some guy. Then this other guy came over and tried talking to me.

I told him we were leaving, but he tried to force me to take a shot.

Aspen took the shot instead. Then a fight broke out, and Aspen told me to go.

The bartender snuck me out the back and told me to get help from someone I trusted.

He said that the cops cannot be trusted around there.

So I came here. It’s the only place I knew where to go,” I admit, looking down at my feet.

I know I fucked up. I left my best friend behind. What kind of friend does that?

“What do you remember about the men? The one Aspen was dancing with.”

“He was wearing something like the guy at the gate was wearing. The leather vest with the patches,” I tell him.

He frowns. “He had on a cut?”

“If that’s what it’s called, yes.”

He rubs his forehead. “What was the name of their MC? Or were you not smart enough to catch that?”

I ignore the jab even though it hurts. He has a right to be angry.

“Ragged Anarchy. I didn’t catch any other patches on the one she was dancing with, but his name was Monster.

The guy who tried to get me to drink with him had a patch that said president, but I didn’t catch his name.

The bartender’s name was Asher.” I relay the information I kept repeating in my head the entire drive here.

“Fuck,” he curses before pulling his phone out.

“What? What is it?” I ask, suddenly more anxious.

He pulls out his phone, ignoring me.

“Club meeting, right the fuck now. I don’t care what they are doing, they are in church in the next twenty minutes or they will be on prospect duties for the next fucking year,” he barks into the phone before leading me over to a chair.

“Sit here and wait for me to come back. Don’t talk to anyone, and don’t do anything stupid,” he orders.

“I’m not a fucking pet you can order around. What the fuck is going on?” I’m spitting mad now.

His hand cups the back of my neck as he brings his face right into mine. “What the fuck is going on? You let my sister walk into a bar full of some of the worst bikers out there, then you left her there. I now have to mobilize my men to go save her and most likely start a war in the process.”

My mouth falls open. “I didn’t…”

“It doesn’t fucking matter. So if you want to help Aspen, you’ll sit here and keep your mouth fucking shut.”

The tears well once more, making me feel like an emotional mess. When I don’t respond, he lets go of my neck, walking away.

All I can think is that I hope he saves her.

Without her, I will be truly alone in this world.

PANTHER

“What’s going on?” Eagle asks as he takes the seat next to me.

“We have an issue. One that will require a full vote. Know that if this doesn’t go as I want, I’ll be resigning and taking matters into my own hands,” I whisper to him.

His eyes widen. “I’ll back you. You know that.”

We don’t have to wait for long. I watch as Ridge, Falcon, Talon, Meek, and Cobra come through the door.

“Dove is tending to old man Lank. He said I can vote as his proxy,” Talon informs me as he takes his seat.

“How is he doing?” I ask about the old member who has been on hospice for the last week.

It’s bad enough when you have one member with cancer, but it’s even worse when you have two. Mustang, Rain’s dad, with the help of chemo, should recover where Lank is too far gone. Lank’s cancer had spread all throughout his body before it was found, which fucking sucks.

We should have made him go to the doctor sooner, but when you’re dealing with vets, it’s hard to convince them to do anything they don’t want to do.

“It’s almost time. Any day now,” Talon says.

I nod. “I have called you here today for something that is personal. I’m going to lay it all out for you, but know that no matter what, I am going to do something about this. The only difference is if the club will be behind me as I do it.”

“We always have your back,” Meek speaks up.

“I appreciate that, but you might not agree once I’m done.

As you all know, we have a delicate balance with our neighbors to the west. We stay out of their way, and they stay out of ours.

Unfortunately, someone very important to me has found their way into their grasp.

I don’t talk much about my sister because I don’t want her touched by my life.

She doesn’t deserve the shit that comes with being connected to me.

I thought I was doing what was right for her, but somehow she still ended up with a target on her back.

Tonight she went into a bar and happened to find it infested with Ragged Anarchy men.

They wouldn’t let her leave. Her friend managed to get away to come here and alert me to the situation.

I plan to get Aspen back. I want you to vote on if you think it is best for the club to be involved or not.

This board is not about personal shit. It is for club-related shit, so you need to decide if this is club-related or not.

I will not punish you either way.” I swallow hard.

The men are all silent for a moment.

Hawk is the first to speak up. “Have you reached out to let them know that what they have is not theirs to possess?”

I shake my head. “I am worried if I do that, they will harm her.”

He thinks it over. “We could make her seem not so important. Make it seem like we just want our possession back. If they say no, then we have good reason to go to war.”

I consider that option. It’s risky, but it might work.

The men around the table all nod.

“All in favor of Hawk’s plan?” I call out.

Everyone agrees.

“Meek, get me their president’s number. I want to call him right away. Ridge, mobilize the men. If he doesn’t agree, I want patrols in his neck of the woods. We need to find out where they are keeping Aspen. She won’t still be at the bar. Not after the friend was able to escape.”

“What about the friend? I assume she’s the drop-dead gorgeous brunette in the clubhouse,” Eagle asks.

I roll my eyes at him. “Let her go back to her perfect life in California,” I tell him.

He shakes his head. “If she escaped, they will be looking for her.”

I rub my hand on my face. “So what do you want me to do? This isn’t some safe house.”

“You sound angry at her. Did she do something that we should know about?” he asks.

“She abandoned my sister to those beasts. Why shouldn’t I be angry at her?” I growl.

“Maybe because if she hadn’t, we wouldn’t even know Aspen was in danger?”

I hate when he is rational. I don’t want to let go of my anger, though. I need someone to hate and right now, it’s Maggie.

“Fine. She stays, but you deal with her. I don’t want to see her until I get Aspen back.”

He shakes his head. “I can do that.”

He stands to leave. I let him, looking around the table.

“Thank you for the support. Aspen is the only family I have outside of this club.”

Talon nods. “We will get her back safe and sound.”

“I have the number,” Meek tells me, sliding a piece of paper my way.

This is why Meek is our recon guy. He is a wiz when it comes to anything tech-related. He can get me a full background check on anyone in the world within minutes.

“Everyone but Hawk out,” I demand.

They all listen. After several seconds of silence, I dial the number on my burner phone.

“Who the fuck is this, and how did you get my number?” the man answers, angry.

“Nice to speak with you too, Adlet. I hear you have something that belongs to me. I am only calling to get her back before we have to come west and meet face-to-face,” I tell him.

He snorts. “Panther? Is that you? What is it you think we have?”

“A pretty blond chick. Waltzed into the wrong bar. Return her, and we can pretend this never happened,” I tell him.

“Oh, that pretty thing Monster has taken a liking to? She really is a pretty thing. Has curves on her too. I think we are going to enjoy having her around. How about you let us keep her for a few weeks, and we will return her only a little worse for wear?”

My hands clench at his words. Hawk gives me a hard look. I need to keep it together.

“You see, I would, but then that would be like doing you a favor, and well, you have never done anything for me. So I’m going to give you the opportunity to do the right thing and keep the peace.”

“And if I don’t? What will you do then, boy? Start a war? Over some pussy?” He laughs as if it’s the funniest thing in the world.

I clench my teeth together, but force myself to smile as I talk to hide my irritation.

“There is this thing called respect. Right now, we have it between us. We let you stay west and do your shitty criminal activities without a single complaint. We even let you travel through our territory when you want to go to other places to do your dirty deeds. It works out well, doesn’t it?

” I ask, not expecting an answer, so I continue on.

“That will all come to an end. You say it’s pussy.

It might be, but that pussy doesn’t belong to you.

It belongs to us, and while we can find more pussy, you can’t earn back respect that has been lost.”

The line is silent for several minutes. Then he finally speaks.

“Never cared much for respect anyway. Have a good evening, Panther.”

I throw the phone against the wall as I curse.

Looks like war it is.