Page 23 of Panther’s Magpie (Mountain River MC #1)

CHAPTER

TWENTY-ONE

MAGGIE

I don’t really know what I expected when Rain said we were going to come down and help rebuild these houses, but it wasn’t this.

There have to be at least fifty people here. Several are wearing the Mountain River cut, but most aren’t.

It’s quite a sight to see.

“All of these people showed up to help?” I ask Rain.

“Yep. Amazing, isn’t it?”

“Do they even know them?” I ask, wondering if that might be why they came today.

“Nope. I mean, I’m sure some of them do, but most don’t. To be honest, we don’t even know them. Or we didn’t before this happened and we got involved. I can see the question on your face. This is what a community does. When one of their members is hurting, they rally,” she tells me.

I’m amazed. I can’t believe people would show up to help a stranger. I mean, sure, I’ve heard about it on the news from time to time, but I thought it was an extraordinary thing then. I didn’t realize I would ever see it with my own two eyes.

Maybe it’s my own trauma speaking. My own flesh and blood wouldn’t show up if I needed help, but here are strangers helping each other.

“Let me go introduce you to some people and get you a task,” Rain tells me, grabbing my arm as she leads me closer to the groups.

They are split in two. One group is working on the left house while the other is working on the right. I expected to see rubble and ash, but instead, they already have concrete poured and dried. Each home has a group of men building a foundation.

“Ridge, we are here and ready to work,” Rain tells one of the brothers.

He turns and smiles at me. I’ve seen him around the clubhouse before, but he’s always coming and going. I have never had the chance to formally meet him.

“Hello there, Maggie. Glad to see you could make it out. First, you both need a hard hat.” He leads us over to where there are supplies laid out.

He hands us both hard hats, then tool belts. Then he looks over and contemplates what we could do.

“I think where we need the most help right now is handing the guys what they need as they get the frame up. You guys can go help Trout and Yak. Rain, every thirty minutes I want you to make a run around to everyone with water and snacks. I don’t want anyone passing out.”

She rolls her eyes at him. “Sir, yes, sir. Anything else?”

He clenches his jaw. “Brat. Go on and stay out of trouble.”

“Oh, I don’t know if I can make that promise,” she says as she grabs my arm and pulls me away.

“What was that about?” I whisper to her as she leads me over to one of the houses.

“Oh, nothing. Ridge isn’t overly happy with the fact that I’m eighteen years old and hit on him. It makes him uncomfortable,” she tells me.

“Do you like him?”

She scoffs. “That oaf? He’s infuriating. He never even knew I existed until my eighteenth birthday when I accepted a dare and asked him to take my virginity. He about lost his mind. Ever since then, it’s like he’s made it his personal mission to not come near me. I hate him.”

I think she is hiding some hurt under all of that, but I’m not going to go there. Not today.

“Well, it’s his loss then,” I tell her, hugging her arm closer.

“Thanks, girl,” she says low before she yells, “Yak, Trout. We are here to help.”

“Oh god, who sent the tornado in?” one of them calls out.

“We are all doomed with her on our team,” the other teases.

“Hey now. That’s not nice to say about our new friend, now is it? I could let Panther know you’re insulting his girl.”

My heart skips a beat at her calling me his girl. We haven’t fully had that conversation yet. I want to be his girl, though. More than anything.

They both look over at us then pale a little.

“Sorry, Maggie. We were talking about your partner there. I’m Yak. This is my boy Trout. We have heard nothing but good things about you,” he assures me.

I snort. “It’s okay. I’m used to finding friends who make trouble.”

My heart hurts as an image of Aspen flashes in my head.

“Anyway, where can we help?”

And that’s how the first hour goes. I hand nails and tools to the guys as they work and chat.

I learn a lot about each of them. Like Yak got his name because his mouth is always running a mile a minute.

I swear he changes the subject so quickly I’m not always sure what we are talking about.

It helps that he also has long hair and resembles a yak as well.

Trout, on the other hand, got his because he is lean and can move fast in the water.

He wins all the swimming contests in the group.

That’s not what earned him the name, though.

No, he saved two kids swimming at a local lake when they started to struggle.

He was able to single-handedly get both of them to shore without any of them dying.

This was before he was a prospect, but the president at the time saw the whole thing and knew it would be his name when he joined.

Listening to their old stories about the club and their lives only has me smiling all day long. It sounds nice to have so many people on your side. To be able to have game nights or go on camping trips. I’m hoping I can experience all of that with them.

I want to make my own memories.

After the second hour, I turn to Rain. “Hey, is there somewhere I can go to the bathroom?”

She nods. “Porta-potties right over there. They should be clean. They were delivered this morning.”

I don’t love the idea of them, but I head over to them anyway.

I’m surprised when I open it that it is indeed clean. Still smells slightly chemical, but I don’t feel like I need a tetanus shot after being in there.

I do my business quickly before stepping outside to wash my hands.

As I shake my hands off, I turn and almost run into a man.

“Oh, sorry.”

“You will be,” the menacing voice says.

I look up, seeing the man who has featured in my nightmares. The man from the bar that night that wanted me to go with him.

Before I can make a noise, he has a hand pressed over my mouth as he pulls me beside the porta-potty. He steps in front of me, still covering my mouth.

“You are a troublesome little thing. Do you know that I offered to trade you for the pretty blond I have? Panther didn’t want to do that.

Claimed he had no idea where you were. So what a surprise when I come down to this little shindig to cause a little chaos and I find the woman who slipped away working next to his brothers. ”

I can’t say a word. I know screaming is futile. All I can do is wait for an opening to hurt him and hope I can run fast enough. The brothers will come running. I know they will.

“You were going to be my prize that night, you know. I was going to fuck you so hard until you didn’t want to go home anymore. We could have had it nice, but you left me. Then you ran to another club? Tsk tsk, Little Mouse. Now I’m going to have to teach you a lesson.”

Movement behind him has my eyes flickering that way. I can’t tell who it is, but someone is approaching. I look back to the man in front of me.

“Oh, no one is going to save you now. I’m going to be nice and let you come on your own free will. If you do, I won’t hurt your friend. I’ll even let you stay with her. How does that sound?”

Aspen.

I know going with him would be stupid. There is no way it would make anything better, but part of me longs to agree with him. To go along so I can be there for Aspen.

I can’t, though, and the guilt of that will live with me forever.

A click sounds, then I hear my savior’s voice.

“Let her go, or it’s the last thing you will ever do.”

PANTHER

I pulled up to the work site five minutes ago, but I haven’t yet found Maggie. I’m itching to see her. It’s only been a couple of hours, but I already fucking miss her.

I have never felt this way before. Never wanted to, yet here I am.

“Rain, where the hell is Maggie?” I ask her as soon as I see her walking around with bottles of water.

“She went to the bathroom over there.” She points to the porta-potties set up along the road.

I nod, heading in the direction she pointed. As I get closer, I notice movement on the side of one of them. I move silently as I make a big arch to get a better view.

It’s Adlet, and he’s got my woman pinned against the porta potty. My blood runs cold at the sight. My anger, on the other hand, is through the roof.

How dare he touch what is mine?

Pulling my gun from its holster, I sneak up behind him. Then I point the gun at his head and pull back the hammer.

For once, it works that my girl is so short. I could shoot him dead without even touching her. I don’t want to traumatize her like that, though.

“Let her go, or it’s the last thing you will ever do,” I growl.

He slowly lets her go, holding his hands up. I step back, giving him room to turn toward me. Maggie takes it as her cue to move as she rushes away from him and behind me. I can feel her trembling as she holds onto the back of my cut.

“Oh, look what we have here. The infamous Panther. I wondered if we would ever get to meet face-to-face. I have to say, I’m not disappointed. You live up to everything I’ve heard about you. Young, cocky. You know I knew Cloak. I couldn’t believe that he left you in charge of his precious club.”

I grit my teeth. “Believe what you want. All this talking is a waste. I should put a bullet in you right now.”

He laughs. “Oh, you definitely should, but you haven’t. You know why? I know why. You are too moral. There are too many civilians around, and you know a gunshot won’t go unnoticed. I mean, I say go for it.”

This guy is certifiable. Here he is taunting me to shoot him. There’s more to this than meets the eye. Sure, I don’t want to kill him with a bunch of civilians around, but not one of them would rat on me.

No, there is more at play. He’s not here alone.

“You would like that, wouldn’t you?” I tell him.

He grins wider. “You know that sweet little blond is turning out to be quite a feisty woman. I personally love when they fight back. Gets me so hard.”

He grabs his junk.

Maggie burrows in closer to me. She doesn’t like his words.

“I’ll give you another chance since you seem to have found my girl here. You want to trade?” Adlet smiles wider.

He knows. He knows that she means something to me, which painted a bigger target on her back.

Fuck.

“She will be staying with me.” Is all I say.

“Hmm. Too bad. You sure you don’t want to pull that trigger? I mean, you’ll never find your blond, but the carnage from my men would be a sight to see. I’d only be disappointed I wasn’t here to witness it.”

Pulling my gun away from his head, I hiss at him, “Get out of here before I change my mind. If I see you again, I will kill you dead. To hell with the consequences.”

He doesn’t move quickly. Instead, he laughs as he walks around us. I turn so Maggie doesn’t have to see him.

“Don’t worry, Little Mouse. We will get that alone time I promised. I can’t wait to watch you break so beautifully.”

I keep my mouth shut as he strides down the street. I keep watching until he climbs into a car and drives away. Only then do I turn around and cup Maggie’s cheeks.

“Magpie? Are you okay?”

She has tears in her eyes as she shakes her head. “No. I’m not.”

It’s the most honest thing she’s said. She’s scared to death. I don’t blame her. I should have never kept her here. I should have sent her far away. I am supposed to be keeping her safe, and here she was accosted under the care of my own men.

“I’m so sorry, baby. I can get you out of here so you’re safe.”

She looks up at me, confused. “Like back to your house?”

“No. Like out of the country if that’s what it takes,” I tell her.

She pulls away. “I don’t want to go anywhere else. I’m safest with you.”

“It doesn’t feel that way. He almost had you.”

She shakes her head. “He cornered me for sure, but I wasn’t paying attention. I let my guard down. I learned my lesson. I need to always be aware of my surroundings. He won’t catch me off guard again.”

I sigh, pulling her into my arms. “I don’t like this.”

It’s an admission I would have never said before, but I find it easy to be myself with Maggie. She’s my safe place as much as I am hers.

“Me either, but it’s the life you live. I want to live it too.”

I press a kiss to her temple. “Fine, but I’m teaching you how to use a gun and getting you a concealed carry permit. I want one on your hip anytime you come into town.”

“That’s a bit excessive,” she says, smiling up at me.

“Hey, I gave you an out before we started all of this. You didn’t take it. Now you’re about to learn all about what it means to be mine.”

“Yours…” She hums. “So I’m your girl then?”

I lean in and kiss her. “You’re my everything.”