Page 4

Rocky

Knox’s garage was silent. The kind that meant somethin’ was comin’.

He stood over the workbench, sleeves pushed up, arms flexed as he pretended to care about the carburetor guts scattered across the table. But he hadn’t turned a damn wrench since I walked in.

“You needed somethin’, Prez?” I asked, leanin’ against the frame of the open bay door.

He didn’t look at me when he spoke. “You remember what you swore to me, back when I made you my VP?”

I frowned. “Which part? Loyalty, silence, or blood?”

His jaw ticked. “All of it.”

I stepped in closer, boots echoing on the concrete. “Say what you wanna say, Prez.”

Now he turned. Eyes burnin’ that amber-bronze color that only showed when his fox was near the surface. “You left a job unfinished.”

My shoulders tensed. “I finished what needed finishin’.”

“No,” he growled. “You left him breathin’. You left them breathin’.”

“You wanted him scared,” I said carefully. “You said make it count. You never said kill .”

“I didn’t think I had to.”

His voice was low, lethal, but not yellin’. That was the thing about Knox. He didn’t need to shout to cut deep.

“You’re the one who told me,” I said, takin’ a step forward. “Back when we were all younger and dumber, that vengeance without strategy gets a fella killed. I did what I had to.”

He slammed a hand down on the bench. The metal clanged like a war drum. “And now he’s back, Rocky”

“He’s in the slammer, Knox. He didn’t go after Birdie.”

“Somethings crawlin’ through shadows, lookin’ for ways to hurt my family. You think that’s strategy?”

“I think it’s unfinished business ,” I shot back.

His lip curled, not in anger, but disappointment. That hit worse.

“He took Eliza and Emma,” he all but growled. “You remember that?”

“I remember.”

“He left scars on both of ‘em. Seen and unseen.”

“I remember ,” I snapped. “I was there, wasn’t I? I carried Eliza outta there. ”

We stood there, nose to nose, both of us vibratin’ with fury. Beasts, tryin’ not to shift.

“I’m gonna marry her. She’s it for me,” he said. “Always has been. But I can’t build a life with threats at our door.”

I swallowed hard. “You askin’ me for a wedding gift?”

“I’m askin’ you to finish the goddamn hunt,” he said. “Quiet. Final. No fanfare. No blood trail leadin’ back here.”

I looked out through the bay door, where the wind kicked up dust across the gravel lot.

“I can shift in and out,” I murmured. “No cameras. No witnesses. Nobody ever sees a wolf comin’.”

He nodded. “Then you do it as the wolf.”

I turned back to him. “No names. No need to know.”

His smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Didn’t say one.”

I nodded once. “Then we never speak of it again.”

Knox stepped close, clapped a hand to my shoulder. It wasn’t affection. It was permission. It was war.

“She’s my world, Rocky,” he said quietly. “Make sure it never comes knockin’ again.”

Then he turned back to the bench like nothin’ happened.

And I walked out into the night, already feelin’ the wolf stir beneath my skin.

That night The Wild Dog was thumpin’ with bass and crawling with women. My boots hit the floor heavy as I stalked across the back hall, dodgin’ a passed-out prospect and a pair of gigglin’ club girls who were more perfume than clothes. I wasn’t in the mood for any of it.

My mind was on Birdie.

First time I laid eyes on Birdie, I thought she’d wandered into the Wild Dog lookin’ for a damn photoshoot.

It had been a Saturday night … The Wild Dog packed tighter than a tin of chew, and I was behind the bar, coverin’ for Squeegee who’d dipped out to check on the kegs but was probably tryin’ to get into Taters’ cousin’s jeans.

That’s when I saw her.

She walked in like she owned the damn air, blonde hair spillin’ down her back.

Blonde hair so light it looked like sunlight poured through silk. Not a damn thing about her said she belonged in a seedy bar. Nah, she was all shine and polish, like she lived some high-society fantasy, stunning as sin, too perfect to be real.

Girl had green eyes like spring grass after a hard rain. And that body? Shit. She moved like she owned everything around her, every curve tight and toned like she hit the gym more than I hit the throttle. Made it real damn hard to think straight when she walked into a room with those long legs and that little strut like she knew exactly how hot she was.

And she was hot. Even when she started bein’ loud as hell, battin’ those lashes at someone who didn’t deserve her attention.

I leaned against the back cooler, nursin’ a beer, tryin’ not to stare. Tryin’ and failin’.

“Eliza brought a friend,” Smokey muttered beside me, not lookin’ up from his whiskey. “You’re droolin’.”

“I ain’t droolin’,” I growled, but wiped my mouth just in case.

I didn’t know her name yet, but I knew trouble when I saw it. And she was wearin’ it head-to-toe in electric pink boots, ripped jeans with little rhinestones, and some kinda cropped fringe jean jacket that looked more rockstar than biker chick. Her sunglasses, at night, were perched right on top of her head like a damn crown.

Next to her, Eliza looked like a schoolteacher, which, hell, she was. But the blonde? She was sunshine in human form. Glitter, gloss, and enough sass to make a man forget his own name.

She didn’t hesitate. Just strutted up to the bar, giant pink phone in one hand, designer purse in the other, and smiled like she’d known me her whole life.

“Do you have elderflower syrup?” she asked, dead serious.

I blinked. “Do I look like I run a garden party?”

She laughed, light and bright, like chimes in a summer breeze. “Nope. But a girl can dream, right?”

“Only thing syrupy around here’s the bourbon,” I muttered, gruff as ever.

“Eliza didn’t say y’all were this charming,” she teased, takin’ a seat like she owned it.

“She bring you here for a dare?”

She tilted her head, smirkin’. “No. I wanted to see the infamous Wild Dog for myself. So far, it’s givin’ me Sons of Anarchy meets Smoky Mountain moonshine vibes.”

“Whatever that means.” I poured her a whiskey neat before she could ask for anything frilly again. “Here. Try actin’ like you’re in a bar, not a brunch spot.”

She took the glass, held my gaze, and sipped like a damn professional. “You always this grumpy, or just with me?”

“Sunshine,” I said, the nickname slipping out before I could stop it. “If I smiled at you, I might combust.”

Her lips parted, then curved into a grin that damn near undid me. “Well, now I’m determined to make you.”

And that was the moment.

That flash in her eye.

That laugh like sunshine and dynamite.

I knew. She was chaos dressed in sequins, and I was already too far gone.

Birdie dressed like she was always on stage, glittery tops, bright lipstick, nails sharp enough to draw blood. She wasn’t just pretty, She was extra . Loud, dramatic, full of fire and color like a firework you weren’t supposed to light indoors.

The kinda woman who’d never even looked at someone like me twice. Not really .

But she was too soft for my world.

Then I saw her that night in the woods and everything changed.

She was sittin’ by the fire in leggings and a big-ass hoodie, hair up in one of those messy buns like she’d just rolled outta bed. And fuck me if that didn’t short out somethin’ in my brain. More like my jeans. No flashy sunglasses. No wild ass hat. Just Birdie, raw and natural, tucked into the wilderness like she belonged there.

I damn near forgot how to breathe.

She had looked smaller, softer somehow, outta her usual armor from a catalogue. She still had that glow. Don’t get me wrong. But it was different. Realer. Like she was finally at rest. And that messed with me more than it should’ve.

What other sides she was keepin’ tucked away?

I couldn’t stop thinkin’ about it. ‘Bout her. The contrast of that wild spirit wrapped up in glamor, now stripped down in the dark woods with only moonlight and pine shadows for company.

Birdie wasn’t like the women hangin’ ‘round the clubhouse. She didn’t want nothin’ from me. Didn’t play games. And even when she strutted through my world like she was just passin’ through, she had this way of sticking , like a song you couldn’t get out of your head, no matter how hard you tried.

That night out in the forest, I realized somethin’ dangerous.

She wasn’t just beautiful.

She was interestin’.

And interestin’ could get a man like me killed. Or worse... claimed.

I needed air, needed quiet. But mostly, I needed my brother.

Knox was out back by the firepit, leanin’ against the fence like the world was sittin’ heavy on his shoulders. Prez understood that kinda weight more than anyone. He looked up when I stepped outside, shadows playin’ across the sharp lines of his jaw, his cigarette glowing like a slow-burnin’ fuse.

“You look like hell, brother,” he said.

“Feel worse,” I muttered, scrubbing a hand through my hair. The wind was shiftin’. I could smell the honeysuckle in Birdie’s damn shampoo lingering on my cut like it was tattooed in my leather. “I need to talk.”

Knox flicked ash into the dirt. “Shoot.”

I stepped closer, dropping my voice even though nobody else was out there. “It’s Birdie.”

Knox straightened just slightly, jaw twitchin’ like he knew where this was headin’.

“She don’t know what I am. What we are. But somethin’ in her…” I blew out a long breath, palms braced on my hips. “It calls to me, Knox. Worse than any heat I’ve felt before. She don’t even gotta touch me, just a look, a laugh, just the thought of her, and I’m this close to losin’ it. ”

I held up my thumb and forefinger, barely apart.

Knox let out a low whistle, then dragged off his smoke. “That bad?”

“Worse. You know, I shifted the night I found her in the woods. Fully. Protected her without a second thought. Now I’m half-wild when I’m near her, and she don’t even know what the hell I am. I ain’t never had this kind of instinct clawin’ at me, brother. I’m gonna lose control.”

Knox nodded slow, his expression unreadable. “She’s human. All smiley, too. You know what happens if you bite her.”

“I know.” My voice dropped into a grated growl. “It ain’t just about the shift or the bond. I’m thinkin’ about claimin’ her. For real. But if she finds out what I am the wrong way… she’ll run. Hell, she should run.”

He stubbed out his cigarette on the edge of the fire pit and looked at me dead-on. “I’m plannin’ to tell Eliza. Shift in front of her. Tell her the truth.”

“But you already bit her. To protect her from those rogues her ex fucked with, I know. There’s no going back for her.”

“I did what I felt I had to, brother, you know that.”

I looked away, jaw clenching. “I ain’t you.”

“No, you ain’t. You’re Rocky. You’re a goddamn officer in this club and one of the fiercest wolves I’ve ever met. But you start hidin’ from her now? You’ll lose her before you even get the chance. ”

The moon hung heavy behind him, casting the backyard in silver. My skin itched. My blood was hot.

“I can’t stop thinkin’ about markin’ her,” I admitted, voice rough with shame. “I dreamed about it. My teeth in her neck and her scent all over me. She don’t belong in our world, but damn if it don’t feel like fate brought her straight to it.”

Knox crossed his arms, leather creakin’. “You gotta decide somethin’ real quick. Are you gonna give her the choice, or take it away?”

I swallowed hard.

“I won’t judge you either way. You know I’m not a purist.”

Knox spoke of those who thought we should only find mates who were already shifters. Marking a human for a mate, biting them, was seen as rogue behavior. But we were outlaws, in both worlds.

“I wanna give her the choice.”

“Then start actin’ like it,” he said. “Protectin’ her ain’t just about keepin’ her alive. It’s about lettin’ her see the real you. Ugly truths and all. And I’m talkin’ about the human side. For now.”

Silence stretched between us. I watched the embers pop in the pit. Birdie’s laugh echoed in my memory like a damn song on loop.

“You ever feel like the animal inside you don’t just want a mate… it needs one?” I asked.

Knox’s lips twitched into a knowing smirk. “Every day.”

I finally cracked a grin. “We’re fucked, ain’ t we?”

“Brother,” he said, clapping a hand to my shoulder. “We were born that way.”

We stood there a minute longer, two shifters in the dark. Knox being a fox didn’t lessen our bond. He led our pack of misfits all the same. We were brothers bound not just by leather and blood but by the weight of supernatural secrets that grew heavier by the day. The music inside shifted to some screamin’ metal number, and I figured I couldn’t hide out back forever.

The second I stepped into the main room, the scent hit me like a damn freight train, citrus, sugar, and sex.

Birdie.

She was posted up at the bar, long legs crossed, shiny boots swingin’, sippin’ something fruity through a straw. Looked like a hummingbird sippin’ nectar, and I realized why they called her Birdie. She didn’t look like she belonged here, not even a little, but somehow she lit the place up like Christmas on a backroad. And fuck me, I couldn’t look away.

She caught me starin’ and gave me that wicked little smile she wore always. Goddamn sunshine and sass in a curvy little package.

“You stalkin’ me now, mountain man?” she called over the music.

I kept my face neutral as I strode over. “Didn’t realize you were comin’ tonight.”

“Eliza dragged me. Said I needed to get out more and stop stressin’ about bigfoot or whatever I saw out in the woods.” She took another sip. “It’s almost like someone as big as y’all showed up in a wolf suit.”

That punch of irony? It landed like a jab to the ribs. I leaned one arm on the bar, tryin’ to keep my distance.

“You shouldn’t joke about that,” I said low, real low.

She blinked at me, her teasing smile falterin’ just a fraction. “Why not? You afraid I’ll figure somethin’ out? Y’all furries or into some other weird cosplay shit.”

Shit.

Before I could answer, one of the club girls walked by in a tiny top and shorts, trailing fingers across my back. “Hey, Rock,” she purred. “Need anything tonight? And I mean anything.”

Birdie stiffened beside me. I didn’t look at the girl. “I’m good.”

“You sure, daddy? I can do that thing you like again.”

“Nevaeh,” I barked.

Birdie’s eyes grew wide as she asked her, “What does he like?”

Nevaeh leaned in to whisper in her ear.

“On all fours,” was all I could make out.

Birdie’s eyebrows shot up.

“Nevaeh, bounce.”

“Kay, daddy. Like a check in the liquor store.” She wandered off.

Birdie raised a brow. “Friend of yours?”

“No.”

“If you do that with your enemies, what do you do with your friends?”

“Nevaeh’s just cock blocking me. I’ve never touched her,” I grumbled. “Neaveh is Heaven spelled backwards for a reason.”

“You’re awful grumpy tonight. More than usual.”

“Not grumpy,” I said. “Just tryin’ to keep my damn head on straight.”

She laughed, light and quick, like a spark in the dark. “Well, you’re doin’ a shit job at it.”

I turned to face her full-on. “Birdie, this ain’t a game.”

Her smile dimmed. “I never said it was.”

“You flirtin’ with me is dangerous.”

Her eyes searched mine, something flickerin’ there I didn’t dare name. “Dangerous for who? You? Or me?”

I didn’t answer.

I couldn’t.

Not when my instincts were already clawing at the inside of my skin. She didn’t know what I was, but some part of her felt it. Maybe that’s what scared me most. She saw somethin’ in me I hadn’t shown. Maybe that was what brought her to the woods in the first place.

“Look,” I finally said, dragging a hand through my hair. “I ain’t good at this. But you gotta stop lookin’ at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like you want me to kiss you in front of God and the whole damn club.”

She grinned, real slow. “Maybe I do.”

I took a step back as my wolf was clawing at my skin.

“I ain’t gonna hurt you,” I said, voice low. “But I might ruin you.”

And with that, I turned and walked away.