Page 17

CHAPTER 17 - ASTRA

A fter three rounds of animalistic sex, Raze took a break to make a circle of fire and baked the fish for our lunch, drizzling sliced lemon and some herbs he had foraged from the forest. My mouth watered as I ate it, the combination of herbs, lemon, crusty skin and soft flesh melting on my tongue.

An alarm went off on my wolf’s watch, and he checked it. “Time to get back to camp and prepare this food for the bonfire.”

“Boo!” I joked, wanting to go another two rounds before we headed back.

“You fiend.” He slapped my ass and dressed me in my clothes, telling me fun times were well and truly over.

Dressed and bellies full, we lugged our haul back to camp, getting waves, hellos, sniffs, and keen inspections of our catch from the other shifters. A stark contrast to the unfriendly and untrusting greeting he initially encountered with the sanctuary’s other residents.

Raze set the cooler on the bench of a doorless communal hut in the center, where the pack brought their hunted trophies and collected vegetables to skin, rinse, slice, and prepare to stew or roast the edibles for dinner. Some of the members preferred to eat dinner alone, and that was fine, though shifters were encouraged to mingle for the sake of community.

Raze and I got busy, slicing off the heads of the fish, removing their scales, and slicing up fillets, storing some in the fridges powered by solar panels on the roof. We left the rest out marinating in lemon juice, salt, and herbs for tonight’s campfire dinner.

My wolf’s phone buzzed, and he removed it from his pocket and read the screen, chuckling and grunting. “It’s for you.” He held out his phone for me.

“Me?” Only Luna knew I was here. My stomach clenched, dreading the order to return home.

The mystery made sense when I clasped the cell and glanced over the first line of the text message. Another message from Tor. One quarter of my heart vibrated faster.

Hey Supergal,

I’m on Cole’s phone while he tinkers with my exoskeleton.

My stomach relaxed into its normal position.

The boys are well. Pascal’s out of the hospital, and we’re back out catching bad guys tomorrow. Knoxe has really stepped up for Pascal. You’d be proud. Hell, I almost shed a tear. Ha, how’s that for a cliffhanger, romance novel queen? I guess you’ll have to come back and find out the details.

Oh, my man was such a tease. I kept reading until the end, delighted at hearing from him again.

I miss and love you and hope you’re living it up with Raze. Don’t worry, he got his own message above, which he was sworn to secrecy or else break the bro-code. Ah-ah. Don’t scroll up, missy. Here’s a glimpse, and only, because I love you:

Hey, brother. We miss your sexy ass, gravelly growl, and turning the training room into an eighties rock video. Redacted. Redacted.

I laughed so hard, I snorted. Typical Tor. Damn, I loved that man. My sunshine.

Sorry, but you’re only authorized for the PG version. And don’t ask Raze for the X-rated version or he won’t give you his candy.

Okay. I howled and snorted in one. I needed that laugh when I worried about my other three men and whether they were punished because they didn’t bring me back.

Thanks to an incredible tip, we’re closer to rounding up the fugitives and getting out, and excited to meet up with you again. Stay safe and wait for us.

Forever your Superguy

I sniffed and swiped away a happy tear. He thought I intended to stay with Raze. I mean, that was possible, but I didn’t want to constantly look over my shoulder and live with dread. I clutched the phone to my chest for a few beats, feeling close to Tor, yet so far away.

“Thanks, my wolf.” I reluctantly passed him back his phone.

“He misses you.” Raze addressed the elephant in the room after days of dodging it.

“Yeah.” That was all I wanted to say about the matter when my heart vibrated with the threat of breaking.

“Will you return?” Fuck. He wouldn’t drop it.

“I have to. They’ll come from me eventually. I’m just less priority than the fugitives.” Prisoners who probably weren’t meant to escape, but did, and the dirty players behind it probably wanted to silence them forever.

“When?” He set aside one fish to prepare the next.

“I don’t know.” I traced the grooves in the wooden bench.

“I think we need to discuss this.” Raze ripped the guts from a fish and I wanted to heave. “We need to make a plan.

“Please, not yet. I can’t.” I rubbed my temples and closed my eyes, fighting the onslaught of tears and grief storming my chest. “You’ve got evidence to clear Knoxe, Tor, and Pascal, but I’m not so lucky. I don’t want to talk about going back to emptiness, okay?”

Raze abandoned the meat, went to the sink, rinsed his hands, and moved to me, curling me into his warm and safe arms. “We don’t have to talk about it now. But if you think they’re getting out of there and leaving you alone in that dangerous place and forgetting you, you’re deluded.”

“Raze, I’ve been looking for you!” a female called out from behind, breaking up our cuddle and putting an end to that matter.

A female shifter hobbled over the grass to the hut, clasping two dead chickens. A male bearing another cooler came with her, who I assumed was her mate.

Formidable in size like my wolf, the werewolf deposited the box on the bench and clasped Raze’s hand and squeezed. “Good to see you again, man.”

Stepping back, he lingered by his mate’s side, stroking the ink on his tattooed fingers. He gave off rugged mountain man, silent-type vibes with his long, straight chestnut hair, beard and matching brown eyes.

The female swung the chickens onto the bench with a thud, her mate getting to work and plucking the feathers.

“I heard your mate was here. Is this her?” She turned to me, her hazel eyes warm and welcoming. Curvy with curly auburn hair, she looked smoking in her catsuit hugging all the right places.

This must have been the friend he said he met. Heather, I think her name was. The only one who wasn’t scared of him at first and befriended him.

My wolf’s chest rumbled as he shuffled forward. “Heather, Steele, meet my mate, Astra.”

Heather extended a small hand with nails painted a gorgeous copper that would match my sunset-orange hair dye. “Welcome. We’ve heard so much about you!”

What did he say? I didn’t want to go over ground already covered.

“It’s nice to meet you both.” I clasped her hand, shaking it once. “Raze talks about you often. Thank you for keeping him company.”

Sheer size made my wolf daunting. Cautious, guarded, and mysterious added to his illusion of intimidation, and I kind of understood why the other shifters kept their distance at first. It didn’t seem he had that problem now with the welcome he got upon our return to camp. I was beyond grateful that she took a chance on getting to know him and keeping him company when he was alone without his pack.

Heather drew me into a soft hug. “He’s a good man. An outsider like me. Outsiders bond, don’t we?” She winked at him, and he rumbled louder.

I smiled. She summed up Raze perfectly. Once my men and I got out of prison, we’d have our own little pack, and Raze could nest until his heart was content… minus the babies… just for a few years. After my time in prison, I need a solid two years of recovery, endless vacations, and solace time to catch up on reading.

“I love your nail polish,” I gushed, taking liberties and clasping her hand to examine the colors. Equations bubbled in my brain how to create that exact color and with what chemicals.

“Thanks.” She flexed her fingers wide, admiring their rounded shape and the large rock she sported on her engagement finger. “Steele bought it for me. He loves the color.”

I liked her instantly and felt a familiarity and comfort that I didn’t get from any of the inmates I was surrounded with for almost a year and a half.

Raze slid in next to the mountain man, assisting him in plucking the second chicken. “Pussy!” He nudged his new friend on the bicep.

Steele cracked the first inclination of a smile and thumped him on the arm. “I give you three months until you’re a sucker.”

I never would have pegged the bear for a romantic who bought his girl makeup. Surprises all around.

“He already is.” I threw my wolf into the hot seat, and he pivoted and chased me in circles through the hut, catching me, lifting me, and biting my neck, laughing for a few beats.

“Now you won’t be so lonely in the pussy club, babe.” Heather rubbed Steele’s forearm.

The four of us laughed, and I hadn’t felt this light, free, or happy in a long time. When was the last time I did normal things, like attend a party, go to a bar, go camping, hiking, fishing, Friday night barbecue, or a bonfire? This gave me a strong sense of what my life would resemble post Guardians, and my heart ached for freedom harder than ever.

When Raze went back to the bench, Steele threw an arm over him and said, “Welcome to the pussy club, brother.”

Heather and I exchanged a smile.

She waved me over to the cooler Steele carried from her car, peeling off the lid and exposing various alcoholic drinks on ice. Vodka and sodas bottles, Great Western beer cans, ciders, and more.

“What will you have?” Heather picked out a Jack Daniels and Coke can.

“The same, please,” I replied, and she lifted me one.

The iced can cooled my warm palms. We cracked open our drinks and indulged in a sip, the whisky sweet and fresh on my tongue.

“Beer, boys?” Heather asked her man and mine, and they nodded. She delivered them cans, and they chatted in the background, leaving us to talk, share stories, and laugh.

With the food ready and set in the fridge, the four of us washed up, moved to a circular pit covered in ash, Heather and me taking one of the log seats.

“Watch and learn, ladies and gent.” Raze took the lead, piling thicker branches over smaller twigs and stems.

He showed Steele how to light a fire the way his former tribe did, rubbing sticks between his palms, smoking the wood until it caught fire, and Raze blew on it, encouraging the flames.

“You have a go.” My wolf moved to the opposite side of the pile of wood and handed Steele the stick he used, guiding him on technique, and cheering the werewolf as he got flames going.

“Club parties are never going to be the same.” Steele grinned, tossing the sticks into the fire.

“Club?” I enquired as Raze nudged the blaze to expand.

“Dash and I run the Lithgow chapter of the Jackals’ Wrath Motorcycle Club.” Steele crossed over to the seat with Heather, circling his arm over her waist, pulling her close to him.

More bikers. Oh, damn, Heather was one lucky girl.

“You know Aaliyah and Castor?” I asked. “They visited the other day.”

“Sure do.” Steele cracked the lid on another beer. “Castor’s kind of my boss. Wait until you meet Slade, the president. He’s even bigger than me.”

Raze and Steele were six feet eight easily. That put Slade at six feet nine or taller. A damn giant. Poor Aaliyah. No wonder her belly was so huge. She was probably giving birth to giants.

My wolf came to sit beside me, lifting my legs up over his, rubbing them. I moaned a little since they were sore from roaming all the hills of the sanctuary. We didn’t get much cardio practice on inclines in the Guardians.

I brushed his hair from his forehead. “Think you might want to be a biker? That’d be hot.”

“We’d have him as a member.” Steele tossed Raze a cold beer.

“Really?” Raze’s can fizzled, and he licked at the frothy liquid.

“Sure, you can be our prospect,” Steele replied.

I snorted and tickled my mate’s jaw. “Can’t he be the enforcer?”

“We’ve already got one.” Steele surprised me with how chatty he could be. I definitely got the wrong impression of him. “He’s my sister’s mate.”

“What other positions do you have?” My wolf deserved a more senior role.

“Secretary,” Steele teased.

It was Raze’s time to snort. “I’m no good with money.”

True. He used to give all his earnings to his mother and former tribe.

“Sergeant at Arms?” Yeah, I knew my ranks because I read enough MC romance to be familiar with them.

“We could do with a SAA.” Steele tipped up his beer with a smile.

“Now weapons, I can do.” Raze grinned, and we all laughed at him for misinterpreting the rank because of the name. “What?”

“A Sergeant at Arms has multiple roles,” Steele clarified. “Enforcing, logistics and planning, communicating to members, conflict resolution among some.”

“I’m good at those.” Raze sipped at his beer.

Poking fun at each other reminded me of fun times with my harem, where we played cards, told stories, or just hung out, enjoying each other’s company. My chest stung with longing for my three other men, and I wished they were here with us, enjoying the festivities.

Raze really wanted me and my harem to come and live with him on the commune after our release. I could already tell they’d get along with Heather and Steele and fit right in here. Who knew what our future held, though. Maybe we’d all have separate places. Maybe we’d share. Maybe we’d live off planet in one of the gantii worlds. The possibilities were endless, and my chest thrummed with excitement to explore them.

Flames crawled over the wood, blackening it, and I admired the start of our bonfire and new relationships. Cheers to that. Cheers to many more barbecues, parties, and social gatherings. And cheers to my and my men’s freedom to create it.