Page 5 of Wolf.e (The Soldiers of Bedlam #1)
“My wedding, the one you declined!” she says, her pretty mouth turning into a frown. “You’re coming. We’ll dance, we’ll have some fun, it’s on Tybee Island, it’s beautiful. We have Lighthouse Landing all to ourselves.”
My eyebrows perk up. Lighthouse Landing is one of the nicest resorts on Tybee Island, right on the ocean.
For some reason, I pictured this wedding to be anything but traditional.
Maybe in one of the club members’ backyards while people smoked various kinds of drugs and got black out drunk, some women dancing in barely there clothing.
Come to think of it, that’s pretty much what I picture when I think of them—seedy, dark, sexual, ruthless. I know enough to know if you don’t look too long and keep your distance, they’ll leave you alone. If I go to this wedding, not looking is just impossible.
“Do you ever worry about what will happen if they get…into trouble while you’re with them?” I ask, not understanding my own curiosity.
“Look, I’m not saying my soon-to-be husband and his crew are always innocent men. Some things are true. Like, if you get on their bad side, hiding wouldn’t help you.”
My stomach drops with the nonchalance she says these words
“But these things aren’t so black and white, Brin. Our parents…they were assumptive and judgmental. They didn’t know the truth. Don’t you ever question them? ” Layla asks, with a surety that makes me go over everything I think I know.
We all heard the rumors growing up. Dragging men who defy them behind their bikes down Main Street.
Breaking limbs and branding body parts. I also think of what I witnessed.
When I was eight, we stopped at the bakery for a cake for a dinner party and I remember seeing police and caution tape around the local diner across the street.
When my mom got back in the car, she told my dad as quietly as she could that a fight had broken out and a club member threw someone through their front window and he almost bled to death.
That’s when my father said this town was being taken over by heathens.
My parents used to talk about them like they were lowlifes, but I do have a few different memories.
One in particular includes a giant, gray-haired man holding the door for me and Mom once when we went into the bank.
My mom had never looked so scared ushering me by him, but I remember how he smiled down at me as we walked by. He seemed almost like a gentleman.
“So…your future husband, aside from this life”—I glance nervously to the men joking and talking behind her, paying me no mind—“what does he do?” I cross my legs at my ankles and place my palms on my knees. It’s hard to help but when I’m nervous I go full princess etiquette.
Layla looks at me like she knows I’m judging her and I hate that I am, that’s something Evan used to do that I always disliked.
“He’s in the…importing and exporting business. It pays well.” Layla shrugs, taking a shot. “His interests are spread all over Georgia.”
She says it like he’s any local businessman. I’m sure he is a man of business, but something tells me it isn’t of the legal kind. She puts her hand over mine.
“Look, I’ve missed you, Brin. It hasn’t been the same since you left.
God, six years is a long time. Come on, you need a weekend to not think about your own problems. We’ll have so much fun and maybe you’ll see.
They may be a little scary but they’re not who you think.
Say yes,” she chides, her long fiery hair falling over her shoulders.
She’s still one of the prettiest girls I’ve ever seen.
“I should work on opening up the house. God knows what’s waiting for me. Since Mom died and my aunt left a year ago, no one’s been checking in on it.”
I’m definitely grasping for excuses. Layla knows it.
“Brin.” She gives me the look I know well from my youth. “Stop being so fucking responsible and proper for once and come have some fun. The rehearsal dinner is next Friday night at the club and then we’re all heading to Tybee Island on Saturday morning.”
I look up. “At the club? The Hounds of Hell Clubhouse ?” I repeat, eyeing one of the men behind her smacking another in the back of the head playfully.
It’s obvious to anyone they are essentially the bodyguards of these girls because no one has come to speak to us.
A ripple of fear snakes up my spine. Even though I know it’s wrong, something about the idea of seeing their world from the inside piques my interest a little more than it should.
“And your excuses are bullshit. You have all week to work on the house and make connections for a job; plus, even if you don’t get it done, all that work will be there for you after the wedding.”
Layla hugs me again happily.
“Please say you’ll come?” she squeals. “This is so exciting. We are going to be able to hang out all the time now that you’re home.”
I look to the men behind her. The idea of actually being sucked into this world of hers? That’s what scares me.
She pulls back, and I force a smile. I’ve done the right thing for twenty-four years and where has that gotten me? Alone, jobless, and questioning everything. For the first time in a long time, I find myself feeling free and spontaneous.
“Okay. I’ll come.” I nod, which only makes her smile grow and she lets out another little squeal.
A rush of excitement runs through my blood.
“Yay! Can you believe I’m getting married?
” Layla chirps. “And let’s have lunch during the week.
” She turns her head. “Chris?” she calls to one of the men behind her.
He’s leaning on the small private bar in the VIP area, he has a patch labeled prospect.
I recall that means he’s not a member yet, just hopes to be.
He comes over to her with few short strides.
“Call the Lighthouse Landing and book my bestie here a room—one with an ocean view.” She winks.
“Oh, I can’t afford…fancy. I’ll just do a basic—” I start to say.
“Nonsense, we’re paying for our guests and that includes you.” Layla looks back to the guy she called Chris. “Like I said, please,” she says sweetly to him.
He nods and pulls his phone out of his pocket, making me wonder again just what kind of life my friend is living having these men at her disposal.
Visions of Beyond The Law or The Gauntlet , those old biker movies my dad used to watch fill my head. But this isn’t the movies, it’s real life.
Hopefully, my friend telling me I’ll be safe is true because unless I come up with a really good excuse, it looks like I’ll be spending next weekend with Harmony’s most notorious outlaws.