May 2019 Newsletter
PACK CHALLENGE
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DITED/UNPROOFED: Zach walked into the diner, ignoring the fact all activity stopped as soon as they saw him. They were all shifters. Marrec’s Pack. And word about him and Sara had moved through the small town like wildfire. He was getting exceptionally shitty treatment all over the goddamn place. They acted like he’d tried to hurt Sara.
Shit, maybe his Pack should have just grabbed the woman and run. Cause there was nothing like redneck shifters to annoy a man.
Zach leaned up against the counter and motioned to the waitress.
She stood in front of him with a less than friendly expression on her face. “Yeah?”
“Have you seen Sara?”
“Yeah,” the woman replied.
Zach waited for her to finish, but she kept staring at him instead.
“Could you tell me where I can find her?” he finally asked, working really hard not to start tearing throats from bodies.
“I could tell you…”
“Okay.”
“…but I won’t.”
*****
She knew something was seriously different as soon as she walked into Skelly’s. Since the day Sara had fake I.D. she’d been coming and going out of Skelly’s virtually unnoticed unless someone accidentally ran into her or a person new to Skelly’s happened to spot the scar on her face.
But as soon as she walked into the club this night, she realized she had every guys’ attention. True, a little overwhelming, especially at first when she didn’t really know what they were looking at or why. Yet, at the same time, strangely exhilarating.
Moving through the crowd, Sara’s eyes kept scanning left to right, her entire body ready to deal with whatever came at her. Actually, she kind of looked forward to something coming at her. Her senses felt on overload. Smells she’d never noticed before assaulted her, like Leon the bouncer’s overuse of Old Spice. And even that couldn’t block out the fact the man probably hadn’t showered since the night before.
Sounds, too, seemed more intense. Louder. And the bass from the music pounding through the speaker system pulsated through her body. The feel of it almost sexual, causing her nipples to tighten and her pussy to clench. But even with the music going full blast, she couldn’t understand why everyone was suddenly screaming. She could hear them fine, couldn’t the person in front of them?
Sara walked up to the bar and motioned to the bartender who worked on Miki’s nights off.
“Hey, Sara. Miki’s not here tonight.”
“Yeah. I know. Can I get a shot of…” She stopped. Mhhhm. Perhaps tequila was not the best thing tonight. “Make that a beer. Dark.”
He nodded and had it in front of her in less than a minute. Before she could dig the fiver out of her pocket, a male arm reached around her. “I got it.”
Sara looked over her shoulder and blinked. Kent Ethos? He didn’t belong to any particular club but was definitely a rider and gave Marrec a lot of business.
“Uh…thanks, Kent.”
He smiled down at her and she realized there was real intent behind that smile. “My pleasure, Sara.” He leaned against the bar, staring at her like he had his eyes on the hottest piece of ass ever.
“So, you just hanging out tonight?”
Sara bit back her typically sarcastic remark and instead said, “Yeah. I guess.”
“Hey, Sara.”
Sara looked at the man standing on the opposite side of her. She knew him as Jazz and that was about it. And definitely part of a club. One of the tougher ones. Last she heard they still hated her by association. They never forgave Angie for what she did to their leader all those years ago. For a while Sara thought for sure they’d try and retaliate but Marrec handled it and since then they all stayed out of each other’s way.
Until tonight it seemed.
“Hi, Jazz.”
“So, you just hangin’ out tonight?”
Sara had a hard time maintaining a neutral look on her face. She really wanted to stare at them all in shock or laugh hysterically until she peed in her pants. Especially when one of the riders from another cycle club walked up behind her and simply stood there watching her.
“Yeah. I’m just hangin’,” she said somehow without laughing.
“Everything all right, Sara?”
One of Marrec’s older sons stared at her from across the bar, a deep scowl on his rugged face, several of his siblings and cousins standing behind him. Uh-oh. She knew that expression. The same one they all got when they thought someone was putting Sara down or hurting her feelings.
“Yeah, she’s all right,” Jazz snapped. “So back the fuck off.”
Uh-oh.
*****
Zach was about to howl in frustration when he got the call. For hours he searched for her. He eventually found out she’d gone off with her friends, but he lost her scent once she left Marrec’s. Including the diner, he also tried her house, the other two restaurants in town and the local movie theater.
Then Conall called. “You better get over here.”
It turned out “here” was the club he first saw her in. He had gone there earlier, but it was a quiet evening with just a few patrons hanging out so he quickly left.
But when he rode his bike up, Conall was standing outside with Kelly and Julie. Standing with them was a small group of patrons, wearing their requisite Goth black and leather. They all looked like they were waiting for something, but he was afraid to ask what.
He got off his bike and walked up to Conall. “Well? Where is she?”
“In there.” Conall motioned to the club. “But you better hurry up. The owner’s about to call the cops. I’ll hold him off as long as I can.”
Heading toward the entrance, he heard Conall’s voice behind him. “Be careful, Zach.”
Zach walked into the club and right into a bar fight. Several men already knocked out and bloody on the floor. But at least six other men still fighting. He looked for Sara, assuming she’d be in the middle of it since the girl could instigate a riot among nuns. She wasn’t.
In seconds, though, he picked up her scent. How he hadn’t caught it five miles back, he’d never know—it was that strong and probably every male in the place responded to it.
Zach quickly located her across the room, calmly sitting on the stool watching the men fight. It hit Zach like a thunderbolt. They weren’t fighting her. They were fighting over her. And even more annoying—she was letting them! She seemed to be thoroughly enjoying herself.
The men fighting were bikers. Gang members she’d probably known over the years who never paid much attention to her. Until now.
Okay. This is bad. But it could be worse.
Sara’s gaze lifted from the men fighting in front of her. She cast around and he realized she’d picked up his scent. She turned and looked right at him and Zach felt his heart stop. The woman had been beautiful before but now…
Sliding off the stool she’d been perched on, Sara walked toward him, expertly avoiding the tangle of bloody men.
As she came close to him, she licked her lips and Zach wasn’t sure how much more he could take before he lost the control he was barely holding on to.
Sara stood in front of him, a smile sliding across her full lips. She reached up and kissed him. Nothing fancy. Just her lips touching his. Then she abruptly pulled away from him.
“Have fun,” she spat.
As she moved away, Zach was hit from every side by six bikers who hated his guts.