Page 13 of Riding With the Grizzly

“You fucking bitch!” he seethes as I sit up in my bed.

“What? What’s going on?” I ask.

I can see my brother and stepmother out in the hallway, glaring at me. They’re looking at me like they hate me and I wonder what could have happened.

“You think that we wouldn’t find out about you sleeping with the enemy?” my dad shouts as my stomach sinks.

Someone must have seen Jude and I together either at the diner or on our date. I should have been more careful. I should have insisted that we leave town for all of this. Now look at the mess that I’m in.

“I just had dinner with someone,” I say and I flinch when I see the look on his face.

He looks like he wants to hit me or drag me out of the house by my hair. It wouldn’t be the first time.

“Dinner with a member of the Devil’s Pack MC!” he shouts. “Not just a member. You went out with the fuckingpresidentof our rival MC!”

“What’s the matter with you, Nara?” my stepmother asks, disapproval smeared all over her face.

“Don’t you have any familial loyalty?” my brother snaps, making me flinch again.

“I… Of course. It was just one dinner.”

“And that’s all that it’s going to be,” my father snarls. “You are forbidden from seeing him ever again.”

My stomach clenches and for the first time in forever, I want to argue with them. I don’t want to give up Jude. He’s the first man I’ve ever been interested in and he seems like a good guy. Plus, we’re fated to be. Right?

Can I really give him up? What if he’s my future?

I’m so sick of them trying to order me around and run my life. I don’t want to stay here anymore. Not in this house, not with these people. I don’t even know why I moved back here or back home. I knew that it was going to be a disaster and it has been from day one.

I should leave. I could go and stay with Astrid, even if it was only for a few days. It’s not ideal, since she’s still living with her family, but it’s better than here.

“Is that understood?” my father asks, his voice flat and annoyed. It’s better than the rage he was showing earlier.

I nod, unable to force any words out.

He scoffs and stalks out of my room, slamming my bedroom door so hard on the way out that a few pictures fall off the wall, the glass frames breaking as they hit the floor.

As soon as they’re gone, I leap out of bed and start to pack. I stuff everything of importance into my bags and then drag them over to the window.

I grab my phone and see that it’s after midnight. I hate calling Astrid so late and waking her up.

Maybe I can just go hang out at the diner until she's awake.

I toss my bags out the window and then climb out after them. My family must have just gotten home. I watch as all of the lights go off inside before I turn and head out to the road.

I start walking toward town. Luckily for me, it’s not that far of a walk. Still, by the time the diner comes into view, I’m out of breath and my arms are killing me.

The rumble of an engine reaches me as I start to cross across the diner parking lot and then a bike stops in front of me.

“Nara? What are you doing out here?” a familiar voice asks.Jude.I look up right as he’s hopping off his bike and rushing over to me. “Why are you crying?”

I blink, raising my hand to my cheeks.

“I didn’t even realize I was. I guess I was just on autopilot.”

“What happened?” he asks and I sniffle.

“My family found out that I went out with you. They woke me up and… forbid me from seeing you,” I tell him.

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