Page 2 of Riding With the Grizzly

The girl on the left catches my bear's attention and I focus on her. Her black hair is tied back in a ponytail and she scrunches up her nose at the bikers who ride by. She must not like the Midnight Rebels either. Already something we have in common.

The mysterious and captivating woman with black silky hair turns, facing me full-on and hitting me with the bluest eyes I've ever seen. My heart races and my teeth elongate, but I push back the urge to shift and mark her right here, right now.

I know in this moment that I’ve found her. I’ve found my fated mate.

My bear is snarling at me to go and claim her. I’m about to do just that when I notice something. Caden stiffens next to me and I glance at him to see him staring intently at the girls.

“Mine,” I snarl at him. I’m momentarily caught off guard when he growls at me.

"Mate," he says, and my bear roars in my head.

Go get our mate, he orders me and I take off down the sidewalk to do just that.

CHAPTER TWO

NARA

Being back in Broken Arrow isn't exactly the homecoming I expected it to be. Well, that's not really true. I knew that it wasn't going to be great, but I didn't expect things to bethisbad. The only good thing about Broken Arrow is that my friend, Astrid, lives here. She’s the one bright spot in my life and I’m happy she asked me out to lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant. Okay, so it’s theonlyMexican restaurant in town, but it’s still delicious.

My thoughts turn once again to the awkward and awful way my family has been toward me lately. From the moment I got back home, I’ve been treated like an outsider. I should be used to it. I mean, I’ve always been treated as different by my family. Mainly because I am.

My dad and brother are both part of the Midnight Rebel MC here in town. Well, actually they kind ofarethe MC, considering that they’re the President and Vice President respectively. My mom passed away when I was six, and my dad met my stepmom when she came to the clubhouse. He married her a few months later.

I’ve never really gotten along with any of them. I didn’t want to be part of the MC life and I swore that I would never date abiker when I saw how they treated women at the one and only party I went to.

I left when I went to college and it was probably the best four years of my life. When I graduated though, I had no idea where to go and no money to get there even if I did, so I came back home. I shouldn't have bothered. It's not like there are a lot of teaching jobs open in town.

I sigh as I finish my margarita and Astrid laughs.

“Am I that bad of company?” she asks and I shake my head.

“No, I was just thinking about my family,” I tell her.

“Ah,” she says knowingly.

I’ve been best friends with Astrid since I was a kid. We grew up here in town together and she knows all about my family issues. Heck, she has some family problems of her own. We split up when we went to different universities, but now we’ve both graduated and are back in town. Tonight was supposed to be us celebrating being back together, but the sound of motorcycles roaring past the restaurant has my mood taking a dive. Not that I was in a great mood to begin with.

“Do you want to head out?” my friend asks, popping one of the last tortilla chips in her mouth.

“Yeah, I should be getting home. I’ve got a busy day of applying for jobs tomorrow,” I tell her and she gives me a sympathetic smile.

Astrid is lucky. She graduated and got a job with one of the companies that she interned for. Now she gets to work from home and has a steady paycheck every week.

Maybe I should have gone into marketing too,I think as I finish my margarita.

“We can hang out tomorrow. I’ll help you look for some schools that are hiring,” Astrid promises and I smile.

“This is why I love you.”

She laughs and we both stand and head out to the street. Astrid drove us and I follow her out onto the sidewalk. I pause when I see the bikers at the bar down the block and I sigh again.

“Ignore them,” Astrid advises me and I nod.

I spot my dad and brother racing toward the bar and I know that a brawl is about to break out.Not again.

"We should leave," I warn my friend. "Now."

"Yep," she agrees, her eyes locked on my family members, too.

---