Page 5 of Riding With the Grizzly

“We need to get everyone together. Or no, hell, for my mate, I’ll rip all of those bastards to shreds myself,” I snarl.

“Jude!” Caden interrupts me and I spin to face him.

“What?” I bark.

“She’s one of them. She’s the daughter of their president.”

At first, his words don’t really compute. She’s one of them? She’s a Midnight Rebel?

“No, that can’t be.”

"It is. I saw her myself this morning."

"I would have seen her around town before now then. I would have smelled her before last night if she was."

“I think both of our mates just got back to town,” he goes on. “She’s his daughter, Jude,” my friend feels the need to remind me.

“But… she hates bikers. She told me so.”

He gives me a sad look, shrugging. He turns and heads out and I let him go.

She’s a Midnight Rebel? Or her family is at least. She must not be close to her dad and brother then if she hates bikers. What could they have done to her to make her dislike a whole group so much?

Find out and fix it,my bear suggests and I roll my eyes.

Obviously, I’m going to do that.

Right?

I want my fated mate, I always have, but this changes things. I have to think about more than just myself here. If I claim my mate, I’ll have to deal with the other MC even more. We would be linked forever. I’d have to step down as president of the Devil’s Pack MC. I’d have to give up my pack, which I would do in a heartbeat… if I knew that my mate wanted me back and wasn’t going to just reject me. My mate is a human so she’s not used to shifters and mating. And by “not used to it,” I mean she doesn’t know we exist or our rules or anything about fated mates.

Talk to her and find out then,my bear says in annoyance.Convince her to be ours.

Yeah, I doubt it’s going to be that simple.

Now it’s his turn to roll his eyes at me.

We’re not the Midnight Rebels. Who knows what her family did to her? We can convince her that we’re different and maybe she’ll change her mind about bikers.

He has a point. I know that the members of that MC aren't good. They could have mistreated her, abused her, or worse. She could be looking to be rescued from them.

We could rescue her,my bear points out and I sigh, sitting down behind my desk.

I look at the paperwork there and then push back to my feet. I need to get out of here. I’ll go for a ride, clear my head, and figure out what to do about all of this.

I head out of my office and nod distractedly at a few members as I head out to my bike. There aren’t a lot of people around the clubhouse this morning, since it’s still early. I head outside and climb onto my bike, pulling out of the drive and onto the road.

I spend the next hour cruising around the backroads of town and trying to figure out my next steps. When my gas tank starts to hit E, I head into town and stop at the gas station. I’mclimbing off my bike when I look over and see my mate walking across the street toward me.

It feels like fate and when I realize I have my answer. I’m going to claim my mate, her family be damned.

She looks up and her eyes lock with mine. She pauses on the sidewalk and I raise a hand, waving at her.

She doesn’t look thrilled to see me, but she heads my way.

“Hey, I was looking for you. I was worried when you ran off last night.”

“Why?” she asks bluntly.

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