Page 37 of Chomp's Challenge

“How does it work? I saw the mark on Callie’s shoulder at the base of her neck, but Chomp, your teeth are huge! I think you’d practically decapitate me and sorry to say, but I didn’t survive Perry’s bullshit to lose my head.”

A snicker escapes until my gator and I realize she’s serious. “Ariel, alligator shifters are different. I’ll actually use one of my claws to mark you when we’re uh… having sex, and that’ll complete our bond. You’ll have a mark that’ll form afterward, and I’ll end up with one over my heart. I don’t know if we’ll be able to speak telepathically or anything like that, because I was too young when I left my original congregation to learn that part.”

She stares at me with curiosity that burns in her pretty eyes. “Why did you leave?”

I pause, it’s not because I don’t want to answer, I do. It’s got everything to do with Jerry at the clubhouse. She needs to know. I’m torn between answering her question and confiding about my past.

“If you don’t want to share about it,” she says as she swallows loudly, “I understand.”

“It’s not that.” I sit her down and take her hands into mine, holding them in my warmth. “I want to answer your questions. You should know all about me, but there’s something else you need to know first.”

She blinks, and I watch her pink tongue lick along her bottom lip. “Is it bad?”

I shake my head. “I don’t think so.”

“Okay. Tell me.”

“We have Jerry.”

She tilts her head to the side, studying me. “When you say you have him, does that mean he’s in some dark jail cell in your clubhouse or he’s being tortured like a mafia movie or what?”

I snort at her question. “He’s in our clubhouse,” I confirm. She nods. “Waiting on me,” I add.

“What are you going to do?”

“I want to find out why he’s been stalking you,” I admit. “After that, depending on his answer will dictate his final fate.”

“I didn’t even know Perry had a brother,” she replies. “I don’t think he’ll stop trying to get at me so he can get answers about what happened to Perry, do you?”

No, I don’t. “He’ll want answers.”

“And what will you tell him? The truth?”

We should feast on his flesh, my gator insists, leave nothing for the scavengers to find.

It’s tempting. But I suspect as foul and rancid as he is, I’d end up with indigestion and that would just piss me off. I already had that issue after Perry and Ricky. The bastards.

“I think it depends on his reaction and how the discussion goes,” I reply honestly. “Hard to tell. It’s not just me that’ll be in the room. I answer to my Pres, Ariel. It’s how our club works.”

She seems to accept it. “To tell you the truth, I don’t think I’ll ever feel comfortable knowing Jerry is out there, possibly watching and waiting for the right time to get vengeance.”

Shit. I was afraid of that. “Let’s see how this goes. You’re my priority,” I assure her. “Your safety and well-being above everything, even my club.” I never thought I’d feel that way. It almost feels like a betrayal to the family I’ve found, but my mate is first. I can’t change that. It’s rooted deep in my DNA.

“Chomp? Why did you leave your family of origin?” she asks. It seems as though she’s okay with whatever the club decides Jerry’s fate is going to be, since she’s asking this question. Of course, it’s much harder to answer, but I want my mate to know all of me; the good, the bad, the ugly.

Taking a deep breath, I say, “In most congregations, which is what a group of alligators are called, there’s one bull gator who’s what other shifters would call an alpha. He’s the only male allowed to impregnate the females. When we’re younger, we’re not a threat to him because he’s bigger and of course, not afraid to throw his weight around. For me, I didn’t like how he treated my mother, to be honest, and when I was little more than a teenager, I rebelled against his authority. I wasn’t old enough to be out on my own, but after he started taking his anger out on my mother, I chose to leave. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, Ariel, and I wandered around the country until I found Yukon Bluff.”

“What happened then?” Her hand covers mine and squeezes.

“Well, by the time I got here, I was pretty sick, to be honest. There weren’t a lot of safe places that I could shift, which every shifter needs on a regular basis. Spike found me half dead out by the lake and threw me in. I shifted, of course, and came out hissing, but stopped when he said that he and a few others were putting together a motorcycle club that was made up of others like me who had to leave their homes. We’re a bunch of misfits, to be sure, but we’ve built a found family based on love, loyalty, and integrity. But it’s been difficult for all of us because a shifter inherently wants a mate. Their other half, so to speak. We’ve been in Yukon Bluff for quite a long time now, and until Callie came along, we thought that we were going to be alone for the rest of our lives.”

“You mentioned love first. Why?”

Her questions are killing me, but again, I answer as honestly as possible. “Because all I’ve ever wanted was a family of my own. I love my brothers, don’t get me wrong, but until you came along, I’ve never really shared about my past. Spike knows, of course, because he’s our president, but outside of him, no one else. Even Kodiak, who’s pretty much my best friend, only knows bits and pieces.”

“So, you’re sharing this with me, opening yourself up, because I’m your mate?”

“And because I already care about you and I don’t want any secrets, nothing hidden from our past, not a single thing that can ruin what we’re building together.”

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