“You’re in the infirmary at our compound,” Kota explained. “We found you in the woods behind the compound. We’re in Granite Falls, Minnesota.”
Her eyes widened. “Minnesota? Are you sure…” Her voice faded as it sounded broken and bruised.
Kota chuckled. “Yeah, honey girl, I’m pretty sure I know where we are.” He paused then studied her face. “Where did you think you were?”
“I was in Black River Falls, Wisconsin the last I knew,” she whispered. Then she halted. “Wait… what day is it?”
“It’s Thursday.” Kota frowned.
“Really?” Her eyes widened. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah I’m pretty sure, why?”
“Because I don’t remember yesterday at all. I was almost done with my shift at the restaurant on Tuesday and I was taking the garbage out when someone hit me from behind. I don’t think I really ever woke up until just now. I remember coming out of the fogginess once, I heard two people talking, and I tried to listen.” She stared straight ahead while looking puzzled. “I think, I was waiting until the car stopped. I remember the car doors opening and shutting, their voices grew distant, so I tried to run but he caught up with me, slammed me to the ground then he was choking me and I must have passed out again, next thing I know I’m waking up here.” She looked up at him. “What happened to me?”
Kota studied her for a moment then he told her, “We found you out in the woods unconscious. You had bruises on your neck like someone had tried to strangle you. You also have a hell of a bump on your head. Whoever hit you, hit you hard.”
“But how the hell did I get from Black River Falls to here?” she wondered aloud. “And who left me in the woods?” She shivered in terror.
“I don’t know but strange things have been happening around here.” Kota shook his head. “We got wolves in those woods and they let us know you were there. Hell, they even lead us right to you.”
“Wolves?” she gasped. “Do—do they usually do that?”
Kota snorted. “No, honey. Usually, they attack anyone in their territory.”
“Then why am I still alive?” she asked hesitantly.
Kota shrugged. “I’m not sure. Unless… Do you know a woman named Cat Lamond?”
Luna paused as she thought for a moment. “I knew of a Cat McCormick growing up but not Cat Lamond.”
Kota scoffed. “She called herself McCormick? Really? That wasn’t her last name, the last I knew. She was always a Hawkins.”
Luna shook her head. “She said she came to the home at the age of seven, I don’t imagine she knew what name they called her. When she aged out of that awful place, she went away and I was stuck there for two more years. I lost track of where she went by the time I got out.” Shaking her head she added, “I was so hoping she would find her special one and fall in love with him so hard she could forget her past and live for the day.” Shaking her head she admitted, “That had been our hope while we were growing up. Just that we could find a happiness, so we could forget what we endured as kids.”
“Maybe she did that.” He nodded. “She was married to a man named Davey Lamond until he was killed or so, I’ve been told.”
Luna paused and stared at his face. “You act like you know her?”
“I do,” Kota admitted. “She’s here and she told us who you were.”
Luna struggled to sit up. “She’s here? Now? I have to see her! Please take me to her or have her come here to me.”
“Are you sure you’re up to that?” Kota asked her.
Luna nodded. “Please, I have to see her for myself. I need to know she’s okay.”
Kota shook his head. “She’s fine. But I have to tell you a couple of days ago, she got hurt, her mother and some man t-boned her car and she was knocked out. When she came to again, she couldn’t see. She’s still blind at the moment but she said it has happened to her before and she’s hopeful she’ll get her eyesight back soon.”
Luna nodded. “She told me about her blindness.” She hesitated, then asked, “Does she still have her gift?”
Kota snorted. “Yeah, she still has her gift, although no one here understands it.”
Luna studied him for a moment then shook her head. “Did she tell you she didn’t understand it either? The Nuns always locked her up when she would tell them someone was in trouble and they needed her help. They didn’t believe her either. Please take me to her. I’ve missed her all these years.”
Kota scooped her up in his arms and walked her down the hall. When they got to the main room, Luna swung her excited gaze around while looking for her friend.
Kota nodded at her as he motioned his head over to the far corner then he took her over to the table where Cat sat with Titan and his father.
“Cat?” Luna called out softly.
Cat stiffened and lifted her head slowly. “Luna? Is that really you?” She turned her head in the direction of the other woman’s voice.
Luna struggled to get free of Kota’s arms. Kota put her on her feet and she stumbled toward Cat. “Oh Cat, where the hell have you been? I looked for you after I left that house but I couldn’t find you.”
Cat reached out for her and they came together in a giant hug.
Kota frowned slightly as the girls came together. They seemed to be great friends even after all the years they’d spent apart.
Luna sat down on the chair next to Cat’s. “Are you all right?” he asked her. “The big guy told me you were hurt.”
Cat shook her head. “I’ll be okay. I got hit in another car crash. My head hit the steering wheel and that knocked me out. When I woke up again, I couldn’t see, but I believe it’s getting better. I can see shadow and light now.”
“Was it your mom?” Luna whispered.
Cat nodded. “I think so.” She tipped her head to one side and asked, “Luna, how on earth did you get here?”
“I don’t know,” Luna admitted. “I missed a whole day, Tuesday night I was getting done with work and emptying the trash when someone hit me from behind. Now the big guy tells me today is Thursday, so I missed Wednesday altogether. I did start coming around and I tried to run away but some man tackled me. He put his hands around my throat and he was choking me but I couldn’t fight back. That’s the last thing I remember. Then I woke up in that room back there.” She shook her head. “But now, I remember something from when I was waking up the first time.”
“What’s that?” Kota asked.
Luna turned her head and stared at him for a moment then she looked back over at Cat. “I heard a woman laughing and then a man’s voice asking her what she thought was so funny. The woman told him something about her finally taking out mistake number two and putting the blame on mistake number one.” Luna shook her head. “I have no idea what she meant by that but the man growled and called her a dirty little bitch. Then she got mad and yelled at him, she shouted that she never wanted to be a mother anyway. She said she was ordered to this area by her boss and she was told to get hooked up with one of the bikers and she couldn’t tell her boss no, but she said she found a way around that. Her biker husband caught her and she had no choice but to take him out. She said she dropped her kid off with her parents. She said she felt so free until her boss told her to get married again. He even picked out her husband for her and the good thing that came out of that marriage was the link with the other cartel. She stayed long enough to get pregnant again, but she left before the baby was born after the poor slob she married went and got himself killed. She left baby number two behind and the idiot she’d left the baby with got sent to jail five years later for murder. Next, she started talking about how she had another plan to bring down an MC and this time, she would see it done right.” Luna shivered.
“God, that woman is just pure evil,” Cat whispered. “She just doesn’t give a damn about anything or anyone other than herself.”
Luna then saw the look of misery on Cat’s face and in concern, she touched her arm.
Cat jumped at the contact. “Oh, my god…” Tears rolled down her cheeks.
“Don’t cry Cat, everything will be okay,” Luna gently spoke to her.
Cat turned her head toward Luna’s voice. “Don’t you see? Isobel brought you here and left you in the woods, hoping the wolves would kill you then she could put the blame on me or the MC. She was thinking she was killing two birds with one stone. She never expected you to be found alive.”
Hawkins cleared his throat and asked, “Does that mean the two of you are sisters?”
“I don’t know, maybe.” Cat shrugged. “I’m her mistake number one and Luna could be her mistake number two. From what Luna heard, she planned to get rid of us both and blame the MC.”
“But that’s impossible!” Luna cried out. “The man I thought was my dad didn’t go to jail for murder. He did go to jail for a number of other things, including drug dealing, but not murder.” She shrugged. “I got a letter from the state when he got out of prison five years ago but otherwise, I haven’t heard a peep out of him. He didn’t even try to find me.”
Boots chimed up and said, “We could do a blood test and find out for sure but that would take time, time we might not have right now. Once Isobel figures out her plan didn’t work, she’s going to come back at us hard and fast.”
“What do you need to get the blood test started? Besides our blood of course,” Luna wanted to know.
Boots shrugged. “Just your blood. Well, yours and Cat’s.”
Luna turned her head toward Cat. “Then do it. I don’t think we’re sisters for real but I’ve considered her my sister since I was five years old. All either of us had back then was each other.”
Boots stood from the table. “It could take a few days to get the results, as long as you are both good with that.”
Luna nodded. “Just do it. I don’t want any questions unanswered.”
“Let me go get what I need to do the test.” Boots nodded. “Then I’ll take it down to the hospital myself.” He left the room.
Luna squeezed Cat’s hand.” I just cannot believe I was brought here. Then you were here too. All of this is incredible.” She paused and looked over at the large man sitting next to Cat.
He sat close to Cat and kept his intense gaze on her at all times.
Luna looked back over at Cat.
Cat seemed to scoot closer to him. Then he wrapped an arm around her.
Luna smiled.
Twenty minutes later, Boots had just taken off for the Hospital in Granite Falls. Hawkins sent two brothers with him in case they ran into trouble and the others waited for them to return.
Titan looked over at Cat then he saw she was frowning and rubbing her temples as if she had a headache. He leaned close to her and whispered, “Are you okay?”
Cat pursed her lips together and shook her head slightly.
“What’s wrong?” he wanted to know.
“I don’t know but something isn’t right.” She looked panicked as she tried to stand from her chair.
Suddenly, they all heard a series of gunshots from the woods behind the house.
Cat finally got to her feet and cried out, “Bear! He’s been shot.” She turned to Titan. “Take me to him, please.”
They all got up and everyone ran for the front door.
Before they went outside, Hawkins told his men, “Arm yourselves boys but no one shoots the wolves.”
They poured out of the clubhouse and fanned out while using whatever they could for cover as they slowly made their way to the edge of the woods. The shooting had stopped for now but the bikers didn’t know who or what was waiting for them in the woods. They made their way deeper into the trees.
Titan held Cat’s hand tightly and held his gun in the other hand.
They didn’t get very far into the tree line when Hawkins held up his hands to halt. They could all hear voices, one male, one female nearby. They could also hear a wolf whining close by as well.
Everyone took cover quietly as they all listened to the argument between the couple.
“Where the hell did she go?” the woman screamed.
“How the hell would I know?” the man grumbled. “I know where I put her and she ain’t there now. There’s no sign of a struggle and there ain’t no blood anywhere.”
“Those fucking bikers found her and got her out of here before the wolves got to her,” the woman reasoned. “How did they know she was even here? The wolves should have gotten to her first.”
“Dammit woman, we have to get out of here now,” the man argued. “Those shots could have alerted the other wolves and when they find out you shot their leader, they will rip us apart just for kicks.”
“Shut up, you moron!” she screamed. “Ever since we started this take down, nothing has gone right and this is just another strike against us. I don’t know about you but I’m getting tired of losing all the time. What protection does this club have? I need them out of the way and I won’t be stopped now.”
“Why do you need them gone so badly? See, I never got that part. Why don’t you just take the money and move on?”
“Because Jesse found something he never should have even seen, let alone gotten his hands on and he told me he buried it on club grounds, once he realized what it was. I need to find it and I can’t look for it while those fucking bikers are here. I need this item back. Why the hell do you think I shot him that day?”
“Damned if I know.”
Just then, Hawkins stepped out from the tree he was standing behind. “You ungrateful bitch!” he yelled at Isobel. “You killed my boys over what? What was it that Jesse supposedly took from you?”
Isobel turned slowly and raised her weapon, pointing it straight at Hawkins. “You mother fucker. I should have shot you years ago. But it’s never too late to fix that now.”
Just as she and the man got off one shot, other shots were thrown back at them from every man in the woods.
Isobel screamed and grabbed her shoulder as she dropped her weapon and ran off.
The man with her wasn’t so lucky. He dropped like a stone and could be heard groaning long after the gunshots stopped from the biker’s side.
Finally, Hawkins and Kota walked over to where the other man fell. They looked down at him and saw blood pooling around him.
He spat out blood at both of them and groaned. “You fuckers killed me.”
“Damn right we did.” Kota growled. “You shot at us first, you lousy bastard.”
Cat grabbed Titan and begged, “Please take me to Bear. I need to see him.”
Titan turned to take her there but then he heard movement in the woods. “That might not be a good idea right now, Little Cat. The other wolves are coming to see what happened.”
“Take me to him!” Cat urged desperately. She turned and called out his name, “Bear, where are you? Bear!”
She heard a whine coming from her right side and she knew he was close by. Holding out her hands, she walked slowly toward the sound. It took a few minutes, as she had to step carefully. When her foot nudged his leg, she knelt on the ground and touched his fur. “Oh Bear, what the hell did they do to you?” She sobbed as she gathered him close to her and began rocking him in her arms.
Titan knelt down beside her as he wondered what the hell to do now.
