Chapter 68

CALEB

I needed something stronger to drink if I was going to have to listen to this geezer try to hit on girls all night.

Sipping my beer, I looked around the bar for an escape. There were only a couple of women there, all just biker magnets, hoping to get a ride and feel wanted for a little while. Not exactly my type. The kind of girl who stumbles willingly into a biker bar is the kind of woman who would face down a wild shifter without flinching.

Something had to be wrong with them.

We met at this bar on Thursday to Saturday nights, cutting loose.

I’m sure at some point it was supposed to be meetings to discuss what was going on in the town, but now it was just a bar crawl.

Our new leader, who took over from his late father, was trying to change some parts of it, but there was pushback. A lot of the men loved the beer and the good company. Why wouldn't they?

Not meaning to eavesdrop, I heard the man behind me mentioning something strange.

“It came down my alley last night, huge, fucking huge, and I didn’t know what the fuck to do. I’m staring out my window, watching this big ass something pass by and not knowing if I should call the cops,” he said. “It looked like a tiger, but twice the size!” he sounded horrified. “You heard about those people missing, them finding random blood pools around their homes, it’s been one a week, right?”

"Yeah, yeah," the guy he was talking to laughed. "You telling me you saw some kind of crossbreed? Those don't happen anymore, people are more careful," he laughed.

A crossbreed?

Different species of shifters bred all the time, but that didn’t mean anything special.

Bored, confused, and a little drunk, I turned around to ask them about it. That’s when I saw her walk through the front door of the bar.

I knew at first sight that I had to have her, it didn't matter that she was probably just a biker magnet, if she wanted a free ride she could ride me any time. Her body was on point from top to bottom, perfect and curved to invite touch. God, I wanted to hold her. Her hips were thick, leading up to a flat stomach and a pair of tits that I was dying to see without all the layers. She was wearing an almost skin-tight leather jacket, obviously custom-made, that was unzipped just enough to tease a glimpse of cleavage.

Her fiery red hair just barely touched her shoulders. God, her face!

Soft lips that looked almost wine-stained, the darkest doe-like eyes I’d ever seen.

I had to have her.

Without a second thought, without anyone else getting a chance to intervene, I headed straight to her.

Ignore anything I said about chicks in biker bars, I didn't know what the fuck I was talking about. I could get her scent, even from ten feet away. She was like vanilla and cinnamon, soothing with a little bit of a kick. I knew what this pull was, the other guys had described it before. It was like being led by the dick like you have to mate or you'll die.

I could feel it.

Could she be my fated mate?

She saw me approaching her and spoke before I could.

“Is this the Carved Flame club?” she asked. Her voice was like honey, smooth and sweet. Her dark brown eyes never quite met with mine, it felt like she was looking past me in a way.

“Yeah,” I nodded. She didn’t react to me the way I felt about her. God, I wanted to take her into the back of the bar and fill her with pups. I wanted to protect her before anyone else even tried to lay a finger on her.

I wanted to taste what those pink lips had to offer. “What’s your club initiation like?”

The bar went mostly quiet.

“What?” I asked. There was murmuring.

“I used to ride with a club in West Coven,” she explained. “I was looking for a new one to join, I can handle anything.”

This girl was a different kind of crazy than the others. “You ride?” I knew it was stupid to ask.

“Yeah, a little ‘85 Honda Twin Star. It's not some huge hog, but it gets me where I need to go," she shrugged. I nodded, taking it all in. That bike was over thirty years old, if it was still running that meant she either restored it or got it in good condition and was keeping it that way.

That was pretty hot.

“Why won’t you look me in the eyes,” I asked. It was a dumb off-the-wall question. She looked surprised and then looked further away from my eyes.

“I’m a seer,” she admitted. A tinge of pink hit her cheeks and if she hadn’t just said what she said, I’d find it cute.

A fucking seer. No.

“Get out,” I said simply.

“What?” she looked towards me again, still not at me.

“We don’t want seers in our club, you can get out,” I explained. The crowd parted a little, and Anders, our leader, slipped forward.

“What’s going on?” He’d been in far too good of a mood lately, I hoped that didn’t mean he was just going to let this slide. After what seers had put this club through, after what I’d been through in my own life, there was no way in hell she was going to be allowed to join.

“She’s a seer and she wants to ride with us.”

“Get out,” he echoed me. “It’s nothing personal. We’re not going to give you trouble for riding in Ember Abyss, but you can’t be with us.”

She looked annoyed. “Because I’m a seer?”

“Yes,” most of the room echoed in unison. She looked over at me and I swear our eyes met for a moment. Without arguing any further, she was gone.

She was gorgeous, don’t get me wrong, I wanted her in ways that I’d never wanted anyone, but there’s no way in hell I was getting mixed up with a seer.

I could hear her motorcycle start, it was compact, but it sounded like it was running well. Part of me wanted to go out and watch her ride away, but

the rest of me knew to stay put. She wasn't worth it.

The bar went back to normal, with guys hitting on women, and drinking way more than was needed on a Thursday night. I felt different. Like something had changed. I pushed it aside. What I felt wasn’t a fated mate, I just wanted her to be mine because she was hot. Seers have that kind of pull as well. It was probably just her way of trying to trick us.

Downing the rest of my beer, I ordered another to chase it down. Whatever she was, I had to get her off my mind.