Page 1 of Wolf

Chapter 1

Wolf

After six long years in the slammer, I’m back.

I stare out the mud-streaked window of the car as Helena’s welcome sign scrolls past. Population ten thousand. It’s a small town, especially when compared to its neighbors. Shit, Jacksonville’s got over a million and it’s only an hour away, less if you don’t drive like a grandpa.

After spending so long behind bars, trapped in one building, day after endless day, Helena feels huge. So many houses, so many neighborhoods, so many people out walking on the streets like they ain’t got a care in the world. The driver hits a pothole on the main drag, and I think how insane it is that that same damn pothole’s been there for over a decade now, unchanged, cracking rims and damaging the suspensions of untold vehicles. All the locals know about it. It’s only tourists and passers-through, like the driver of this cage, who are apparently blind enough to drive right into it.

Then, I see a row of new buildings popped up like weeds on what used to be a couple of empty lots. A bank, a salon, a fancy hipster bar for all the fine folks who don’t dare approach the Canteen.

Now my eyes have been opened, I see how the new mixes with the old. New paint on houses and fences, trees cut down, anti-solicitor signs, bright new concrete sidewalks. The car wash that failed and sits there crumbling, the feral street cats on every corner, the motorcycles and leather-clad men. It gives me whiplash, the changes and the sameness.

Me, I’ve changed, too. Prison’ll do that. I know I’ve stayed the same in some ways too, though. I know that because I could have gone anywhere and done anything after getting out, but I headed here instead. I don’t know what waits for me in the future, so I came back, back to the only place that’s ever felt like home.

Yeah, it still feels like home.

The driver takes his sweet time passing through town to the other side, where he’s going to drop me off. He doesn’t talk and he doesn’t blast his music. He just drives and that’s good by me.

I roll the window down and air rushes in. I pull in a lungful. It smells like Helena, fresh-cut grass and earth and sweetness from all the flowers everyone plants in their yards. I never told anyone how good I think those flowers smell. It’s funny how you don’t miss something until it’s gone…

A bike engine growls, escalates to a screaming snarl that echoes across the sky like thunder. I smirk. It sounds like Helena, too.

Finally, the driver pulls to a stop in an admittedly lower-class kind of neighborhood. I don’t mind. Anywhere too nice, I start feeling pent-up and uncomfortable.

The house he parks in front of looks like it needs a hell of a lot of work. The yard is all weeds and there’s no telling what color the paint used to be. Could be that it looks better in the daytime, not at twilight. Probably not.

I remember my manners long enough to grunt out a goodbye to the driver before throwing the door open and stepping out onto the gravel-strewn, cracked driveway. Being able to feel the breeze on my skin instantly makes me loosen up. I hate riding in cars. Bikes are where it’s at. I’ve not ridden in six years. I know if I asked, Steel would have sent a prospect to meet me with my bike, and he could have got a ride back in the damn cage. But truth be told, I just wanted some time alone.

I think Steel knew why I didn’t ask, and he gave me that time.

Steel. The Prez of Helena’s MC, Steel Riders. My MC. My club brothers looked out for me as best they could while I was in the slammer. Steel and Edge, the VP and co-founder, and some of the other brothers from the club kept in touch with me through letters and timed calls. They helped me rent this place so I wouldn’t be out on the street. I owe them. They made things easier. They even sent me money to use in the commissary so I could buy shit, which I appreciated, since no one else cared.

But that’s done with now. And there ain’t no way I’m going back.

I raise my head and look at who I know has been waiting for me the whole time. Steel. He sits on the small concrete front porch, his huge body filling up the whole damn space. I’ve never seen anyone bigger than him, not even in prison. He’s a towering wall of muscle with long black hair, which is sporting gray at the temples now. Old fucker. Then again, none of us are getting any younger. Got grays coming in myself.

He rises and comes right at me, his huge, scarred hand outstretched to snag mine. I drop my bag and give his hand a couple pumps. He slaps me on the shoulder almost hard enough to knock me over. I’m not a small man, or weak. That’s just how strong he is.

“Ain’t you a sorry sight,” Steel says.

“Yeah, fuck you too, Prez.” I grin, baring my teeth.

“I know you didn’t want a welcoming party, but I brought you somethin’.” He points over his shoulder.

I turn. I had noticed his bike parked in the driveway before. Now I see the second one.

Mine. My baby, a beast of steel and chrome with splashes of honey-yellow paint. I go to her and crouch down to look her over. In spite of being in storage all this time, she’s obviously in good condition, freshly tuned.

“We made sure she was good to go,” Steel says from behind me. He has his beefy arms across his barrel chest. “You know, you could have got out earlier for good behavior.”

I don’t answer that because I don’t have an answer to give. When I first got sent to the big house, I got into a lot of fistfights with fuckers who thought they could mess with me. Saving my own ass got me in trouble, go figure.

I straighten and hold up my hands in a shrug. “Looks fine. Could look better.”

“You can handle it from here, I’m sure.” Steel gives me a flat glare. He’s the same as always, but different, too. He’s got an old lady now. Never saw that coming. He’s even got a kid. So does Wing. And his daughter, Harley, is with our VP, Edge. Wish I’d been around when the news about that broke. We’ve also got a second chapter—in Jacksonville.

It’s a lot to remember, a lot to take in. I’ve had everything explained to me multiple times in letters and phone calls. I still can barely keep the names and developments straight. Because I wasn’t here to live through all of it like everyone else, it doesn’t feel real.