Page 2 of Wolf

“Before I forget, here.” Steel pulls something from his pocket and tosses it to me. I grab the jangling object out of the air. A keychain, two keys. One goes to my bike. The other’s a house key.

“For your new place.” He jabs a thumb at the scratched, dented front door. “Got some basic furniture in it. Leah put some groceries in your fridge and pantry.”

The way that he says his old lady’s name makes me want to gag. Reminds me of jailhouse calls, listening to the other guys whine to their baby mommas.

“At least I’ll have somethin’ to eat until I can get myself a job.” I worked security before I went to jail. Hopefully, it’s not gonna take long to find a new job.

“Speakin’ of a job, you need to show up at the Canteen on Monday,” Steel says.

“Why?”

“So you can go to work, idiot. I talked with Hecker and your old job’s waitin’ for you.”

I try to hide how surprised I am. Hecker’s the greasy little man who owns the Canteen, the bar where all of us from the club will hang out when we want some booze and fun. Hecker’s not a bad guy, just a sleaze. He works hard, bartends most nights of the week.

At least, he used to. I don’t know if he still does.

“You for real?” I stare at Steel, waiting for him to reveal this as a dirty trick.

“Hell no, it ain’t a trick,” he retorts. “You think I would waste all my time and energy for a prank? I could be at home with my old lady and kid right now instead of shooting the breeze with my sergeant-at-arms.”

I grin at that. Both the offer and knowing I’m back in my position as the club’s SAA. I know one of the brothers was filling in for me, but sometimes people get a bit too comfortable and won’t step down. “Well, I ain’t gonna say no. Saves me from having to look myself.”

“Your work sched is inside on the counter,” Steel says. “So is your cut.”

I jerk my head up and my throat tightens. I refuse to let that weakness show on my face, though.

My cut, my leather vest with all the patches that declare to the whole world who I am. Wolf, SAA, Steel Rider from Helena. “Can’t wait to put that thing back on. Thought I might have to fight for it.”

Steel laughs. “Bones is gonna be happy to have you back. He’ll be able to focus on fucking the club bunnies now.”

“You know I want my position back, brother. The Riders are my family. Means a lot that you didn’t just cut me loose.”

His eyes harden, his thick jaw clenching. “You’re a brother and that didn’t change because you had to go somewhere. You didn’t leave us by choice. You didn’t leave your cut, your bike, because you got tired of us. So you go inside this house when we’re done talkin’ and you put that vest back on. You go to work. You do your job. You start takin’ care of us again, you stay out of trouble…” His eyes flicker. “…and we’ll keep takin’ care of you. That’s what it’s all about and if that’s what you want, I don’t see any reason you have to wait.”

I guess I should have expected all of this. The club was built on giving people a second chance from the very beginning. Steel found Edge trying to jack his bike and gave him a chance to do better, and he’s kept doing that over and over ever since. He takes in the lost, the outcasts, the drug addicts, the wanderers, and gives them a reason to stay above ground.

“You know I’ll work hard, Prez.” I won’t raise his ego by coming out and directly thanking him. He knows what I mean. He knows I’m a man of my word.

“You need me, you know how to get in touch.” Steel turns to go to his bike, to leave and go back home to the other family he’s been building while I’ve been gone.

“Hold on.” I step in his way before he can take off like a bat out of hell. “I got to ask you somethin’.”

He looks at me. He knows what I’m going to ask, but he doesn’t go ahead and tell me because that’s not how this works. If I want something, I’ve got to go after it. I’m not going to get it handed to me.

“Earlier, you said I need to stay out of trouble.” And his face had done that weird thing at the same time. “You know that before I was arrested, I didn’t cause no trouble. I didn’t go lookin’ for it. You sure as fuck know I’m not about to look for it now and get thrown back in the slammer.”

“What are you gettin’ at?”

“What I’m gettin’ at is that you think there’s a reason I might get in trouble. Well, I don’t know the reason. You think you might want to tell me before I find out on my own?”

“I wasn’t hidin’ nothing from you.”

But he is. I’ve grown real sensitive to tiny shifts in body language. Steel’s uncomfortable. He knows his back is to the wall, and he’s got no choice about this.

“There is something, but I thought it could wait until you were settled in.” He rubs a hand over the shadow of his stubble. “You aren’t the only person who’s just come back to town, Wolf.”

My ears start ringing as I realize exactly what he’s about to say, who he’s talking about. Suddenly, everything I was anticipating and looking forward to about this second chance no longer matters because of her.