Chapter 1

Caden

"Where are we going, Pres?"I ask Jude as he stomps past me.

"The Broken Bottle Bar," he growls, and I groan internally.

"Are the Midnight Rebels starting trouble again?" I guess, and he nods once.

He hops onto his bike, and I hurry over to my Harley and climb on. He's already roaring off down the street, and I roll my eyes as I race to catch up to him.

That's Jude for you. He's always running off to the action. I suppose that's what makes him a good president for our MC, the Devil's Pack MC. He's a good leader too. It's why when we both got out of the military, I decided to join him here in this small town in Montana. The dude is the closest thing I have to a best friend.

There's a pang in my chest as I think about all of the friends that I lost overseas. That was why I decided to get out of the military. I just couldn't stand to bury another one of my friends. I couldn't watch them get shot at or blown up. It was killing me.

I came to Broken Bow because Jude promised me that it was a small town, and I was looking forward to being alone and adjusting to civilian life. Somehow, that never quite happened, though, because he talked me into joining the MC, and now it feels like there's always someone around. It's also the only place that I feel like I can truly be myself since the MC is also the shifter pack in town. Everyone else is human.

I joined the MC four years ago and over those years, I've managed to climb up the ranks and become the Vice President of the club. That's also what made Jude and I so close. I'm his second in command, and helping him deal with the rival MC in town has meant quite a few fights and late nights for the both of us.

We should just kill them all, my wolf growls.

Part of me agrees. The Midnight Rebels aren't a good group. There are rumors that they have their fingers in almost everything from drugs to running guns. They make this sleepy little town dangerous, and I know that if they left, it would probably make a lot of people's lives a hell of a lot easier.

Right, so kill them,my wolf says, and I sigh.

Jude won't like that. I'm sure he has a plan to get rid of them. Probably one that doesn't include the law after all of us.

My wolf rolls his eyes at me, and I ignore him as we ride into town. The only place in town that's really busy is the bar, and we stop outside. I park next to Jude and a few other guys from the MC, and we head inside.

I follow Jude through the mass of people, scanning the crowd for any threats or signs of our guys.

"Over there!" Kade, our Sergeant of Arms, calls, and I follow his finger to where a group of Midnight Rebels members are cornering our guys.

We push through the crowd, and I grab one of the guys, dragging him by his vest towards the door. I can tell that we're seconds away from a full-on fight breaking out, and it would be better if we were outside for that.

Too late,my wolf says a second before I hear glass break behind me.

I growl as I turn on the man holding the broken beer bottle towards me, and he glares at me.

"Outside!" Jude orders, and I back away from the man with the bottle, dragging his friend with me out the door.

I push him away from me as soon as we're outside and he goes tumbling into the dirt. His friend rushes me, and I grab his arm that's holding the broken beer bottle and twist until I hear his shoulder dislocate. He screams in pain, and I shove him away from me.

"Where are the others?" I yell at Jude as he knocks out the guy he was fighting.

"I think they might still be inside. Or they used the other door."

We share a grim look, and I follow him around the building to scout out another way inside.

"Get things in there under control," Jude orders me, and I nod, taking some of our guys with me as I head back into the bar.

It's chaos inside, and I duck as someone swings at me.

"We need to get the fight outside!" I yell to the other guys, and they nod.

I can see some of the innocent townspeople rushing towards the door, and I do my best to help them get out. Then, I start kicking members of the Midnight Rebels outside. Someone punches me in the face, and another scratches me with a beer bottle across my arm, but I get out relatively unscathed. Some of the other guys are a lot more bruised or bloody.

I find Jude as he shoves some guy into a car and he shakes his head in disgust at the man. Most of the Midnight Rebels are sprinting for their bikes, and I watch them go for a moment.

We both freeze at the same time, and I grow tense.

What is that smell? I wonder, and my wolf goes on high alert inside of me.

Mate! He yells, and I blink.

Mate? As in, our mate? I ask him, and he snarls at me.

Yes, dummy. Go get her. Now!

I take a step at the same time Jude does, and he turns, glaring at me. I match his dark look, and he frowns.

"Mine," he growls, and I bare my teeth.

"Mate," I tell him.

We glance back at the restaurant across the street, and it's then that I realize there are two women there.

"The other is mine," I tell him, but Jude is already headed their way.

I hurry to catch up.

I thought I would find my mate when I turned eighteen, and when that didn't happen, I figured it would come in the next year or two, especially with how much I was traveling. I spent the first few years in the military actively looking for her, and then just hoping that with time, she would find me. Then never happened though and I had kind of given up on ever finding her when I turned twenty-four and now she's here, right in front of me.

My wolf is jumping around inside of me, happy to finally have our fated mate. He's wanted to find her even more than I did, which is saying a lot.

She's here and she's so pretty,he says as we stare at her.

She's perfect,I agree and smile as I head across the street to finally claim her.