CHAPTER 17

“And here I was just about to go looking for you,” Crunch said.

Alex and Cynthia walked hand in hand from the woods. Cynthia hid herself behind Alex to avoid the lascivious stares of the other bikers. Alex didn’t care about them in the slightest.

“I’ll need a new shirt,” Alex said.

Cynthia knelt down to find her clothes from last night folded and sitting on the tree stump.

“I think Scab has some extra stuff. He’s about your size,” Crunch said. Scab nodded his approval and went to the saddle bags of his motorcycle to find something. Cynthia was already pulling on her absurdly tight pants. It was hard for Alex to suppress his boner, but he did his best.

“I see you got it under control,” Crunch said with an awkward cough, “That’s good.”

Alex rubbed the back of his head with one hand, covered his dick with the other, and laughed uncomfortably.

“I spent so much time being scared,” Alex said, “I guess I just realized there wasn’t anything to be afraid of.”

Crunch stood from the tree stump and cracked his back. It seemed like he hadn’t moved from that spot for the entire night.

Cynthia finished getting dressed and, full of trepidation, she approached her father. He eyed her curiously, and let out a surprised gasp when he was greeted by a hug. He put his arms around his daughter and reciprocated the feeling he never had a chance to experience. But, as she pulled herself away, she slapped him across the cheek.

“That’s for punching Alex last night,” she said.

Alex caught the transaction while pulling on his pants.

“Women,” Crunch laughed.

You got that right.

Alex joined the two of them and offered a hand for a handshake but instead, Crunch pulled Alex in close and hugged him like a son.

“You do anything to her and I’ll show you how Mutt felt last night,” Crunch whispered in Alex’s ear.

Crunch patted Alex on the shoulder, and ended with a firm grasp before he backed away to join Cynthia.

Message received.

“You know,” she said, “you could always join us on our trip back home. We could use some good wolves in our fight.”

“Fight?” Crunch laughed. “It ain’t our fight. Besides that, I got some business of my own to deal with.”

“We could always help each other,” Alex offered.

“You can’t help with this one,” Crunch replied solemnly, “I gotta put an old dog in his place and get my gang back. It’s been too long that I left them off the chain.”

Alex was confused but he knew there was no amount of talking that would have convinced Crunch to join them.

“Well, the offer is always on the table,” Alex said.

“You’re alright, son,” Crunch chuckled. Scab coughed and Crunch stirred as though he remembered something he’d forgotten. “Scab here told me he saw a bunch of wolves travelling in trucks last night. Headed right past the camp site while you two were off in the woods. Maybe they were searchin’ for you.”

Alex went wide eyed, that must be his father and the Cliff Walker recruits. They survived!

“We better go, right away,” Alex said to Cynthia. He pulled his keys from his pocked and half jogged to the motorcycle. Cynthia lingered with her father and Alex watched on.

“You’ll come visit?” she asked.

“As long as you’ll have me,” he replied.

She again reached out and the two embraced. Cynthia had to brush a tear off her check as she walked away. Crunch looked like he was losing the battle to keep a straight face.

“Shutup Scab,” Crunch said smacking at the air.

Alex already had the motorcycle started as Cynthia saddled up behind him again. Everything was coming together nicely. He kicked the motorcycle to start and eased down the dirt path between the trees. The morning brought with it fresh dew that clung to the air. The fresh smell of the forest was only slightly overpowered by the scent of the thick oil and smoke that poured from the motorcycle.

In light of everything that had happened over the last couple days, the only thing on Alex’s mind was the woman sitting behind him on the bike. Cynthia was everything he could have imagined and more. He couldn’t be more proud that she stood by him. The gray clouds broke and a streak of blue tore its way through, bringing with it the sun’s beaming rays, bathing the abandoned street with new light.

Through the sound of the engine noise, Alex heard a strange rustling. He couldn’t identify exactly what it was. As he listened he slowed the bike to a crawl, then a stop. After turning off the engine he could hear it much more clearly.

“What is it?” Cynthia wondered.

He hushed her and leaned the bike on its stand. With his keen eyes Alex saw something that made his heart sink: a large band of bears.

It can’t be.

They trampled through the forest, with little regard to what was beneath them. Considering the direction in which they moved it would mean they had only one destination, the den.

“This is bad,” Alex said.

Cynthia didn’t have the same heightened senses as Alex when not in wolf form, but it was hard to ignore the sound of rustling branches and stamping feet.

“There’s no way it’s-”

“Bears,” Alex interrupted, “Lots of them. They’re heading for the den.”

Cynthia had to cover her mouth as she gasped. If that many were to attack all at once there was no way they could win. They had to get back to warn everyone before things got messy, at least to get the children away from the den.

They sprinted back through the forest, running as fast as their legs would carry them. As they emerged they were greeted by a familiar sight, an old rusty yellow truck with busted glass and dents to match.

“Dad!” Alex shouted.

The passing truck held his father and another shifter in the passenger seat. The truck came to a screeching halt, causing the trucks following behind to stop just short of crashing.

His dad looked out the passenger window to find the source of the voice, and when he did he leapt from the driver’s seat and hobbled his way over to his son.

Alex was glad to see him again and he felt a bit more at ease knowing they were back with the pack.

“You’re alive! We’ve been searching all over for you” Marcus shouted.

“It takes a lot more than a cliff to kill me,” Alex joked with his father. He no longer held the hesitation he had before. He fully embraced his father and felt closer than he ever had. They released after a moment and his father examined the motorbike.

“Where did you get this,” he asked.

“Don’t ask,” Alex replied with a laugh.

His father lost interest when he saw Cynthia in her biker outfit.

Stop staring before I knock you out old man.

“We passed a biker bar the other night. The place looked like it was attacked by a hurricane. I guess an entire biker gang was dang near torn to shreds by a monster,” his father narrowed his gaze and looked again at the motorbike, “Can you explain that?”

Alex scratched at the top of his head. There was no point trying to keep it from his father. He would have found out soon anyway.

“They attacked Cynthia,” Alex said with a shrug.

“Don’t need more explanation than that. Way I hear they were asking for it anyway. Are you two doing alright?” he wondered.

“Yeah, I think we’re doing okay.”

“Good, we got a couple more hours’ drive before we get home.”

Alex almost forgot what he just saw in the woods and remembered to warn his father.

“We need to drive fast,” he began hurriedly, “there’s an entire forest full of bear shifters headed for the den. We need to get back quick to warn everyone.”

“Right,” his father said. Alex helped him back to the truck.

“Let’s move out!” he shouted to the convoy.

Cynthia found her seat and Alex quickly started the motorcycle again. He was relieved to be back with the group. Seeing those bears made Alex wonder if Samantha was alright. He shook off the thought and twisted the throttle. The bike answered his request by lurching back to the road.

Please be in time.