The bleep of an incoming message jerked Jessie from stillness. She’d been staring at nothing in particular, doing nothing on a day where nothing was required of her.

Because nothing ever was.

Trying not to let the exasperation take over, an irritation that made her feel murderous some days, she reached for her cell phone.

Seeing it was one of her twin brothers, Jayden, she grimaced and called him. Anyone else she’d have ignored, but Jayden was pretty hard to ignore. Which was kind of a miracle, considering he was asking her to call him. But if anyone could achieve it, it was Jay.

The pain in the ass.

“What do you want?”

“Such a greeting for your bro,” came the chiding retort. “I’m wounded, Sis. Wounded to my fucking core.”

She snorted. “And they say I’m the dramatic one. Anyway, traitor, you can’t expect me to be happy about calling you?”

“It’s not my fault, Jessie,” he said on a sigh. “I’m just a prospect. You know that. I have zero idea about what the hell’s going on with the Council. If I did know, I’d tell you something. But they’re keeping it under wraps. Which makes sense, considering who’s involved.”

She huffed out a breath. “That’s still no excuse. You remember the time when I took the blame for knocking Dad’s bike over even though it was you and Kon being utter dicks who were behind it?” His sigh told her he did. How couldn’t he remember? Her father was slow to anger, but Goddess when it hit, he exploded. “You remember how mad he was? How long I was grounded for?”

“You were twelve and we were fourteen, Jessie. Come on, things have changed. Punishments don’t include being grounded anymore. Do you have any idea what Mars does to prospects who don’t toe the line?”

She scoffed at that. “Like he’s going to do anything to either of you. You’re his blue eyed boys.”

“All the more reason to come down harder on our asses if we don’t do as we’re told. We’re adults now, Jessie.”

“Yeah? Well, it really doesn’t feel like it, does it? You’re an adult because you’re a prospect, but Ava and I are cubs still... That’s really fair, isn’t it?”

“Who said that life was fair? And who said being the daughter of a Bear Shifter was ever just?”

“You do realize if you want me to do you a favor, you’re only going the right way about getting me to tell you to fuck off?”

Jayden sighed. “I know. But that wasn’t my intention.”

“It never is.” She knew it wasn’t fair to blame him or Kon for knowing jackshit, but hurt didn’t have to be rational. And if there was something Jessie wasn’t at the moment, it was rational.

“Look, I need you to tell Mom that we won’t be home for a couple of days.”

She narrowed her eyes at that. “Why? Why don’t you tell her yourself?”

He snorted. “Do I want the Spanish Inquisition when I’m on the job? You know what she’s like. Ever since we turned prospect, she’s shit scared we’re going to get into major trouble.” He cleared his throat. “Or, ya know, die.”

“The fact you don’t want her to know what you’re doing isn’t exactly filling me with confidence,” Jessie retorted. “What are you doing?”

“It’s a job. For Mars.”

“Which means you can’t say,” she said snidely, saying the last few words in a singsong voice that she knew would piss him off.

When he sucked in a sharp breath, she knew her goal had been attained. “I swear, you go out of your way to piss me off.”

“You and I both know it,” she said sweetly. “Anyway, I’ll tell her. This once.” Then, before he could thank her, carried on, “Because I’m a good sister. A great sister. One who cares about her brothers.”

She could almost see him rolling his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. I get the picture. If I knew anything, I’d tell you, Sis. I swear.”

“I call bullshit. Now fuck off and leave me in peace.”

“You will tell Mom, though, won’t you?” he asked, sounding worried enough for her to narrow her eyes. “I promise whatever’s going on with your mate... We’re being kept well out of the loop.”

Though she was still a little irritated, she softened at that because he sounded sincere. Mind, he could still be lying, but he sounded the part.

“I’ll tell her. Love you, shithead.”

“Love you too, bat breath.”

They both cut the call, and for a second, she grinned at the endearment. Getting up off her bed, she started to head for her momma’s room on the floor beneath her, but a glint in the distance caught her attention in the window. Considering there was nothing out there but a dustbowl, it pricked her curiosity.

She leaned against the windowsill, sought out that glint, but failed to see the source of the light and instead, took a look around the lay of the land. The clubhouse wasn’t exactly sitting on prime spot material. They were in the middle of nowhere, with dust, dust, and more dust for a view, but though no one would kill for it, they weren’t on a flood plain and come hurricane season, were slightly sheltered thanks to the curvature of a couple of hills surrounding them. Both traits made the land infinitely more valuable than appearances dictated.

But as she looked around, she realized she was looking at the same stuff she’d been looking at all her life. The sights and sounds of the clubhouse rarely changed. Heck, rarely was too often.

It never changed.

Such continuity might have been comforting to some, but for her, it was mind blowing in its tedium.

A noise jerked her from the melancholy that was always close at hand. Below her bedroom and in a separate outbuilding, there was the workshop. Hundreds of bikes were repaired and restored there, and dozens were parked up for the night. The scent of oil and gas, and all the other myriad ‘purifying’ essences wafted up to her bedroom throughout the day. The rumble of an engine was what had pricked her attention, and she watched as a lone rider approached the gate, which a prospect dragged open and then closed as the biker rode off.

Ah, the gate. The aperture that heralded freedom.

Freedom didn’t look so pretty though. The gate opened out onto a rough and sun stained road. It was so long that it took a good ten minutes to get off clubhouse territory and to get onto a state road. When it opened up onto a regular highway, Channelview, Houston was the closest area. Technically, the clubhouse was in Channelview. Their address had the zip code, after all. But this was a Clan territory. It was so much more than simply a motorcycle club’s base. This was land that had been handed over to the Clan many, many years ago. This plot was almost a sovereign state.

After the Second World War, when the existence of Shifters had been revealed to the common folk, the government had been left wondering what they could do with the freaks of nature that had helped the war effort—in some cases, singlehandedly turning a battle’s outcome.

Nasty pieces of land they figured no one else would want were split into parcels and handed off to the largest gatherings. In Houston, the land was for Bear Shifters. Over in Dallas, that was Wolf territory. She had to admit to finding it amusing that land the government figured was too ugly for humans back in the day was now quite precious because it was a safe haven come the many storms and hurricanes that battered this part of the country.

Still, the government had tried in their own way to show their gratitude for the war effort to the many Shifters’ parts. They’d introduced them into society. Given them laws and rulings to protect them. But they’d never been accepted by the normal human population.

It was why, nearly a hundred years on, no one knew the local MC was also a Bear Shifter Clan.

It was a well-kept secret.

That is, until the Prez’s daughter had shifted in front of a rival MC, the deadly She Bear being revealed to all. Now the cat was more than just out of the bag, it was doing a jig live on the local news bulletin.

Jessie shuddered a little at the thought of Ava shifting. Shifters were rare for a reason. More male children were born, and any girl children were revered and protected for far longer than they needed because a She Bear only made an appearance in the direst of situations, and once riled, they were deadly. Clans went above and beyond to keep the Sows under wraps, but sometimes, no matter how protected a body was, it was impossible to stop the inevitable.

She and Ava were the only daughters in the Clan, and they’d been sheltered during every single one of their years. The She Bears had been a corralled until Ava had found her mate, a Council member called Chris. Unfortunately, a rival MC, Spider’s Venom, had caught up with them with the intention of kidnapping Ava, the Prez’s daughter. She’d shifted to protect herself and had killed some of the riders in the process.

When the Prez, her daddy’s best friend, Mars, had called a meeting between the two MCs—either that or declare war—Jessie had discovered that her own mate was the other MC’s leader.

A man called Spyder.

He was handsome, sure. He had dirty blond hair streaked with white, and skin so burnished and golden his blue eyes popped like pools of Cerulean. He was so tanned she had to wonder if he sat out in the sun. And if he did, the most important question wasn’t whether he used enough sun block, but did he bare his butt too? Was all of him that beautiful shade of gold? He was tall, a good foot taller than her, and he was strong—his form bulked and padded out with muscle.

He had tattoos. Many of them.

She’d never liked tattoos. But on him, they were different. She wished they weren’t webs and spiders, and references to the MC his granddaddy had founded, but hell, beggars couldn’t be choosers, could they? Not when the Goddesses were concerned.

And she had no idea if her daddy would even allow her to have her mate. Hence the melancholy that was always close at hand.

It had been three weeks since the shit had gone down, and she hadn’t seen Spyder since.

Goddess, how that hurt.

The physical separation was almost painful. Like a constant stomachache that wouldn’t go away no matter what she tried to do.

A knock sounded at the door and she pressed a hand to her stomach to quell the ever present pain that came from being apart from her mate. She turned her head away from the sight of freedom, even if freedom did come with a hell of a lot of dust, and said, “Come in.”

When the door opened and Mars’ mate, the First Lady, Annette, popped her head around the door, Jessie’s lips twitched into a smile.

Though she would need to go soon and pass on Jayden’s news, she was relieved to see it wasn’t her momma who kept banging on about mates and bonds and all kinds of crap no daughter wanted to know about when it came to her own parents’ relationship.

“You okay, sugar?”

Annette had started smoking a few weeks ago, and her voice was raspy and croaky like she’d taken to chewing the damn things whole rather than smoke them.

“I’m fine,” she replied, folding her arms across her chest in discomfort. “Thanks for asking.”

Annette stepped into the room, bringing the scent of cigarettes with her. Jessie wrinkled her nose—as a Shifter, her senses were always on hyper alert in comparison to a normal human’s.

Even though she wasn’t as strong as a male Shifter, she had her own unique talents and capabilities that made her ‘super’ natural. One of them was an enhanced smell. Still, it was nothing in comparison to her mom whose supernose was renowned in the Clan.

“Why did you start smoking, Aunty Annette?”

The older woman blinked at her, obviously surprised at the out of the blue question. “Does it matter?”

“Nah, not really. I was just curious. I thought you’d be happy, what with Ava having found her mate. Starting smoking always seems to be something people do when they’re under stress.”

Annette snorted. “Like your ma and pa are happy, you mean? Like they’re not stressed about you?”

Jessie’s lips twisted in rueful acceptance of that. “You’re not wrong,” she confessed. “But just because we’re young in years doesn’t mean we’re young in our heads.”

“You’re preaching to the converted, sweetheart. It’s not your ma and I who are having trouble accepting this situation, it’s your daddies. And that’s why I’m smoking. It’s either poison my lungs or tear them out by yelling at my mate.” Her top lip curled into a sneer. “He’s damn near driving me crazy. He’s not saying anything to her but instead is harping on at me. Least I can do is bombard his nose with this stench as punishment.” She shrugged an elegant shoulder. “It’s not like I’m gonna die from smoking, right? Or kill anyone else here from passive smoke.” She mock toasted the air. “The joys of being immortal.”

Jessie studied the First Lady, surprised she’d revealed so much about the Prez. They were close but Annette rarely ever mentioned anything about her relationship with Mars. It wasn’t something they discussed. At all.

Although Mars was a tactile President, and his presence was felt in every aspect of MC life, the Council went above and beyond to paint him in all his glory.

The image that he could do no wrong was one that was battered into every prospect’s head.

One that Annette helped propagate by never cussing him in anyone’s presence.

So, her bitter words came as a distinct surprise.

“Why though? Why are my dad and Mars so freaked? If the Goddesses think we’re ready, surely that’s all that matters? They’re the ones who match us up with our other halves, for fuck’s sake.”

Annette shook her head. “I have no idea why it’s so hard for them to see that you’re women. I just know that they do and that smoking helps me not smack his face in.”

Jessie pursed her lips, both in irritation as well as suppressed amusement. Mars was huge, Annette less so. Imagining the smaller woman being able to get a rise on her mate was definitely worth a giggle. “It must be harder for Ava. I mean, the Prez is a lot older than my daddy. He must be really set in his ways.”

Annette shrugged. “Like I said, he’s doing well with Ava and Chris. Really, it’s what happens behind closed doors that we’re having problems.”

Stunned by the admission, Jessie gawked a little, which in turn made Annette huff out a laugh.

“Mate bonds endure, but that doesn’t mean shit doesn’t stick, Jessie. Sometimes it’s harder for others to wipe it away and to get yourself free of the smell.” She wrinkled her nose as she took a seat on the edge of Jessie’s bed.

What the older woman saw as she looked around, Jessie didn’t know.

Her room was small, but it was hers. Most of the male cubs had to share, but she and Ava got their own rooms. Although, Ava’s was much bigger.

She had room for a double bed, a sofa and a TV. She also had one of the few connecting baths on this level, and she didn’t have to share that with anyone either.

She’d been tempted to redecorate. To get rid of the pinks and paisley that had been her ultimate choice as a teenager when her parents had footed the bill. But ever since she’d hit eighteen, she’d been saving up.

Every dime she earned working at one of the MC’s businesses, an MC branded clothing store, she put in her bank account, and no matter how tempted she was to touch it, she never did.

Until Spyder, she’d been planning on running away.

There was an irony to the fact that her intended date of escape had been two weeks ago.

Only Spyder kept her here now.

And she hadn’t seen him since the first day he’d rocked her world with the realization of his existence.

Sucking in a shaky breath, and wondering if she could take much more of the gilded cage, she retreated to the bed and sat beside Annette.

The older woman pressed a hand to her shoulder and squeezed. “They’re just working things out, Jessie.”

“Is that why you’re here?” she asked, cocking a brow at the First Lady. “To tell me that? To tell me to shut up and be patient?”

Annette chortled. “If I’m being honest, Jessie, I’m surprised you haven’t made more of a fuss. It’s not like you’re quiet by nature after all. Yet, since Spyder appeared on the scene, you’ve gone dead quiet on us. It’s starting to freak me out!”

She shot Annette a look. “How can I prove that I’m mature enough to have a mate if I’m pulling tantrums every day?”

“While you do have a point, the lack of said tantrums has your daddy scared. He’s worried about you.”

“He could come and see me if he was so worried. I’m not like Ava. I haven’t locked my door. But he knows I’ll ask questions if I see him, questions he doesn’t want to answer, so that’s why he’s staying away. There’s no other reason because he knows I’m not too upset. If I was, I wouldn’t have let Momma in when I did.”

Annette chuckled. “I know. I heard about that particular visit. Christie told me she turned you pale with tales of the mate bond.” When Jessie grimaced, the chuckles deepened. “Christie and Mundo were certainly afflicted, that’s for damn certain. We didn’t see hide nor hair of them until your brothers started making themselves known. Even then, it was because she was puking over everything.” Annette shook her head. “I’ve never seen anyone with such terrible morning sickness as your momma. Goddess, she had me terrified when I was carrying Ava. Scared shitless I was going to be just as bad. Thank God, I wasn’t.”

Jessie huffed out a laugh. “I think when Spyder and I get together, we’ll be just as bad.”

“You having withdrawal symptoms? Is that why you’re so quiet?”

She shrugged. “I guess. I have these bad stomachaches.”

Annette blew out a breath before squeezing Jessie’s shoulder harder. “Things will sort themselves out soon. They’re not arguing about you and Spyder, Jessie. There’s no arguing with a mate bond.”

“Then what are they arguing about, dammit?” She shook her head, confusion wearing on her last nerve. “Why the hell won’t anyone tell me what’s going on?”

“You know how it works with the Council. Need to know only.”

“And yet, somehow you know.”

Annette narrowed her eyes at her, then slowly smiled. “Very shrewd.”

Jessie just glowered down at the hands she’d let rest in her lap. Twirling her fingers together, she mumbled, “I thought everyone knew you and the Prez communicated that way.” Which was a lie. Because no one had figured it out as far as Jessie could tell, but Annette didn’t have to know that.

“Which way?”

She jerked a shoulder.

“Which way?” Annette repeated, turning to her with a gimlet stare.

“Telepathically.” Jessie peeked at the older woman under her lashes. “That’s how you always know what’s going on. Even though you’re not supposed to.”

“Does your mother know?”

“I think she has her suspicions, but because everyone’s always so damn cautious about sharing details about the gifts of a mate bond, we keep it under the carpet.”

“Good.” Annette tucked a strand of hair that had fallen from her loose top knot behind her ear.

Sometimes, it was weird as fuck being a Shifter.

For all the length of Jessie’s life, Annette had never changed. Neither had her mother, or Mischa, Toni, or Pip—the mated females of the Council members. All of them, all human females, were exactly as they’d been on the day of their Claiming.

It was sometimes hard to remember that they were ‘maternal’ with her for a reason—they were another generation. With different memories and rules and traditions. It was just hard to bear that in mind when they looked as young as Jessie.

“Can you tell me why they delay? Why won’t they let me see him? I know he comes to the clubhouse. I can feel him here.” She closed her eyes. “And my dad won’t let me leave this place either. He’s told the prospects to keep me in here. That if I even approach the gate, the prospect on duty is to holler for him. He won’t even let me go work at the store.”

Annette shrugged. “I can’t countermeasure your daddy’s orders.”

“I’m not asking you to. I’d just like an explanation. That’s all. Some reason as to why this is happening to me.”

“You could have that, or I could give you ten minutes with your mate,” Annette murmured softly, making Jessie’s eyes widen in astonishment. The older woman chuckled at her bemusement. “Your ma and I have cooked something up. If you sneak down to the kitchen now, he’ll be there. Mischa will supervise, though. You can’t Claim each other yet. Otherwise the Council will find out, and they need Spyder to remain unattached to you until they deem otherwise.”

Jessie’s hope soared but so did her confusion. She wanted to know, desperately, what the fuck was going on. Goddess, she hated being kept in the dark. Especially when it was her life that was being played with.

Still, it was either talk about that with Annette, or go and see her mate.

She knew what choice she was going to settle with—hell, it was no choice at all.

She got to her feet, then kissed Annette on the cheek as she rushed out of the room.

“Ten minutes. No more,” Annette called out as she dashed into the hallway, down the stairs, and along the corridor to the domain of Mischa, the VP’s mate.

She wove and ducked and dove in between the heavy footfall of Shifters. The clubhouse was a residence that sheltered and fed close to a hundred people at any given time, and that didn’t take into account the traffic of riders who came here during the day. Either for work, to shoot the breeze, to Shift in the back yard, or simply to hang out with their brothers, the number could soar to four digits on some days, filling the place to the brim.

She skidded to a halt outside the kitchen, and when she peered around the door and saw only Mischa, she let out a soft moan of disappointment.

Naturally, it caught Mischa’s attention.

“The pantry,” she said softly, not looking up from her bubbling pot of whatever the hell it was that smelled so good.

“Oh my Goddess,” she squeaked. “Thank you!” Rushing into the room, she didn’t pause to give Mischa a hug. Instead she ran for the pantry and pulled open the door beside the fridge. As she did, Jessie felt everything simultaneously tense and release inside her.

He was there.

Leaning against the shelves loaded down with provisions, there her mate stood. He looked cool, calm, and collected. At least, he did on the outside. His eyes told a different story.

They were frantic, desperate. As pain-filled as hers were.

And at the sight of her, they exploded with joy.

He stood upright, hesitated for less than a second before he strode toward her, closing the gap of a few steps in less than a millisecond, and dragged her into his arms.

When their bodies touched, it was like coming home except that was too much of a cliché. This was more than home.

It was everything.

It was like having the other half of herself suddenly be filled. It was like she’d been lonely her entire life and but now she wasn’t.

He just held her. Didn’t even try to kiss her. He hugged her tighter to his chest, pressing down until she felt like he’d squeeze her lungs to bursting but she didn’t give a damn. She needed him to hold her this way. Needed to feel every inch of him against her.

She knew the mate bond was partially about sex, but it was about so much more too, and at that moment, for the first time in her life, she understood that. The connection between them was a union. It was forged by the Goddesses, and as he held her in his arms, she felt the celestial touch of their link.

Nothing else would ever feel as good, as right, as this exact moment.

This would be the memory she’d recall two decades down the line. Not the panic of their first meeting, the fear of loss that she’d felt when he’d been at the clubhouse gates in the middle of a meeting with Mars and the Council. She still had no idea why he’d been there, but it never boded well when two MC presidents got together to talk.

She shoved the thought of that aside, knowing that this moment would indeed be the one she’d forever remember. If Jessie was renowned for her tantrums, she was also known for pure obstinacy. By sheer will alone, she’d make this the moment to remember.

That was a promise.