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  He turned his head to look at her and she knew immediately that he was talking about Craig. Allison, had no way of knowing what the two bikers had talked about when she wasn’t around, but Mike was making it pretty clear that he was just as interested in her, but that Craig had made the first move. She hadn’t considered him as anything but the biker authority who she had to win over in order to control the lot of them, but sitting here with him now she saw him as a person, and what she saw and felt surprised her more than a little.

  “Sometimes even family has to accept that someone outside the family can make their own choices,” she said, hoping she’d read the situation right.

  A few minutes ago, she’d have said that Craig was the only man she’d met in a while that she’d consider having a casual fling with, but Mike American was handsome and intelligent behind the silly name and the brash persona he put on as leader of his crew. Sitting so close to him alone beside the bar, she realized that she’d be more than happy to have him put his arm around her and to kiss her. She didn’t know where that left Craig or her attraction to him, but she’d given him every opportunity earlier and if anything, he’d seemed to have backed off a little.

  Allison leaned over towards Mike and let her head fall on his shoulder. His arm slipped around behind her and she felt the warm skin of his hand on her hip, sliding just under her shirt to run over the soft skin of her side and lower back.

  “I don’t want to piss of your brother,” said Mike.

  “I thought you big biker types just took what you wanted and didn’t care about what anyone thought?” she said, sitting up and eyeing him to see if he was being genuine or not.

  “People are people,” he replied. “And knowing people and which lines not to cross is how I’m still alive and head of my crew after all these years.”

  “Is there a line you want to cross right now?” she asked, her voice quiet and inviting.

  “I sure as hell do.”

  Mike’s hand came up and he cupped her cheek, pulling her forward for a kiss. Their lips were close enough together that she could feel the heat of his body and the tickling whiskers of his beard when a loud bang from the tavern’s front door made them pull apart and look towards the sound. Mike’s hand dropped quickly and he hopped off the bench, pulling his smokes out of his pocket and moving to light one as casually as he could.

  Craig appeared around the side of the bar and glanced from Mike to Allison and back again. “Where have you been?”

  “Just assuring Allison here that we’re not going to leave them high and dry when we roll out of here,” said Mike.

  “Vince and Tommy had a bit of a disagreement over a game of pool, and Vince broke Tommy’s nose. You should probably get in there and keep them from getting any more out of hand.”

  “Those idiots,” grumbled Mike.

  He hauled on his cigarette and tossed it to the ground, stepping on it and grinding it out. Turning back to Allison, he raised his eyebrow and gave her a what can you do? look before stalking off to see to his misbehaving crew. Craig gave her an altogether different look before storming off without saying a word. He’d looked pissed off to come out, and Allison hoped he hadn’t seen how close Mike and her had been to kissing. She didn’t know which of them she’d rather be with if she had to choose one to go home with her after her shift, but the last thing she wanted was to cause trouble between them.

  CHAPTER SIX

  “Who do I have to eat out to get a drink around here?” said a sly female voice.

  Allison looked up and shook her head. Miriam was sitting behind the bar with a cute young boy on either side of her, each of them immediately recognizable from certain intimate photos Allison had seen earlier that day.

  “What can I get you and your, uh, friends?” asked Allison.

  “Tequila with a beer back,” said Miriam. “Make that two shots to start, and pour a couple for yourself.”

  Drinking shots with customers was sometimes a necessary evil in a place like this, and even though Allison was good at saying no, she knew better than to argue with her best friend. She lined up several four shot glasses, filled them to the brim with tequila, and slammed hers down before Miriam’s arm candy could even pick theirs up.

  “You two better learn to keep up,” teased Miriam. “You don’t want to be shown up by a couple of old ladies, do you?”

  “I don’t see any old ladies around here,” said one of the guys. His eyes wandered over Allison’s chest and he flashed her a smarmy smile that made her look forward to the next shot she poured herself.

  “Why don’t you two go grab a booth?” said Miriam. “I want to talk to my friend here a bit.”

  They collected their beers and went off to find someplace to sit in the crowded bar. Miriam watched them walk away and then turned back to her friend.

  “What do you think?” she asked.

  “I think you’re going to get yourself in some serious trouble hanging out with students in public.”

  “We just came by for a few minutes. After this we’re going to get a room the at the Windy River so I can fuck their brains out.”

  “Both of them?” asked Allison. She’d allowed herself to imagine a threesome with two girls and one guy earlier in Miriam’s office, but two guys and one girl presented a whole different set of images to get flustered over.

  “Yeah, I’ve never had two guys at once. You’re welcome to join if you want. Round it out to an even fourgy?”

  “Oh my god, you did not just invite me to a fourgy.”

  “Your loss, babe,” said Miriam. She slammed her second shot of tequila and followed it with a swig of beer.

  “I’ve got my own problems,” said Allison. She nodded towards the back of the bar where Mike American was sitting and laughing with the two guys she figured to be Tommy and Vince. Craig stood off to one side, a gloomy look on his face.

  “Is that Craig?” asked Miriam. “The one with the huge beard?”

  “No, that’s Mike. Craig is the sullen looking one beside him.”

  “You always did like the brooding types. The guy with the beard is kind of hot. What’s his deal?”

  “That’s Mike American. He’s the leader of the Hellclaws, and about an hour ago we were just about to make out on the picnic table when Craig walked in on us.”

  “Oh, you saucy wench,” said Miriam, her mouth opening in mock surprise. “So you switched teams, huh?”

  “I don’t know. It just sort of happened. Craig is super hot and I thought he was what I wanted, but when I was sitting there talking to Mike, I just really wanted him to kiss me. I don’t know how I’m supposed to decide between them.”

  “Don’t,” said Miriam. “I’m sure they’re happy to share.”

  “Yeah, I don’t think I’m ready for that level of sluttiness just yet. No offense.”

  “I say follow your animal instinct. Your body knows what it wants, and you just have to listen to it. I’d fuck either of them.”

  “Thanks for the advice, Miri.”

  Allison’s voice dripped with sarcasm, but her friend just laughed.

  “Seriously, just go for it. You want me to go flirt with one of them to weed out whoever’s just looking for a quick roll in the sack?”

  “Not necessary,” said Allison. “Besides, you don’t want to make your boy toys jealous.”

  “Oh, that’s a good idea actually. Gimme another beer.”

  Allison fetched a beer from the fridge and cracked the cap off, flinging it into the garbage. She handed the icy cold bottle to her friend and watched her slip off the bar stool to head directly towards Craig and Mike instead of to where her students were sitting waiting for her.

  Miriam handed the bottle to Craig and pointed back towards the bar. Craig met Allison’s gaze before turning his attention back to Miriam, and Allison could tell that she was flirting with him pretty hard. The way she kept laughing and touching his arm, and how she positioned her body so that Craig would always be tempted to look
down at the cleavage she was showing was classic Miriam behavior. Allison began to feel agitated and uncomfortable, and she glanced at Miriam’s students and saw that they had similar expressions of confusion on their faces.

  Her jealousy was surprising, and she was pretty sure that she wouldn’t have felt quite the same had Miriam focused her slutty attention on Mike instead. The problem worked itself out quickly enough when Miriam turned away from him and returned to the two guys she’d come in with. She didn’t even bother sitting down. Instead, she finished her beer in one long swig, grabbed one of them by the hand, and led them out of the bar with a little wave towards Allison.

  “Your friend is pretty intense,” said Craig, sidling up to the bar and settling onto a stool.

  “Yeah, she’s a character alright,” replied Allison.

  “Thanks for the beer, by the way.”

  “She told you I sent that over?”

  Craig laughed. “So she was trying to play matchmaker then?”

  “With Miri, you never can be sure what she’s after. More likely she was probably trying to get both of us into bed with her.”

  It was hard to tell in the dim light of the bar and under the thin layer of scruff on Craig’s face, but Allison was pretty sure she saw him blush a little after that. He took a pull from his beer instead of saying anything in response, but there was a hint of a smile on his lips.

  “Everything okay with Tommy and Vince?” she asked.

  “Oh, yeah, that. Mike sorted it out like he always does.” He paused and looked over his shoulder towards the leader of the Hellclaws. “Listen, back there when you and him were outside…”

  “Yeah, the thing about that is—”

  She didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence. The roar of a large group of motorcycles rumbled over the music and noise inside the Oakwood Tavern. Without any sign of being told to do so, all the Hellclaws stopped what they were doing and got up to push their way outside to face whoever was there. Allison threw her rag down on the bar and ran around the side, grabbing her brother and pulling him out the staff entrance. The two of them sneaked around the side, but their efforts to stay out of sight were in vain as Allison noticed that several large men had stationed themselves around the building, just far enough away to be a threat.

  “Ruth Kane,” said Mike American, out in the front parking lot. He stood a little ahead of his crew, arms folded and chin held high to show that he wasn’t afraid of the woman standing before him. “You know this is Hellclaw territory as long as we’re here. What do you think you’re doing, riding up on us?”

  “You know what you fucking did, Mike. You and your pathetic little bear cubs here are going to pay for messing with us,” she replied.

  The woman wore a sleek black dress and expensive looking heels. Her hair was done up and large sparkling diamonds hung from her ears, a perfect match to the necklace shining under the streetlights. Behind her were a couple of large bruisers in matching black suits. All three of them looked like they’d just come from a fancy dinner party, but the men surrounding the bar looked more like street thugs. It took Allison a few minutes to put the pieces together, but she finally realized that Ruth Kane was the daughter of the infamous Samuel Kane. The Kane crime family controlled a huge part of the state, and Allison wasn’t sure she wanted to know what they were doing in West Liberty at this time of night.

  “You’re upset, I get that,” said Mike, holding up his hands to reinforce his empathy for her situation, “but that doesn’t mean you get to come down here and cause problems. I suggest you and your juicehead monkeys here go back to whatever cage you dragged them out of.”

  “Oh, you get that I’m upset?” said Ruth, practically spitting with anger. “I’m going to burn down this bar with every one of you little shits inside of it. You stole a hundred thousand dollars from me, Mike. Did you really think I was going to let that slide?”

  “I didn’t take your meth,” replied Mike. His tone of voice was almost playful, as though he was enjoying every second of the exchange. “You can sell that and make the money back again.”

  “No, you didn’t take it, but you might as well have. I had to give that to my distributor to make up for what you stole during the middle of our deal. He knew right away that you found the meet through me, and that means I’m on the hook for the money, and worse, everyone in the state knows I can’t protect my people from shit like what you pulled.”

  “I don’t see how that’s my problem,” replied Mike. “Business is business, and yours isn’t any more legal than mine.”

  A dark object whizzed out of the darkness towards Mike, who narrowly avoided taking it in the face by dodging to the side at the last second. There was a sound of smashing glass, and Allison realized that the object had been a bottle, and that it had come from one of Kane’s people. She didn’t have time to wonder how the Hellclaws would respond, because Mike moved almost immediately towards Ruth, encountering her two body guards along the way. He moved quickly for a man of his size, and he’d grabbed one of the guys by the hair and smashed his face down into his knee before pushing him aside and tackling the other.

  The Hellclaws and the Kanes surged toward each other, fists flying and non-lethal blunt objects flashing in the pale yellow glow of the nearby streetlights. Everywhere she looked, Allison saw men fighting, and she knew it was only a matter of time before things moved towards the bar and the few remaining customers who hadn’t fled out the back door at the first sign of trouble.

  “Ally, let’s get out of here,” said Walter, grabbing her wrist and trying to pull her away. “We’ve got to call the cops before they start tossing flaming bottles at us.”

  “Wait a second, do you see what’s happening?”

  She stood her ground and stared at the grappling men spread all over the parking lot. The clouds had parted just enough that white light from the moon was flooding everywhere, so bright that it was as though a truck had pulled up with its high beams on. Something odd was happening to both Hellclaws and Kanes alike, and Allison couldn’t believe her eyes at first.

  “Are they… changing?” asked Walter in total disbelief.

  Craig Arctos had been fighting with a burly looking guy from the Kane family, but he pulled away and began tearing off his clothes. He’d gotten his shirt off by the time he really started to shift, but it was too late for his pants and Allison stood gaping as hair sprouted from all over his body and his muscles expanded to tear his pants to shreds. The man transformed into a big brown bear right in front of her and Walter, and all around them the same thing was happening to every one of the Hellclaws and Kanes.

  “Look, the Kanes are turning into wolves,” said Walter. He too seemed rooted to the spot, unable to run or call for help. “This is fucked up.”

  “We can’t call the police,” said Allison. She watched Mike American shift into a huge black bear, his giant thick arms batting away the half-formed wolves still trying to leap at him. “The Hellclaws are the only thing protecting us from whatever the hell the Kanes are, and if the police come then we’re in even bigger trouble.”

  “Still, we should get inside,” said Walter, regaining his sense of priorities and tugging on Allison’s wrist.

  She spun on her heel to go with him but they both stopped short when they saw the snarling wolf that had slunk in behind them to block their only exit. It reminded Allison of the wolf who’d nearly attacked her in the parking lot the night before, and she immediately looked around to see if the big brown bear would appear to save her.

  Sure enough, the same bear who’d come to her rescue was lumbering towards them, and she realized instantly that it was the bear that Craig had turned into. It had all seemed too crazy to contemplate the first time, but it made total sense that the creature would have snatched Craig’s wallet from her hand. It also explained how Craig had his wallet again, and why he’d gotten awkward and weird when she’d tried to ask him about it.

  The Kane wolf saw Craig approaching and tho
ugh better of trying its luck while alone against the much larger bear. It snapped it’s jaws and growled, but it edged backwards until it could run to the side, howling to draw others towards it. The brown bear grunted a few times and nodded its head towards the back entrance to the Oakwood Tavern, and Allison took the hint immediately. Guarded from any possible attackers, she and Walter followed the side of the building and ducked into the door, turning around just in time to see Craig’s big bear paw slam the door shut behind them.

  It took nearly two hours for the noise of the fighting to dissipate. Allison risked a look outside through the front door, and she saw that the Hellclaws had successfully beaten back the Kanes and that all was quiet out front. When she and Walter locked that door and went around back, they saw the entire Hellclaw biker gang collecting in the grassy plot behind the bar where they flopped to the ground and fell into exhausted sleep.

  The bear she know knew was Craig came up to her and lowered its head, the look in his eyes full of concern for her well being.

  “I’m totally fine, thanks to you,” she said with a smile.

  Allison reached out and stroked the fur just behind his head, scratching him behind the ear like she would a dog or a cat. He seemed to like that, although when she rubbed his neck a little too aggressively, he whimpered and pulled back.

  “You’re covered in blood,” she said quietly, unsure of whether it was his or not.

  Craig grunted softly and dropped his head a little lower, hunching his shoulders in strangely human fashion. It wasn’t easy to tell what he was trying to communicate, but Allison got the feeling that he was okay, if a bit tired from all the fighting.

  “Why don’t you go and sleep now,” she said. “Thank you for saving us.”

  She watched him trundle off to a spot on the grass. He dropped into a tired heap almost immediately, his large body heaving gently with deep breathing. Allison looked over the field of bears and still couldn’t believe what she’d witnessed. If it hadn’t been for that fact that this was the second encounter she’d had with these bears and wolves, and that she knew Walter had seen it all as well, she’d still be tempted to write the last several hours off as a giant hallucination or an extremely vivid dream. As she went back inside and locked the door behind her, she knew it was real, though, even if it was beyond anything she thought possible.