Ringer: Perdition MC Shifter Book 1 Read online

  “You have no choice. Not if you want to keep your pretty new wife and pup alive. We weren’t kidding about humans killing shifters. If we’re right, your whole club is in danger, Ringer. Just hear us out at least,” Nix said.

  “Fine, but in return, how about you give me some answers?” Ringer had so many questions he wasn’t sure where to even begin.

  Nix nodded, “Slow down, man. Your thoughts are all over the place again. We can help—promise.” Ringer wasn’t sure if he should trust his promise or call bullshit. Either way, he needed some answers before his kid was born and it sounded like the three of them were just the guys to help him figure this shifter shit out.

  “Let’s go,” Ringer said. “I need coffee.”

  Sophie sat next to him, eyeing the three shifters and Ringer had never felt so damn proud of her in his life. She was just as suspicious as he was about their guests and his Sophie never backed down, no matter how intimidating the circumstances.

  “So,” Akin said, sitting his empty coffee mug on the coffee table. They had moved their little meeting to the family room at Sophie’s insistence. “You have questions?”

  “Yeah,” Ringer breathed. “A few.”

  “More than just a few,” Sophie grumbled. “More like a gazillion.”

  Akin chuckled, “How about we take them one at a time and work our way through?” Ringer had to hand it to the guy, he was a charmer. It was one of the things he noticed about the older alpha when they were all out hiking together. He instantly liked the three of them and the bond that they seemed to share made him almost jealous. That was laughable now since they were all connected after turning him into a shifter.

  “Why didn’t you come looking for Ringer sooner?” Sophie asked. “I mean, you seem to care about him, so why wait?

  Akin shrugged, “We couldn’t find him. Usually, when a wolf shifts, we can hear pack members but we never got a read on Ringer. For a while there, we thought that we didn’t turn him. We worried that we killed him since we never felt him shifting and becoming a part of our collective. It was like you disappeared from the face of the planet for us, man. Was today the first time you shifted?”

  “No,” Ringer said. “I wasn’t sure how this all worked. Honestly, I thought I only shifted with the full moon. I was so afraid that I’d end up hurting someone that I locked myself away in a storage container with every new cycle. I took safeguards to sound-proof it and make it secure. The door wouldn’t unlock until the timer went off and I was human again. Honestly, I couldn’t remember shifting. It was as if I locked myself away and then woke up days later, human.”

  “You couldn’t remember any of it?” Nix asked.

  “Nope,” Ringer admitted. “Today was the first time I shifted outside of a full moon and knew what was going on. Why is that?” Nix and Husk looked at their father for answers but he looked just as stumped.

  “No idea, really,” Akin admitted. “Maybe it had something to do with the storage container or the fact that you don’t remember shifting.”

  “How many people have you turned?” Sophie asked.

  “A few,” Husk said. “Ringer was our third.”

  “Not much of an army,” Ringer grumbled. “Why so few?”

  “It’s not easy to finding—” Akin paused as if trying to decide on the right term.

  “Victims?” Ringer offered.

  “Worthy humans,” Nix countered. “We can’t just turn anyone. We were told to look for strong men who would be an attribute to our team.”

  “While I appreciate the compliment,” Ringer said. “I would have like to have a choice in the matter. You took my life from me and now, it’s affected everyone I love.” He took Sophie’s hand into his own and she smiled up at him.

  “I get that man,” Husk said. “It’s part of the reason why we stopped turning people. Hell, I’m not sure any of this was a good idea, but we were just doing what we were told.”

  “By whom?” Ringer asked. “Who’s calling the shots here? Who’s in charge?” He stared down Akin and the guy squirmed uneasily with the questions.

  “Can’t say, Ringer,” Akin said.

  “Let me get this straight,” Ringer growled. “You met me out hiking in Yellowstone, made me believe you three were on the up and up, and fucked my life completely over, but you can’t tell me who gave you the order to do all of that?”

  “No,” Akin breathed. “Not without his permission.”

  “Well, get his fucking permission,” Ringer barked. “I want answers.”

  “It’s the least we can do, Dad,” Nix said.

  “Fine,” Akin said. “I’ll see what I can do. For now, we need to steer clear of that topic.”

  “Were the three of you turned?” Ringer asked.

  “No,” Husk said. “We are pure bloods—you know, born this way.”

  “Will our baby be considered pureblood?” Sophie asked.

  “Yes,” Akin said. “Even though he’s half human, he’ll be born a pup, making him what we consider a pureblood.”

  “What does that mean?” Ringer asked.

  “It means that you will have to keep an eye on him and help him through his first shift. When that happens will be up to him. Nix shifted for the first time when he was five and Husk was eight and a half.” Nix smirked at his brother and Husk shot him the finger, causing Sophie to giggle. How she found any of this funny was beyond him. The thought of their little guy being able to shift scared the shit out of him. How was he supposed to help their kid through any of this crazy life?

  “Great,” he grumbled. There was a knock at the front door and Sophie stood. “I’ll get it, Honey,” Ringer said. “I think I need to fill Rios in before he and the guys come in guns blazing.”

  “We good here, Ringer?” Akin asked. “My boys and I can take off if need be.” Ringer wanted to give him his word that his club wouldn’t be a threat, but he couldn’t. He wasn’t ready for the three of them to disappear again, he still had so many questions he needed answers to.

  “Let me see what I can do,” he offered. “I’ll do my best to calm my guys down.”

  Ringer pulled the front door open to find Reaper, Rios, Trace, and Gray on the front porch. “Thanks for not bringing everyone along,” Ringer said. “I’ve got things under control here, though. Just a false alarm.”

  Rios looked him over as if trying to decide if he wanted to believe him or not. “Looks like you have a full house, Ringer,” Rios said. “Want to introduce us to your friends?” Ringer sighed. He wanted to tell him, no but denying Perdition’s Prez wasn’t something that any of them willingly did. Especially not a prospect who wanted to be patched in.

  “Sure,” Ringer reluctantly agreed. “Come on in guys.” Reaper hugged Sophie while Gray and Trace followed Rios to stand in front of Akin and his two boys. “This is Akin, Nix and Husk,” Ringer said. “Guys, this is my club’s Prez, Rios, his brother Trace, and that’s Gray.”

  Sophie smiled up at her brother and introduced him. “And, this is my brother, Reaper.”

  “Wow—you really called in the calvary, man,” Nix said.

  “Yeah,” Ringer agreed. “I didn’t know that you guys were here to help. When I saw your bikes in my driveway, I texted my new brother-in-law and I guess he enlisted my club’s help.”

  “Your brother-in-law isn’t a shifter?” Akin asked, looking Reaper up and down.

  “Nope,” Reaper growled. “And, he doesn’t want to be turned into a fucking wolf, either.” Snarls and growls filled the room and Ringer wanted to punch Reap for getting the wolves all riled up.

  “Read the room, Reap,” Ringer chided. “Have some common fucking sense. You piss them off and they shift, what happens to Sophie? You need to take it down a notch.”

  Reaper looked at Sophie and gave her a sheepish grin. “Sorry, Sophie. I wasn’t thinking. I’d never do anything to put you in danger.”

  “I know that you wouldn’t hurt her, man,” Ringer said. “How about we all just sit down and
get everything out in the open?”

  “You finally willing to ask Perdition for some help, Ringer?” Gray asked.

  “Why would he need your help when he has ours now?” Akin asked.

  “Where have you three been this whole time?” Rios asked. “Reaper filled us in that you three were the one to turn Ringer and what—you just left him for dead?”

  “No,” Akin barked. “We had no choice but to leave him in the park. We’re being tracked by human hunters. I think they let Ringer go, to track him.”

  “Track him?” Reaper asked.

  “Yeah,” Husk said. “When a man is turned, he doesn’t get his powers all at once. That might be why Ringer only turned during the full moon and he was able to control shifting.”

  “Until today,” Ringer amended.

  “Right, until today,” Husk agreed.

  “Wait—you shifted today? No storage container or full moon?” Gray asked. He had gotten a lot of shit from the guys in Perdition for locking himself away in a storage container every full moon. They’d go off every night to shift and hunt and he’d stay behind, claiming that his abilities didn’t work that way and then they’d give him shit for not being a real shifter.

  “Yeah,” Ringer said. “In my kitchen.”

  “Fuck,” Reaper swore. “Was Sophie in the room with you?” Ringer didn’t like where his questions were going.

  “I was,” Sophie said. “He didn’t hurt me, Reaper, if that’s what you’re getting at. Ringer would never do anything to hurt me or our baby.”

  “She’s right,” Ringer said. “I wouldn’t. But, today could have gone differently, Soph. What if I had hurt you when I shifted? I have no control over any of this—it’s all so new.”

  “No, Ringer,” Sophie protested. “You were more in control than you believe. I could see it in your eyes.”

  “I appreciate the vote of confidence, Honey, but you’re wrong,” Ringer said.

  “That’s where we can help,” Akin said. “We can teach you the ins and outs of shifting and controlling your urges.”

  “We can take care of all of that, Ringer,” Rios spat. “That is why you joined our club, isn’t it?” His Prez was right, that was why he wanted to be a part of Perdition. But, wouldn’t they guys who created him know more? He’d be able to link with them and so far, that hadn’t happened with any of Perdition’s guys.

  “Enough,” Sophie whispered. She cleared her throat, stepping away from Reaper and into Ringer’s arms. “This is all ridiculous. Standing around my family room, arguing who will be the best at helping my husband acclimate to being a shifter is pointless. I think we’re all missing the bigger picture here.”

  “Which is?” Ringer asked.

  “Which is that human hunters, as Akin calls them, are coming for shifters. All shifters, including my son.” Sophie cupped her belly. She was right. They were wasting time fighting about who was going to teach him about being a shifter and their real focus should have been on the threat coming for them all.

  “She’s right,” Akin said. “They won’t care if Ringer is with you or us—they’ll kill us all.” Sophie gasped and Ringer pulled her closer.

  “What can we do?” Reaper asked.

  “You can’t do anything,” Nix spat. “You’re one of them. She is too,” he said, pointing to Sophie. “We’ll need to turn as many humans as possible for this to work, Dad. Fuck what we’ve been ordered to do. Our original orders were our best shot for coming out the other end of this mess alive.”

  “Stand down, Nix,” Akin ordered. “We follow orders—it’s who we are.”

  “Who the fuck is giving these orders?” Rios asked.

  “We can’t say,” Akin grumbled. “Let’s just say this thing goes up higher than any of us would like and when the shit hits the fan, we’re all fucked, either way. For now, I say we split up and lay low. You’re connected to us, Ringer. You need me or the boys, you just say the word and we’ll be here.” Akin looked over to where Rios stood flanked by Trace and Gray and nodded. “Looks like you’re in good hands here. Learn from your new pack and let them keep an eye on your six. I’ll be in touch soon, Ringer. Let’s go boys.” Nix and Husk stood and followed their father out. No formal goodbye or fanfare—they just left. Ringer could hear their bikes roar to life and just before they pulled away, Husk sent him a little message.

  “Watch your ass with the guys in Perdition. Not all of them can be trusted, man,” Husk growled. It was a warning that only he could hear. A warning meant to scare him and that’s exactly what it did. If Ringer couldn’t trust the guys in his new MC, who could he trust?

  Sophie

  Sophie had spent the next month going from home to work and once in a great while, Ringer let her go to Tito’s with him. Beth had brought little Chris over to visit a few times and Sophie loved her time with him. He was the spitting image of Reaper and she loved that they had given him Reaper’s name. She had often wondered what her parents would have thought of how she and Reap had turned out. They weren’t the close-knit family she had always dreamed of having, especially after Reaper’s abduction. She was just a kid when that happened and she remembered her mother’s panic at the idea of never seeing her son again. Sophie felt that same panic every time she thought about the assholes who would hunt her son just because he was part shifter. The idea of not being able to keep her baby safe haunted her daily and she could only come up with one solution—Ringer needed to turn her. If she was a shifter, she would be connected with Ringer and their son all the time. She’d be able to help Ringer take care of him and keep him safe from the threat that could someday catch up with them. The issue was going to be to get Ringer to agree to her crazy plan. It had to be him though. If anyone else changed her, her link to Ringer wouldn’t exist.

  Being linked to family, or in this case, the wolf who turned you, was the strongest bond a shifter could have to each other. Ringer was supposed to patch into Perdition in a few days. They would hold a special ceremony that would link him to the pack. Ringer would drink from a cauldron that contained Rios’ blood mixed with his own and then they would shift and hunt together. It would somehow link them when they were in wolf form and Ringer would be able to connect with the pack telepathically when he shifted. Sophie was happy that her husband finally felt as though he had a connection to other shifters but she felt left out. Sure, it was crazy that she was jealous of his pack and his ties to his MC family—but she was. She craved that connection with Ringer and tonight, she was going to get the guts up to ask him for what she wanted—to be turned.

  Ringer walked into the kitchen, as if on cue, and kissed her cheek. He palmed her belly, causing their son to squirm around. Every time he touched her, the baby seemed to sense his father and felt like he was doing backflips inside of her.

  Ringer chuckled, “I’m happy to see you too, Son,” he whispered against her belly.

  “You two need a minute?” Sophie teased.

  “I think your Mama is jealous,” Ringer said. If only he knew how right he was, he wouldn’t be making jokes about it.

  “Mama’s tired and about ready to drop,” Sophie admitted. “I don’t know if I can do another five weeks of this,” she said, palming her big belly. It had felt like she had been pregnant forever and she couldn’t wait for the day that she’d get to finally meet her son.

  “I know, Honey,” Ringer soothed. “I wish I could take up some of the burden from you. How about you let me cook dinner and you go lay down?” he offered. Honestly, that sounded like a great idea but she had already made plans for dinner.

  She shot him a sheepish grin, “I might have already ordered dinner for us,” she said. “Burgers again—sorry. Food should be here in twenty minutes. I have something I want to talk to you about and I didn’t want to fool with cooking dinner.”

  “Alright,” Ringer said. “Let’s hear it.” He sat down at the kitchen table and pulled her down onto his lap. Sophie suddenly felt very unsure of herself.

  “Um,�
�� she squeaked. “Well, I’ve been thinking,” she started.

  Ringer groaned, “I’ve known you forever, Soph. When you start off saying that, I’m not going to like what comes next.”

  Sophie nervously giggled, “I’m pretty sure that’s going to be the case here too, Ringer. I want you to turn me,” she blurted out.

  “Fuck,” Ringer spat. “No fucking way, Sophie,” he said.

  Sophie stood from his lap, needing some space. She expected an argument but never thought he’d completely shut her down without hearing her side of the story.

  “Ringer,” she said, reaching for his arm. “Just hear me out, please,” she begged.

  “No.” He shrugged off her hand. “I won’t go and ruin your life, Sophie.”

  “Ruin my life?” she questioned. “You’re life hasn’t been ruined by being turned into a shifter. You talk about your pack like they’re your family. Don’t you think I deserve to be a part of something like that?”

  “No,” Ringer said. “The pack is my family now but that wasn’t my choice. You and this baby should be the only family I need but that’s not the case. I need to be a part of a pack because a lone wolf ends up dead. I’ve been given no choice in the matter, Soph. You have a choice.”

  “And, I’m choosing to be turned. I want to be a part of your shifter family, too, Ringer. When this baby is born, he’ll be a part of that world. I’ll be the lone wolf in this scenario. How do you think that makes me feel?” she asked. Sophie knew she wasn’t playing fair but she didn’t care. She’d throw down the guilt card if it would get her what she wanted.

  “I can’t,” Ringer said. “You heard what Akin said when they were here. We can’t make new shifters.”

  “That’s bullshit and you know it, Ringer. Akin said that he had orders to stop turning humans but he never told us who he’s getting his orders from. You okay with taking orders from an unknown source now?” Sophie asked. She sounded more like she was accusing him of something but she didn’t give a fuck.