Ringer: Perdition MC Shifter Book 1 Read online

  “You feeling better, Sis?” Reaper questioned. She was careful not to let her little baby bump touch him when he pulled her against his body.

  “Yeah,” she lied. “Just a little bug.” If only he knew that her little bug was actually a baby, he might not be so welcoming. Beth smiled and grabbed her, pulling her into a bear hug of her own. As soon as her sister-in-law pushed her away, she knew that Beth had guessed her secret. She was a seer and had an uncanny ability to see anything and everything about Reaper and Sophie. It was how Beth and Reaper met—she had dreams about him her whole life and she found him. Hell, Beth saved Reaper and her and they were damn lucky to have her in their lives. Although, Sophie didn’t feel so lucky at the moment. Beth’s powers only grew stronger and she was starting to be able to get vibes from people just by touching them and Sophie could see it in her sister-in-law’s eyes that she knew about the baby.

  “Um, I need to talk to you both,” Sophie stuttered.

  “Shoot,” Reaper said. “We’re all ears.”

  “No,” Beth said. “I think we should talk about this up in our room.” Beth and Reaper kept a room over the bar for nights that they wanted to stay in town. They also had a perfect little cabin just on the outskirts of town that Sophie considered to be paradise. Sophie wanted to just blurt out her news and get it over with but Beth was right, some privacy might be the best call for telling Reaper.

  “Why do we need to go up to our room to talk?” he asked Beth.

  “Because Sophie has something she needs to tell us and it’s a private matter,” Beth said.

  “Hmm,” Reaper hummed. Whenever he made that noise in his throat, Sophie knew that he was sorting through things in his mind. It usually ended with a screaming match between both her and her brother and this time might be no different.

  “Please, Reap,” Sophie begged. He looked her up and down as if sizing her up and when his eyes got to her belly, they stopped. Sophie tried to cover her belly with her hands, turning away from his stare but it was too late—her brother had caught on and there would be no retreat or privacy for the conversation they were about to have.

  “You’re pregnant?” he growled. Her brother’s impeccable timing was spot on. The loud music that usually filled the bar had stopped and his shout was heard by just about everyone in the room. The dull hum of conversation ceased around them and Sophie felt all eyes on her.

  “Yes,” she murmured. “I’m pregnant.” Sophie closed her eyes as if she could hide that way but she knew that as soon as she opened them again, she’d find Reaper staring at her with so much disappointment it would physically hurt her to look at him.

  “What the fuck?” She popped an eye open, knowing that wasn’t Reaper’s growly voice asking the question. It was a voice she had only heard in her dreams—Ringer. Sophie turned to find him standing behind her, his dark mohawk pulled back in a braid that ran down the center of his skull. She always liked when he wore his long hair that way; she could see all his neck tattoos. Was he really at Reckoning? It had been five months since she left him sleeping in that crappy motel room after they spent their night together. The only night that she was willing to give him—the only night he asked her for. Ringer was beautiful, angry and very much present and Sophie’s world felt like it was about to spin off-kilter. She couldn’t seem to find her balance and just before everything went dark around her, she heard Ringer’s soft promise.

  “I’ve got you, Honey,” he said.

  Sophie knew she was acting like a complete chicken but opening her eyes and facing the warm man who had her pressed up against his hot body, was downright cowardly. He was back—Ringer was back in town and didn’t even bother to call her? Why should he? Ringer didn’t owe her anything. Sophie knew the score—she was a one night stand. That’s what she asked him for and he delivered. The problem was he more than delivered and left her with something to remember him by. More like someone who would be a constant reminder of the night they shared and the man who now held her heart.

  She gave him that after their night together—her heart. Ringer owned it completely but telling him that wasn’t what he wanted to hear. He made that quite clear when he didn’t chase after her. Sure, she ran but Ringer let her and when he found out where she was, he didn’t make a move to come after her. He sent her a message, loud and clear, that he wasn’t interested. So, why did he show back up in New Orleans now? And, why the hell was Ringer at Reckoning? The bar was home to Reckoning MC and as far as Sophie knew, Ringer didn’t get along with a good number of the club’s members. Her brother, Reaper, for one. Of course, their feud might have more to do with the fact that his father turned the textile business he and Reaper owned together, into a warehouse for his human trafficking business.

  Reaper, Sophie, and Ringer had grown up together. Their fathers were business partners and best friends, back in the day. They started a textile business that took off and Reaper and Ringer were being groomed to take over their father’s halves of the company. But, her dad died, leaving Reaper to run his part of the business and Anthony Sr. got into some dark shit that threatened to take them all down. Reaper had no idea that his business partner would ever be capable of trafficking women and young girls into Mexico. None of them realized it until it was too late and it almost got them all killed.

  Ringer had convinced her to run away with him and God, she wanted to believe that the boy she had a crush on all those years was asking her to go away with him. He told her that he’d be able to keep her safe from his father while he and Reaper tried to figure out a way to bring him down. She foolishly agreed to go to Texas with Ringer and that was the first step to her downfall. Ringer lived up to his part of the bargain, keeping her safe while Reaper and her now sister-in-law, Beth worked to shut down Anthony, Sr’s. dirty business. The problem was, she wanted more than his protection. Sophie wanted Ringer and when he offered her the shot to be in his bed, she jumped at it. God, she was a fool and now, she was going to be a mother. An unwed, single mother who had no clue what to do with a kid or how to raise one.

  “Soph,” Ringer’s deep voice whispered in her ear. He nuzzled the sensitive patch of skin on her neck and she shivered, giving up the ruse that she was still passed out. “Baby, open your eyes and look at me, please.”

  Sophie wasn’t sure if she could get away with playing opossum just a little bit longer or if he had figured out that she was faking. When they were kids, she used to follow Ringer all around, driving him and her older brother crazy. She couldn’t help it really; she had such a crush on him but he treated her more like a nuisance back then. Her mother would force Reap and Ringer to let her join into whatever they had cooking, but once her mom turned her back or left the room, they’d go right back to ignoring her. They would pretend she was invisible and that they couldn’t see her no matter how annoying she would act or what she did to get either of their attention.

  “Remember Soph,” Ringer whispered, cradling her against his chest. “I know you just about better than anyone.” He did too and right now, that fact played in his favor and pissed her completely off. “Open your eyes, Beautiful.”

  “No,” she said, squinching them tighter shut. Ringer chuckled at her childish game and she felt like this situation was a whole lot less funny than he did. Sophie peeped an eye open to find him staring her down. Ringer sat on the edge of the bed and she realized that he must have carried her up to Reaper and Beth’s room.

  Sophie scrambled to get away from him when she opened her eyes fully to find that they were completely alone. That was the last thing she wanted—to be alone with Ringer. He made her half-crazy with lust the last time they were in a room together. Hell, they created another person.

  “Hey,” he breathed. God, he smelled good. Ringer always smelled like he had been outside all day, but in a good way. If she had to describe his scent, Sophie would go with a mix of pine trees and freshly fallen snow—although she realized just how stupid that all sounded. How could a grown man smell like a n
ew snowfall? She was from NOLA and honestly, Sophie had only seen falling snow once in her life, but he always reminded her of that trip north to go skiing with her brother and parents.

  “Why are you here, Ringer?” she questioned. She sounded pissed and that was just fine with her. She was good and mad that the man didn’t seem to need or want her in his life. Sophie had been living in complete agony without him in her life but he didn’t seem to feel the same.

  “Geeze Soph,” he said. She could tell that he was going to go for teasing but his tone and the fire she saw in his eyes didn’t seem to add up. He was just as pissed at her but what about? Oh—well, maybe the fact that she was pregnant with his baby and had no real plans of telling him. “Don’t pretend to be happy to see me or anything.”

  “I’m not,” she lied. She was never so fucking happy to see someone in her life. The way he held her body against his was making her already overly active hormones crazy. But there was more—something she couldn’t quite explain. Ringer had always felt right to her. Every time Ringer so much as glanced in her direction, it felt like her whole world was right, even if just for a few minutes. He felt like home and maybe that made her sound like a sappy love song, but she didn’t care.

  “Liar,” he accused. Ringer looked down her body to her baby bump and ran his big hand over her belly. “Is the baby mine?” he whispered.

  Sophie wanted to flat out lie to him again. She wanted to tell him that the baby had nothing to do with him. But, when she looked into Ringer’s eyes and saw the boy she used to love—the man she had fallen in love with—she couldn’t do it.

  “Yes,” she breathed. “The baby is yours, Ringer.” She watched him for any signs that he was going to get mad. Hell, he had every right to. Instead, he swallowed hard, like he was trying to get past the emotions that had welled up in his throat and nodded.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” he questioned.

  “I didn’t think you would care,” she said, raising her chin, defiantly challenging him to contradict her.

  “I would have—I do,” he stuttered, making her feel like a class A fool. “More than you know.” Ringer rolled her to the mattress, pinning her underneath his big body. Even when her brain screamed to her to protest, her body begged her not to.

  His lips were so close to hers that she could feel his breath and God, all she wanted him to do was to claim her again. Make her his, but if she was being one-hundred-percent truthful, she already was his. “What are you doing here, Ringer,” she breathed, repeating her earlier question. Ringer’s sigh told her she wasn’t going to like what he was about to say. Sophie needed to know why now, after all these months, he’d show back up in down and walk into Reckoning.

  “I came back months ago,” Ringer admitted. Sophie gasped and he covered her mouth with his tattooed hand. “Before you give me shit, Soph, I’ve been laying low. Reaper knew I came back but I asked him not to tell you, so don’t blame your brother. I just needed some time to figure some of my shit out.”

  Sophie pulled his hand free from her mouth and he let her. “For the record,” she spat, “I don’t blame my brother. He should have told me but I know he was probably trying to protect me from you. Rightfully so, I see,” she whispered.

  “What the fuck does that mean, Soph?” he growled. It was one of the things Sophie had always loved about Ringer—he was a little wild and never backed down from a challenge and the way he looked her body over, he was considering her a challenge.

  “It means that you have always had the power to destroy me, Ringer. I gave you one night and then you let me go,” she accused. Sophie knew she was pushing the envelope since she had been the one to walk away from him, but she also thought he’d try to track her down. Instead, Ringer let her leave Texas without even a single inquiry as to her whereabouts. “You could have at least called to check on me—you know, make sure I got home safely.”

  Ringer sat up, untangling his body from hers and she instantly regretted her words. Having him so near, touching her, holding her—it was what she had been dreaming of for so many months now. “I fucking did call to check on you, Soph. I called two days after you disappeared from my bed. I drove around that fucking city looking for any sign of you and after the second day and no word, I decided to call Reap to see if he had heard from you. He told me you made it back to NOLA the day before and I figured you got what you wanted. I mean, it is what you asked for, right? Just a quick fuck and then you were planning on taking off.”

  Now it was Sophie’s turn to be pissed off. She stood from the bed, going toe to toe with Ringer, although compared to him, she was so tiny it must have looked hilarious. He smiled down at her and she shook her head. “Don’t do that, Ringer,” she said.

  “Do what?” he breathed. He knew exactly what he was doing to her. His smile was one of the things she loved most about him. He could always make her laugh but it was also his go-to defense mechanism. Whenever he was trying to hide, he’d put up his walls and use humor to mask his pain or disappointment. It was what drew her to him after he found out that his father was a human trafficker. That nearly destroyed Ringer and when he finally let her in and stopped putting up walls, she jumped at the chance to be with him—the real him.

  “You can’t hide behind humor this time, Ringer. We’re going to have a baby together and if you want to be a part of this kid’s life, you’re going to have to let me in. I won’t let you hurt him the way you have me,” she said. Ringer looked at her as if she had just slapped him. Sophie knew all too well that sometimes words hurt more than physical pain, but she wouldn’t back down now. Ringer needed to know where she stood and there was no way she’d let her kid be hurt by his father’s shutting him out.

  “Him?” Ringer questioned.

  “Yeah,” she said. “I had a sonogram a few days ago and it’s a boy.”

  “Shit,” Ringer said. “I’m going to have a son?”

  “Yes,” Sophie breathed. “If you can get your shit together and be present for him, then yes.”

  “Well then,” Ringer said, clearing his throat. “We’re going to need to talk, Soph.”

  Ringer

  Sophie watched him like prey eyed a predator and Ringer almost wanted to laugh at just how true that was. He was a predator, a wolf and his inner beast wanted to lay claim to Sophie as soon as he saw her. Hearing that she was pregnant with his baby or in this case, pup, wasn’t something he’d ever think possible. He’d always been a loner, especially after the accident and having a kid with someone was something he believed to be impossible. At least, a human kid and that was probably what Sophie was expecting.

  Ringer paced the small room, trying to figure out just how to explain who or what he was. He had never told anyone about the accident or how his entire life had turned upside down after he was bitten. “You’re scaring me,” Sophie whispered. “You know you can tell me anything,” she said. “Just talk to me.”

  Ringer sunk back down to the bed and reached out his hand for hers. When she took it, he pulled her down to sit on his lap. “There’s so much I need to tell you, Soph. And, I’m afraid that after I get it all out, you won’t want me to be a part of you or our baby’s lives.”

  “I’ve known you my whole life, Ringer. You can tell me anything, but I’m pretty sure I know just about all there is to know about you.” Ringer barked out his laugh at just how wrong she was about that. “How about you just tell me what’s up and we can go from there. I promise you that you will always be a part of our baby’s life,” she said.

  “Don’t make me a promise you won’t be able to keep, Soph. Just hear me out and then decide,” he said.

  “Fair enough,” she agreed. “Let’s hear it then.”

  Ringer sighed, not knowing where to even begin. “You know when I went on my trip a few years back—trying to find myself.” He winced at just how silly that sounded now. He knew good and well who he was, but after that trip, he became someone else altogether.

  “Sure,” she s
aid. “I was in my senior year of high school when you took off.” He remembered just when he left town. Sophie was right, it was her senior year—the same year he started noticing the bratty little kid, who followed him around, was gone. In her place was a woman he wanted more than he needed his next breath. He was a few years older than Sophie and needed to keep in mind that she was too young for him. Reaper noticed how he was sniffing around Soph and when he laid it all out for him, telling Ringer that he’d have him thrown in jail if he laid even one finger on her, was enough warning to send him packing. He made up some excuse about having to go out into the world to find himself and honestly, his dad didn’t give a fuck if he stuck around or disappeared.

  “Yeah,” he breathed. “I had to leave town back then, Soph. It nearly gutted me, but I had no choice.”

  “Oh God, Ringer,” she whispered. “Was someone hurting you?”

  “Yeah—no,” he said. “Fuck, Soph. It was about that time that I started seeing you. You know, really seeing the woman you were becoming and God, I wanted you so fucking much. Reap threatened to tear me apart if I touched you and he was right. You weren’t even eighteen yet and you didn’t need me screwing up your life. You deserved a normal life—you still do.” Ringer laid his hand on Sophie’s belly and for just a minute, he swore he could feel his son moving inside of her. He pulled his hand free and smiled up at her. “You feel that?” he asked.

  Sophie shook her head, “No,” she said. “The doctor said it’s still too early to feel the baby move but on the sonogram, he looked like he was dancing in there.” Sophie rubbed her belly and sighed. “Stop stalling and get back to how much you wanted me while I was still jailbait,” she teased. Sophie giggled and the sound of it filled the small room. She was pure magic and Ringer wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to let her go now, even if she told him to leave her the hell alone. He wanted her too much. His inner wolf had already dominated her, making her his mate. As far as his wolf was concerned, Sophie and her pup already belonged to them.