He stopped the bike, leaning to the side with it’s weight as he flipped down the brake. The heel of his boot dug into the dry dirt, kicking up dust as he waited for Shift to get off the bike. He followed suit as she ran her fingers through her shoulder length brown hair. He held out his hand to her as she smiled at him.

He smiled back at her as she placed her small hand in his larger one. He was free now. That meant no other prisoners in his face, no guards trying to take his shit, no guards stealing his pictures of Shift. Tonight was their night and tonight he would get to see his son and how much he had grown while he was locked up.

He smiled as the large bulletproof steel doors of his dad’s mechanic shop were opened from the inside. There stood his crew, his pack, his brothers in arms. This was his family and the place he belonged. Prison time was mandatory, Gun-running and Drug Smuggling were work, Alcohol was necessary, doing the Drugs was optional, A cracked out wife was part of the territory and a family with the love of your life (who was not your wife) was a treasure. This was the life he led and the path he chose.

He received slaps on the back from his crew as a beer was pushed into his free hand. He tried to keep Shift by his side through all the hoopla but when his mom showed up carrying his son Shift quietly snuck away. Shift took their son into her arms as she stepped back so his mom could hug him.

Badass or not you always miss your mama in the pen. He lifted his mama off the ground as he hugged her tight. He kissed her cheeks as she cried with joy. He let go of her to make his way over to Shift and his son.

“Who’s that?” Shift asked their son as he walked up to them.

His large hand ruffled his son’s soft curls as his blue eyes met a matching set. His son giggled as his small hand tried to swat away his father’s larger hand.

“Daddy!” His son squealed as he reached out his arms for Justin.

“Hey Kale. How’s my big boy? You takin’ care of your mama like I told you too?” Justin asked as he took his 5-year old son into his arms.

“Uh huh.” His son said as his tiny fingers traced the patches on his father’s leather jacket.

“Timberwolf, we got business to discuss.” His boy Eddie told him as he nodded at him.

“No business tonight. He just got sprung!” Shift told them as she made her way over to him and covered her son’s ears, “Besides he needs to get in my pussy before he’s able to discuss any business.”

That got the boys hollerin’ and slappin’ his back. Everyone knew about him and Shift, even his wife. He didn’t try hiding it and the club didn’t either.

“Let’s go to bed baby.” Shift whispered in his ear as everyone drank to his arrival back.

He bit the inside of his lip as she took their son to his room in the back before coming back for him. She led him to the back rooms, walking him into his old room. Everything was exactly the same except he could tell Shift still slept in his bed.

“Justin, are you going to go home tonight?” His mama asked as she peeked into his room.

“He is home Mama Lynn.” Shift said as she pulled him to her by grabbing onto his leather cut.

“What about Alyssa?” Lynn asked as Justin scoffed.

“Just make sure she doesn’t kill herself tonight, okay?” Justin told her as he shut the door with his foot before picking up Shift and throwing her down on his bed.

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Today was his first day out of the pen and he hadn’t even bothered to stop by their home. No, he chose to go home to his room at the club and to her. She should be used to this, it had been going on for years, ever since they got married. It still hurt though to know the man she chose to marry chose to love someone else.

It was all her fault because she conned him into marriage. She had known about his love for Shift but damnit she had loved him since the first day she had seen him. She’ll never forget it.

He was working at his dad’s mechanic shop and he was covered in car grease. Even covered in that dark gooey substance she could tell how handsome he was. She had just moved to Millington from New York City and she didn’t know a soul there. But she had wanted to know him.

She had seen Shift there sitting on top of the hood of the truck he was looking at. She hadn’t known a thing about their history or about the club and his crew. She had just wanted to inquire about a tune up or an oil change, anything to talk to him.

“Do you do tune up here? My car has been making funny noises.” She remembered saying to him as he looked over at Shift.

“Darlin’ you ain’t from around here, are ya?” Shift had asked her as she jumped off the hood, wiping her hands with a rag.

“Um…no I’m not.” Alyssa remembered stammering out.

Shift had always been intimidating to her. She didn’t even have to try, Alyssa always got nervous around her. Of course Shift wasn’t your typical female. She was 5’6 and had a slim cut body, like she could kill you. She had a pin up girl representing Texas tattooed on her right forearm and a rosary and cross tattooed on her left forearm. She was always dressed in tight dark denim jeans and some kind of cotton tank top or t-shirt. Shift always wore a pair of dog tags around her neck and a Shift leather jacket, hence her nickname.

“This here is a private garage. You can take your car to Lyle’s down the street. I’ll let him know you’re comin’,” Shift had told her as Justin walked to the back, “I suggest you leave now,” Shift had told her as she heard the roar from exhaust pipes behind her.

She had turned around and been met with at least 15 guys on black Harley’s, their ages had ranged from 18 to 60.

“Who’s this?” One of the old men asked as he walked up to her and Shift.

“New girl in town. She’s headed to Lyle’s,” Shift had told him as he stared at Alyssa.

His hard stare made Alyssa nervous but her gaze drifted to Justin making his way from the back. He was no longer covered in oil and his bare muscular tan chest glistened in the hot sun. He was pulling on his t-shirt when he noticed her staring and smirked at her as he pulled on a leather jacket.

It was when he leaned down and kissed Shift that she realized he was taken.

“Like I said Darlin’ Lyle’s is right down the street. Now get.” Shift had told her as she put on her own leather jacket.

“Don’t worry. Lyle will take good care of your car.” Had been Justin’s first words to her as he straddled his Harley and Shift got on behind him.

She had wanted to be Shift so bad in that moment. She had wanted to have the matching leather jackets that said ‘The Wolf Pack’ on the back. She had wanted to be on the back of Justin’s bike with her arms wrapped around his waist. She had wanted to have JT tattooed behind her ear like Shift did and she had wanted her initials be to AT so that the AT tattooed behind Justin’s ear stood for her. None of those ever came true except for her initials changing to AT but Justin made sure everyone knew his tattoo was for Shift and not for her.

She tired not to cry as she stared at her empty house. He had never stepped foot in their house. He had never slept in their bed in fact the only time he touched her was on their wedding night when he was too hopped up on the drugs she gave him to realize she wasn’t Shift. All night he had called her Shift and told her how much he loved her and how he was happy they were finally married.

The next day he found out he had married her and not Shift. He stormed out of the hotel room and headed to the church. She remembered finding out on the news that he had burned it down along with their marriage certificate. He didn’t talk to her at all until she got word to him that she was pregnant.

Shift had been the one to tell him. The club bought her the house she lived in now. Shift had promised that Justin would be there for their child and she believed her. Then she found out that he had been living at the club with Shift and that Shift was also having his child!

That is when her drug habit went from recreational to a full blown habit. People in town talked about her, about how Justin made a fool of her but she knew that she brought it upon herself. She drank to kill the pain of knowing she had no one to blame but herself. She could blame Justin and Shift all she wanted but she killed her and Justin’s baby with her habit and could blame Justin for breaking her heart but she was the one that drugged and conned him.

She thought about all those things as she searched her medicine cabinet for her painkillers. She grabbed her bottles of painkillers as she stumbled into her kitchen heading for her liquor cabinet. She heard the knocking on her door but chose not to answer it.