He let out a groan as a fist connected with his stomach. The smell of cigarette smoke hung think in the air of the cabin they were in. That meant one thing and one thing only…it was Shift’s turn. He had begun to hate that smell. He could put up with the kicks and punches from the other members of The Wolf Pack but he couldn’t deal with Shift’s sick grin as she cut off his Wolf Pack tattoos.

Every time she walked into the room he silently prayed that she would just kill him but that never happened. She just kept smoking that damn cigarette and cutting off his skin. When he passed out from the pain she dressed his wounds, let him rest a bit and then she sent in the boys to wake him up with their kicks and punches. Then she would show up again with a pack of cigarettes and a clean sharp knife or scalpel depending on the size and location of his tattoo.

He had been in The Wolf Pack since the beginning of the California charter and that had been 30 years ago. Just like every member before him when he got patched-in he got The Wolf Pack back piece tattooed on him. Since then he had been covering himself with tributes to his Pack. Almost every piece of skin on his arms was covered with some Wolf Pack insignia be it their growling Timberwolf Mascot, his charter or chapter, or even his confirmed kills for The Wolf Pack, his body was covered in them. Or used to be at least. Shift had started with the tattoos on his leg.

He had six in all and Shift so far had removed three. He was strapped down to a table with restraints that he was sure Shift had used on someone else before. He had called her a bitch before she started cutting out his first tattoo and she had busted his jaw for that. She told him his punishment for name calling was no painkillers. He had laughed and tried to spit blood in her face at that but now he was wishing he had those painkillers. Every time he passed out Shift stopped cutting and that just drug on his torture. He could tell she just wanted to kill him. She wasn’t even listening to his screams anymore. She just whistled to herself or pulled out her Ipod and jammed out to music he would only describe as filth.

His head tried to snap in the direction of the door as he heard it being opened. He didn’t have to wait for long to find out who had walked into the room when Shift hopped up onto the table he was strapped down too. She was just finishing a cigarette and pulled out another one from her pack. She looked down at him before lighting the cigarette with the remainder of her last one. She took a deep puff as she inhaled then exhaled.

“Hello Barley,” she told him a sing song voice, “I hope you’re feeling well because well…I have work to do,” she continued to tell him and he wanted to slap that smirk off her face.

“Please…g-give me some…s-some…p-p-painkillers.” He begged with her and she just laughed.

The bitch just laughed at him.

“Okay, I’m going to be honest with you,” Shift told him as she took another puff of her cigarette, “I want to kill you right now because I think you and I both know…I’m getting a little bored,” she said as she looked at the door then back at him, “so, to make this quicker and much more enjoyable for me…Justin is going to join in our little family bonding moment. After all you did try to take our son,” she said as Justin walked into the room, smoking his own cigarette and carrying his own knife.

Barley didn’t miss the sick sadistic smirk on Justin’s face as he met Barley’s gaze. These two crazy fuckers were made for each other. He should have known they would go crazy on his ass for taking their son but he had planned to be in Montana before they found him. Obviously that didn’t happen.

“Now Barley, as much as I enjoy hearing you scream in pain, it’s getting kind of old and annoying. So Justin and I are going to turn on the radio. Do you have any requests?” Shift asked as she ran her knife along his arm, just grazing it along his skin.

“Can you just kill me and get it over with?” Barley asked before she dug the blade into his skin.

“Now what would be the fun in that? Besides when you took our son I vowed to myself that I would make you pay.” Shift told him as she hopped off the table and dug the knife deeper into Barley’s arm, drawing blood as he let out a scream.

Justin walked over to the radio and turned it on to a classic rock station, bobbing his head to the music as he made his way back over to where Barley laid. He watched silently as Shift started to sing along to Jackson Browne’s ‘The Load Out’ as she started cutting out one of Barley’s Wolf Pack tattoos on his arm. That was his girl and he was proud of that. Everyone outside of the MC wouldn’t understand but he wasn’t looking for understanding he was looking for Justice. Wolf Pack Justice.

He took his knife and started carving out one of the tattoos on Barley’s leg, making sure his knife cut deep and clean. He met Shift’s gaze and shared a smile with her before going back to his work. He continued to cut as Barley’s blood covered his hands, making his knife slip a little. But he didn’t clean the knife and he didn’t stop cutting until the entire tattoo was removed. He placed the piece of bloody flesh in a sanitized pan with water saving it for later to be returned back to Barley’s family in Montana along with his stripped leather cut.

Shift made her way over to Justin and covered his blood stained hand with one of her own. She kissed his cheek softly before setting the knife down on the table and washing her hands clean of blood.

“Baby, why don’t you finish cutting out the tattoo that I was working on and I’ll dress this wound?” Shift suggested to him and he obliged by doing as she asked and started cutting out the tattoo she had been working on.

He watched her as she quietly hummed along to some random 80s hair band song on the radio as she grabbed some gauze and other things she would need to dress Barley’s wound. He silently wondered if he could give her a better life away from the club or if she would miss it like he would. Addison was wrong, Aiden hadn’t drug him into this life in fact it was the exact opposite. He had drug Aiden into it because he didn’t want to lose her. He didn’t want to have to choose between the club and Aiden. He was grateful every day that she didn’t make him.

As he thought about Aiden, Kale, and the club he continued to cut out Barley’s tattoos until his arm was almost completely skinned of flesh. Shift had followed after him dressing Barley’s poor excuse for an arm and smacking him awake every time he passed out from the pain. By the time they were done with Barley he only had one Wolf Pack tattoo left and that was his back piece. Justin was going to unrestrained Barley and flip him over so they could start on it when Shift grabbed onto his arm, stopping his actions.

“If we cut it out, he’ll die from blood loss alone.” She explained.

“You want to kill him then cut it out?” He asked and she shook her head no.

“He doesn’t deserve to die with it on his back. I can brand it out…but it’s going to smell and I need a fire. Kale shouldn’t be anywhere near here.” Shift told him as he nodded his head and punched Barley unconscious.

“I’ll take care of it.” Justin told her as he left the room and Shift washed her hands.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

His eyes squinted as he opened them, adjusting to the darkness around him. His body was killing him, not to mention his face was killing him. He stopped begging for mercy long time ago. He also stopped screaming long time ago, not because the pain didn’t hurt but because he lost his voice along the way. He could see Shift standing by a fire, holding a hunting knife over the fire. He could see the blade getting red hot and he knew she was going to brand the tattoo off his skin. At that realization he started to fight against whatever was holding him in place.

He realized his arms were chained to two trees on either side of him. His legs were free but he couldn’t move them and he realized that they were broken. It was then that he noticed Shift wasn’t alone. The whole Tennessee charter was there including their prospects. His eyes searched for Justin and found him talking to a blond who nodded her head and left the gathering. He watched her leave and wished it was him leaving. He was going to die tonight, he knew that for a fact. And he was scared.

Shift made her way towards him and his eyes took in the sight of his executioner. He took in her black leather riding boots as they stomped through mud and wet leaves, each step sealing his fate a little bit more. He watched her hips sway in her dark denim blue jeans like she didn’t have a care in the world. The undeniable skip in her step was making his heart skip beats out of fear. He took in her tight black cotton t-shirt that had a silver rosary print on the front, watching as her breasts steadily rose up and down with her even breathing. She wasn’t nervous and she wouldn’t hesitate killing him. Her body language told him that. He took in her strong arms flexing as she twirled the knife handle in her hand, causing the bright red-orange blade to shine in the darkness of the night that surrounded them.

Her hands had almost disappeared from his sights due to her black leather riding gloves. No fingerprints, no crime. He watched as her full pink lips and small nose were being covered by a black bandana. As she got closer he could smell Justin’s cologne on the bandana and he knew it was so she wouldn’t smell his flesh burning. He looked around and noticed the other Pack members also covering their noses and mouths with bandanas. Justin’s bright clear blue eyes piercing through him as they peeked out over the black bandana he was sporting.

His arms started to shake as he tried to fight against his chains as Shift slowly walked around him, circling him like a mama wolf itching to pounce. Justin and Trace were beside him in an instant gripping his arms and keeping him from shaking. Tears started falling down from his eyes, his only way of begging for mercy. But Shift was behind him now and she would never see his tears nor would she care. He gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut as she pressed the hot knife blade down onto his bare back. His body trembled in pain as the knife seared his flesh and the sizzling sound of his skin cooking hit his ears. The putrid smell of his own burning flesh hitting his nostrils and making him want to gag.

The pain didn’t stop but only worsened as she ripped the hot knife blade off his burning skin and placed it on another part of his back piece. He wanted to shout and yell and kill Shift and Justin but he couldn’t. They were serving out a revenge and a MC Justice that was rightfully theirs to begin with. His tearful eyes watched as Shift made her way back over to the fire to heat up her knife’s blade. He stopped fighting as she pulled out a cigarette and lit it up as she waited for her knife to heat up. Justin let go of his arm and Barley could hear the sound of a switchblade being opened. Justin made his way behind him and he heard and felt the scraping of Justin’s switchblade peeling away the brunt skin, removing the ink of his tat.

He remembered the smell of more burnt skin. He remembered the smell of cigarette smoke. He remembered the smell of Justin’s cologne and silently wished he had his own bandana. He remembered the sound of sizzling skin and how it tortured his ears. He remembered the sounds of hollers and howls from the Pack members as they relished in his torture. He remembered the sounds of clinking beer bottles and the clinking of his chains as he numbly swayed back and forth. He remembered the sights of the Wolf Pack members as they got used to the smell of his burning flesh and pulled down their bandanas, revealing their sick smiles and laughter. The only ones who kept their bandanas on were Justin, Shift and Trace, the three that were the closest to him. He remembered all that but he didn’t remember passing out or being unchained. He didn’t remember being moved to a grave.

He didn’t remember beer, tequila, and whiskey being poured over him and into his grave. But he did remember being prodded by a stick until he woke up. He remembered waking up and looking up as The Wolf Pack surrounded him as he laid in the hole they had dug. He remembered smelling the alcohol on him before feeling it soak through his clothes and dressings. He remembered the glow from lit cigarettes tinkling like devil stars in the dark night sky. He remembered hearing Shift mumble a prayer, his last rights, as she made the sign of the cross.

He remembered the sight of her flicking her cigarette into his grave and his mouth opened in silent horror as the rest of the Pack members followed suit. He remembered the feel of the flames scorching his exposed skin. He remembered the feel of his clothes melting into his skin and he remembered squeaking out the only sound he could make as his hands tried to reach for anything to save him. He remembered being able to meet every one of their gazes, not one of them turning away as he burned alive.

There was no mercy given, no remorse or pity shown on The Wolf Pack’s part. They continued to stand there and watch him die. Even after he was dead and his body continued to burn they watched…until all that was left of him was ash.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She walked into the post office with a small cardboard box in her left hand as she held onto Kale’s small hand with her right one. She walked up to the Customer Service desk and placed the box on the counter in front of her.

“Hi, can I help you?” A post office employee asked her.

“Yes. I need this box shipped to Montana.” She responded.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She sighed with relief as she walked out of the Post Office with Kale and made her way to the crash van.

“Teak, I’m hungry.” Kale told her as she buckled him in his booster seat.

“How about we go to Moe’s?” Teak suggested.

She knew she had to keep Kale away from the cabin until Justin or Shift called her.

“I love their pie! Maybe Molly will be working. Did I tell you she’s my girlfriend?” He asked her and she had to bite her lip to keep from laughing.

“No you didn’t but I sure would love to meet her.” Teak told him as she drove them to the diner and the waitress that saved him from Barley.