Page 9 of New Nebraska Home

We were trapped.

Malik

BULLIES ARE THE WORST

What did a guy have to do to get his hands on a decent burger?

I’d been riding through these flat plains for what felt like days, looking for somewhere to settle. I hoped that the new laws would help me find more of my kind.

The creature inside me desperately needed its own clan to join. And I wanted to find out more about my people, maybe even find my family.

So far, I’d found nothing but flat monotonous landscapes dotted with the same towns. Their names changed but not much else did. I considered heading to one of the cities, but I loathed them. Something about the congestion of bodies and traffic just made my skin crawl, and I couldn’t imagine anyone else like me would feel any different.

It was about 3:00 p.m.; the sun was blistering, and there wasn’t a single tree in sight for shade. So, I parked my bike on the side of the road, took off my helmet and just let the breeze cool the sweat on my brow. Maybe I could just take a break, get some grub, talk to the locals and see if I could figure something out.

I was looking around, eyeing a diner that an earth elemental had walked into, making me wonder if it was one of those vegan places some elementals seemed to prefer or if it would have something meaty and preferably a little greasy, when I heard the all too familiar noise of a mob.

“Teach that bitch a lesson,” someone yelled, followed by a bunch of jeers.

“No one threatens our pack,” said another voice, and another and another.

Normally, I would have put my helmet back on and kept going. The risk was too great my creature would stir inside me, and it was best to just let the poor thing hide away. But I couldn’t stop myself from at least seeing what was happening.

Without putting my helmet back on, I rode around the corner to see a group of shifters, wolves by the smell of them, surrounding someone next to an old beat-up car.

None of my concern, I thought. Poor SOB got himself into that mess. He can get himself out.

I went to turn around and take a chance on that diner when one shifter moved and I caught a glimpse of bright red curls at about hip height to everyone else.

My blood froze. I moved a little closer to make sure I’d seen what I thought I’d seen. Sure enough, surrounded by that baying mob, was a child. He looked terrified.

That, I couldn’t abide. And my creature was already stirring at the sight.

My mind flashed back to all the times I was that child being targeted by people that were bigger than me, meaner than me and the pain and the fear that they’d instilled over and over. There was a significant difference between ganging up on a grown-ass man, someone who should be strong enough to fight his own battles, and terrifying a child.

Nope, not today, assholes.

I revved my engine a few times, getting the attention of a few of the guys on the outskirts, but none of them moved. That was their warning. If they chose not to heed it, well, that wasn’t my problem. I rode into the crowd, cutting off every single person from that child and whoever’s hand he was holding.

“I think you gentleman made your point,” I growled. “It’s time to go.”

“I don’t think you know who you’re messing with, friend,” said a man with a bad haircut, B.O. and ‘president’ embroidered on his biker outfit. This was the alpha. I was less than impressed.

“I don’t really care.” I looked him up and down, letting him see the annoyance on my face. “You could be Bigfoot himself, and I could still not give less than a fuck. You better take your boys and walk away.”

“Or what?” he asked with a sneer, stepping up to me like he was going to do something. His lip curled in a snarl and a low growl emanated from him, an obvious threat. He knew I was a shifter, but there was no way he knew what I was. If he did, he’d be running away with his tail tucked firmly between his legs.

I stooped, speaking directly in his face. “Or I’m going to show you exactly what it’s like to be harassed by someone bigger than you. If you were smart, you would take your pack of pups and fuck off right now.”

He looked me up and down for a moment, too stupid to know when to run. This man wasn’t a leader. A leader would have been smart enough to get his people to safety. He was a bully. I really didn’t like bullies.

“Bigger? I think you look about my size. Don’t he boys?”

A few of his pack agreed, but there were others that sensed something about me was different. Maybe this dumb alpha thought I was a regular bear shifter or something like that; others knew better.

“Is that so?” I smiled, then took off my sunglasses, carefully folding down the arms and sticking them in the helmet.

“Yeah, you’re getting it now. Why don’t you step off that bike so it doesn’t get scratched while I kill you? I’d hate to repaint it when I take it from your corpse.”

---