Page 42 of Shattered Soulmates

Snatch it!

Que

Often, people mistake my protective energy for Lynsey. Don’t get me wrong, I’d fight a pack of wolves, a flight of dragons, and the entire motorcycle club to protect her. The fact is, she doesn’t need me to fight her battles.

Case in point, I’m currently witnessing the funniest thing I have ever seen and damn if I don’t have any popcorn. Picture this: a six-foot beefy biker on hisknees, literally crying while a fiery red-headed female is bending his finger backward, her foot planted firmly between his legs. Lynsey is tall, with a solid and strong build and sculpted muscles; she exudes the confidence you would call big dong energy if she were male. She’s in beast mode!

Her voice is steely quiet when she speaks. “Snake let’s get one thing straight between us. Never, and I mean NEVER, put your finger in my face again. I can support you as temporary president in Drágon’s absence, and I can show you respect in that position and as a brother. “However, when you’re thinking with your tool instead of the good of the club, I’ll put you in your place, fast.”

Snake is sniveling, and honestly, it’s kind of sad to watch. But better him than me. That’s what I always say.

“Goddess, Dragoness, you broke my finger," he shouts.

Lynsey steps back, releases his hand, and removes her foot from his family jewels. He cups his broken hand to his chest while his other cradles his balls, shooting dirty looks at her as he gets up off his knees and sits behind the desk.

“You’re a shifter. You'll heal quickly,” Lynsey goads. “Are you ready to discuss this reasonably?”

Snake pops his fingers back in place with a grimace.

“Paisley is an innocent,” Lynsey reiterates. “We watched what went down between her and Joyride. Joyride is jealous of her and has a vendetta. Worse, she lied to you, Snake, and to the club.A mistake like this could tarnish our reputation.The Alpha Commander leaves us alone because we target the drugs and criminals that come into our world from the borders.Do you think he’ll tolerate us for long if we victimize law-abiding shifters because of a jealous club girl?”

Snake rubs his face with his good hand. “Dragoness, I've caught feelings for her.”

“She’s charismatic when it comes to males. But from what we witnessed earlier, and from Joyride’s reputation here, you aren’t the first, and that's not a good idea, Snake. Let’s talk to Paisley and get the story from her side.”

Snake agrees, and Que leaves to bring Paisley to the office.Once she’s seated, she looks around at us with a look of fear.

“Paisley, Joyride has accused you of grievous crimes.She says you have been providing drugs to teenagers,” Lynsey tells her.

“I would never. I’m a teacher,” Paisley says, her face paling. “I wouldn’t hurt a child. Are you calling Marissa ‘Joyride’?”

“Yes. That is the name the brothers gave her–her road name.”

Paisley begins to laugh hysterically. With tears rolling down her face, she gasps for breath between fits of laughter.“That’s so fitting,” she finally manages.“The brothers pegged her.”

Lynsey shoots Snake a pointed look as he growls, not seeming happy about Paisley’s words.

“Why don’t you tell us your side of the story, Paisley,” Lynsey encourages. “Tell us about Marissa.”

Paisley nods and begins to tell us about her true mate, Beta Miles from the Wind Howl Pack. As she weaves her tale over the next hour, we get a better picture of Joyride's treachery. We learn about how Marissa seduced Miles, Paisley's ex-mate, the night before their wedding, and eventually, Miles chose Marissa by mating and bonding with her.

I could see her pain as she recounted her fight and recovery from CMS, and now Miles is suffering fromit severely, especially since he had bonded with Marissa, and because of her infidelities, Miles might be dying.

By the time she finally finished, Snake looked a bit guilty. This shifter MC might be filled with tough characters and sometimes the dregs of society, but beneath the tough exterior, we actually don’t want to hurt guiltless people. While Miles is not exactly an innocent, he’s no criminal, and Joyride’s blatant disregard for Miles’ and Paisley's pain is galling.

“Snake, are you ready to question Joyride now?”Lynsey asks.

He nods his head, and they exit the room. Snake turns around and addresses Paisley. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry about this. If you could hang around for a few days, we’ll get everything worked out and return you home.”

Paisley’s big, doe brown eyes fill with tears as she nods her head. “Thank you,” she whispers.

“Que, can you get a guard set up for Paisley? She needs to be protected, and we need to ensure she doesn’t try to run off until Drágon returns. Since we picked her up, we need his approval to release her.”

“I can do that, Snake,” I reply. “I’m sorry about Joyride.”

He waves it off, but I can see the pain of betrayal in his eyes.

“Are you hungry, Paisley?”

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