Chapter 1

(Chapter song ‘Flower' by Moby)

MARCUS – 2000 “Ok, kid. This is it.”

I swallow as I turn to the window of my brothers mustang. I chew my lip as I look over the dark property. The pack house is dark except for a few lights.

“I don’t know, Stevie.” I mutter. “This isn’t the streets. This is a pack house.” I turn my whiny face to him.

“Ya, so what? It's still the same, just bigger game. This is the big time, little man. You want to prove to dad you can be a part of this family, right? This is what ya gotta do. Now, it’s easy. Just like I taught ya, ok. You’ve boosted hundreds of cars. This ain’t different. You got your lock picks?” He asks.

I glance at the 20 year old that looks like a bigger version of me. His black hair hangs in his face and his blue eyes question me.

I look down and reach into my jacket pocket. My young hand holds the tool kit.

“Good. You pick the gate and find a way into the garage. Remember. Push it out. That car gonna be loud. You can’t drive it out.” Stevie says.

“But…What if I get pinched? What if the Alpha…” I whine.

“Brother, you’re 15. What are they gonna do? The most ya get is a juvie record and who cares about that. That’s why dad likes ya. You’re useful.” He leans over me and opens the door. “I’ll wait six blocks up and then we switch. You follow me to Terry’s so he can chop it.” Stevie instructs.

“Why can’t I drive it?” I ask as unbuckle my belt.

“It’s a Shelby GT. You ain’t driving it. I am. Now, get out. 15 minutes tops, ya hear me?”

I swing my legs out. “Ya, ok.”

“I mean it, Marcus. Not a minute more.”

“I heard ya.” I scowl and shut the door.

He drives away and I turn to the gate.

I slowly walk up to the iron gate that towers over my head. I take a deep breath in and get to work on the lock of the gatehouse. The lock pops and I open the door. The small booth type room had a console with cameras on the gate. I pull my ball cap down and pull my hoodie up. I find button that opens the gate and hit it. I watch the gate open and smile.

Running softly, I travel up the driveway to the garage. So far, no alarms or anything. Great.

I walk around the garage to a window in the back. I check to see if it's locked and it is.

I check a couple others, find one unlocked and slide it up. Grabbing the top frame, I pull my legs up and put my feet first into the window. My shoes hit a work bench and I crouch to shut the window.

It's so dark, that when I stand and step, my sneaker hit a screwdriver and rolled under my foot. I lost my balance and fell. My ass hit the table, bouncing everything on it and I fell to the floor with a voice-cracking yelp. Shit hit my head and crashed to the floor with me.

“Damn.” I groan as I rub the throbbing pain in my ass cheek.

I wait for a minute to see if the noise of my humiliation was heard. Satisfied that no one was awake, I got to work.

I stand, dust myself off and look around the garage. There’s a car under a blanket. I smirk because I know that shape. I walk over to it and pull the blanket off. It bellows and dust flies off it as it floats to the floor. Throwing it behind me, my eyes sparkle as I look over clean lines, red pin stripes and flawless black paint. The shiny Shelby emblem gleams in the pale light.

“Hey there, sweet thing.”

I reach into my back pocket and pull out Stevie’s frequency matching unit. It plays random fob frequencies to the car until…

Chirp, chirp.

“That’s right, baby. Open up.” I say seductively.

I grab the handle of the door and jump in. I place the unit in the console and hit the push start. Accessories only to keep it from accidently singing. Throwing it in neutral, I hit the garage door opener.

I cringe at the noise of the panels as they lift up. Using the mirrors, I roll the car out and down the driveway. There’s enough pitch in it that I can sit and steer the car down to the road.

As I get half way down the driveway, a body stands in the rear view mirror and I slam on the brakes.

My eyes widen as I stare into blue, narrowed eyes. He’s shirtless and has dirty blonde hair. He’s at least my age, but bigger than me in height and muscle. Definitely an Alpha son. It takes one to know one.

He crosses his arm and stares me down hard. “Should’ve checked the squash court.” He growls and I thump my head on the steering wheel in defeat and groan.

He walks behind the car as I drive it back into the garage and get out.

He’s blocking my way and I scowl. “Move and we won’t have any trouble.” I warn.

“If I thought you were trouble, I wouldn’t have stood behind the car.” He arches a brow.

“Look, man. I’m already in enough shit not having this car. Just let me go so I can run for my life.” I whine and throw my arms out to the side.

“Why?” He scrunches his brow.

I push past him. “Don’t worry about it. I-I’m sorry I tried to steal ya car.”

“I don’t care about the car…” He steps to me. “Why do you have to run for your life?”

I rub my neck. “My dad…he…”

“Your dad made you do this?” his brows went up.

“Man, I said sorry so, I’m going.” I stuff my hands in my pockets and walk down the driveway.

“HEY!”

I turn, see a flash of something metal and dive for it. I get under it, catch it and almost fall on my face as I falter then gain my balance. I stand straight and in the pale light of the night, I open my hand to a set of car keys.

I raise my head as he walks toward me. “That was pretty good. You’d make a good short stop.”

“Why?”

He shrugs. “I don’t want to see you killed.” He looks to the house and back at me. “My dad’s at a function. It’s just me and my sisters here. He has insurance.”

He crosses his arms as I look between the keys and his eyes.

“What’s your name?” He asks.

“Marcus.” I mumble.

“Ok, Marcus. I’m Jax.”

He steps closer.

“Here’s the deal, Marc. I won’t call the Enforcers and tell them who stole the car if…you show up at my door tomorrow.” He eyes me.

“Why would I do that?” I give him an offended look.

“Because if you really wanted to be a thug, you would have run me over. I can tell you don’t want to do this.” He motions to the keys. “Maybe the fact that you haven’t capped my ass means you’re meant for better things than stealing cars for your dad.”

I think about the comment he made about my catch.

“Think about it.” He spins around and walks to the house. “Enjoy the car.”

I lift my eyes to the front door of the pack house as he closes it. My brows stitch up when I realize no one has ever really cared about what I wanted before. I don’t want to be a thug or gangster like my dad wants.

I consider all the angles as I play with the keys in my hand then look to the garage.

I bite my lip and watch the keys drop to the driveway. They bounce as my heart thumps against my ribs. This decision could have serious consequences unless I play it right. Could it be that easy?

I put my hands in my pocket, spin on my toes and walk off the property. Maybe there is something better. I don’t know. All I know is something clicked in me. Jax said it. If I was a thug like my brother, I would have taken him out, but I didn’t. I liked him. It was like we connected. I dunno. It’s weird.

Maybe I should take him up on his offer. I think it’s better than having a criminal record before your 19 or worse.

I’ve known for a long time my family was bad news. I feel different than them. I don’t know why, I feel like I don’t fit in with the life. Maybe it’s time to get out before it’s too late.

I jog the six blocks and act panicked when I get to the car. I slam against the passenger side door and bang on the window to get Stevie to unlock it as I frantically glance up the street.

“What?! What happened?!” Stevie questions as I get in.

“Just drive!” I look behind me and pretend to search for Enforcers.

“Marcus!” He barks.

“The Alpha caught me! I barely got out. He’s calling the feds! Drive!!” I shout as I push on him.

“OK! OK! QUIT SHOVING!!” He starts the car, slams it in gear and squeals the tires.

I look behind us and smirk.

See ya in the morning, Jax.

My dad. Alfonso Lucco. Big, mean and dangerous. He can kill you a million ways and not even bat an eye.

As we pull into our pack house, my heart jumps into my throat. I start to sweat bad. I’m getting a beat down for this, for sure.

We park the car among the black Caddies and get out.

Stevie walks ahead. “Dad’s expecting the car. He’s not gonna be happy.”

“I know.” I mumble as I look to the ground.

Stevie stops and grabs my shoulder. He leans down and looks in my eyes. “Just take it like a man. Don’t let him break you. You made a mistake. You know it, but don’t let him think you’re weak…” He stands up. “It’ll be much worse if he does.” He turns around and climbs the steps.

My lips turn to a frown and I swallow.

We walk in and there’s people hanging out in the common room. They all work for my father. Bookies, insurance and tax guys, some lawyers, gangsters and Enforcers. All on the payroll. They're talking and I catch some eyes. I look away and head to a hallway.

Two really big guys stand outside two white, decoratively carved, wood doors. One nods and opens the door. Stevie’s behind me and we stop at the threshold.

I look into the dark, decorated office and my dad is behind his desk.

I’ve had lots of these meetings before, but for some reason I feel like this one will be different than all the rest.

“Marcus. You had some trouble tonight?”

I nod. “Yes, sir.”

He crooks a finger. “Come in. Stevie, go find your mother.”

“Ya, ok.” He grabs my shoulder from behind, turns me and his eyes meet mine. “Like a man.” He whispers.

I nod as fear fills me. I try to calm it, but it’s really hard.

I turn to my dad’s dark eyes and disappointed face. I look almost identical to him except his Italian features are a little more prominent.

“Marcus.” He eyes me. “Shut the door.”

I glance at the goon at the door. He doesn’t make a move.

I slowly walk into the room and close the door behind me.

I rub my aching neck as I ride the bus the next day. The shiner I got is yellow now and my broken wrist is healing ok.

After the ‘talk’ with my dad, I went to my room and tried to sleep. I physically hurt too much, but that wasn’t really what was keeping me up.

Jax and the talk we had was.

‘You’re meant for something better.’

I sat up in bed, looked at my wrapped wrist and held it to my bruise covered chest. The once over I got would be nothing compared to me leaving. The only reason I’m even considering it is because he’s an Alpha. Would my dad dare retaliate against another Alpha outside the territory?

To be honest, I don’t think he even cares about me. Stevie and my sister, Angie are the prize children. I was an after thought. My dad ‘wasn’t prepared to raise another one’ when my mom got pregnant, but there was no taking me back now.

As I stare out the bus window, I think…I could just meet them. See what they have to say. Maybe they can protect me somehow.

Maybe they can get me out of the thug life for good.