The Thunder Wolves MC - Anne (book #10)

4

Snoopy

Stepping out of the gates, back in my own clothes, was a nice feeling. I had thought of calling Iron and arranging for him to pick me up, but I chose not to. He has done so much for me already. I didn't want to bother him. I also didn't want to make a big deal of my freedom. After spending the last three years with no privacy and a constant state of never being alone, I wanted to spend the first night of my freedom working on my bike and sleeping in my own bed. So, instead of Iron, I called Cookie, the vice president of the chapter of the MC I belonged to, when I knew when my release date was. He promised to keep my release between the two of us, but I would have to deal with announcing it to everyone soon after. A deal I was cool with. I would call Iron tomorrow and let him know, along with giving Cookie the okay to let everyone know. I just wanted one night.

Walking out, I made my way over to Cookie, who waited with what looked like a borrowed car. It definitely wasn't his. I knew that because, like me, the guy only owned his motorcycle. Anytime he wasn't driving his bike, he was helping his brother out with his construction business and used the company trucks. But this was a sleek black car. Making my way over to him, I greeted him and then asked the question I needed to know before I exploded with curiosity.

"Whose car is this?"

A large smile pulled at the old man's lips, "Borrowed it from a friend."

Staring at him, I couldn't help but notice the guy was actually happy. Not that he wasn't happy before, but he was always in a good mood and always willing to help people. But this was a different kind of happiness. He also looked like he had lost some weight. Life had definitely not stopped on the outside and had moved on. And for one of my brothers in the MC, I was glad it had.

"Oh yeah, this friend of yours also got you on a diet too?"

Laughing, he shook his head. "Yeah, a very strict one too. So don't be surprised when I stop at the first burger place on our way back to town and get me something good to eat."

Nodding, I moved around the car. "Secrets safe with me so long as we make it two burgers with extra grease."

Excited, he pointed at me over the roof of the car. "You got yourself a deal."

And so began our trip back to town. First, of course, we both got double bacon burgers with extra large fries and drinks at the first place we saw. And nothing will ever convince me that the burger wasn't the best I ever had. I don't care if it was my first meal after three years of prison food. After we were done with the very unhealthy meal, we got back on the road. As we went, Cookie caught me up on club business and gossip. Which included my homecoming wasn't exactly something everybody was looking forward to. Mainly Buzz and his closest friends. Even though they understood why I did what I did, the fact remained that Cora was Buzz's daughter, and he was still pissed. I killed Cora instead of letting her pay for killing Blue by getting the help she needed. The problem with that was the night she killed Blue, she was supposed to be getting help and had gotten out. So I stand by what I did, which doesn't sit well with Buzz and a few others. On the other hand, everyone else was excited to have me back and on the outside.

This brought us to the conversation of me possibly putting in a transfer to follow Iron over to one of the other chapters. Cookie agreed to bring it up at our next meeting if that was what I really wanted. Which, honestly, it was. Even though I don't feel guilty for what I did, I also don't want Bass to have to see and deal with the guy who killed his baby girl. At least with me changing where I am, I stay in the MC, and at most, the guy would only have to deal with me around during large events. And with those, there are plenty of brothers that staying out of sight of him would be easy to do. It was a reasonable reason to transfer, and one I don't see any of the guys having an issue with denying me.

With that out of the way, Cookie filled me in on all the gossip going around with the guys. Finishing up with giving a few more details about his "friend." Not that he was giving away a lot about her. Only that she was younger than him by a dozen or so years, and the two of them together were somewhat of a talking point for many of the guys. But I shouldn't believe everything everyone said. As he put it, some of the guys were jealous and spreading lies about their relationship. Although I don't know that, I think it is jealousy, more so than she had been an ex-member's old lady. But I will leave that story up for him to tell and leave it at the two are happy, and that, to me, is all that matters.

Before getting to town, I had Cookie stop at a store in a town over so I could pick up a few things. I could have had him stop in town, but that would have meant at least one or more brothers would have seen me, and I wasn't ready for everyone to know I was out yet. I still ran the risk of at least one of them seeing me, only a town over but only a small risk. And I was willing to risk it, so I had a few things to keep me for the next twenty-four hours. Tomorrow, once I let it out that I was out, I would worry about a full restock of the house.

With that done, Cookie took me the rest of the way to my house, leaving me to my night to myself. I was grateful he didn't insist on staying or pushing for me to go out and let the others know now. Of all the guys, I am sure Cookie understands enjoying being on his own sometimes. Maybe that is why I chose to have him be the one to pick me up. Either way, I was just happy to be home. I was also pleased to see nothing had been changed as I had asked, yet it was kept clean and in one piece. Well, with the exception of a couple of girly items in my fridge and bathroom, but I knew Iron was letting one of Lexie's friends use my guest room sometimes. So I wasn't all that surprised.

The first thing I did after putting the couple of grocery items I got away was head out to the garage. There I found the one lady that has been in my life for longer than any of the other ladies I have been with. The only one who has never judged or thought anything bad about me. Pulling her cover off, I ran my hand along her. She needed some cleaning up and probably some work. Iron had offered to keep up on her for me, but I couldn't allow anyone else to touch her. I made him promise to leave her cover on her and not let anyone touch her. And from the looks of it, he held to that promise. With the exception of keeping up with her tags for me.

"Sorry for taking so long, baby. Let's get you all fixed up."

Carefully, I moved her from the corner of the garage to the middle of the space. Then I gathered up everything I would need to get her looking shiny again. Taking my time, I made sure to clean every nook and cranny. Polishing her, so she shined again. Then I went to work on checking her over until she was all good again. Bringing her to life, I listened to her purr for a moment before taking her out for a short ride down the street and back. Again, I would have taken her for a longer ride, but I didn't want to chance any of the guys seeing me yet. The short ride was so I could make sure she was good. Once I made sure she was, I put her to bed for the night with the promise to go for a longer ride tomorrow.

With that done, I headed inside and took the first long hot shower by myself in three years. You never know how much you could miss a hot shower until you do. Taking my time, I stayed under the hot spray way longer than I should have. I stayed there so long the water began to run cold before I climbed out. Drying off, I pulled a pair of shorts on before heading down to the kitchen. I only got a few things to make sandwiches for now, so that's what I did. I made a couple of sandwiches and ate them before going to my room and lying on my bed. Again, you never think of missing something as simple as your bed until you do. I was on the bed for only seconds before I fell asleep. No need to keep an ear out for my cellmate. For that off chance, he decided to try something in the middle of the night. No sounds of several other guys in their cells making their own noise. My room was almost too quiet now, almost.