Free Forbidden Bear by Harmony Raines

maybe it was time they had new blood in charge, after all.
     

Chapter Eighteen – Joel
    “Morning, guys, you are here early. What’s going on?” Joel opened the door to the hangout, and in walked Will, Ion, Kris, and Ethan. Unusually early and looking as if they had something on their minds.
    “We got our heads together last night and decided that we ought to give Mia a bit of a hand,” Ion said, going to put the coffee on.
    “What kind of hand?” Joel asked.
    “Kris got a buyer for those phones. We take that money and turn it into something bigger. It should help secure Mia’s place in the gang; that way there should be no more infighting,” Ethan said as they all took their places around the table where they met each morning.
    “You don’t have to get involved, I know we’ve moved away from this kind of thing,” Joel said, happy that his friends had been thinking about helping his mate out. It proved to him there would be no trouble accepting his little wolf into their close-knit family.
    “Old times’ sake,” Ion said, taking a cup of coffee from Ethan. “I’m getting itchy feet.”
    “Me too. The corporate life is nothing compared to the thrill of riding your bike. Adrenaline flooding your veins. I miss those days.”
    “Freyja would skin your bear hide if she heard you say that,” Ethan joked.
    “She understands what makes me tick,” Will said.
    “Until you get into a fight,” Kris joked.
    “Anyway, what did you have in mind?” Joel intervened before a fight broke out right here in the bar.
    “Computer chips. A nice step-up from phones, smaller, more chance of selling them on for a higher price. Less competition and above all else, not stolen,” Will finished.
    “Computer chips doesn’t exactly say lawless bikers, does it?” Ethan grinned. “But then, I guess we’ve always stayed on the right side of the law.”
    “I know it’s not exciting. But we get to ride together, take those wolves too. Do the deal, head over to the seller, buy the chips, and then I can resell them. It will make some cash for Mia.”
    “Let’s do it. It’s been months since we’ve ridden together,” Joel said.
    “I’ll arrange the trade to be at night. I always preferred riding at night.” Will placed his coffee cup down on the table.
    “Means you can still do your nine-to-five too, city boy.”
    “Funny, real funny. I wouldn’t be surprised if your tires were mysteriously punctured that night so that I don’t have to listen to your smart mouth.”
    Ethan blew Will a kiss, and that was when a roar sounded and Will dived for Ethan.
    “Just like old times,” Joel said, but he was pleased they had come up with a plan to help Mia gain the respect of her gang once more. They owed her; after all, they were the ones who had messed everything up for her.
     

Chapter Nineteen – Mia
    “What the hell?” She had taken the call from Joel and ridden out to meet him. She hadn’t expected all of the bears to be there.
    “Hi, Mia. We have a proposition.” Joel removed his helmet and walked over to her.
    Mia parked her bike and took her helmet off too. Going up to Joel, she kissed him on the cheek and then asked, “What kind of proposition?”
    “Will came up with an idea to get you back in favour.”
    “Joel, I appreciate that. But I’ve been giving it some thought and I am going to hand the presidency to one of the others.”
    “You are?” He looked over to where the others were waiting. “Are you sure you don’t want in on this? One last deal.”
    “I don’t want you or the others getting mixed up with us. It’s not good for you. I aimed to tell them tonight and then come over to your place after. I might need to keep my head down for a day or two once they know about you.”
    “I’ll come with you.”
    “This is something I should do on my own.”
    “It scares me.” He touched her arm, and she knew he wanted to be there, to protect her. Yet his presence was only ever going to make