Susan Fanetti has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this book under the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988.



This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.





To Shannon—The day we committed to write something original, and to share between us what we wrote as we wrote it, was one of the best days of my life. Sharing this with you since then is always the best part of every day. Some days, I write just for you.



To Jess—without your insight, this one would probably still be trapped in a tangle at the bottom of my brain. You saved this story. And probably me. Thank you, my friend.



To Sarah, Lina, Elena—you are great readers and writers and even better friends.



I’m so glad that we’ve all hopped this runaway train together.



I love you.





And to everyone who has traveled to Signal Bend with me and come to love the Night Horde family, thank you. I hope your stay in this little town has been worthwhile.



xoxo

s—





BONUS SHORT STORY



Note: This is a little short that I wrote a few months ago and posted on the Freak Circle Press blog. Because it develops the story of the day Badger and Adrienne met, I’m including it here, in case you missed it on the blog. This story occurs during the timeline of Into the Storm (Book Three)—thus, several years before the beginning of Leave a Trail (Book Seven). Badger and Adrienne are in a very different place now. But if you’d like to see where their connection started, here’s a peek into their past.



There are other Signal Bend Shorts posted on the blog, as well. If you’re interested, you can find them at: http://tfcpress.wordpress.com/category/signal-bend-shorts/





ADRIENNE GETS A TOUR



Badger waited on the porch of the B&B, feeling nervous—more nervous than usual, even. Although he got laid whenever he wanted to, he still had trouble talking to girls, and the prettier they were, the harder it was. He hated it.

It was probably just lingering high school horseshit, when his face was a fucking mess and, no matter how hard he’d tried, he couldn’t even hit a buck fifty at six feet tall. Girls laughed if he even made eye contact.

So, yeah, he got the yips around them all, even at the clubhouse, when he knew they were there to fuck him, and they didn’t care much about anything other than the kutte. Even then, he waited for them to come to him—which they did. But civilian girls? No. And if they looked like the kind of girl who could have anybody they wanted, then he just didn’t fucking bother to even look.

Adrienne was the kind of girl who could have anybody. Holy Christ, she was pretty. She looked so much like Shannon it was crazy, and Shannon was so unbelievably hot Badger had trouble being in the same room with her for too long.

He thought about Shannon way too much. Especially since she was Show’s old lady, and Show could wad him into a crumpled ball and toss him in a dumpster. With one hand. But she was so beautiful, and smart, and nice, and she had those tits that didn’t quit, and she wore those skirts with the slit up the back…

Way too much.

Which was probably why his heart was in his throat at the thought of following her daughter—her daughter?!—around today. The gorgeous, age-appropriate, not taken by his VP daughter of the woman he was kinda in love with. Basically in love with. Pretty much totally in love with.

He felt sick.

At that moment, the front door of the B&B opened, and Adrienne came out. Badger swallowed and steadied his spine. He was a fucking patched member of the Night Horde MC. He was not some squirrely little pussy, to be brought low by a pretty face. Plus, his skin was cleared up, and he’d been working out. Pushing one-sixty-five now. And ink. He had his Horde ink, across his chest, and a couple of smaller pieces on his arms. And the motherfucking kutte, motherfucker. He was Horde.

No reason to act like a dork.

Except she smiled, and he totally felt like a dork. Fuck, she was pretty. Long, curly mass of bright red hair, her mom’s eyes and face almost exactly, with the added bonus of freckles. Badger thought freckles were totally hot. He wondered if she had them on her shoulders, too—because freckled shoulders? Damn. But the lace of her top was too dense to be able to see.