Thorn: Great Wolves Motorcycle Club, #18

One

Arkhangelsk, Russia

Rozaliya

It was a difficult shift. My favorite kind.

The hours moved so swiftly in the emergency department that midnight had come and gone without my notice. I’d not eaten or barely blinked since I’d arrived.

I loved that I could now work full time, helping people at the hospital instead of shadowing doctors or nurses.

I was a nurse now. I had starved some days, gone without sleep many more days, and I had completed the four-year training at Northern State Medical University in three years.

I learned more each day, but I also dreamed more.

Each day now, as a nurse, I wondered if maybe I could go further. Maybe now that I stood firmly on one step of this ladder, it meant the next higher step was possible.

It passed through my mind as patients passed in and out of the E.R. I must complete this year in the trenches. And then maybe…

I focused on the sweet little face that bypassed the doctor and looked to me. The little boy trusted me now. He’d come in crying, with blood running down his chubby cheek and his mother hysterically screaming. It was a dramatic scene, however, the injury itself, thankfully, was quite minor.

Well, there’s not much more for me to do. Dr. Antonov was the attending physician. He looked closely at the stitches I’d done.

His mother said he hit his head on the banister. You can see here; we missed those handsome blue eyes by this much! I winked at the boy. He was five and had been brave while I carefully sutured the wound together. It would hopefully heal as a very tiny fine line above his eye. The ladies would be curious about it when he was grown, but now, this patient was a relieved little boy. And I was a proud nurse. I’d handled the issue when Dr. Antonov was delayed, for hours, in our crowded Emergency Room.

Dr. Antonov nodded and almost smiled at me. This was high praise. The almost smile. I had to suppress my own as to not seem like a frivolous girl.

Chronologically speaking, I guess I was a girl. Most women my age were trying to find husbands. My city was nearly 500 years old and many of the traditions, like finding a husband, seemed to hold on tight for every one of those centuries.

I was not shopping for a husband. I was content with my current relationship.

I had Andrei. He was a good boyfriend and understood that I was a different kind of Russian girl. I had lived too long with nothing to leave my fate up to choosing a good husband. My mother had not chosen well. And look where it got her, and me.

Maybe it was because Andrei traveled away from here; he’d seen more of the world than this old part of it. He was gone more than he was here and that suited me just fine.

I arranged to meet him after my shift. I was tired from the work, but happy too. I had helped that little boy.

I had also comforted the starushka, the old woman, who did not trust me at first because I looked too young and was a woman. She did not want me to care for her, I could see. I did not take it personally and did take her blood pressure. It was sky-high. I stayed calm and showed her that I could do the job of a nurse and maybe even a doctor. Eventually, she admitted she’d not taken her medication.

I could easily have crawled into bed and slept for days; I did have a day off tomorrow. I was tired. But Andrei wanted to picnic with me, so be it. We had so little time together. I could ignore the fatigue and focus on Andrei.

It was midnight but still daylight. We were in the midst of the famous White Nights of Arkhangelsk. For several months the darkness of night stayed away. Tourists love it, but I’d lived here my entire life. It was not strange; it just was. Andrei and I would eat lunch after my shift, even though it was so late. It would feel like day.

I was late and walked quickly to meet him.

You look too skinny. Andrei was older than me, several years, but he was modern and didn’t mind too much that I was independent.

Most of the younger men I’d encountered did mind. It was strange, and why I did not date much. I did not have the time to devote to taking care of a man unless he was in my E.R.

I’m sorry. I rolled my eyes at Andrei’s skinny comment. He pinched my backside. Andrei kissed me on the lips. He was sweet to worry. Many days went by when I didn’t see him. His work, my work, my school got in the way of normal courtship. I liked that he didn’t get angry about that. My other beaus did. Russian men did not like having a girlfriend who cared more about work than them.

I wasn’t exactly sure what Andrei did, to be honest. He’d explained that he exported goods. Arkhangelsk was a port city, an ancient one, so he was in a profession that was centuries old, he’d explained.

I think that means you send blocks of frigid Russian ice to the desert? I joked with him. He shook his head as we ate pelmeni he’d purchased for us. It was good. It wasn’t until I ate that I realized how hungry I had been.

We’d eaten on a bench near my favorite spot in town, the Savior of the Citizen statue. The Savoir of the Citizen was a giant seal statue that looked out at the water on the banks of the Davine River. The river emptied into the White Sea.

I loved the spot, the seal, and given a chance always chose it over the statues of old generals that also marked my hometown.

Andrei walked me to my flat after our picnic. I lived on the top floor of a corner building in a less than fashionable area of Arkhangelsk. My apartment building was crowded, but I didn’t have a roommate. For the first time in my life, I had my own space.

It was thrilling to me, even though I didn’t spend much time in it.

I will be gone for a time. Andrei could be gone for weeks. This wasn’t new. It was part of what had made this relationship work well: he stayed out of my everyday life, and I stayed out of his.

Andrei held me tight, and I kissed him this time.

I will miss you, I said, and he pulled me closer. He was tall, but also thin like me. We joked that his hips and mine were dangerous weapons.

You will barely notice I am gone, as usual, Andrei said, teasing me about my preoccupation with work. I focused on him now, wanting to let him know that I did appreciate him. That I did know he was a good companion for me and that he fit into the life I was carving out.

He took my face in his hands and stroked my cheek.

You are so pretty; it is wasted in that hospital. But there is no question you are the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. Maybe when I get back, we can find a better job for you. I didn’t know what he meant by that.

I love my job. I did not want a better job. Well, I did, but I’d need a better education for that.

More than this job? He pulled out a ring. It was a gold band with a round diamond. The diamond had to be fake. It was too large to be real.

Andrei, this is more than my rent for a year.

I didn’t know what to say or how to respond. I had not been looking for a husband. I did not think Andrei was looking for a wife.

When I return, you’ll become my wife, and we will find a place better than this crowded, uh, whatever it is. He nodded toward my building, my apartment that I loved.

I didn’t want another job or another place. I wanted to work. To climb that ladder I’d started to scale at the hospital.

Andrei raised my hand to his lips and kissed it. And then he slipped the ring on my finger. I wanted to explain that this was not the time. That I was not ready to set up house with him. And that I’d never, ever leave my work. I wanted more work.

I did not say any of those things to him. My mind raced with how to tell him these things but not ruin what we had together. Andrei put his fingers in my hair. He’d moved forward in the moment as though I’d already said yes, as though my answer wasn’t in question.

I was in shock that there was a ring on my finger.

Andrei said goodnight and goodbye until his work would bring him back to Arkhangelsk. Had I said yes? I didn’t think I had, but the ring was heavy on my finger. And it was all the yes he needed.

When I return, we will get the paperwork. I will buy you a proper dress to show what a beauty you are. Not these medical scrubs you always wear.

I think I nodded and Andrei placed a kiss on my forehead. I may have smiled, but inside, there was turmoil.

Andrei turned and walked to his car. I did the same. I needed to be away from him for a moment. I needed to understand how I’d just gotten engaged and why.

I walked into my building. I started to ascend the stairs.

And then I stopped.

This ring, it was ostentatious. I needed to hide it. I felt an enormous urge to conceal this thing that was supposed to be a symbol of love. It would be coveted by so many of the women I knew. Not to mention muggers who’d be happy to turn this in for all the cash it must be worth.

This ring was not meant to be on my finger. It wasn’t me; it was beautiful, but it wasn’t me. I felt a warm place in my heart for Andrei. It was sweet that he would go to this trouble for me. This diamond was foreign to me and dangerous for me, really. I didn’t live in a fancy neighborhood. A beacon for thieves was perched on my hand.

I slipped the ring off my finger and slid it into my shirt. I tucked it firmly away in my bra. I had no place safe to hide it but there!

Ugh, this is ridiculous. I had found my voice again. I turned around and ran down the stairs.

I would catch Andrei. I couldn’t let him go thinking this was all settled.

I was overwhelmed with the need to set him straight. I had to give this ring back now.

I ran out onto the street, but I couldn’t see Andrei.

I walked a bit; he’d parked his car a block away from my place. I’d catch him there. We would talk. He would understand that I wasn’t ready for the ring or the thoughts of making a home for him like a traditional Russian girl. I was too new at my career.

I saw him ahead and was about to call out to him. He was opening the door to his car; he didn’t see me.

And that’s when three men approached him. I stopped walking and tried to comprehend what I was taking in.

I took a few more slow steps forward and realized they had guns. They handed the guns to Andrei. What in the world? Andrei was calm like he was just doing everyday business. That was the only thing I could surmise.

The men handed him a roll of dollar bills. I was close enough to see that they were American dollars. What was happening?

I took several steps forward again; I needed an explanation for all this.

Andrei! I called to him as he slammed his car door shut. He didn’t hear me.

The men heard me, though. The strangers with the cash and the guns all saw me.

They all turned to look at me, and they looked at me with evil in their eyes. Andrei pulled away, never knowing that I was there, right there, hoping to talk to him.

I realized too late that what I’d seen was dangerous. I was too slow to understand that I was in danger just for being there.

Andrei’s car was out of sight now. Even so, I called for him.

Andrei!

He couldn’t help me; he didn’t even know I was there.

I turned around. I needed to get out of the reach of the men. I didn’t know who they were, but they were coming my way, and they meant me harm. I knew it. As sure as I knew anything.

I started to run as fast as I could. I needed to get back to my flat and lock the door. Maybe shove the dresser up against it. My mind raced with the desire to put a barrier up between the men and me.

It was the last thing I remembered thinking with any real clarity.

Two

Burns Harbor, Indiana

Thorn

We were still new, small, and vulnerable. Ridge, the Prez of the Chicago Chapter of the Great Wolves, was desperate to find ways to shore up our M.C. That’s why we’re here, meeting with a nasty looking crew of bikers.

Ridge had sent us to try to make an alliance.

He’d told me we needed to do a lot of this to hold off Bane, Devil’s Hawks, and other gangs, who wanted to take control of Chicago.

Ridge was back in Stickney Forest, holding down the fort. He’d trusted me, his