Page 10

CHAPTER

SIX

AFTERSHOCK

M y heart is pounding, adrenaline rushing through my body. When my dad called and said there was a situation and that he was bringing Harlowe to me, I panicked.

But the call from Loki telling me she had been attacked was even worse. All I could think about was the possibility of having to send her away again. I know now that I can’t live without her. If it came to it, I would leave everything behind.

When my father finally pulled up, I saw my girl holding on for dear life. Even from a distance, I could see the tears streaking down her face. I didn’t really notice what she was wearing until I set her on the kitchen island.

Her shorts are so short that if she bent over, you’d see her shapely ass. Then there’s the fact I can see the fullness of her breasts beneath her top. I want to rail at her for what she’s wearing, but then I feel her trembling.

I pull my father’s helmet off her head and wrap my arms around her. She clings to me like a spider monkey, even wrapping her legs around my hips. Her core is over my cock, and that dirty part of my mind wants to slip it out and slide into her heat. But I have to care for her.

She finally settles down, and she’s quiet. I lift her chin to look at me and see the mark on the side of her face.

“That fucker hit you?”

“No, I blocked it,” she says so quietly I barely hear her.

My father walks in and pours her a shot of whiskey. “Here, sweet girl, take a swig.” He hands it to her, and she takes a small sip.

“Harlowe,” Kodiak yells as soon as he comes in.

Fezzik is beside him and rushes to her. As soon as he nuzzles against her foot, she pushes me back. I don’t want her to go, but I know she needs him.

She unzips her boots before kicking them off. I help her down. She sits on the floor, and Fezzik pushes into her body between her legs. She wraps her arms around him, and I sit down beside them, wrapping both of them in my arms. I can’t let her go yet.

I hear my father telling Kodiak what happened, but I focus on my girl and getting her to calm down.

“You’re safe, Starlight,” I whisper into her ear, and she nods. “I won’t let anything happen to you.” She turns in my arms, letting go of Fezzik.

“Please don’t send me away,” she says.

Kodiak and my father come over and join us.

“We aren’t sending you away. We are ending this. I’ve got Vortex heading back to the clubhouse to review the footage from the brewery.”

“I thought I could handle it. I was prepared, but I’ve never had to defend myself for real. He said they wanted me dead or alive, preferably alive so they could have fun with me.” She trembles again, and both Fezzik and I push into her body, surrounding her.

“We need to consider sending her into hiding, though,” my father says, and I look up at him.

“Please no. I’ll do whatever you say. I have a new life here. Marnie and Oly depend on me. I have school. I’m just getting to know Crue again. Please.” Her tears start flowing again.

Before we can answer her, there is a knock on the door. All the guys who were with her tonight walk in. I want to slug Loki, but he’s blaming himself enough already.

“How did someone know you were taking her there? Who did you tell?” I ask as I lift Harlowe off the floor.

I walk over to the large sectional sofa and settle on the chaise with her between my legs.

Fezzik jumps up next to us. My dad grabs a blanket to cover her exposed skin and to help with the chill still lingering after riding on the bike.

It does bother me that she was riding behind my father, but I know she had to get here somehow and away from the police.

We can’t have them involved. They would make it harder for us to get our revenge.

Plus, they’d probably brush it off and say it was just some guy admiring what she was wearing.

Once I have her settled, both Loki and Kodiak come sit near her too.

When she first arrived back in Alaska, she would say she had no one. She doesn’t realize how much family she truly has.

“How did he get away from all of you?”

“He ran for the emergency exit. There was a car waiting outside the door. I got the plate number and gave it to Vortex,” Gunny says in his deep, gravelly voice. “Sorry, Princess. I should have escorted you to the restroom.”

“We’ll discuss that later. From now on, she’ll be with me.”

“No, Shock, she is coming home with me.” Kodiak shakes his head.

I’m not going to change my mind. I could have lost her tonight, and it would have been my fault for not having the balls to go see her.

“No, she isn’t. I shouldn’t have let you make me make that promise.” I shift from behind her and stand up. Kodiak does too, and we square off.

“I’ve been without her for years. I get to spend time with her before you take over her life,” Kodiak says. “Besides, she should have a say. You don’t even know if she feels the same way about you.”

I press into him, ready to prove I’m the man for her.

“Stop,” she says and stands on the sofa, making us have to look up at her.

Fezzik growls, letting us know he’s there to protect her.

“Rylan, it’s my life. I do get a say. So much has been decided for me through the years.

It’s time I start making my own choices.

Daddy wouldn’t let me have a normal young life, going out to parties or hanging with friends. It’s my time.”

She turns to me and brushes her hand down my face. “Crue, I deserve to be swept off my feet. You should want to date me and show me how much fun we can have together. Not this claiming.”

Her eyes leave mine to look at the others in the room, and she takes a deep breath before biting her top lip.

“I wore this outfit tonight not only to piss you all off but because I wanted to prove a point. I’m sorry.

I shouldn’t have done that. I know he didn’t attack me because of what I was wearing but because of who I am.

I appreciate all of you putting your life on the line for me. But I deserve a life too.”

She moves off the sofa, and I itch to pull her into me again. But she’s right. I’ve had years to know she’s mine. She didn’t. She was always on her own, and until recently, she didn’t know we were all ordered to stay away.

It kills me to watch her walk out the door. Loki and Gunner take her and Fezzik to Kodiak’s. They have an escort with them. She’ll ride in Loki’s truck since everyone else is on bikes and knows not to put her on the back of one.

I wait until the door closes, and that’s when the real meeting begins.

“Well?” I sit on the edge of the sofa, already missing her.

“Vortex got them on camera in Anchorage heading toward Aaronov’s place in Bear Valley.”

“Well, fuck. It’s not hard to figure out she’s back if he’s tracking her name. But how did he know about tonight?”

“Loki came to the clubhouse and said he was taking her out, but only members were present at the time,” Romeo offers.

“You’re telling me a brother of ours is betraying us?” Wing barks.

“We suspected it years ago too,” my dad says. “When Charisma and Clarice were killed. I’ve always suspected there was something behind Viking’s death as well.”

“So it would be an older member? Or someone who is a legacy?”

We don’t give legacies breaks. I worked hard to prove I was worthy to be a Grizzly, but I worked even harder to prove I could be the VP.

Now to hear one of us has turned their back on the brotherhood.

Has betrayed us to the point our former president and his old lady were murdered.

Along with our former SAA and his old lady, leaving their son an orphan.

“What would they gain from killing the ladies?” I ask the obvious.

“As a member, they would have had everything already. There is a tie to Aaronov, and not something minimal. Maybe they owe him a serious amount of money or have a severe addiction, and that’s what Aaronov is holding over their head.

Or worse.” I pause, hating this idea. “There could be another deeper connection.” What if it was a bear bait, and Aaronov is their old man?

“Doesn’t matter what their excuse is. They are dead for betraying us all,” Wing, our road captain, says.

The rules set up are firm. You betray the brotherhood, you don’t live to do it again.

My dad stands up. “Just a moment.”

He walks in the direction of the other bedrooms, and we all wait until he returns.

A few minutes later, he rejoins us, carrying a cardboard storage box.

He sets it down on the coffee table and looks over at Kodiak.

“I’ve been doing my own investigation for years now.

Loki’s parents and Charisma weren’t the only mysterious deaths.

There have been several original brothers who have passed too. ”

He pulls out a file. “This contains information on the original chapter members. Only five of us are left now. That’s not good odds.

I’ve had my theories, and here they are.

Give this to Vortex and have him go through it.

” He hands the file to Kodiak, who flips it open and starts skimming the pages.

“Fuck, I forgot about some of these guys. I’ll take the box.”

“I think we need to consider the princess goes on lockdown until this is taken care of,” Miner says, and I swing my head toward him.

“No. She can still go out and do things but with more guards. I can’t do that to her. She’s lost so much already. Her freedom won’t be one.”

“That means tomorrow you will have a detail with you too,” Kodiak adds. “I’m not going to jeopardize my sister’s life any more than it already has.”

“Okay.” I give in. We can still go on a date with prospects following behind us. “I want at least one officer with her too. No more full patches until we find out who this is. We know it’s none of us.”

“Always.” Kodiak agrees, and the other officers all nod.