Page 12 of Bandit’s Bounty (Iron Howlers MC #3)

Chapter Eleven

Bandit

W e’re already at the chosen meeting spot when the Spiked Raiders pull up, parking beside us since Corbin and Cyrus felt it was imperative to show this Brady character that neither club will entertain his threats, especially not to any of the women claimed by one of the brothers. I can feel the rage wafting from Dane and briefly wonder if Raine is okay. Well, as okay as she can be considering her ex decided to start playing games.

"I see you’ve decided to come meet with me in person just as I hoped you would," Brady sardonically says to Corbin as he and Dane push their way through the circle of brothers and make it to the front of our group. His voice is amused, although what he finds funny about this entire ordeal is beyond me. Turning slightly, he calls to the woman sitting on the trunk of the car. "Rebecca, come here."

"We're not here to play games with you," Corbin states, crossing his arms over his chest in an impenetrable move. One by one, the rest of us unconsciously follow suit, mimicking his pose, and I don’t miss the slight rumbles and growls emanating from many of my brothers as well as the Spiked Raiders.

"Oh, I'm not here to play games either," Brady declares, causing Dane to growl.

"Easy, brother, not yet," Tucker murmurs to Dane. His mumbling is low enough that only us shifters, with an expansive hearing range, are able to hear him. I suspect Dane is planning something momentous, and while I still want to handle it for my sister’s sake, since Dane’s her fated mate, I’ll provide backup if needed.

"Here you go, baby," Rebecca coos as she brushes herself up against Brady like a tigress in heat. She looks over at Dane and provocatively licks her lips, making me smirk when I see his slight shudder from her suggestive action.

Yeah, that bitch is outta her mind if she thinks Dane will ever choose someone like her. Even I can see she’s trouble with a capital T. Plus, she’s probably unaware that he now has a mate, and anyone with a sense of smell can scent her on him. This indicates to any interested parties that they’ve begun initiating their mate bond, and he’s officially off the market.

Brady takes the tablet from Rebecca then waves her away. “Aha, I see my man is still in place to take out Raine's beautiful mother."

"You don't get your man off my mother, I'll slit your throat here and now," I blurt out, my entire being trembling in rage, stepping closer to the fucker who obviously has a death wish.

"Don't worry, Bandit, he's on her, watching to make sure everything goes according to plan," Brady states, waving a hand nonchalantly through the air while acting like he didn't just get his life threatened by a pissed off shifter. Brady turns his gaze on Dane, saying, "Now, Raine is my property and I want her back where she belongs."

"She no longer concerns you," Dane informs him, narrowing his eyes in Brady’s direction. I can tell he’s barely holding on to his composure, and I have to say that if I was in the same position with Sloane, I suspect I’d feel the same damn way. "Raine is my mate."

“Yes, I’ve been made aware of that fact.” Chuckling, Brady points out something on the tablet screen. "But as you can see, if you look here, it's a contract that clearly states she's mine and has been since before she ever met me."

"The fuck?" I snarl. There’s no fucking way what he’s saying can possibly be true. And even if it is, he’s not laying one finger on her. I’ll slit his throat and feed him to the buzzards before he can blink.

Brady continues talking as though I didn’t say anything at all. Acting indifferent to my vexation. Fucker. "Long ago, and far away, I learned a valuable lesson. That lesson being to take what I want. When I discovered the existence of the supernatural world, I knew I'd stop at nothing to make sure I was more powerful, and I had the ability at my hands to take what I wanted. It's why, when her mother and father wanted to escape their miserable lives, I took advantage of the situation and paid them accordingly. They'd signed her over to me, but before I collected her from where they'd left her for me to grab, she'd already been collected by another. At the time, I was going to use her as a pawn to get what I wanted from the blood witches. However, I reevaluated this plan when I learned who took her in. This part is moot because as you clearly see, I've held ownership of Raine for a very long time. Her parents sold her to me, and now, I want my property back where she belongs."

"How the hell do you own her? You're human. You don't look old enough to have been able to know her parents, let alone arrange this exchange. You'd have had to be four years old when you did this," Cyrus grunts out.

Gotta love my president; he’s fucking smart as hell and it’s obvious that Brady’s not old enough to do what he’s claiming to have done.

"On the contrary, I'm not human. Well, I am, but I'm not. You see, I'm immortal. Made this way after making a deal with a demon,” Brady advises, a smirk on his face.

Fucking hell, did he really say he made a deal with a demon? Does he realize that his life no longer belongs to him? What kind of moron does something so insane?

"Now, if you would be so kind as to comply, there’s a contract to abide by and I would like to claim my property. If you do not wish to release her to me, then I'll take her by force."

The last words barely cross his lips when Dane launches himself at Brady, having fully shifted. His actions spark a massive fight to break out, and I soon find myself embroiled in protecting my president while simultaneously keeping an eye on my sister’s mate. I may still have reservations about the asshole, but if that’s who fate decreed she was going to be with, and she’s accepted his claim, I need to protect him as well. For her sake, because I could care less if today was the day he meets his maker.

Dammit. My eyes widen when I notice Brady pull out a gun from his side and turn it on Dane. His intention is clear, and it makes my beast rumble at the audacity of this motherfucker. He pulls the trigger over and over again, Dane’s now humanoid body jolting with each impact of the projectiles as they connect with his mortal flesh. Still, it doesn’t stop his brutal assault on Brady, and I watch on as he rips Brady’s head from his neck and beheading him, then with a precise movement, he wades through the fox shifters we’re battling, finds a tree limb then impales the bastard’s head onto it. He turns it toward where everyone is still fighting, and I watch as one of the foxes shifts and begins to cry.

Dane’s voice is loud, carrying through the deafening noise as he yells, “This is what happens when you cross the Spiked Raiders.” He then pulls the head off and tosses it toward the fox and continues issuing his decree, “You fuck with one of us, you fuck with all of us.”

"You killed him," the fox snaps at Dane, now mutinously glaring at him. I move closer because he’s not looking too good right now.

"Yeah, and you all but killed my brother," he sneers, obviously not giving a damn about her or her protests. I don’t know what he’s talking about right now, but I keep listening. "Maybe now without the asshat, you'll realize your fuck up, regardless, it's too late, the damage is done."

"Brother you need to calm down and let us see to those wounds," Zavier remarks, speaking to Dane.

I look closely at Zavier and notice his own body is covered in scratches, blood, and sweat. Behind me, members of both clubs are containing the fox shifters. Some of them are still shifted, others have now switched back into their human forms.

"I'm good," Dane replies.

I see Dane looking around for the two men that Brady ordered to hurt Raine. I want a piece of them as well, if possible, but with Dane being her mate he has that claim which means I may not get that chance. Dane then rushes them, snatches a gun from one of them, turns it on the other guy and shoots him in retaliation. He then kills the other one, letting his body slump and drop unceremoniously onto the ground. He then releases the gun and turns to see all of us watching him with a keen eye.

"Brother, you gotta see to those wounds," Corbin firmly states. "Your sister, Karsyn, will have all our asses if you die."

Dane collapses and would’ve hit the ground if his brothers hadn’t caught him. Zavier mutters, “We need to get him back to the clubhouse. He’s lost a lot of blood.”

“Don’t think we’ve got time for that,” Corbin replies, right before I see Dane’s eyes roll back as he passes out.

As an established unit, we follow the Spiked Raiders back to their clubhouse, concern for Dane overshadowing the events of what just happened. At least, for the time being, the threat against my sister is over and done with, but with some of the things Brady mentioned during his ramblings, I know we’re going to need to have a multi-club church meeting so both clubs can give their accounts and figure out where we go from here.

Without a doubt, whatever happened out there, will impact all of us as a whole and we’re going to need to be prepared for the fallout. The Iron Howlers may stay on the legal side of things of the spectrum as opposed to how the Spiked Raiders operate, but at the end of the day, in many ways, we’re the barriers to keep anything bad from finding its way into Redwich territory.

While we wait for news on Dane’s current condition, we pile into the room the Spiked Raiders use for church.

“What the fuck is happening?” Cyrus asks.

Corbin nods at Tucker, who starts talking. “Dane and I were checking out a route recently and came across some blood witches. They advised that the land we were on was sacred land for those who ‘wish to honor the dead’,” Tucker says, repeating their phrase. “The one who was talking, since there was a shit ton of them, advised that the Dream Walkers watch over the dead. We couldn’t see anything to indicate there was anything buried there, but Axel, Jackson, me, and Dane could tell something wasn’t right. That probably doesn’t make sense, but there was a sense of something . Y’all know how we feel about blood witches since we’ve got a considerable history with them that isn’t good.”

I growl in agreement because they’ve been after Jazzy and Sage, as well as Harmony and Karsyn, although their reasons are still somewhat of a mystery. “Did they say anything else?” I finally ask.

“She said that the Dream Walkers left the area when Death came. They took it upon themselves to watch over that land and that Death was upset when they disappeared. He had plans to use them, especially the infant who was a halfling.”

“Raine,” I whisper, wondering if I’m correct in my assessment. We never knew her heritage when we found her in the woods as an infant, but if what Tucker is saying is true, maybe she’s a Dream Walker.

“What was he planning?” Cyrus questions.

“She didn’t say much more about it other than she wouldn’t be able to live amongst dream walkers and survive. Told us the place was sacred, and without her, it shouldn’t be touched. Without the Dream Walkers to watch over the dead, evil can easily come in to reign and bring back to life what should never be brought back.”

“Is she talking about Death? We killed that fucker!” Several voices say in unison.

Tucker holds up his hand to silence us and we quiet down. “She said one more thing, brothers. She said that Death cannot be killed without living again. He’ll be back again, and you will not know when it happens, but he’s coming for you all. Not just for our club but the other one. The prophecies are coming to light, and Dane is apparently Raine’s anchor that bonds her. The blood of those to come into themselves will ripen and soon Death will want them all over again. It’s their blood that will make him powerful.”

“Fucking hell,” Corbin growls out. He looks over at Cyrus and something fundamental passes between them before Corbin nods. “There are things that we can’t reveal to the clubs just yet.”

“Why the fuck not?” Big Daddy yells. “How can we prepare if we don’t know everything?”

“Much like Coby was tricked by the fox shifter, there could be others who use and manipulate one of us to try and keep the prophecies from coming to pass,” Cyrus retorts.

“We can’t tell, lives are at stake, Big Daddy,” Cyrus adds.

“So, Brady and his goons are just the tip of the iceberg,” I muse. “Blood witches are watching over a burial ground that may or may not contain Dream Walkers and if Death comes back…”

“No, she was emphatic that Death would come back,” Tucker interjects.

“Okay, when Death comes back,” I say through a clenched jaw, “if he gains control of that burial ground, dreams will turn into what, nightmares?”

Tucker’s face is pale but set in a stony expression as he nods. “That was the gist of it, yes.”

“Well, that’s not good. Have the old ladies found anything else in their grimoires?” Jabba questions. “I know Electra’s been scouring hers religiously, but it’s almost as though shit randomly shows up right before we need to know.”

“Makes it frustrating, that’s for sure,” I reply, groaning. “How can we protect the old ladies and the children when we don’t know everything out there we’re fighting against?”

“That’s why we’re here now, we need to plan,” Corbin informs the room. “Otherwise, we’re just sitting here with our thumbs up our asses.”

Despite the seriousness of the situation, his comment has everyone erupting in laughter. Now if only we hear how Dane is doing, that might turn this shitty day around.