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SEVENTEEN

TOON

"In the darkest forest, the bear finds its way; trust your instincts." — Unknown

We find her on the third day.

Tripp works every angle, pulling favors, shaking loose a name from one of our old sources in Georgia.

BW tracks a burner ping near an abandoned hunting compound two counties down.

The place is off-grid, tucked in the woods like it’s hiding from the world.

It all fits.

We ride at dawn.

Me, Tripp, BW, Tank, and two more brothers together in a van.

Along with six bikes, three trucks.

No cuts.

Just weapons and war in our eyes.

I don’t say it out loud, but I know something in me might not come back from this.

I’ve been running on fumes—too many skipped treatments, too many sleepless nights, and a body that feels more hollow than whole.

But this?

Dia is worth whatever’s left of me.

We hit the tree line fast, parking the trucks and creeping in on foot.

BW signals—three men, armed, posted outside the cabin.

I don’t wait.

I can’t.

I don’t care if it pisses off Tripp.

I can’t be this close to her and not end them all until she’s in my arms again.

The first one never hears the bullet.

We move in fast.

Clean.

Hard.

While we are here, Swift, Jasper, a few other Hellions are with the Ravage MC and Sinsiter Sons MC who came up from Florida.

By the end of this, there will not be a single man wearing Vulcan’s colors alive.

Gunfire cracks through the woods like thunder.

I take down the second with a shot to the leg before Tank finishes him off.

Tripp kicks in the door.

The third bastard grabs for a rifle—but I’m already moving.

Bang.

He drops.

I don’t think.

I don’t breathe.

I just run.

Down a hallway.

Through a metal door.

And there she is.

Dia, pale and shaking, crouched behind the cot.

Her arms protectively wrapped around her belly, her eyes wild and locked on mine the second she sees me.

“Justin!”

I drop to my knees in front of her, hands flying to her arms, her face, her stomach.

“Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”

“I’m okay—God, I’m okay,” she chokes out, tears spilling over her cheeks.

“They were going to take the baby. Justin, they were going to take him from me. She was going to take him.”

“Who baby? This was about the club.”

She shakes her head.

“No, it was Benji’s mom. She wants my baby. She has to be stopped.”

“I know,” I whisper, pulling her to me.

“I know. I’ll get it sorted, darlin’. Just breathe, please. I’m here. You’re safe now.”

She grips my jacket so tight it cuts into my skin.

Her body trembles against mine.

Then she pulls back.

Her eyes search mine and go wide.

“Justin,” she whispers, voice suddenly sharp.

“You’re, oh my God, you’re burning up.”

I sway.

Just a little.

My legs don’t hold like they should.

She catches me before I collapse completely.

“Justin?” she cries.

“Hey. HEY!”

I manage a weak smile.

“Guess adrenaline only goes so far.” Then it all goes black.

I wake up to the sterile white of a hospital room and the beeping of machines I hoped I’d never hear again.

Dia’s standing at the foot of the bed, arguing with a nurse.

“I’m not getting checked until you check him. I’m fine. The baby’s fine. You check him . ”

I let out a hoarse laugh.

Her head snaps toward me.

Relief floods her face, then frustration right behind it.

“You scared the shit out of me,” she snaps, walking over.

“I told you not to worry.”

“You’re pale as a damn ghost. You could barely stand. You haven’t eaten in days.”

“They’ll give me Jell-O here I’m sure,” I joke weakly.

She glares.

“Not funny.”

Then her expression softens.

She climbs onto the hospital bed, big belly and all, and curls beside me like it’s the most natural thing in the world.

“Your cell counts are dangerously low,” she murmurs, pressing her forehead to mine.

“Your immune system’s tanked. You can’t keep skipping treatment and not hydrating.”

“I didn’t mean to.” I give her a look.

“Kind of had my mind on other things. Everything just moved fast.”

“I need you to fight,” she says, voice cracking.

“Not just show up. You can’t save me if you don’t kick cancer’s ass. I need you. Stay . I need you to stay.”

Her words take me back to one of the early nights, me picking her up.

We’re on her porch.

The silence between us is thick.

I take one step backward.

Inside I’m challenging her to invite me in, outside I’m trying to find the strength to walk away.

Dia stands there in front of me, leaning against her doorframe.

Her expression is soft but not unreadable.

“You always this quiet?” She asks with curiosity dancing in her eyes.

I shrug, “not always. Just, when I’m thinking too much.”

“Whatcha thinkin’ about?”

I look down, then back to her.

“You,” I tell her the truth.

Her breath catches.

I hear it, sharp and light.

Then she lets out a nervous laugh, “that’s dangerous, Hellion.”

“You don’t know the half of it,” I retort.

She leans her shoulder into the frame a little more, shifting and settling in for something, “try me.”

“You really want the truth?”

“Wouldn’t ask if I didn’t want to know.” She has fire in her.

A quiet, burning confidence.

Not a fake bravado, but a real soul deep acceptance of who she is.

It’s sexy as hell.

I run a hand through my hair, debating what is too much to share with her.

“I think about how easy it would be to mess this up. To say the wrong thing, make the wrong move. Cross the line.”

“What line?” she whispers.

I step up closer.

We’re inches apart.

I’m not touching her.

God, I want to, but I don’t.

“The line that keeps you safe from me.”

There is a pause.

Her mouth parts, then closes without her speaking.

She studies me like I’m a puzzle she’s trying to sort the pieces of.

“Do I look scared of you?”

“No, Dia, you don’t. That’s the problem. You aren’t scared of me, of this. And darlin’ you should be.”

I think about that moment.

She was never scared of what this could be.

It was me.

I was afraid of what I would do to her, sure, but more so I think I was afraid of what she could do to me.

The power of letting her love me and me loving her in return gives her is something I’ve never experienced with anyone but her.

It’s also something I don’t want to let go of.

“I’m trying.” I look at her seriously, “I want this, Dia. More than anything.”

She nods once, then goes quiet.

A long silence passes.

Then she looks at me.

Serious.

Brave.

Her face is determined.

“I want to marry you.”

My breath catches.

She’s dead serious.

“I know this isn’t the time. And I know you want to wait until things are settled. But?—”

“No,” I say, gently.

She flinches, pulling back.

“I mean, not yet. ”

I take her hand, pressing it over my chest.

“When I beat this and when you’re holding our baby in your arms, both of you healthy and strong. I’m going to do it right. Talk to your dad. Get the ring. Vows. Everything. You’ll have a dress and flowers and everyone who loves you in one place.”

Her lip trembles.

“What if that day doesn’t come?”

I lean in and kiss her, slow and deep and full of every word I can’t say.

“It will.”

Her tears soak into my shirt.

And for the first time in days, I let mine fall too.

Later That Night She’s curled against my side, sleeping lightly.

She did let them check her out and as soon as she was given a clean bill of health, she came right back here and climbed right back in beside me.

I stare up at the ceiling, hand resting over hers where it rests on my heart.

I almost lost her.

Again.

And I don’t know how many days I’ve got left.

But I’ll fight for every one of them.

Because this love?

This family?

This life?

It’s mine.

And I’m not letting go.