Page 86 of Claimed By the Bikers

“I was in the store when the planes hit. Watched it happen on the little TV my father kept behind the counter for slow days.” The images are still sharp in my memory—smoke and flames and people jumping from windows. “Rebecca came by that afternoon, found me staring at the screen.”

“What did you say to her?”

“That I was joining the Army. That I couldn’t sit in Colorado selling screws and washers while the country was at war.” I stroke her arm, feeling goose bumps rise under my touch. “Shecried. Said I was throwing away everything good for some romantic notion of heroism.”

“Do you think she was right?”

“Maybe. But I couldn’t stay another day knowing there were people fighting and dying while I worried about inventory orders.” I shift to look at her directly. “My father was furious. Said I was being selfish, chasing fantasies instead of accepting reality.”

“That must have been hard.”

“Hardest conversation of my life. But I left anyway. Drove to the recruitment office in Denver, signed up for Infantry, and never looked back.” I trace the line of her jaw with my fingertip. “Best decision I ever made, even with everything that happened later.”

“Do you ever think about what might have been? If you’d stayed?”

“Sometimes. Rebecca married a lawyer two years later. Has three kids now, runs the local PTA.” I meet her eyes. “But I wouldn’t be here with you. Wouldn’t have Garrett and Silas as brothers. Wouldn’t have this life we’ve built together.”

“Any regrets?”

“None. Every choice, every mistake, every victory—it all brought me to you.” I roll her beneath me, settling between her thighs. “This moment, this life, this family we’re creating.”

She wraps her arms around my neck, pulling me down for a kiss that tastes like promises and new beginnings. When we break apart, she’s smiling.

“I’m glad you left that hardware store.”

“So am I.”

“Atlas?” Her voice is soft after a few minutes of silence.

“Mmm?”

“What exactly aren’t you telling me about the cartel situation?”

I go still, hoping she won’t notice the way my muscles tense. But this is Ember, sharp as a blade, impossible to fool even when I want to protect her from the truth.

“What makes you think I’m not telling you everything?”

“Because you got that phone call yesterday, the one you took in your office with the door closed. Garrett has been checking the weapons inventory twice a day instead of his usual weekly schedule. Silas has been working late in his forge, and the sound through the walls isn’t his normal metalwork.”

She sits up, pulling the sheet around herself, green eyes fixed on my face with uncomfortable intensity. “He’s making knives, isn’t he? Combat knives.”

There’s no point denying it. She knows too much.

“We first got intelligence a week ago about Los Serpientes planning an attack.” I sit up as well, running a hand through my hair. “They want to eliminate our entire operation.”

“What? And you kept this from me for an entire week? Wait, let me guess. If I hadn’t walked in on you earlier, I never would have found out, right?”

The betrayal in her tone nearly breaks me.

“I’m sorry, Ember. There really is nothing you can do. The baby?—”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, enough with the baby! What’s the plan?”

“You’re leaving Wolf Pike.”

“No.”

“Ember—”