Page 6 of Lore (Serpents of Chaos MC #3)

LORE

Seven Years Ago

I’ve just gotten out of the shower when I hear a knock at the door. Throwing on some sweatpants, I’m still drying my hair when I open it. Gina, Atiana’s older cousin, is standing there. She doesn’t bother to hide the fact that she’s checking me out.

“She’s still at work,” I say in greeting.

“I know.” She smirks, pushing past me to step inside. She heads to the kitchen, making herself at home, grabs some juice from the refrigerator, and leans back against the counter. Her eyes linger on my abs, and then lower. “Such a shame, you know?”

“What?”

“That you’re stupid.” She smirks, putting the glass down and walking over to me.

She trails a pink fingernail down my chest. “You look like that, and you’ve only slept with one woman.

Do you know how fucking good sex can be?

And how many different types of fucking there are?

You’ll never get to experience that by locking down the first woman you fuck. ”

“That woman is your cousin,” I grit out between clenched teeth.

“Yeah, and I love her. But come on, Hunter. Who settles down with only one notch on their belt? How do you truly know she’s what you want when you haven’t tried anything else?

Are you really going to marry your high school sweetheart?

Those relationships never work out. You outgrow each other, and you don’t have anything else to compare it to. How do you even know she’s the one?”

I hate Gina, but I hate it even more that she’s voicing thoughts I’ve secretly been having. These are meant to be my best years, the wildest years of my life, but Atiana and I have only been with each other, playing house.

Am I making a mistake by settling down so young?

I love Atiana, I know that, but down the line, I might regret not being with other women.

Perhaps we should grow individually before we come back together to get married and commit to each other for life. The thought of her being with anyone else makes me want to kill someone, but knowing her, she wouldn’t anyway.

She’s a good girl.

The girl you marry.

The girl you meet when you’re thirty and ready to settle down.

The forever girl.

What she’s not is the dirty, wild, threesome girl.

My head is messed up, and it’s not fair to my butterfly.

Maybe it’s time I set her free until I figure out what I want.

Lost in my thoughts, I ignore Gina, turning on the television and sitting on the couch. I’ve told Atiana that her cousin is a snake, but to her, family is family.

Maybe we did commit too soon, too young. We’ve never really lived, have we?

Gina follows me, sits on my lap, and straddles me, catching me off guard.

“What the fuck are you doing?” I ask her.

She pulls off her top, leaving her in a bra and skirt.

My eyes lower, but I’m about to push her off me when I hear a gasp.

Atiana.

I quickly get her off me, standing up and approaching the woman I’ve been in love with since I first laid my eyes on her. She takes a step back, and the hurt in her honey-brown eyes makes me feel fucking sick.

Panic fills me.

She’s all I’ve ever known.

She’s my safe place, my home.

And maybe that’s why I need to let her go.

So when she leaves, I don’t stop her.

I don’t deserve her.

I never did.

* * *

Present

Prez blinks slowly a few times, then crosses his arms and leans back in his chair as he shares a look with War, our vice president.

It’s just us three in the room, but there are no secrets here.

This is going to get out before I even make it back up the stairs.

“So let me get this straight… you have a son?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure he’s yours?” he asks, his brow furrowing.

“If you see him, you won’t be asking me that,” I reply, smirking.

Rider is he spitting image of me as a kid.

And she chose a good name too. Rider? Are you kidding me? It’s the perfect name for the son of a biker.

“And your baby mama is in trouble?” War presses, cracking his knuckles.

“She’s running from her… husband .” The word tastes bad in my mouth. “He put his hands on her. I don’t know the whole story, but he’s going to regret ever hurting her.”

I’m going to kill him.

No one harms my butterfly.

Prez and War share a look.

“I want to speak to her. Send her down here. You can watch the kids,” Prez finally says, his blue eyes watching me closely.

I shake my head. “No, I need to be here with her.”

“Lore—”

I lean forward. “She’s mine . I claimed her long before I became a Serpent.”

They both study me, and I don’t know what they see, but Prez sighs. “War, go and ask Ora to watch the kids while we speak to…” He looks at me with raised brows.

“Atiana.”

War gets up and leaves the room.

“Never thought I’d see the day,” Prez mutters, rubbing the back of his neck. “You fuckers are being taken down one by one.”

“There’s no other woman on this fucking planet who would have me wanting to change my lifestyle. You know I love my life,” I say, tapping my knuckles down on the wooden table. “But fuck… Atiana.”

I fucked up when I walked away from her. And for what? Yeah, I’ve lived a good life. I’ve had fun. I’ve experienced all that I wanted to. I know who I am and what I want now. I’m not that young stripper being led by his dick and just wanting to try new pussy.

Karma got me for leaving Atiana because no pussy was ever as good as hers was.

We have a lot to work out. A fuckload. But seeing her again feels like a second chance, one I’m not going to mess up. And even if we can’t make it work, she’s still mine . Rider is mine . I’m going to be in his life, whether she wants that or not.

“She hid your kid from you,” Prez reminds me, eyes narrowing.

“I know,” I reply, gritting my teeth. “Trust me, I fucking know, but I don’t want anyone to take that out on her. That’s between us. She had her reasons.”

And I’m still angry and hurt about it. I also feel a lot of guilt and a heavy dose of regret. But that’s not going to help anything right now.

“Why did you break up?”

“She thinks I fucked her cousin,” I admit, and Prez laughs, shaking his head. “In all the years I’ve known you, I’ve never seen you with one woman, Lore. You’re known for it. Your exploits are fucking lore around the club… that’s how you got your name.”

“You don’t think I can be faithful to one woman?”

He goes silent, which is answer enough.

Did anyone ever bother to wonder why I don’t get attached to any one woman?

I don’t stick to one woman because no one was ever her .

And I knew that. I knew that I’d already met the love of my life and lost her.

Back then, I was young and dumb, but I did not fuck her cousin. As soon as Atiana walked out of that house, I kicked Gina out too. Atiana came back and got all of her belongings the next night when I was at work.

And then she was gone.

It didn’t take me long to know that I’d fucked up.

Atiana couldn’t be replaced.

No one smelled like her, no one tasted like her.

And no one ever looked at me like she did again.

Oh, I’ve seen lust in countless women, but have they looked at me like I was their whole-fucking-world? If they did, I didn’t notice.

War steps back inside, opening the door for Atiana. Her honey-brown eyes scan the room before landing on me.

I’ve only ever loved one woman, and she’s standing in front of me.

And I walked away from her.

I slide out the chair next to me with my foot, and she sits down, her vanilla scent making me want to moan. She’s both familiar, yet different and new.

She’s still my butterfly, but she’s grown some claws.

“Atiana, I’m Rome, the club president, and this is War, our VP,” Prez introduces, giving her a quick once-over. Yeah, I know she’s fucking stunning—long dark hair, those doe eyes, and perfect pouty lips. Her slightly upturned nose is cute as hell, as are the splattering of freckles she has.

And don’t get me started on her body. Big tits, big ass, curvy hips, and a slightly rounded stomach. I love her stomach, and I’ve never understood why some women are so self-conscious about it.

But president or not, Rome had better keep his eyes and hands to himself. He might be older than me, but women flock to him, although he’s toned down his escapades since Ora has moved into the clubhouse.

“Can you tell us about whoever hurt you?” he continues. “And let us know what we’re dealing with here.”

She shifts in her seat and clears her throat.

“He’s my husband, Trent Smith. He works in IT, or at least that’s what I thought he did.

I thought he was a safe, kind of nerdy, normal nine-to-five guy.

We had Dove, and then we got married the year after that.

He started to become controlling, and I began to feel unsafe.

And when he put his hands on me in front of my son, I knew I had to get out of there. ”

My body turns to stone as I listen to her words, my fists clenching.

“You did the right thing calling me,” I manage to grit out. I want her to come to me, knowing she can always feel safe in doing so.

“He has connections,” she says softly, swallowing hard.

“I don’t know what he’s into, but I know he works for criminals.

I think he helps them set up offshore accounts.

I’m not sure exactly, but one man stopped by my house when Trent wasn’t home.

He looked dangerous. He told me if Trent didn’t contact him, he was going to drop by again, and I know it was a threat. ”

I reach over and put my hand on her thigh, offering my support. She cuts her eyes to me but doesn’t push my hand away.

Small wins.

“No one will get near you or the kids while you’re here,” I promise her, gently tightening my grip.

“War, tell Blade and Angel to get in here. We’re going to find all we know about this Trent,” Prez announces, turning back to Atiana. “You are welcome to stay here as long as you and the kids need.”

“Thank you,” she murmurs, offering them both a small smile.

“Get Suit in here, too, so he can start working on getting her divorced,” I add, ignoring the amused looks Prez and War don’t bother to conceal.

“Yes, please,” Atiana mutters, not looking at me. “Although I don’t know what will happen with Dove. I guess when things die down, I’ll have to go to court to make sure he can’t take her.”

“Suit will handle all of that,” I assure her.

She turns to me and nods. “Thank you, Hunter.”

“You’re welcome,” I say as she stands, and I follow closely behind her as she leaves the room to head back to the children.

“Who is the hottie?” Rune asks with a charming smile as he passes us. He gives Atiana a slow once-over that makes me want to strangle him with my bare hands. When his gaze reaches her face, however, he instantly lays off the charm, his brow furrowing. “Want me to kill someone?”

“We’re handling it,” I fire back, silently daring him to say anything else. I step closer so her curves are pressed right up against my front.

Rune, just like his brother, Curse, is one of the tallest members at six foot five, and I fucking hate that he’s got that little bit of height on me.

It’s just a few inches.

But I know how much just a few inches mean to women.

His smile softens, and he offers her his hand. “Hey, darlin’. I’m Rune.”

“Atiana,” she replies, hesitating before accepting it.

“That’s some nice ink you have.”

“Thank you.” She beams, checking out his own. “Right back at you.”

“She designs tattoos,” I say proudly, interrupting their little moment.

“Really? You know, we could always use someone extra at our tattoo shop. We only just opened up last month,” Rune says, finally letting go of her hand. At least he toned down his flirty vibe the second he saw the bruises on her face.

“You’re a tattoo artist?” she asks, her face interested. “So am I.”

“What?” I ask, my brow furrowing. I knew she did designs, but I had no idea she had started tattooing.

For how long?

What else don’t I know about her?

“Fuck.” Rune grins, running his thumb along the dark stubble on his jaw. “Definitely come and see me and my brother at our shop. Show us some of your work.”

“I’m in a little bit of trouble right now, but when that blows over, maybe,” she replies, grinning.

“The pretty ones are always in trouble.”

Fuck, this is how War and Haze must have felt when I was around their old ladies. I almost feel like I owe them an apology because Rune charming her in front of me is making me see red.

My hands grip onto her hips, gently pulling her away from him. “Well, this trouble is mine .”

“Never thought I’d hear those words coming out of your mouth, Lore.”

The bastard flashes his dimples at her, and I’ve officially had enough.

“Time to go, Butterfly.”

“Yours?” she mutters, scowling in my direction. “That’s a funny thing to call a woman you said you didn’t want, not even an hour ago.”

“You know I didn’t mean that.” I sigh, my tone apologetic.

“No, considering what happened between us back then, I think you hit the nail on the head,” she replies in a saccharine sweet tone. “You wanted to be free, Hunter. Don’t come wanting what you threw away now.”

A memory flashes in my mind, the look in her eyes when she caught me with Gina sitting on my lap.

It still haunts me.

Now would be her time for payback. She doesn’t owe me anything.

Suddenly, keeping her in a clubhouse full of men doesn’t sound like the best idea after all.