Page 24 of Property of Blade (Kings of Anarchy MC: Alaska #1)

Vex’s eyes narrow, his jaw tight with resistance. “Prez, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

I don’t hesitate. “I didn’t ask for your opinion.” The tension thickens in the air between us. Vex takes a step back, his shoulders tight but resigned, and I push past him into the building.

The room smells of fear, sharp and bitter, almost suffocating. Tessa is pressed into the far corner, her wide eyes locked on me. Holding up my hands in a gesture of calm, I move toward a chair. I sit down slowly, my eyes never leaving her.

“Tessa, you know us. You’ve got nothing to fear here.” My voice is steady, but inside, I’m fucking furious at the situation, at everything that’s gone wrong.

Her body trembles, eyes wide with panic. “T-then let me leave.” Her voice cracks, fear thick in every syllable.

I gesture toward the empty chair opposite me, trying to keep my tone calm. “Please, sit.”

She shakes her head violently, the movement desperate as if even being near me might break her. “Y-you’re one of them .” The words fall from her lips like acid, burning in the air between us.

Exhaling slowly, my gaze drops to the floor for a moment. When I speak again, it’s quieter, softer. “Tessa, you know me. You know Vex. None of us would hurt you.”

Her face twists and her lips tremble as tears spill down her cheeks. She stops talking, but her silence speaks louder than any words could.

I let the weight of her grief hang in the air before I push forward, my voice low and firm. “That thing that dragged you out of the woods... that’s Ranger. You’ve known him for years. Has he ever tried to hurt you?”

Her eyes flicker to the floor, her shoulders shaking with the weight of everything she’s been through. Then she murmurs, “Last night.”

“Last night didn’t go to plan,” I say, the words laced with regret. “Can you tell me why you were there?”

“A lot of the outlanders come into the diner. Well, when they come to town, which isn’t often,” Tessa says, her voice tight as she takes a deep breath as if she’s trying to steady herself.

“One of the women, Nancy, she and I are friends.” She hesitates, her fingers twitching, and shakes her head. “Sort of.”

I nod, trying to keep my voice steady. “We call them homesteaders.”

She stares at me for a beat. I can almost see Tessa processing my words, and then she finally mutters, “That’s probably a better term.” She takes a step forward but then halts as if the air itself is too heavy to cross.

“Please sit, Tessa.”

Before she can answer, there’s a sharp knock on the door. Ranger steps inside, his presence filling the space. Tessa flinches, pressing herself farther into the corner as if she’s trying to disappear into it.

I hold up my fist, a silent command, and he freezes in his tracks. Standing, I walk toward him, taking the two cups of coffee he’s holding.

“Thanks,” I murmur, the words gruff, but the thanks are there all the same.

His eyes flick to Tessa, then quickly drop to the floor, his posture shifting. I can tell he’s giving her space, submitting in his own way. He bares his neck, an old-school sign of respect among men like us. “Vex said you like milk and sugar. I hope that’s okay.”

Ranger backs out of the room, the door clicking shut behind him with a soft thud.

Turning, I hold one cup toward Tessa. “I’m going to set this on the chair. Then I’m going to sit down. Ranger makes good coffee.” My words are casual as if I’m just another guy offering coffee to a friend.

Tessa stares at the cup for a long moment before finally meeting my eyes. “Are you like him?”

I tilt my head to the side, my gaze steady. “Kind of.”

“Kind of?” Her voice cracks with confusion, her wariness still there, thick as ever.

I slide onto the chair across from her, deliberately relaxed, stretching my legs out and crossing them at the ankles, pretending I’ve got all the time in the world. I take a loud slurp of coffee, letting the warmth settle in my chest. “If you sit, I promise I’ll tell you.”

Her eyes flicker to the cup, but she doesn’t move. “You won’t hurt me, will you?”

My eyes lock on hers, and I let her see the truth in them. “I give you my word. No one will hurt you.”

Tessa’s gaze lingers on mine, her breath steadying, and then she closes the gap. She picks up the cup, but before sitting, she drags the chair back a few feet as if creating some space between us. The tension is thick, but she’s trying to calm herself.

“You and Nancy are friends,” I begin, watching her closely. “Did she ask you to be there for our business transaction?”

Her lips twitch, and she hesitates before responding. “It wasn’t Nancy. It was Jasper.”

I blink, the words catching me off-guard. “You said you were friends with Nancy, but it was Jasper who asked you to be there?” I feel the confusion twist my gut. She nods, and I push further. “Who is Jasper?”

She grips the mug tighter, taking a sip.

I hope the heat of the coffee will help steady her nerves.

“Nancy was in at the diner, telling me her husband was meeting with the Kings of Anarchy for a business deal. Jasper told her you couldn’t be trusted.

And after she left, he told me I should watch out for her.

I told Nancy and Jasper that you were all fine. A little on the rough side but nice.”

Her words hang in the air, their weight sinking in slowly.

Processing them is harder than I thought. None of this adds up. “I don’t understand.”

“I’ve cocked all this up. Let me start from the beginning.

” Tessa takes another slow sip of her coffee, then exhales as if trying to release the weight pressing down on her.

“The outlanders came into the diner, and over the past year, I’ve made friends with Nancy.

She’s married to Bill, the one you had the deal with.

While we were talking, Jasper said you lot couldn’t be trusted.

I told them both you were fine, but Jasper kept pushing.

Nancy left, and then Jasper told me I should watch out for her.

But he’s always hated you guys, so I didn’t take him seriously. ”

“And yet, you were there,” I point out, my voice low, the pieces of this fucked-up puzzle starting to click together.

Tessa nods, her fingers curling tighter around the cup.

“Nancy came back just before I finished my shift and asked if what Jasper said was true. I told her no, but she said there was another outlander who’d gone missing and that a group of fishermen had gone overboard under odd circumstances.

Nancy said they’d all had dealings with your MC.

I told her you’d been doing business here for years, and no one had had a problem.

Maybe it was all a coincidence. But it’s not, is it? You’re all monsters.”

Her words hit me harder than I expected. My eyebrows rise, and I take a beat before nodding slowly, acknowledging the truth in what she just said.

Tessa wraps an arm around her waist, her bottom lip quivering. I can see she’s trying to keep herself together. There’s fear in her eyes, but there’s also something else— acceptance.

“We are monsters, Tessa. It’s why we’re all here.

Do we protect ourselves and what’s ours?

Yeah. But we don’t kill unless we have to,” I say, my voice low, gravelly.

I pause, letting my words sink in. “The homesteaders, or your outlanders, they attacked us last night. No one died, but you saw something... something we don’t share with anyone.

Ranger shouldn’t have changed, but he did.

The real question is, what are you going to do about it? ”

Her eyes widen, her chest rising and falling rapidly. “I won’t tell anyone,” she blurts out, her voice shaking.

I lean forward, my gaze hardening. “No one would believe you if you did.” I don’t flinch as I let my words hit her.

Her eyes flicker with disbelief. “They would.”

I shake my head, the corner of my mouth pulling into a hard frown. “They’d think you were mad.”

Tessa twists in the seat, her eyes locked on the wall as if she’s trying to escape from everything.

“I’ll leave you to think about it,” I say, my voice quiet but firm. I stand and look down at her. “Do you need anything?”

She doesn’t turn around, her voice distant. “I want to go home.”

“Soon,” I mutter, and without another word, I walk outside.

Ranger and Vex are waiting for me, standing as sentinels, their expressions unreadable.

“Did you hear all of it?” I ask, my eyes scanning their faces. Both men nod, and I keep walking toward the clubhouse.

“Rooster!” I bark, and the man steps out of the clubhouse as if he’s been waiting for me to call. “You’re on guard duty.”

Rooster gives a lazy nod and jogs past me, heading toward the cabin to keep an eye on Tessa.

Inside the clubhouse, the weight of the moment sinks in as I walk toward the table where the rest of the chapter is gathered—all sixteen of us. A ragtag crew, but we’re strong, and we’ve made it this far by being something no one expects. We’re misfits, but we fight like hell when it counts.

I take my seat at the head of the table, my eyes locking on each of the men before me. They’re not just my brothers—they’re my family. And right now, we’ve got a problem.

“Explain yourself, Ranger.”

Ranger places both hands on the table, fingers digging into the wood before he clasps them together, his jaw clenched.

“I was angry,” he says, his voice low and rough.

“We’ve had fuck-ups one after another. Kyler calmed things down, and Scout was inside with the homesteaders.

I thought I was alone, so I shifted.” He glances up at me, his eyes full of regret.

“It was then I heard Tessa gasp in the woods. I went after her.”

Kyler shifts in his seat, leaning forward slightly. “He didn’t hurt her. He backed her against a tree. Tessa was screaming, scared out of her mind, but Ranger didn’t attack her.”

Vex cuts in, his voice sharp like a blade. “No, he just scared the shit out of her and put us all in danger.” His eyes are hard, staring at Ranger as if he’s ready to call him out. “We can’t have that shit happening again.”

The room goes silent, the tension hanging thick in the air. This mess is far from over, but we don’t have time to pick it apart right now.

I slam my fist onto the table, the sound cutting through the silence like a gunshot. “This shit will never happen again.” My voice is steady, but the weight of the words is there, heavy and absolute.

Glancing around the table, I make sure every man here feels the truth in my words. Their faces are hard, expressions unreadable. They know the line was crossed, and I’m the one who has to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

Ranger shifts uncomfortably in his seat, his eyes looking anywhere but at me. He swallows, but his voice is steady when he speaks. “So, what are we going to do?”

The question hangs in the air. My eyes narrow as I look at the men in front of me—my brothers, my family.

“We make it right,” I say, each word measured, deliberate.

“We let Tessa go. See if she’ll keep our secrets, but if she decides not to, we’ll move farther north.

” I pause for a moment, letting the weight of the words sink in before I continue.

“Vex, you stay close to Tessa. Keep her safe, but you stay fucking calm. Got it?”

“Yes, Prez.”

“And the rest of you,” I say, looking around the room, locking eyes with each of the men. “We will deal with business like we always do. There’s no room for mistakes, but there is someone we need to look into. His name is Jasper.”

“The old guy who hangs out at Betty’s Diner?” asks Vex.

“Yeah, he’s the reason Tessa was out there. And he might be the reason all our deals have been fucked lately.”

Prophet taps the table. “He doesn’t like us. Do we know why?”

“He’s been difficult for a while,” replies Vex. “Ever since I took an interest in Tessa.”

“You think he’s sweet on her?” I ask.

Vex shakes his head. “No. He just doesn’t want me with her.”

Prophet taps the table again. “Funny, I didn’t think you wanted to be with her.” Vex gives him the finger, and Prophet laughs, then looks at me. “Want me to look into him?”

“Yes, but for fuck’s sake, be discreet.” Standing, I rest my hands on the table and lean over. “Vex, can you fix this with Tessa? Convince her we aren’t the big bad wolf?”

“I guess we will see.”