Page 27 of Unmasked Anarchy (Fallen Sons MC #3)

I stay crouched behind the log, breath stabbing my ribcage as I watch the fight die down.

My shoulder kills. My body is on high alert.

Nobody moves in the clearing. Then the remaining cartel members, knowing their leader is dead, cut and run.

They dart towards their vehicles, diving in, and speeding out of there.

Just like that, it’s over.

I want to collapse. I want to throw up. The relief is heavy. The ground is littered with bodies. I don’t dare count how many. The clubs regroup first, their men staggering over, so many injured. My eyes only search for two people. Kael and Gage. I see both, bloody, but alive.

I let the rifle drop and breathe until the world stops tilting. My ears ring. I can’t move, my legs are jelly and my nerves are shot. Instead, I sit on the ground and just wait. It doesn’t take long for Kael to find me, he just had to follow the line of dead bodies to figure out where I am hiding.

He is shoving through the shrubs and when he sees me, he reaches down and hauls me to my feet.

His hands grab my face, gentle and brutal at the same time, like he’ll kill anyone who gets between us.

His mouth crashes over mine, metallic with blood—his, mine, who cares.

I let him, my legs giving out so I have to cling to his jacket, fingers knotting in the leather.

He tears his mouth away. “You could have died,” he breathes. “You crazy, beautiful...”

I don’t let him finish. I claw at his shirt, shoving him back against the nearest tree, and he doesn’t fight it.

He stares, and for one second, we’re both animals, trembling, wild with it.

Kael’s thumb lingers on my split cheekbone, his palm over my chest, feeling my heart jump.

I can see the way his breathing spikes, the way he can’t decide if he wants to shake me or slam me.

I do it for him.

I arch against him, and that’s all it takes.

He yanks my belt open, jerking my jeans down, not bothering with patience, and for a second the pain of it brings darkness to the edge.

Instead of pulling away, I grit my teeth and fumble with his waistband, desperate.

He grunts, a sound that’s almost a growl, then hoists me up, hands under my ass, and wraps my legs around his hips.

His mouth is everywhere; my jawline burning from his stubble, my neck bitten and bruised before I can even gasp.

I’m pinned between Kael and the tree, bark scratching my back through the shirt, legs locked around his body.

I barely notice the pain in my body anymore.

I just want him—need him—to fill every empty space left by the horror of the last hour.

He fists one hand in my hair and pulls my head back, biting down on my throat, the other hand pressing my hips to his.

Then he reaches down and frees himself, driving his cock into me.

He fucks me, brutal, not slow—neither of us are built for gentle.

Every thrust makes the tree shudder at my spine.

I don’t care. I want it to hurt, want it to remind me what it is to be alive.

Kael catches my mouth, tongue tangling hard.

When I cum, the world splinters around me. My nails glide through his hair, scraping against his scalp, but he doesn’t slow, just crushes his face to my forehead and keeps whispering, “You’re mine, baby. You’re fucking mine.” Then he cums with a growl, his body shaking against mine.

After a minute, he sets me down, and I slump against the trunk, letting my head lean back against the rough bark. Kael helps me put my jeans back on, then his fingers graze over all the cuts and scratches on my face. His knuckles are bloody, his lip split.

I think I am in love with him.

We don’t talk. Not for a long minute. Then Kael wipes the blood off my chin, and finally says, “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

I nod.

Is it finally over?

We move out towards the group of bikers, all standing and assessing the damage.

My eyes search for Gage, and I see him watching me, that same expression on his face.

The one I don’t quite understand. I release Kael’s hand and walk over to him, stopping in front of him and reaching up, wiping blood off his cheek.

“We gotta talk,” he murmurs.

Yeah. We do.

I nod and we both turn, walking off towards the barn while the club figures out what the hell to do.

There is a lot of chattering happening, and many wounded men that they’re loading up to get out.

Some will likely need a hospital, but if I know the club, I know that they won’t go unless they have literally no other option.

Hospitals mean questions.

They don’t want to answer questions.

Gage stops at the side of the barn, and turns to me, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. This is the moment it ends, I know it and he knows it. I just hope after today, he might not try to kill me just so I can’t be with anyone else. I need him to be the guy who saved me, just for a moment.

“You love him.”

It’s not a question.

I meet his brown eyes, and my heart breaks a little for the man I truly wanted to love.

God, did I want to love him.

“Yes,” I whisper.

He doesn’t flinch, but I see a pain flash through his eyes, a pain that hurts me.

“I know you want me to stay, Gage. I know you want this to work, but it’s not going to.

We both know that. All we do is hurt each other.

We live in a spiral of pain and I can’t do it anymore.

I want to be loved. I need to be loved. I will be forever grateful for you, for saving my life, but I need you to let me go now.

There is someone out there for you, a woman who will open your heart and make you see that the love you have for me is nothing in comparison.

I want that for you, and honestly, I need it for me. ”

He inhales deeply, his eyes never leaving mine.

I don’t know how he will react, it could go either way, but I am keeping everything crossed for a good reaction.

“He saved me out there.”

I straighten, shocked. I didn’t know that.

“Had my back to an SUV and some fucker came around behind, about to pull the trigger and blow my brains out. He risked his life to step away from what he was doin’, to kill that man so I didn’t die. Man like that, Sabie, is a man that will give up his entire world for someone he loves.”

Tears burn under my eyelids and all I can do is nod.

“I want that for you. That man ain’t ever goin’ to be me.”

The tears escape and roll down my cheeks.

He reaches up, wiping one away. “You weren’t really pregnant, were you?”

I shake my head. “I was just scared you would kill me.”

He goes silent.

“This what you really want?”

I nod, curling my fingers around his wrist and pressing his hand to my cheek, closing my eyes, feeling the rough surface of his palm against my skin. I will always love Gage, in my own special way, but it isn’t the kind of love that will get me through this life.

“I’ll let you go,” his voice is low, “because regardless of what you think, I love you.”

I open my eyes and look at him. “And I love you.”

I reach up, cupping his face in my hands, and bringing my lips to his.

It’s a long, soft kiss, and when I pull back, I can see resolve in his expression.

He is going to let me go, and he’s going to do it without violence.

All this time I wondered if Gage would ever show his love for me, and in this moment, I see that’s exactly what he’s doing.

In letting me go, he’s finally showing me just how much he loves me.

I will be forever grateful to him for that.

~*~*~*~*~*~

T HE CHAOS HAS STARTED to break into order.

The clubs have split up, some hauling out bodies, some holding each other steady, some scouring the dirt for left-behind brass or blood or any proof that we were here.

They’re not subtle, these men, but they’re good at cleaning up when they have to be.

I see Talon dragging someone I don’t recognize by the ankles, a trail of red where his brains used to be.

Even in death, the violence feels personal.

Everyone’s covered in blood and mud. Zane stumbles past, his shirt torn away so I can see the ragged mess of his tattooed ribs, now with a new puncture that’s not supposed to be there.

He doesn’t look good. Not at all. I call out to him and walk over, reaching out to grip his shoulder. “Hey, you good?”

He nods, but his face is pale.

He’s not good.

I turn, yelling out to Kael. He is beside me in seconds, his eyes narrowing at his wounded brother.

“He’s hurt. I think it’s bad.”

Kael rips Zane’s shirt back and his face twists. “Fuck brother. We gotta get you to a hospital.”

They move quickly after that, getting Zane into one of the SUVs. Frantic voices ring out everywhere. They’re going to clean up the mess, and hope that when the cops show, which will be soon, that they will simply believe the Cartel got into trouble with someone.

It shouldn’t blow back on them, if they’re careful.

Wolfe and Kael are trying to come up with a solution to Zane. It’s Kael who speaks first. “We gotta take him to Mercy, not here. They’ll ask questions and link it to us real fuckin’ quick.”

Wolfe claps his hands once. “Talon, Knox, load Zane up and get him out to Mercy. You know the drill.” He flicks his gaze sideways at me, a muscle in his jaw twitching, then grunts at Kael, “You take her to local. She needs lookin’ at. Less heat, less paper.”

Kael’s hand finds mine. I can’t feel anything but the bite of his fingers, the way they dig in to remind me I’m still alive.

I let him lead me toward the other SUV, one that doesn’t even belong to us.

I don’t bother arguing though, not when Kael opens the door and nods his head for me to get in. I don’t want to be here anymore.

I don’t want to see the carnage.

The ride to the hospital is mostly silent.

We ditch the SUV where we can, and a prospect brings a new one for us.

He will then go and discard the SUV so it never traces back in any way.

My body is aching now, a slow, dull ache that starts from the inside and spreads out.

I have dried blood all over me and my skin burns.

Kael reaches over, his thumb brushing my wrist. “You good?”

I laugh, weakly. “Still here.”

“Nearly there.”

The hospital looms up, not too big, but large enough to have plenty of services.

Kael parks and then comes around, helping me inside.

The desk nurse looks up from her computer and goes wide-eyed when she sees us, doesn’t even try to hide the way she takes in the blood, the bruises, his size, my limp. It must look bad.

It is bad.

She gets into action quickly, calling us into a room. Her name is Candice, and she starts with the basics. “What’s your name?”

“Sable,” I croak.

“Can you tell me what happened?”

We hadn’t actually discussed what I would say. I glance at Kael, and he nods, a small warning that I can speak, but I can’t tell her the truth.

“Car accident,” I say, calmly.

She looks to Kael, suspiciously, then nods. “Okay, Sable. Can you tell me where you’re hurt?”

“It’s mostly surface, but my ribs are killing me.”

“Okay, we’ll get you looked at. Were you unconscious after the accident at any point?”

“I don’t recall, but I don’t think so.”

She scribbles fast on her clipboard, eyes darting up at me every third word. She pulls a kit from the wall and starts cleaning the dirt and dried blood off my cheek with something that stings worse than the wound itself.

“How did you get all of these scratches?”

“My car went off the road, I had to walk through some dense woodlands to get help.”

She stares at me. “You’re lucky to be alive.”

She leaves me to grab a doctor, and my whole body sags into the thin mattress. Kael has to take a call, so he leaves the room with a promise he will be back. I start to zone out, until the doctor appears—older, dryer than the nurse, glasses hanging off his nose.

He’s all business. Probes my side, pokes my ribs, shines a light in my eyes like he’s searching for something only he knows how to spot. “Looks like a couple of shallow lacerations and maybe a cracked rib,” he says. “We’re going to need to do a scan, just in case.”

I nod.

He leaves and Candice gets into action, telling me she will take some bloods, check a few things, and then they will get me in for an X-ray.

I know they’re checking for drugs, they saw who I walked in here with, of course they are going to make sure he isn’t holding me captive. I suppose it happens more than I think.

She does what she needs to do, and Kael comes back in. Once she’s done, I can’t help it, my eyes close and exhaustion takes over. I am so wrecked. Kael sits beside me, his fingers tracing circles over my arms as I doze off. I’m woken a while later to the nurse coming back in.

“Sable?”

I open my eyes, staring at her groggily. “The X-ray will be a while, so we will keep you overnight just to keep an eye on you. We got your bloodwork back, I’d like to have a chat with you, if that’s okay? If you could stand outside...”

She is directing that at Kael.

“It’s okay,” I say softly.

He nods, his eyes flashing to the nurse with a firm expression before he walks out.

Once he’s gone, she sits on a chair beside the bed. “Your bloodwork came back. Did you know you are pregnant?”

I laugh. It just comes out hoarse. Sure, I made that threat, but that’s all it was. A threat. “No, I’m not.”

She looks to me. “Your bloodwork says otherwise. We can do a scan to be sure, but I am quite certain you are pregnant.”

I can’t decide if I heard her right as my world spins and my head fills with white noise.

This can’t be happening.

When I threw that threat at Gage, it wasn’t because I actually believed it.

I lean back in the bed, hand to my chest, struggling for air.

“It’s okay,” Candice says, patting my hand. “Take a few deep breaths, we will get the machine and find out for sure?”

I nod, and my body goes numb as she walks out.

Kael returns a second later, one look at me and he is beside the bed, hands on my cheeks. “Baby, what’s goin’ on?”

“She said...she said I’m pregnant.”

My words are hoarse, like I have slept for an entire night with my mouth wide open and there isn’t a single ounce of saliva left. My heart is racing and my hands are trembling.

Kael goes still.

And a question lingers in the air, one we are both thinking but nobody will say.

Whose baby is it?