In Another Life (Raven Souls MC #5)

Prologue

Then

DELPHI

I squeal as he catches me and swings me around before peppering me with kisses. I turn in his embrace, laughing, his grin making me roll my eyes.

God, it’s been so long since we laughed like this, but finally, it feels like we might be turning a corner.

“You cheated. You said you’d give me a head start.”

“Turns out it’s impossible to resist this ass.

” He reaches down and squeezes it before he dips his head and kisses me again.

After being married for six years, you’d think the passion would have ebbed as it does in most marriages, but I still wanted Lee as much now as the day I met him.

And it wasn’t one-sided. There wasn’t a day that went by that he didn’t make me feel like I was the most important person in his life.

He showed me in a million different ways, and while my girlfriends went through boyfriends faster than they did iced coffee, Lee was my one constant.

Well, him and the Raven Souls MC. When I first started dating Lee, he’d been a prospect.

Four months later, he earned his cut and slipped a ring on my finger, pulling me into the fold right along with him.

I had no idea what MC life would be like.

It wasn’t something that was on my radar in high school—not until Lee collided with me in the parking lot of a gas station, soaking my T-shirt with my cherry Slurpee.

I’m not sure which was redder—my T-shirt or my face—but one look into Lee’s eyes and I was a goner.

It didn’t matter what anyone said, and god knows every man and his dog had an opinion about us.

I was too young, he was too rough around the edges, and I was throwing my life away on a happily ever after that didn’t exist. Everyone knew better than me, but they didn’t feel what I did.

We dated for a year, and on the anniversary of our one-year relationship, two weeks after I turned eighteen, we got married at the courthouse.

I wore a simple white sundress, Lee wore his jeans and Raven Souls cut.

It wasn’t the wedding most women wish for, but to me it was perfect.

I didn’t care about all the pomp and circumstance, the expensive dress and three-tiered cake.

I cared about the man who held my hair back when I puked, who wrote me poems when he could find the right words to say what he meant, and who protected me from anything and anyone who might want to hurt me.

“Why don’t you go take a bath before we go, and I’ll get you a glass of wine?”

“I don’t know. I wasn’t really thinking of drinking tonight,” I tell him softly.

“Just one to steady your nerves.”

“You know me too well.”

He winks at me. “Go soak. I’ll be up in a minute.”

“Yes, sir.” I salute, squealing when he pretends to chase me once more.

I head up and run the bath, sitting on the edge of the tub as it fills, trying to ignore the pang of guilt that always follows my laughter. I’m not sure I’m entitled to be happy anymore, not after everything.

With a sigh, I strip off and climb in, letting the warm water soothe away my worries for now.

“Here you go.”

I turn and smile when Lee walks in, taking the glass from him before he kneels next to me.

“Drink up, and I’ll wash your back.”

“You drive a hard bargain.” I gulp the wine before putting the glass down and handing him a sponge. “Hop to it, kind sir.”

“So demanding,” he teases. He washes my back without complaint before helping me out and drying me off.

As I tug my underwear, my stomach cramps and a wave of nausea hits me hard. I rush to the bathroom just in time to throw up.

“Shit, Del, you okay?”

I don’t answer because I can’t stop retching. I only stop when I have nothing left inside me to throw up, but I know it won’t be the last of it.

“I feel like shit.”

“No offense, you look like shit, too. Come on, let’s get you into bed. Hopefully you can sleep it off.”

“But the clubhouse.”

“Will still be there tomorrow.”

I sigh and give in, already feeling my stomach pitch again. “Okay.”

He helps me up and waits for me as I brush my teeth before he carries me to bed, tucking me in before sitting down beside me.

“If I didn’t have church, I’d stay.”

“You’ve missed enough. I’ll be fine, and I’ll call if I’m not.”

“Alright.” He presses a kiss to my forehead, lingering there for a minute. “I love you. No matter what. Promise me you’ll remember that,” he says gently as he tucks a stray hair behind my ear.

I feel the smile slip from my face as I reach for the edges of his cut and look up at him. “What’s wrong?”

He smiles, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes, not like before. “Nothing’s wrong. I’m just being a sentimental fool because I don’t like leaving you when you’re sick. I just want to know that, because if anything ever happens to me, I don’t ever want you to question what I felt for you.”

“If you’ve got a bad feeling, maybe you should stay home.” I bite my lip, feeling anxious all of a sudden. I can’t lose him, not after everything else I’ve lost.

“No. Not only do I have church, but Blade’s meeting with the Kings of Carnage tonight. He needs us at his back as a show of solidarity.”

I don’t say anything for a moment as I think over his words.

Blade is the club president. Lee—Snake, as he is known to the club—takes his job as the club enforcer very seriously.

I know he’s capable of taking care of himself—and Blade, for that matter—but he’s not nearly as indestructible as he seems to think he is.

I’ve cleaned up my fair share of knife wounds and bullet holes over the years, each time sending thanks to the man upstairs that Lee came back to me, even if it was a little worse for wear.

But luck can only keep you alive for so long.

Every time he left to go deal with club business, I worried that it would be the last time.

I push those thoughts aside, putting my faith in Lee and in his brothers to have his back. I reach up and cup his jaw. “I love you. Forever and always.”

It turns out that forever and always were a lot closer than I ever could have anticipated. There were no signs. All I saw were green flags and a white knight until it was too late.

He never came home. Not that day, nor the next.

It wasn’t unheard of, but he’d never been gone for so long without calling or messaging me.

I’d tried calling him. Heck, I’d tried calling everyone, but for some reason, I had no signal.

Tossing the phone on the counter, I grab the keys to the truck and head to the compound.

I don’t bother grabbing my bag. My fear that something has happened, something bad, has overruled any sense of self-preservation.

I don’t know how I make it to the compound without crashing and killing myself in the process.

The first thing I notice is that the gate is open and there is no prospect insight.

I abandon the truck and am running before it’s a conscious thought.

I don’t stop until I collide with someone and end up on my ass.

I barely feel the pain as I scramble to my feet.

It was Kruger I crashed into, and for the first time in hours, I feel a sense of calm wash over me.

Until I get a look at his face.

I don’t know what I thought I might see—fear, pain, regret, worry, hell, even pity. But not hate. It’s so visceral, I take a step back.

I notice others heading my way, each with similar expressions. My eyes move from Kruger to Circus. They skate over Capone and Midas before coming to a rest on Blade, who looks like he’s been through the ringer.

“Tell me.” My voice cracks.

Nobody speaks for a moment before Blade takes a step forward. “How about you tell me, Del? Tell me where your husband was last night.”

I answer without thought. I do what I’ve always been instructed to do—have my man’s back.

“He was with me,” spills from my lips like an oath, sealing my fate. I’m just too stupid to know it.

There’s shuffling before they all draw closer.

“Is that right?”

“Where’s Snake?”

“Why, Deli, I thought he was with you?” Circus taunts.

Frustrated tears run down my face as confusion, fear, and anger war for supremacy. “Will someone tell me where my fucking husband is!” I yell.

The feel of a hand around my throat cuts off my shout. I’m lifted clear off the ground, and I find myself eye to eye with Blade. “Your husband is in the ground where he belongs. And if you don’t shut your filthy mouth, you’ll be joining him,” he snarls before he tosses me to the ground.

I sob, my anguish pouring out of me as his words penetrate the fog. “Why?” I whisper, feeling as if someone has taken a white-hot poker and shoved it into my heart.

“Snake was working with Bear to stage a coup. As you can see, I won.”

I cover my mouth with my hand and shake my head because that can’t be true. He wouldn’t do that.

“No. he—”

“Are you calling me a liar, bitch?” Blade snarls at me.

I freeze, fear washing over me as I finally realize the precarious situation I’m in.

I’m not dealing with my family now. I don’t know who these people are, but any sense of safety I felt with them was washed away the second Blade wrapped his hand around my throat, and the others just watched him do it.

“Do you know what he did to Lil?” I turn to look at Midas, whose face is blank. “He was going to rape the old ladies. The kids were right there watching, so Lil stepped in and took it for them.” He bends down as I feel all the color bleed from my face.

“And before you tell me you can’t rape a whore, I assure you, you fucking can. Your husband was a sick fuck. Makes me wonder just what you two got up to behind closed doors. I can’t even look at you. You make me sick.” He spits at me, hitting my cheek before he turns and walks away.