Chapter One. #2
“No, listen, Calamity, you walked onto my forecourt and fought for the right to be here. You picked your own name without shame and overcame everything in your path. I failed you terribly when you and Rosie became a couple. You stood tall and risked everything for love. That’s when I knew where you were headed.
Calamity, you can’t be president here, and for you not to hold that position is a crime.
“Like it or not, you were born to manage an MC. The values we try to instil in the Hellions, and that we search for in candidates and rarely find, are overflowing in you. Nothing is set in stone, and the future didn’t look great for anyone.
You could have run, but you stayed. The injury to your leg would have given you a get-out-of-jail card, but you didn’t use it.
Courage, strength, loyalty, consideration, and so many other qualities flow through your veins.
“If I didn’t have Dante or my other sons, you’d be my legacy, no mistake about it. I’m proud to walk beside you. I’m fuckin’ grateful watching you grow into the man you’ve become, and I’m blessed to call you family,” I said and let emotion leak into my voice.
Calamity ducked his head and wiped a tear from his cheek. “Prez, I’d have picked you to be my father if I had been given a choice,” he admitted.
“Take this honour and run with it. Go home and talk to Rosie, see what she says,” I ordered.
Calamity nodded and got up. Just before he opened the door, I called out. “Calamity, consider who you want to take with you. Once we announce this, you can ask them, but we can’t force them to join you. Some may even volunteer.”
“Thank you—for everything,” Calamity whispered and offered a chin jerk before walking out.
I relaxed in my chair. Rage would have its new chapter. Calamity would come through. With a smile, I dragged over the mountain of paperwork involved in setting up a new chapter. This was something I’d never done, so this was a learning curve.
Calamity
I sat on the back steps of my house as one of the dogs came over for a pet.
“Hey, Busker,” I said as the golden retriever nudged at me. Drake’s words kept running through my mind, and two hours later, I was still there when Rosie arrived back from the animal sanctuary.
“You okay?” she asked with concern.
Still bemused and unsure what to say, I shook my head. Rosie sat down beside me and laid her head on my shoulder.
“Where are the kids?”
“With Dad and Penny. Thought I’d let them have the mayhem tonight.” She chuckled.
“Good timing. We’ve got something to talk about.”
Slowly, I began telling Rosie what Drake had offered. I’d been going around in circles ever since this afternoon, waffling about my options. Rosie listened, and she was as stunned as me.
“Dad’s a shit; he never even hinted,” she complained.
I blew out my cheeks and exhaled a deep breath. “Babe, I don’t know what to do. We’ve got lives here. I’ve the apprenticeship school; you’ve the veterinarians and the sanctuary. There’s the house and everything else; we can’t just up and leave.”
Rosie was silent for ages, and I understood she was considering our options. Layla, our Great Pyrenees, and Henrik, a Bernese Mountain dog, came and sat with us, staring up with adoring eyes.
“Being offered your own chapter isn’t ever going to happen again, Calam.
Jon now works at the sanctuary full-time, and Kenny and Jan can handle the clinic.
Hell, they’re both senior vets and want a partnership.
Maybe I could bring them in, and they run Rapid City, and I can start a new sanctuary and veterinarian in Ortonville,” Rosie said.
I blinked. My woman was amazing; she made everything sound so easy when it wasn’t.
“And what about Malachi?” I asked, referring to our son.
“Babe, Malachi’s four; he’ll soon learn the new normal. He won’t know any difference after a few weeks. Erin is two, and Zara is six months,” Rosie retorted. “They’ll adapt, and somehow I don’t think they’ll be the only kids in the MC.”
“No, I can’t ask you to do this,” I argued. My beautiful, kind-hearted wife. She’d move the heavens if that made me happy.
Rosie grinned. “You’re not asking me. Calam, consider everything we’ve been through and survived. Nobody deserves this more, and you’d be an amazing president.”
“Honey, you know that would make you Queen Bee?” I teased, and Rosie blanched.
“What?”
“Babe, you’ll be the head old lady.”
Rosie pouted. “Can’t I designate that?”
I threw my head back and laughed. “No.” I sobered up after a few moments. “It’s not as easy as you make it. We’d be giving up our lives here. What if I fuck up as president? I’m no Drake Michaelson.”
“And that, Calam, is a good thing. Drake’s made way too many errors. His redeeming quality is that he’s prepared to fight and correct them. Calamity, Rage can’t be allowed to stagnate. Sooner or later, this generation will begin standing down, and the younger generations will step up.”
Rosie looked at me and bit her lip. Whatever she was going to say made her uncomfortable.
“Honestly, I don’t want to be around the MC when Dante takes over.
Drake has indulged him too much, and Dante’s been allowed to get away with murder.
Dante’s a spoiled brat, and I don’t like him.
Sure, he was cute as a baby, but he’s developing a level of arrogance that reminds me of the old times.
Women will not be respected with Dante in charge. ”
“You think so?” I asked concerned and Rosie nodded.
“Yes. Look how he treats the twins, Aria and Alyssa are second-class to him. He can do what he wants, but they can’t.
It’s no wonder Gunner loses his temper so often.
Phoe punishes Dante, but it’s clear he doesn’t care.
Not when he has Arrow and Drake’s legacy to inherit.
Dante is someone who will bring the club down.
You having a separate charter means that the National President can be voted on and Dante forced to submit to you. ”
I stared at Rosie. Where had all that come from? It was a lot to take in. Rosie had clearly given this careful thought.
“You believe Dante is that bad?” I asked.
Dante was a handful, like Eddie, but Dante owned a darker side.
And Rosie was right; Eddie was reined in, Dante wasn’t.
Drake made allowances for him he didn’t for anyone else.
While nobody had complained, if you sat back and considered everything, it was plain to see.
Fuck.
“Yes. I do. One day, Dante’s going to get a healthy dose of karma.
Trust me, when he does, we won’t want to be around Rage.
Dante will implode, taking everyone with him.
Drake thinks he has a handle on Dante, but he doesn’t, and he’ll learn that one day.
Dante is a rotten shit, and only time will tell if he’ll outgrow it, but I don’t think he will. ”
Damn. Now that Rosie was highlighting things, I saw her point.
She wasn’t wrong. Dante did have a nasty habit of telling people he was the next president, even proclaiming EJ as VP.
That was a smack in the face to Falcon, who was Ace’s eldest son, and the VP was rightfully his. Neither Ace nor Falcon had commented.
“Falcon won’t stay at Rage,” Rosie said, reading my thoughts.
I felt shocked. “What?”
“Nope. He’s a brother, but when EJ steps into the position that he deserves, Falcon will go nomad.”
“Damn.” I’d not considered any of this.
“You opening a new chapter gives those who are worthy a chance, an option. Some of them should be in the inner circle; they deserve it, but they aren’t going to get it with the RC chapter of Rage,” Rosie continued.
“Can’t disagree,” I muttered, and I couldn’t. Rosie was considering long-term goals and scenarios, whereas I was looking at today and tomorrow. I wondered how many of the other old ladies had seen this situation coming.
“Let’s discuss this properly and call Klutz and Fanatic. Get them to keep it a secret, but go over everything with them. Klutz is balanced, and Fanatic can bring an outsider’s view.”
I looked at Rosie and nodded. This was a life changer. Both Rosie and I had to be certain. Rosie had raised some good points.