13. Journey
CHAPTER 13
JOURNEY
She might have been born from evil, but she doesn’t have an ounce of bad in her.
“Sit down, and shut up!”
Crow glares at each brother as he swivels his gaze around the table. Today was supposed to be a day off from club business, but Pres called an emergency meeting, so here we are.
Once the chatter stops and my brothers sit down, Pres focuses his attention on me. “Something you wanna share with the class, J?”
I narrow my eyes at him. “What would I have to share?”
His stare moves from me to Tracer and back again.
Fuck.
Whipping my head to look at our resident techie and security guru, I cross my arms over my chest. “What the fuck, brother? You told him?”
To his credit, a flash of shame flickers in Tracer’s eyes. “Not exactly something I could keep to myself.”
“Care to fill the rest of us in?” Ghost asks.
Crow glances at me. “VP?”
I heave a sigh. “I assume this is all about Wren.”
“The chick you’ve had a hard-on for?” Screamer asks.
“It’s more than a hard-on,” Jackyl adds. “Bro’s a fuckin’ goner.”
“Shut the hell up,” I snap before continuing. “I don’t know why Wren is club business, but yeah, she’s the woman I met at Ballinger’s.”
“She’s club business because she just happened to walk into the picture around the same time as the Wingless Angels MC,” Crow snarls.
“Yeah, so?”
“So, the bitch is unhinged,” Crow says. “And I’m?—”
I’m out of my chair and landing a blow to his face in a split second. My knuckles burn at the contact, but I welcome the sensation.
“She’s not a bitch,” I growl.
Crow levels his eyes on line as he wiggles his jaw back and forth. “I’m gonna give you a pass for that punch since I saw the writing on the wall when it comes to Wren as soon as I learned of her existence. But hit me again, and you’re gone. Got it?”
“That’s a good deal if I’ve ever heard one,” Fudge comments.
He’s right, it is. I know I shouldn’t have let my anger get the better of me, but when it comes to Wren, I’m not exactly operating on all cylinders. She’s got me twisted in knots.
Finally, I nod as I clench my hands into fists. “Sorry, man. It’s just…”
“Seriously?” Python barks. “First Crow, and now you?”
“What?” I demand.
“Don’t get me wrong, Addi’s great, but if you’re all gonna start falling like dominos, I might have to get out,” Python explains. “No need to get caught up in that trend.”
“Jesus, I’m not making Wren my old lady,” I grumble.
“Journey, you just punched Crow for calling her a bitch,” Poker states matter-of-factly. “You can deny it all you want, but you’ve claimed her.”
I think about his statement for a moment and realize he’s not wrong. When I left Wren’s house this morning, I told her I wasn’t giving up. And I’m not. So, yeah, I guess that makes her mine and mine alone.
“Consider her claimed,” I say. “She’s not a threat to the club, and now she’s one of us, so if any of you have a fucking problem with that, see me after church, and we’ll sort it out.”
“As sweet as that is,” Crow begins. “I’m not convinced that she’s not a threat.”
“I get that her showing up at the same time as Wingless Angels might not be a coincidence,” Ghost begins. “But I can’t get past the ‘unhinged’ comment. What the hell does that mean?”
Again, Crow stares at me as if waiting for me to fill in the blanks.
“Wren has some issues in her?—”
Tracer snorts. “Issues is an understatement.”
I scowl at him. “Since you like to run your mouth so much, why don’t you explain?”
“Dude, what was I supposed to do?” Tracer counters. “It’s not like multiple personalities gives a person a free pass on evil.”
All eyes shift to me.
“Multiple personalities?” Fudge asks.
I sit back down and frown. “Yeah, multiple personalities,” I confirm. “She developed them when she witnessed her father bludgeon her mother and brother to death with a hammer. She might have been born from evil, but she doesn’t have an ounce of bad in her.”
“And you can be sure of this how?” Jackyl asks. “You barely know her.”
“How can you be sure Leah isn’t a threat?” I snap. “She was with Wren the night we met. Maybe she’s who we should be discussing like she’s a tabloid headline.”
“Touché.”
“Look, I might not know everything there is to know about Wren,” I explain. “But you all trust me, right?” Each of them nods. “Then give me the benefit of the doubt by extending her the same courtesy.” I glance at Crow. “Please?”
“Let’s vote on it,” Pres says. “Thump twice if you’re in favor of giving Journey some leeway when it comes to Wren.”
There’s a beat of silence before, one by one, they thump their fists on the table twice. I release a breath I didn’t even realize I was holding. Soulless Kings MC is my life, and I’ve never questioned my loyalty to it and vice versa. I’m beyond grateful that isn’t changing today.
“I guess that settles that,” Crow says. “But mark my words, if Wren’s name pops in anything related to the Wingless Angels, we’ll be putting her fate to another vote, mental health problems be damned.”
“Understood.”
“Good.” Crow shoves a hand through his hair and sits at the head of the table for the first time since he walked into the room. “Now, the Wingless Angels… Any new info on them?”
“Not much,” Tracer replies. “Besides what Addi’s already told us, there’s not much out there. Their president’s identity seems to be a closely guarded secret. His road name, Stone, is the only thing I’ve been able to find.”
“How is that possible?” Ghost asks. “If he’s in prison, there’s a record somewhere to tie the name Stone to a legal name.”
“You’d think, wouldn’t you?” Tracer says. “But I’m telling you, there’s nothing. Stone and his MC must have friends in high places for that info to be buried as deep as it is.”
“Has anyone been able to track down any of their members?” Crow asks.
“Just what Addi already told us,” Poker chimes in. “Which, as you know, isn’t a ton. We know what they do, we know what they call themselves, but finding them has proven more difficult.”
“As of this minute, Wingless Angels are to be considered public enemy number one. We eat, sleep, breathe that club until we can take them down. If it were just a territory dispute, I could be persuaded to be patient, but they’ve already tried to run us off the road and made threats on our lives. They don’t get to get away with that shit.”
“I’m on board,” I say. “And will do everything I can to bring them down, but I’m also going to keep watch over Wren. She’s now linked with me and, therefore, the club. I won’t let them get to her either.”
“I figured,” Crow admits. “You claimed her, so she’s got the right to the same protection as Addi. But I’ll remind yo?—”
“One step out of line, and she’s fucked,” I snap. “Yeah, you made that clear.”
“Good.” He glances around the room. “Any questions?”
“Nope.”
“Nadda.”
“Don’t think so.”
“All good here.”
My brothers all speak over one another before Crow nods.
“Church dismissed.”
After they’ve all left the room and I’m alone, I lean back in my chair and stare at the ceiling. There isn’t a single part of me that thinks Wren is anything other than pure light, but what if one of her personalities is? Can I extricate myself from her and hand her over to Crow, or will I have to cut ties with the only family I have?
Sonofabitch.