Chapter 3 Lyric
LYRIC
“Big day, brother.”
I grin at Pastor, the club chaplain. He’s one of the older members, and while he isn’t the strongest or the fastest with a weapon, he’s loyal as fuck and a genuinely good dude.
“It is,” I confirm. “But I’m ready. Fuck, I’ve been ready since we were still in high school.”
Mellie has always been it for me since the seventh grade, when I punched a douchebag for taunting her.
I’ve never once doubted the instant attraction to her or the way she’s consumed my every thought since.
Even when I’m dealing with club business, she’s there in my head and my heart…
my goddamn soul. Without Mellie, I’d be nothing.
Don’t get me wrong, Kings of Anarchy MC is everything to me, and I’d do anything for my brothers, including give my life. But Mellie makes me want to live. She makes me a better man. She’s the light in my dark world, and she never makes me question anything.
“I remember when you met her,” Pastor says, pulling me from my musings. With a chuckle, he continues. “Rowdy was trying to read you the riot act because he got a call from the school principal that day, but you were so far gone and couldn’t stop talking about the ‘pretty new girl’.”
I laugh, remembering. “Dad was so pissed at me. Not because I punched someone, though. No, he was pissed because I wasn’t paying a lick of fucking attention to him.”
“Yeah, but even back then, I think he could see that Mellie was going to become someone important to you,” Pastor says. “And you’re right, he wasn’t mad about how you handled the situation. Shit, he was proud of that.”
Looking out over the back yard at the clubhouse, I search for Rowdy, knowing he should be back with Mellie. When I don’t see him, my insides churn, and that nagging feeling that I experienced after he left to get her returns.
“Speaking of Rowdy, have you seen him?” I ask.
Pastor follows my gaze and shakes his head. “Not since earlier. Want me to call him?”
“Nah,” I say, reaching into my cut and pulling out my cell. “I will. I’m sure he’s just hiding out somewhere. Ever since his accident, he’s not a fan of crowds.”
Pastor slaps me on the back before walking away. I hit the call button and put my cell to my ear.
“This is Rowdy. I’m not answering, so that should tell you something.”
I chuckle at his voicemail greeting. It’s been the same for as long as I can remember. Next, I call Mellie. It takes everything in me not to head upstairs and check on her in person, but I know she’s taking this whole not seeing each other before the ceremony seriously.
“Hello?” a male voice answers, and my hackles rise.
“Who the fuck is this?” I bark, striding inside.
“My name is Aaron,” he replies. “I’m a deputy with the sheriff’s department. Who am I speaking to?”
“The sheriff’s department? Where is Mellie? What happened?” Questions fly from my mouth as I turn on my heel and race outside. “Zombie!” I shout when I spot my VP in the yard with a few of the others.
He takes one look at me and runs to join me on the deck. “What’s up, Pres?”
I put the call on speaker just as Aaron speaks again. “Sir, I need you to answer my questions first. What is your name?”
“Lyric,” I blurt, not wanting to give my legal name until I know what the fuck is going on. “Where’s Mellie?”
“Who are you to Miss Kensington?”
I grit my teeth. “I’m her fiancé. We’re getting married today.”
The deputy sighs. “I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but there’s been an accident. Miss Kensington and a male driver…”
His words fade as blood rushes in my ears. My heart beats against my ribcage, and I swear it’s going to pound straight through bone, muscle, and flesh.
Not again. Not fucking again!
“Lyric!”
My name being shouted coincides with a stinging sensation on my cheek, and it takes a few seconds to realize Zombie just slapped me across the face.
“C’mon, man,” he says. “I’ll drive.”
“Drive?” I ask, dazed and confused.
He nods at the cell I’m still clutching like a lifeline. “The deputy said that Mellie and Rowdy were being transported to the hospital. We have to go.”
“Hospital?” I ask, still trying to put the pieces together in my mind. Shock… I must be in shock.
“Jesus,” he mutters before glancing out over the yard. “Quake, Whiz, Trick, let’s go!”
I’m dimly aware of Zombie dragging me around the clubhouse to where one of the club vans is parked. He shoves me into the passenger seat, and seconds later, our brothers join us.
“What’s going on?” Quake, our Sergeant-at-Arms, demands as he slams the door.
“Rowdy and Mellie,” Zombie says. “There was an accident.”
“Fuck,” Whiz mutters.
“Accident?” my Enforcer, Trick, asks.
“All I know is that it was bad. They were both alive when the ambulance arrived on scene, and they’re being transported to the hospital.”
“This can’t be happening,” I mumble, more to myself than anything else. “I can’t lose them, either of them.”
“Lyric,” Whiz, the Road Captain, snaps. “You can’t think like that.”
“What if…” The words catch on my tongue, and bile rises up my throat.
What if they die?
What if I never get to talk to them again?
What if Mellie is gone forever?
What if my dad loses his other leg?
What if I had fixed Mellie’s car?
What if I hadn’t sent Rowdy to pick her up?
What if, what if, what if?
What. Fucking. If?!