Chapter 16
The warmth seeped right out of my tea, leaving it cold and hollow in my hands. Rose had spoken without thinking, caught up in wanting to help – but her words hung heavy: he knows where you work.
It hit me like a fist to the gut. The mug trembled between my fingers. My mind raced back to that smug polished face standing across my counter. He hadn’t stumbled into town by chance. He’d been following me. And if he knew where I worked… he already knew exactly where I lived.
I swallowed hard, eyes snapping straight to the window. That bright golden sunlight suddenly felt like a trap, offering nowhere to hide at all.
“The shadow,” I whispered, my voice so small I barely heard it myself, every bit of usual sharp armour stripped clean away.
Rage went rigid in his chair. Dark eyes narrowed to slits, that terrifying focus locking onto me like a physical weight. “What shadow, Danika?” he rumbled, his deep voice dropping an octave, rough and dangerous.
“Tuesday night,” I stammered, glancing from him to Rose, heart hammering wild against my ribs.
“I was walking home. Thought someone was there, standing back in the dark just watching the cottage. Told myself it was just paranoia, after running for so long. But I wasn’t wrong.
It was him. He knows exactly where I live. ”
The whole room shattered.
Rage didn’t just stand – he practically exploded up from that chair.
Wood legs screeched loud against the floorboards like something tearing.
That quiet watchful man was gone, replaced instantly by the towering feral Enforcer.
Heat seemed to roll off him in waves, knuckles white, scars glowing silver in the light.
“Pack your bags,” he ordered, every word law. There was no arguing this. “Now.”
“Rage, wait—” I started, that stubborn independent streak flaring up even through the fear.
“No waiting!” he roared, stepping right into my space, looming over me like a living wall.
“He’s already marked your home. If those pricks come back with more men, they’ll come straight here.
You’re done staying in this cottage. You either walk out with me now, or I sling you over my shoulder and carry you out myself. Choose.”
I looked up at him and knew he meant every word. There was no fighting this. And honestly… looking at that raw protective fury in his eyes, I didn’t want to.
“I’ll help you,” Rose said instantly, already grabbing my hand and pulling me toward the bedroom.
Thankfully I’d lived here barely six months and never brought much with me.
Rose and I tore through that tiny room, hauling out the same battered duffel I’d run away with.
I stuffed in clothes and what little else I owned; even Rose knelt on the floor throwing my shoes in to my bag, she was already telling me it would all be replaced if we forgot anything.
Less than ten minutes later, everything I owned was zipped tight.
When we walked back out, Tiny and Swift were already posted by the door, faces grim and alert, hands resting close to their sides.
Rage took the bag in one hand, then rested the other firm and warm on my shoulder, grounding me.
That terrifying heat was still there, but beneath it ran something steady, electric, safe.
He led me out the door, scanning every hedge, roofline and shadow like a predator hunting anyone foolish enough to be watching.
Because only an old lady rides on the back of the bike, I went to climb into the back of the club truck with Rose, while Tiny took the wheel.
Rage had other plans grabbing me by the waist and put me on his bike, swung a leg over his chopper, waiting for me to settle, then revved the engine low and loud.
“Wrap tight,” he rumbled over the roar, once I’d shifted up behind him. “Don’t let go.”
I didn’t hesitate. Wrapped both arms right around his solid frame, pressed close, and held on. He twisted the throttle, and we tore out of the drive, wind howling past my ears, leaving the cottage and every shadow watching it far behind.
We slowed as we passed through the heavy iron gates, and the world shifted again.
A blur of bright wild energy came bounding out onto the porch.
“Danika!” she called out, delighted.
It was Ivy. I recognised her straight away – she’d come with Rose that first time we met. Now as she drew closer, I saw she was about two months along, a neat little bump just starting to show beneath her top, but nothing had slowed her down one bit.
She sprinted straight over the gravel and threw her arms around me.
“Oh my god you’re finally here!” she beamed, squeezing tight.
We stumbled back under the force of it, boots slipping loose on the stones – until we hit something solid and warm.
Rage had stepped up right behind me, arms coming round my waist to steady both of us, his chest like an unmoveable wall at my back.
I settled against him, feeling that deep steady thud of his heart right through my shoulder blades.
“Easy there, Ivy,” he grumbled, though there was faint fond amusement in his voice as he slowly let go. “Let the girl breathe.”
Ivy didn’t even pause for breath once she’d pulled back. “I’ve been pestering Bones all week telling him you shouldn’t be out there alone! You’re gonna be safe her, Danika! Me and Thorn have been dying for you to hurry up and come here.”
Rose climbed out of the truck grinning, watching us with pure warmth.
Ivy’s expression softened, turning serious and gentle as she looked between us. “We’re sisters here, Danika. Both of us know exactly what you ran from. We know the scars don’t always show.”
She leaned in a little closer, voice low and sincere. “Thorn wants to save everyone. And now she’s got you to look after too. But don’t you worry – this ain’t no gilded cage. The Iron Angels don’t do locked doors.”
My throat tightened up, a strange warm feeling spreading right through my chest. Two women, barely known to me yet ready to stand guard with their lives. But then I looked past them, up toward the clubhouse steps, and that soft hopeful bubble just popped.
Standing up there were the old ladies of the charter – the ones who’d been around since the start.
They weren’t smiling. Their faces were calm, guarded, watchful.
They didn’t say anything, just watched me cross the yard.
I wasn’t family yet. I was an outsider. Someone they’d need to check, vet, and test before I ever truly had a place at their table.
For the patched brothers, a girl in trouble was simple – you stepped in, you stood between her and harm.
But for the old ladies, every stranger brought through those gates was a possible threat to the only home they’d ever known.
They knew what my father’s name and his power could do.
I’d have to prove I wasn’t going to bring all that crashing down on them.
I glanced back at Ivy and Rose, then up to Rage – still watching me quiet and steady, duffel hanging loose in one hand.
The road ahead wasn’t easy. But as I took my first step up toward those steps, something old and dormant sparked bright inside me.
I wasn’t running anymore. The Iron Angels were my fortress now. And I was ready to earn my place.