Chapter 32
By late afternoon, that heavy hush had settled deep into every corner of the clubhouse.
Ivy and Diamond had gone through to the back offices to sort through medical stock lists.
Hawk had joined Diamond there a little later.
Aysel was in the kitchen getting a big pot of stew ready for whenever the lads finally came home.
I wandered out to the conservatory – that glass-walled nook tucked at the far end of the living quarters, looking out over a small private yard overgrown with roses and wild little flowers.
I sat curled up tight on the old wicker sofa, knees pulled right to my chest, staring out at the pale grey sky. My hoodie felt like a shield, but it couldn’t stop the shivers running right through me.
Then the soft familiar rustle of fabric broke the quiet.
I looked up to see Rose step inside. She had tea and a little plate of biscuits and sat down right beside me without saying a word. Pulled her legs up to match mine and stared out at that same patch of sky I’d been watching.
For a long time neither of us spoke. All you could hear was the steady tick of the wall clock, and the low faint hum of the generator somewhere out back.
“You’ve got that look about you,” Rose said softly, her voice gentle in the quiet. “I’ve seen it before. They told you didn’t they.”
I turned to look at her, catching the thin pale scars criss-crossing her wrists, and the sunflower pendant glinting against her throat.
“They did,” I whispered, throat tight. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry. It’s just… everyone acts like we’re walking straight into some kind of war zone. And no one will tell me why.”
Rose turned to me, a soft sad smile on her face, no fake politeness left at all. Just raw honest warmth.
“Don’t you dare apologise,” she said quiet and sure. “Ivy’s right – you do feel things too deep. And you deserve to know the truth. When the men here see someone being hunted… they don’t see just a person to watch over. They see something coming back to finish what it started.”
She reached up, fingers brushing the little silver cross she wore.
“My story with Leo started in the dirt too,” Rose murmured, gaze drifting far away.
“He looked terrifying at first – wild, rough, like nothing good could ever come near him. But he was the only one who ever opened a door for me. And once he did… I swear he’d have burned the world down just to keep me warm.
Back then I called him and his lot ‘that gang’ in my head.
They never once laid a hand on me… but they knew exactly what words would cut deepest. I got so used to it I stopped even feeling it. Until one day…”
She held her wrists out a little, showing the marks.
“Until I hurt myself. That’s when he saw it.
I still wonder why he bothered with someone like me – everyone else thought I was just broken trash not worth saving.
But he looked at me and saw something worth fighting for.
I thought once I had him, I’d be safe… that I’d finally found a place I wouldn’t get cast out of. ”
She leaned closer, voice steady and serious now.
“And you need to know this too, Danika. Life inside these gates isn’t like it is out there. Folks out there date slow, take their time getting to know each other, wonder if they should commit. Here? Nothing moves slow. Everything is fast, wild, all or nothing.”
A soft little breathless laugh escaped her.
“When one of our men picks his woman. It hits like a hurricane. No long courtships, no guessing games. They fight hard, love harder, and claim what’s theirs before you even know what’s happening.
Leo swept me right off my feet before I could even catch my breath.
And Rage is going to do the exact same thing to you. ”
I stared at her, heart thudding hard, a shiver running all the way down my spine.
“You need to understand exactly who he is,” Rose went on, warm and earnest. “I’ve known him since he was little, but I really saw him when I walked through those gates.
He’s Leo’s blood brother, his right hand, the one who does the things no one else can bear to.
And in all this time he’s never once brought a woman here.
Never let anyone close enough to see who he really is. ”
Heat flooded my face, burning up my neck and ears. “Rose…”
“Listen to me,” she said, resting her hand over mine.
“He’s always been the quiet one, the one who carries all the worst weight alone.
We all worried he’d spend his whole life standing guard, never letting himself have even a crumb of happiness.
Then you showed up. He sat in that terrible coffee shop for three hours, drinking that awful stuff he hates…
just so he could watch over you. He was terrified he’d scare you.
And when you shouted at him, stood your ground.
He wasn’t angry. He was stunned. You challenged him that everyone is scared to do.
You matched his fire with your own. You gave him a reason to smile again. ”
Tears pricked at my eyes, and suddenly every little thing made sense. That rough calloused touch, the way he’d spoken so gruff but so gentle… he wasn’t trying to lock me away. He was a man who’d never had anyone stay, and he’d chosen me to be his whole world.
Rose’s eyes glistened. “He’s like a brother to me, Danika. I want him to have everything good Leo and I have. I want you to have it too. You’re so bright and strong, don’t you ever run from what this is. Let him be your shelter. Let him take you along for the ride.”
One tear slipped down my cheek, and all that fear I’d been carrying started to melt away.
“I will,” I whispered, smiling soft and wobbly through my tears. “I told him last night… I’m staying. I’m not going anywhere.”
Rose let out a bright happy laugh and pulled me right into a tight warm hug that smelled like lavender and fresh laundry.
“Thank you God!” she beamed, pulling back to grin at me. “The lads have had bets going this whole time! I’ll be buying rounds of drinks for weeks!”
I laughed, even as my face burned bright red again.
She popped a biscuit in her mouth and winked at me.
The heavy dread that had hung over the club all morning felt lighter – even with the men still gone, even knowing what was waiting out there.
I wasn’t alone anymore. I had a family now.
And I had a beast standing watch who’d never let anyone take me away.
Right then, I stamped down on the fear and doubt whispering through my mind. Only happiness is going to win.