Chapter Six #2
Closing my eyes, relief floods through me so powerfully that for a moment I can’t speak. I pull her closer, burying my face in her curls and breathing in that uniquely Poppy scent of strawberry shampoo and mischief.
“Thank you, Princess,” I whisper against her hair. “Thank you for understanding.”
She hugs me tight for another moment, then pulls back with that resilient energy that never fails to amaze me. “But when I’m older, I’m definitely joining the club… just so you know.”
Snorting out a laugh, I roll my eyes at her. “We’ll discuss that when you’re eighteen,” I tell her, though privately I’m hoping she’ll want nothing to do with this life by then.
“Deal!” She scrambles off the bed with the same enthusiasm she entered with. “I’m gonna go tell Ingrid that I’m going to the safe house with her and be her protection detail.”
Haven smirks as I shake my head, and just like that, she’s gone, leaving Haven and me staring after her in bemused silence.
“Jesus,” I murmur, running a hand through my hair. “That kid is going to give me a heart attack before I’m fifty.”
Haven stands from the bed, reaching for her clothes, a soft smile still playing at her lips. “She’s going to grow up to be someone special, Alpha. I can feel it.”
I watch her pull on her jeans, admiring the graceful way she moves even in the aftermath of the best sex I have ever had. “Yeah, she is. It scares the hell out of me, but… yeah.”
We dress quickly, both of us knowing that we need to get moving.
The final meeting is tonight, and after that, everything changes.
After that, Defiance goes to war.
As we make our way out of our destroyed bedroom to the clubhouse, I catch Haven’s hand in mine. The familiar weight of her engagement ring presses against my palm, and I squeeze her fingers gently.
“After this is over, the first thing we’re doing is getting married. I don’t care if we have to do it in a hospital or a jail cell. You’re gonna be my wife.”
She squeezes back. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” She winks at me as we enter the main room. The clubhouse is buzzing with activity. Brothers are checking weapons, making final preparations, and the tension in the air is so thick you could cut it with a knife.
But I know we’re heading into unknown territory.
I know I’m the man taking all of us down this path, so I need to have my game face on at all times, and I can’t show these guys what I am really feeling inside, which is that I am quietly shitting myself that I’m calling on these men, my brothers.
Men who have families—old ladies, some have children—and they’re putting themselves on the line for a war that honestly is mine to bear.
This Cartel came for my family.
For some reason, The Rojas Cartel took it upon themselves to start a fight with me, and now I am asking my fellow Defiance chapters to help me end that fight.
Because the truth is, I can’t end it on my own.
And it’s taken me a long fucking time to come to terms with that truth.
I’m not man enough to take out these bastards.
But being brave enough to ask for help is what makes the man.
When this war is over, I pray Defiance stands on top. If Javier manages to beat me again, he’d better finish the job tomorrow, because I won’t drag my men into a fight like this just to see him crowned the damn victor.
We have to win.
There’s no other option.
Rolling my shoulders with purpose in my stride, I call out, “Church, now!” My tone is full of authority and conviction, causing every conversation in the room to stop.
One by one, my brothers file up the stairs toward the Chapel.
Loki’s already got his monitors set up, multiple screens showing the faces of our sister chapters across the country.
Everyone is ready.
Everyone is waiting for my word.
As I take my place at the head of the table with Haven standing behind me, I look around at these men who have become my family.
Some of them might not come back from this.
Hell, I might not come back from this.
But we’re fighting anyway.
Because that’s what we do.
We do what’s right.
The Cartel is a threat to everything we love and cherish.
And we protect what’s ours, no matter the cost.
Banging my gavel, I start the meeting, feeling the heavy pressure pressing down on my shoulders.
But I won’t let it weigh me down. I wear it like armor.
Like a shield, reminding me that Javier is the enemy, and these people here, these people showing up for me, for my family, for my club, are the reason this weight is worth bearing.
“All right, brothers,” I say, my voice carrying to every corner of the room and through the monitors to every chapter this concerns. “You all know why we’re here. At midnight Pacific Standard Time, we take the fight to them. We end this.”
The responses come through the speakers with affirmatives from Chicago, Houston, New Orleans, Tampa, and Vegas.
Every chapter is ready.
Every brother is committed.
“I want you all to be safe out there,” I continue, looking each of my LA brothers in the eye.
“I want everyone to come home. But if something happens to me, if I don’t make it back, you keep fighting.
You protect this club, you protect Defiance, and you protect our families.
You don’t stop until every… last… one of these Cartel fucks is in the ground. ”
A thunderous round of fists slamming on the Chapel table lets me know my guys are ready.
We’ve run through the contingencies.
We’ve planned as best we can.
We now have to hope that the Cartel hasn’t caught wind of our strategy.
Because if Javier knows we’re coming, then we’re going to be walking into the mouth of hell itself. And nothing can prepare my brothers for the shitstorm that comes with the fires of Hades.
Fuck, I hope I’ve done enough.
Trusted the right people.
Thought of every outcome.
Because if this backfires, the body count is completely on me.
“We’ll see you on the other side, Alpha,” Hurricane states with his usual smirk, telling me he’s more than ready for this fight.
“All of us,” Torque adds, dipping his graying head of hair.
“It better fucking be all of us, I’ve got shit to do this weekend,” Sin adds, lifting a beer to his lips.
Nycto shrugs nonchalantly. “I wouldn’t mind a good sleep. So feel free to get a Cartel cunt to knock me out for a bit, would you? Toxin is driving me crazy over here—”
“Hey! I’m right here, Pres,” Toxin calls from the other side of the Tampa clubhouse, Void pulling her into his side to calm her down while Nycto grins at her.
We all chuckle before Six speaks, “All ya’ll talk too much. By the time ya’ll are finished yammerin’, Houston will have this thing won.”
The other presidents scoff, swearing through the screens at Six while I sit back smiling, feeling the camaraderie of Defiance.
This is who we are. We’re rowdy, we’re crude, and we rib each other every chance we get.
But as I look around the room one more time, memorizing faces, burning this moment into my memory, these men, this brotherhood, it’s worth fighting for.
It’s worth dying for.
“All right, this is it, brothers. You know what to do. Hold your loved ones tight. Don’t leave anything unsaid because this could be your last fight.
I appreciate you all for what you’re about to do.
Tomorrow at midnight, we unleash Operation Darkfire.
Let the games begin,” I say, and bang my gavel to close what might be our last church meeting.
The presidents nod, and one by one, their screens darken. My chest tightens, the weight falling back on my shoulders like a heavy burden. As my brothers file out to make their final preparations, I stay seated for a moment, Haven’s hand warm on my shoulder.
In a few hours, everything changes.
In a few hours, we either win our freedom or die trying.
All I know is that once this war starts, there’s absolutely no going back.
For any of us.