Raven
Samuel’s taillight disappears down the road, swallowed by dust and distance. The kind that offers finality.
I don’t move. I can’t. My body won’t obey anything except the single, impossible truth echoing in my chest.
He left.
Because he had to. Because if he didn’t, my brother would’ve killed him.
My knees give out, dropping me onto the grass before I realize I’m falling. My palms sting. My throat closes. Everything inside me feels scraped raw. Pop is the first one to come toward me.
“Raven—” he starts, his voice gentler now, a tone I can’t stand because it means he thinks he’s right.
I hold up a hand without looking at him. “Don’t.”
He stops. Knox doesn’t.
He storms across the yard, jaw clenched, lip curled like he’s still tasting blood even though the only one bleeding was Samuel. “That’s the last time you’ll see him. Do you understand?”
“I’m not a kid,” I snap, lifting my head. My voice cracks, but I don’t care. “You don’t get to tell me what to do.”
Knox’s eyes are wild, still riding the adrenaline of beating the man I love. He opens his mouth, probably to tell me exactly how much he doesn’t care what I think, but Pop steps between us.
“Knox,” he warns. “Enough.”
“Enough? Are you kidding me?” he laughs. “It all makes sense now. They’ve been sneaking around our backs for months.”
His words slice straight through me.
Pop’s gaze shifts to me. “Is that true?”
My breath trembles. “Yes.”
Knox drags both hands through his hair, eyes wild with fury. “I'm going to fucking kill him.”
“No, you won’t,” I say.
Knox spins on me, pointing a shaking finger. “You lied to me. You lied to all of us. And you, you put yourself in danger—”
“In danger of what?” I fire back. “Being loved? Being cared for? Being treated like I matter instead of some little kid you all get to protect but never actually listen to?”
Knox goes still.
Pop closes his eyes, just briefly, like he’s praying for patience he doesn’t have. Then he says, “Both of you get inside, and we’ll talk about this calmly.”
Calmly.
There’s nothing calm about the Knox hit Samuel like he wasn’t his best friend. Nothing calm about the way Samuel’s blood spilled on the gravel.
“I’m not going inside.” I meet both of their gazes. “Not until you both understand something.”
They wait as I push to my feet. “I love him,” I say, my voice sure and steady.
Pop exhales sharply, and Knox flinches like I stabbed him.
“And I’m not going to pretend I don’t just because it makes life easier for you,” I continue. “He didn’t lie to you to hurt you. He lied because he was protecting me. Because he knew this—” I gesture to the porch, the gravel, the blood drying in the dirt “—is exactly how you’d react.”
“He betrayed me,” Knox says.
“No. He chose me.”
My words are met with silence.
Heavy and dangerous.
Pop finally speaks. “We’re not done with this conversation, Raven.”
“I know.” My voice softens. “But you’re both wrong if you think you can scare me out of loving him.”
I turn and walk toward the house. But before I step inside, I look over my shoulder where Samuel vanished down the road.
And I know one thing with absolute, terrifying certainty.
This isn’t over.
Not by a long shot.
I don’t wait for Pop or Knox to say anything else. I turn and walk straight inside and climb the stairs. By the time I reach the second floor, my legs are shaking so hard I can barely stay upright. When I close my bedroom door behind me, everything inside me breaks open.
Not a sob.
A collapse.
I can’t tell where the fear ends, and the heartbreak begins as I lean back against the wood, sliding down until I’m curled on the floor, knees pulled to my chest.
Downstairs, voices erupt.
“My sister,” Knox yells. “He’s been fucking around with Rae.”
“Lower your voice,” Pop snaps back. “There’s been enough damage done today.”
“He betrayed me.” Knox throws something. The crash rattles the floorboards under my feet. “He lied to my face. For months.”
“He’s still your brother,” Pop fires back. “And you don’t bury your brother unless you want the whole club to fall apart.”
“I can’t stand the thought of him touching her,” Knox snarls. “God, Pop, she’s only nineteen—”
“He didn’t force a damn thing,” Pop cuts him off. “Don’t twist this into something it’s not.”
“She’s my baby sister,” he says, quieter this time. More wounded than angry.
Pop's voice softens. “I know. But she's not a little girl anymore, Knox.”
“But he…” Knox chokes on the words. “He took her from under our roof.”
“He didn’t take anything,” Pop says. “She chose him.”
“How can you say that like it makes it better?” Knox’s voice cracks. “How are you even calm right now? That’s your daughter.”
Pop’s footsteps move, slower, more controlled. “I’m calm because losing our heads won’t fix this.”
“Fix this?” Knox’s voice spikes into something ragged. “He lied to us.”
A beat of silence. Then, “I’m not happy about how this happened,” Pop says. “But I’m not throwing gasoline on it, either.”
Knox’s laugh is harsh. “You’re not disgusted? You’re not even—God, how are you not sickened by this?”
My stomach twists. I press my hand over my mouth to keep from making a sound.
“I’m not disgusted by a man who loves my daughter.”
“He betrayed you. And you’re talking like it’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing.” Pop’s tone darkens. “But all this anger won’t fix a damn thing.”
“Fix it?” Knox’s boots scrape across the floor. “Rae’s just a kid, and he’s been sneaking around with her for months. How is that not tearing you apart?”
Pop doesn’t answer at first. When he does, it’s low. “What tears me apart is the idea of losing her because we handled this wrong.”
A chair scrapes violently. Knox kicking it or throwing it. “He has her heart,” he spits. “And we never even got a say.”
My breath stops.
Pop murmurs something I can’t quite make out.
Knox cuts him off. “And you’re not even disgusted?”
“I’m sickened by a lot in this world, Knox. But not love.”
Knox continues to yell and hit things while my whole body shakes. I press my forehead to my knees and try to breathe, but it feels like there’s no air left in the world.
My phone buzzes in my hand. I didn’t even realize I was holding it.
One notification.
One name.
Samuel.
My heart stutters so hard it hurts as I open the message.
Samuel: I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to see that. I didn’t want any of this to go down that way.
A sob tears out of me. I clamp my hand over my mouth to muffle it.
Another message comes through immediately.
Samuel: Sweetheart, I never wanted to hurt you or cause problems with your family. If I could’ve taken those hits without you seeing a damn thing, I would’ve.
My fingers tremble as I type back.
Me: You don’t have to apologize. I don’t care how it happened. I just need to know you’re okay. How bad did he hurt you?
Three dots blink.
Stop.
Blink again.
Samuel: I’m fine.
He’s lying. I know it instantly.
The way he stood.
The way he breathed.
The way his ribs didn’t move quite right.
My thumbs fly across the screen.
Me: Samuel, tell me the truth.
Samuel: Don’t worry about me.
Which is the same thing as, I’m hurting, but I don’t want you to know.
I don’t respond. I can’t. If I do, he’ll know what I’m planning. Instead, I shove my phone in my pocket, wipe my face with the backs of my hands, and cross the room to my window.
The house is still vibrating with my father and brother’s argument, so I’m confident that no one will hear me leave.
Sliding the window up, I climb onto the sloped roof and drop down into the yard as quietly as I can.
My heart’s still breaking.
My family’s falling apart.
With my keys tight in my grip, I slide behind the wheel. Sam is out there hurting because of me. The thought sits heavy on my chest as I start the engine. The dashboard lights flicker to life.
Maybe this changes everything.
Maybe there's no fixing what happened tonight.
I don't care.
Whatever waits for us on the other side of tonight, I know one thing.
I'm not letting him face it alone.