Chapter 31
Cobra
Istood too close to the drum; it spat embers onto my jacket, skidding down the leather onto the trampled grass at my feet.
This jacket had been through so much since the day I sewed my first patch to it that the spark didn’t even leave a mark.
It had been with me through so many different kinds of hell that I’d lost count, through my own ordeals and my brothers’, through raids and rescues, leading me to that farm and the fierce-eyed woman who’d become my whole life.
If I hadn’t become a Knight, I never would have found Lynn. And if I hadn’t been abused and whored and fucked in the head, I never would have joined the Knights. Funny how life worked out.
I took a drag from my cigarette and tried to shut out the demons howling at me, the memories of that room in the block of flats so vivid that I could smell it, could hear wind whistling through gaps around the window, could feel the violent press of hands to my body.
But I got out of that place, and the piece of shit who hurt me, sold me, was dead.
Tybalt just gave me the good news. He was fucking dead, and I could finally slam the door on that chapter of my life.
Or at least try to. So I’d been thinking, about a lot of shit actually. Hence the fire; it helped me think. Plus, it made my brothers uneasy and it was fun to mess with them.
Her scent hit me before I heard her hurried footsteps over the violent crackling of the fire.
I kept my eyes on the flames, trying to burn out the image of her curled up on that stained, reeking mattress in the basement of the Alpha’s Bark.
When she stopped beside me, I hooked my arm around her waist and pulled her against my side, needing her close, needing her scent in my lungs to burn away the reek of sexual violence.
“What’s wrong?” Lynn asked, resting her chin on my shoulder as she peered into my face.
I pulled more of her scent in through my nose, letting it overwhelm my senses. I picked up ChaCha’s and Devil’s scents too, and glared over Lynn’s shoulder at the busybodies. They took one look at me and scattered.
“ChaCha went to get you,” I guessed, returning my gaze to Lynn.
“She’s worried about you.” She paused, her eyes deep, dark. “So am I.”
“I’m alright.”
“You’re not.” She took the cigarette from my fingers before it burned dangerously low and stamped it out on the grass.
I only realised my hands were shaking when she linked our fingers and squeezed tightly.
“We’re not doing this shit anymore, remember?
You don’t shut me out, and I don’t return the favour.
We agreed to share. You said you’d let me help, nightmare. ”
I sighed, a tightness in my throat at the name, the sincerity and care in her voice.
I didn’t deserve her, but I would never let her go.
I pulled her closer, fitting her chest to mine and burying my face in her neck.
Her hand came up to the back of my head, scratched along my nape in a way that made me melt into her.
It was an unspoken rule that we were discreet, our friendship public but the rest secret. Yet here we stood in the garden, in the open, where anyone could see and know the truth: I loved every inch and atom of this woman.
“He’s dead,” I said, and cleared my throat when it came out thick. “The—him.”
Her lips skimmed my temple. “That’s good… right?”
“Yeah.” I cleared my throat, my voice rough, thick. “It’s good. I can stop looking over my shoulder, stop flinching when I smell chocolate, stop thinking he’s gonna find me and drag me back there.”
I scrubbed a hand over my face, my eyes burning, skin tight.
“Why do you look so miserable?” she asked, hooking her fingers into the belt loops of my jeans.
I shrugged. Pulled her closer and dipped my head until her scent overwhelmed everything else. “It doesn’t feel real.”
“It’s over,” she said, giving me the words I’d heard her tell herself so many times.
“It’s over, Cobra. He can’t ever touch you again.
And if anyone gets any ideas about hurting you, they’ll have to go through me.
” Her voice was fierce, thrumming with violence.
“It’s you and me against the whole fucked up world, yeah? ”
“Yeah,” I agreed, stealing a kiss and a little in awe at the ease of kissing her. She held my gaze, a wealth of words passing between us. “You and me against the world. Or.” I glanced across the garden. “You and me against the side of that shed.”
Her grin was instant, but it dimmed. “Are you sure you can handle it after today?”
“Can I handle being inside you? Can I handle you feeling like absolute heaven and pure sin around my cock? Let me think…”
She shoved my shoulder. “Don’t be a dick.”
I smirked, sliding my hands up her back, my fingers tangling in her long hair. “Can you handle it?”
“I’ve been trying to handle it all day, but you pretended not to notice.”
I rolled my eyes. “Forgive me for trying to put your mental health first.”
“No, I won’t forgive you.” She grabbed my dick through my jeans, and I laughed, grinning. She kissed the smile off my face, turning my dick rock hard.
“There were other things I wanted to talk to you about,” I groaned, the taste of her fucking divine on my tongue.
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. I want you in my room all the fucking time. Fuck your old room. Move in with me.”
She gave me an odd look. “I already did.”
“Not officially.”
A dark eyebrow arching was her only response.
“Move officially in with me, Lynn.”
“Okay. Officially. I’ll bring the rest of my shit over tonight.”
A giddy thrill went through my stomach. “I want to see you so much I get sick of you. I want the cliche, domestic shit. I want everyone to know you’re mine and I’m yours. I want to take you to meet Dad and Em. They’ve been nagging me about meeting you.”
“Me?” She blinked.
I made a throaty sound, tightening my grip on her. “Who the fuck else? You’re it for me, Lynn, forever. Just you and me.”
A smile transformed her from dangerously pretty to fatally beautiful. I had a feeling true happiness would be a deadly look on her. It was up to me to keep her safe, to keep that glitter in her eyes, the fire burning in her heart. No one would ever touch her without her permission again.
“When?” Her smile softened at my vacant expression. “When are you taking me to meet your family?”
“My family? Oh, never.”
A storm darkened her eyes. Before hurt could join it, I smirked and added, “I’m taking you to meet our family. And no time like the present. Dad’s making some truly horrific excuse for a lasagna apparently. Should be fun.”
She shoved me, scowling. “Asshole.”
“Hey, that’s my line.”
I had the absolute fucking privilege of watching her glare melt into a smile. “You don’t own the word asshole.”
“I trademarked it. It’s mine now.”
Her hands spread over my chest, searing warmth right down to my heart. She leaned close to breathe, “You’re full of shit.”
“And you’re mine. All fucking mine. My peace, my sanity, my safe place.”
“Your superior in literally every game we play,” she added, mostly because she liked watching my expression darken. She liked that edge of danger, thrived on it. Because she was safe with me, and always would be.
“Be very fucking careful,” I warned, letting my voice slip lower, quieter. “Or I’ll change my mind about the shed wall, and you’ll be riding the back of my bike with your ass red and throbbing.”
Her eyes sparkled. “Oh, no. Will you need to tie me up?”
I caught her chin between my thumb and forefinger. Kissed her ruthlessly hard. “Fucking smartmouth.”
Her grin was delighted. And seeing the wickedness in her eyes, the defiant joy in her smile, I knew we’d be alright.
Demons would always prowl the dark spaces in my mind and hers.
The past would breathe down our necks at every opportunity.
We’d been broken and ruined and put back together in a different shape, but we were whole.
Healing would take work, maybe for the rest of our lives, but if she was with me that didn’t sound like such a daunting prospect.
And there was a steady, quiet joy that came from knowing Lynn would be right beside me, giving her own demons the middle finger, making me laugh, kissing the breath from my lungs, reminding me how it felt to command my own body as she remembered the command of her own.
“Come on,” I said, grabbing fistfuls of dirt to put out the fire. “I’ll take you home.”
“We’re already home, idiot.”
I didn’t bother correcting her, because she was right. We’d walked through Hell and now we were home.
Thank you so much for reading Lynn and Cobra’s story.
This book was dark, and hard to write at times, but stubborn hope shone through in every chapter.
I wrote this for anyone who needs darkness to fight their demons, whose ways of healing are messy and unconventional.
There is no wrong way to process trauma, and there is always hope and light in the dark, even if it’s a book, a song, a meme, or a sarcastic asshole who’s bad at gaming.
Let this book be a sign that things will get better. Keep fighting.
The next book in the Alpha Knights MC series is Devil’s and Jessia’s story, which will release early 2026.
Thank you so much for following this series, and coming back book after book.