Chapter 11 Steel Forged #2
“Go to them,” she says. “They’re waiting.”
And before I can argue, she turns and walks out of the chapel.
I sit there, surrounded by ghosts and the silence of things left unsaid, watching the woman I love disappear into the night, and not knowing it’ll be the last time for a long time.
After the burial, we gather in the old lot behind the chapel. Not all of them know what this is yet. They think it’s just a moment to breathe. But I asked for the young ones, the next generation, to stay.
A dozen of us stand in the July heat with our jackets unzipped, hair slicked back. Hands twitchy from the need to do something when there’s nothing to fix.
The prospect Killian Drake still has that buzz cut and jittery energy from his military days.
Nova and Caine Wild, two other prospects, are twins with too much chaos between them and not enough structure.
The final prospect, Zane, with the snake tattoo behind his ear, is watching me like he’s trying to decode something.
August and Collateral Damage, two members who don’t have a rank, lean against their bikes, faces unreadable, arms crossed like a damn guardian.
Crusher, Honor, City, Rampage, Rock, Throttle, Draft, and our newest member, Hurricane, watch me with watery eyes. Dad’s death hit these men the hardest. He helped shape them into the loyal patch members they are today. Men who made this life into a legend.
I step onto the flatbed trailer. The same one we used last year for a fireworks run. Now it’s my stage.
“We laid my father to rest today,” I begin.
“And with him, we buried a legacy that can’t be replaced.
Tama King built this club out of nothing.
He fought tooth and nail to give men like us, outsiders, misfits, war-torn souls, a place to call home.
” I pause, letting the wind move through the silence.
“But this isn’t the end of Saints Outlaws.
It’s the rebirth. Steel-forged. You hear me? ”
They nod. A few make sounds low in their throats. Not quiet words. More like a belief beginning to form.
“I’m not here to be him,” I continue. “I’m here to be me. And I’m here to tell you this, from this day forward, we choose protection over pride. Unity over ego. No more lone wolf bullshit. No more grudges over old blood. We ride for each other, or we don’t ride at all.”
Their eyes hold mine. Every last one.
“This world’s going to come for us harder than ever now that they know the General’s gone. But they’ll find out quick, we don’t break! We don’t scatter. We evolve, we expand. We fortify!”
August lifts his chin. “And what do we do if someone breaks rank?”
I look him dead in the eye. “We remind him who we are. And if they can’t ride straight, they don’t ride with us.”
Nova mutters, “Damn right.”
I scan them all, one by one. “You’ve got a choice, all of you. Be the reason this club gets stronger, or be the reason we all fall. But know this…” I take a breath. The first real breath I’ve had all day. “The crown’s heavy. But I wear it for all of us.”
They nod. Not a single one walks away. The torch is passed, and I’ll keep it lit with everything I have.
I don’t find out Aria’s gone until I get home.
Her suitcase is missing, and the closet is half empty.
Drawers are left open, like she pulled her life out fast, like it burned to touch.
No note, no message. Just the ghost of her laugh in the rooms we used to fill, and the scent of us deep in the sheets.
I call her phone. It rings once, then straight to voicemail. I call again and again.
Each silence hits harder than the last. Like she’s not just gone but erased. I stare at the screen until my eyes ache, like maybe I can call her back with want alone.
Nothing.
I check with her firm. She’s on an indefinite leave of absence. No forwarding info. They wouldn’t give it to me anyway.
I call Aria’s mother in Detroit.
“She’s here,” her voice says. Flat. Guarded. “She needs space. That’s all I can tell you.” Then she hangs up the phone.
Space? She needed space after standing by me through everything? After giving me her body like a vow, after promising she wouldn’t leave?
She stood in the shadows so I could step into the light. Loved me without needing credit. Whispered everything but the word forever. Then vanished like it meant nothing. Like I meant nothing.
No goodbye. No explanation. Just absence, carved into every place she touched.
It doesn’t make sense. But maybe it does. Maybe loving a man like me, like this, was always a gamble she couldn’t afford to lose.
I sit heavily on our bed. The room is dim, the only light coming from the streetlamp outside. My hands rest on my thighs, trembling slightly.
I close my eyes, and suddenly I’m back in the chapel, sitting beside Aria. Her fingers curled around my wrist, trying to steady me. Her eyes were shining, but not quite meeting mine. Her words echo in the silence.
“I’m not leaving you, Isaiah. I’m just… stepping back a little.”
I didn’t hear the warning then. Didn’t hear the goodbye hidden beneath the love.
I reach out into the darkness of this empty room like I’m trying to grab something that slipped through my fingers years ago.
I should have asked her to stay. Should have told her she wasn’t alone. Should have fought harder to keep her.
I was blinded by the weight of this crown, too caught up in the war and the club to see the battle she was fighting inside. And now, the silence in this room is louder than any roar of engines.
I step out onto the entryway, breathing in the stillness of life. The night presses in like a fist. The stars don’t blink. Even though my world has come to a screeching halt, everyone else's still moves.
I light a cigarette I don’t want and let the smoke bite my throat.
She left on her terms. No warning. No second chances. I can’t chase her. Not now.
“I should’ve seen it coming. I should have held on with both hands.” I whisper in the dark.
She’s gone, and the kingdom’s on fire.
They handed me the crown, told me to walk through the flames. Even if it costs me the only person I’d burn the world down to keep.
Her.