Chapter Fifteen #2
Nav happily scooped up the little girl, giving her kisses as she giggled and squirmed in his arms. Following the little girl, a pretty woman walked over, her eyes lovingly watching the interaction as she too greeted Nav, while my eyes widened when an older woman with striking gray eyes and hair as black as the night walked over to me and lightly touched my cheek, her soft voice wrapping around me like a protective blanket.
“Hello, Jackson.”
I couldn’t stop myself as I grabbed the woman and hugged her tightly, my body shaking in disbelief. Her soft, soothing voice calmed my mind as she rubbed my back. “Breathe, baby. Just breathe.”
Stunned, I reluctantly let her go as she gently wiped a tear that rolled down my face. “How? I don’t understand.”
Cupping my face, she smiled. “James will explain everything. I promise.”
“Think I can get one of those hugs?”
My head snapped up as a brother engulfed me in a bone-shattering man hug before releasing me and grinning. “A day for ghosts, huh, brother?”
“Judge?”
My brother nodded. “In the flesh.”
“Savage told us you died.”
“Yeah, almost did too when that fucker Toxic aimed at my head, but like everything else about him, he couldn’t even do that right.
” Judge smirked, turning his head so I could see the long scar that wrapped around the entire left side of his skull.
“The bullet skimmed me. Took my hide right off. Still can’t get my hair to grow back.
You should know that Maverick is also here, among others.
But I think the one person you are going to really want to see is.
..” Judge’s voice trailed off as he looked around the clubhouse, frowning, right before he whistled loudly.
Seconds later, a door opened up and a woman I desperately loved and adored, a woman who raised me as one of her own, a woman who stepped up and became the mother I never had, stormed out wiping her hands on a dish towel before she too squealed loudly and rushed over to me.
The sight had me falling to my knees, unable to breathe.
Gasping for air, she rubbed my back as a Southern voice I thought I’d never hear again rang true. “What the hell did you do, Judge?” Her question was a whip crack, not just of anger, but of disappointment.
“Nothing, I swear!” My brother’s voice was a reedy, pathetic thing, a stark contrast to the man I knew him to be.
“You could have warned him. Now look what ya did. My boy is hyperventilating! I ought to take a switch to your ass!” Her words were a painful echo of her protective nature, a nature I usually cherished.
“Aw, Roxy, I didn’t mean any harm, and Ravage is stronger than he looks. He’s just playing it up.”
“I’m gonna play the ‘Devil Went Down to Georgia’ on your ass with a willow switch, Judge!
” my aunt Roxy chided right before she whispered in my ear, “I know everything is a shock, Jackson, but I’m gonna need ya to put your boots on and stand tall, because shit’s only gonna get worse from here on out. ”
Her proximity, the scent of her familiar perfume, should have been comforting.
Instead, her words, laced with both threat and a desperate plea, tightened the knot in my stomach.
Stand tall. How could I stand tall when I felt like I was crumbling from the inside out?
How could I face what was coming when I had already failed so spectacularly at the first hurdle?
Looking up at the woman I loved dearly, I was about to ask what she meant, my words catching in my throat, when Pops walked over and extended his hand to help me stand. His touch was firm, grounding, but offered no solace against my internal storm.
“Roxy’s right, Jackson. Shit’s getting real bad, and now that you know, we’re all gonna need your help.
” His words felt like a burden, an insurmountable task.
I had just witnessed something I couldn’t comprehend, something that had shattered my reality, and now they expected me to be a pillar of strength.
The sheer unfairness of it, the demand for resilience when I felt so utterly broken, was almost unbearable.
“Need me for what?” My question was laced with a weariness that belied my years, a weariness born of choices I hadn’t made but was already being held accountable for.
“Come into church and I will explain everything.”
I still couldn’t believe what I was seeing as I sat at the large oak table with the Golden Skull etched into the wood, saying nothing as Pops took his seat at the head of the table.
Next to him sat Grudge, the president of the Alabama Chapter of the Soulless Sinners.
Around the table sat familiar faces—faces that had no allegiance to the Golden Skulls yet sat comfortably next to brothers from different clubs.
“How ya doing, son?” Pops asked, and I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees as I held my head in my hands.
“I don’t know.”
Judge chuckled. “Yeah, I felt the same way when I saw them. It gets easier.”
“Speak for yourself,” I heard Sypher mutter as he placed his laptop on the table.
“You try accepting the mother you thought long dead has been alive all this time. That’s not to mention the ass-chewing she gave me for how I handled the fucked-up mess with Jane Craven, and that was all before she gave me a hug! ”
“Yeah, but your kid smoothed things over.”
“Only because she finally has a grandbaby,” Sypher snapped, then groaned, taking a seat next to me. “And thank fuck Danika is a girl. I’d hate to see how Momma would have reacted if I had presented her with another boy. Plus, she adores Dante.”
“Where is Karlyn?” I asked, looking at Pops.
“She’s with my woman and Melissa and Roxy. They will get her settled while we talk.”
“Speaking of your woman, does Dylan and Layla know their mother is alive?”
“Oh, he fucking knows.” A familiar face walked in growling. “And he’s still pissed.”
“Phantom?”
“In the flesh.” My club sister plopped her ass down in a chair as she glared daggers at Pops. “That fucking asshole Stone just arrived. He’s dropping his shit in his room.”
“What Stone?” I asked.
“Arizona, Montana’s brother,” Phantom sneered.
Shaking my head, I balled my fist tight and growled, “What the fuck is going on here? How are all of you alive?”
Leaning back in his chair, Pops sighed. “What’s going on is a war that started long before most of you were born. A war that’s finally coming to a head, and unless everyone involved is on the same page, it’s going to be a war we will lose.”
Before Pops could explain more, the door opened, and in walked Arizona Stone, and a man that had Nav pushing off the back wall. “You’re dead, motherfucker!”
“Hey, Nav. Miss me?” The man smiled, right before Nav punched him in the face.
Jumping from my seat, I grabbed Nav as he shouted, “You let those sick fucks take Banshee! They almost killed him!”
Rubbing his chin, the brother got in Nav’s face.
“Like you all left me to die in that fucking warehouse? Fuck you, Nav. I did what I had to do. I pushed him off the road so he couldn’t follow me.
It would have blown my cover. I didn’t know they were behind us.
I’d already saved his ass once. Do you really fucking think I would have left my brother there?
This shit, this war, is bigger than any of us.
So stop being a fucking pussy and listen! ”
“Fuck you, Chasm!”
“No, fuck you!”
“ENOUGH!” Pops bellowed loudly. “Both of you, sit the fuck down and listen. I don’t have time for this shit.”
Taking our seats, Pops looked at Sypher, who nodded, opened his laptop, and began speaking.
“I know why you are here, Ravage. We all do. Since being here, I’ve learned things.
Things that will reshape the Biker Federation.
But for right now, you need to know that Karlyn is being hunted.
Not only by Satan’s Angels and the Death Dogs, but also by a serial killer. A man named Karl Ingalls Sr.”
“Her dad?” I gasped, leaning forward in my seat.
Sypher shook his head. “Karl Sr. isn’t Karlyn’s biological father.
Joel Johnson is her father, but you knew him as Knuckles, the former vice president of Satan’s Angels and Karl Sr.’s butt partner.
When Ink walked into his father’s office that day and saw Knuckles fucking his dad, Ink did the world a great favor by killing Knuckles.
But he also inadvertently created a monster no one foresaw. ”
“Why does he want to kill Karlyn?”
Sypher shrugged. “That’s the million-dollar question. It doesn’t make sense, and the RCPD has classified him as a serial killer, so who the fuck knows? So far, he’s killed almost every member of Knuckles’ family. The only two left are Karlyn and Kyllian.”
“Firestride’s woman?”
Sypher nodded. “Yeah.”
Shaking his head, Nav muttered, “That makes no sense, Sypher. Kyllian’s mother is Kaylah Russell, Banshee’s missing sister, and Kyllian’s father is Steele, the president of my club. There is no blood relationship to Knuckles.”
“I know,” the kid said, leaning back. “Like I said, it makes no sense.”
Trying to steer the conversation back to what I cared about, I asked, “What about the Death Dogs and Satan’s Angels?
Indigo told me he barely got to Karlyn in time, and when they were heading to Diamond Creek, Satan’s Angels showed up as well.
If it weren’t for the Brotherhood, my woman and two of my brothers would be dead. ”
“Tell him.” Pops glared at Sypher.
“The reason everyone wants Karlyn is because of who she represents. Karlyn’s mother is Janelle Peterson, the daughter of Samuel Peterson, the televangelist who married Kathryn Cussler, the granddaughter of Joshua Cussler, and the founder of the Disciples of the Word, who just happens to be one of the original seven members who founded the California Chapter of the Golden Skulls.
But more importantly, they want Karlyn to bring Montana to heel, because Karlyn is. ..”
“My niece,” Chasm interrupted. “My real name is Jude Peterson. Janelle is my sister. My brother is Justin Peterson, who you know as Shame. My niece is being hunted because of what we did.”
Slowly getting to my feet, I snarled at the soon-to-be-dead fucker. “What the fuck did you do?”
“Justin and I killed Cordell James, the founder of the Satan’s Angels.”
Pops’ eyes narrowed, jaw clenched tight enough to crack stone as he leaned forward and rested his hands on the table.
“The world was different back then, Jackson. We all crossed lines that shouldn’t have been crossed.
We didn’t think about consequences, only actions,” he said, voice low and rough.
“We thought we were doing the right thing—protecting our own, keeping secrets buried. But every choice comes due, and now Karlyn is paying the price for sins she never committed.” His gaze drifted toward mine, and I could see the memories he dared name aloud haunted him.
Pops’ jaw clenched, the tension between us almost tangible.
For a moment, no one spoke, each of us grappling with the new reality—Karlyn wasn’t just a target because of her bloodline, but because of old grudges and debts that went deeper than club loyalty.
The sins of the past had come back to haunt all of them, and it was clear that this war was about more than just territory or vengeance—it was about family, legacy, and the choices that defined them.
Slowly getting up from the table, I headed for the door when Pops spoke up. “We’re not done here, Jackson. We need to bring you up to speed on everything. “
Smirking, I turned to look at the man I had admired and loved most of my life. “You made this mess; you clean it up.”
Pops slowly stood, his face hardening as I turned to Nav and said, “I’m leaving. You staying or going with me?”
Nav quickly stood and walked over to me. “I’m with you, brother.”
“Jackson!” Pops shouted. “I’m ordering you to sit back down, son.”
Narrowing my eyes, I glared at the man. “I don’t take orders from dead men.”