Bonus Scene
EMBER
Coming home, I didn’t know how I would feel, how it would go. I’d been gone several years now. I hadn’t come back here. Not once in the time I’d left to go to school in New York. Then I moved to Montana after what happened.
I try not to think of it. What happened to me to get the scars I now carry on my arms and the one dead center of my chest.
I tried to overcome what happened to me, but I’m still plagued with nightmares. Sometimes, I’d go days, weeks, even months without having them, then they start all over again.
Dex had been there for me after it happened, but in the end, I think the two of us made the right decision in breaking it off.
I just couldn’t give him what he needed.
I felt like I was pretending more often than not.
I also missed being around my family. It simply wasn’t the same in Montana. I needed to be near my uncles.
Even if they drive me crazy, I still love them all. The only one of them who knows what happened to me is Reaper, and he swore he’d keep it to himself until I was ready to share.
My cousin, Bethany, said I could’ve stayed in Virginia with them. And I did for a little while. I’d gone to the beach and got to know her and Chaz’s kids. I even went to the bar with them. I also got to catch up with Cara, who was happily married.
After what happened to me and then her kidnapping, we both went through our own hells and lost touch. It felt good to be able to talk to her again. We still actually text each other daily. Sometimes, it’s a simple text. Other days, it’s a full conversation that goes on for hours.
What I didn’t expect when I moved home, though, was that he joined the club.
I recognized him instantly the first day I walked back through the doors of the clubhouse.
He looked at me like he was looking through me and not seeing me at all.
I suppose it was a good thing since I wasn’t the same girl.
Too much had happened in my life since I’d last seen him.
Shoot, even being home, I feel like an outsider, though I know I’m not.
My uncles finally found the women meant for them.
Doesn’t matter to me they are around my age.
As long as the women made them happy and didn’t try to change them, I was good with it.
They all had kids as well. All of them are cute and sweet.
I stayed with Reaper and Ivy the first two months I moved back. I wanted to have a job and be able to put some money in my account before finding a place of my own. I spent most of my savings while in Virginia, and I needed to replenish it before moving into my own house.
During the first bit of time, I helped Ivy out with the twins while I put in applications. Reaper, Angel, and Tombstone kept telling me I could work for one of the clubs’ businesses, but that wasn’t what I wanted.
No matter how much I love them, I can only handle so much of them.
I’d been on my own for a while, and I liked my independence.
Plus, it was hard enough hiding my nightmares from Reaper.
If I had to stick that much closer by working for the club, I wouldn’t be able to hide how much what happened to me still affects my life.
With my new job, instead of working on a medic rig, I applied for a dispatcher position.
I might like helping people. It’s what I did in Montana.
I’d taken a course and got a job as an EMT, but I needed a change.
As a dispatcher, I can still help people.
It’s better for me, honestly. I can use my ear to listen, and I don’t have to look over my shoulder to see if someone is going to come after me.
It probably makes me sound like a crybaby; however, I don’t care. It’s my life, I’ll be a crybaby, scaredy cat, whatever, all I want.
As long as I hide the truth from those around me, it doesn’t matter. Because in the end, I’m alone, and no one has to know I still carry the branding of a monster who, even dead, haunts me.
To make things worse, I’m now in a predicament that can mean life or death for me. The crazed look of the man who stole me away in the night reminds me even more of that Halloween night.
I’ve yet to speak out. To give this man what he wants. I won’t let this man break me. I’m stronger now than I ever was before. No matter what he might do, I won’t shatter. I refuse to give in.
It was hard enough to get my life back, but I did it. I’ll get through this because I know what this man doesn’t.
My uncles will come for me, along with the club. They’ll find me, and when they do, this bastard will pay for taking me.