Chapter 9 Revenant
Becca was finally feeling better. She wasn’t as unsteady on her feet and stopped wincing when she walked. I didn’t think she had a concussion, but she did have a minor head injury. Relieved that she was healing, I finally felt the tension in my chest begin to ease.
We never spoke about what happened the day she drove into the blizzard, and it was still a fucking mess outside. Over a week later, we were all waiting for the right moment to sit down and have a discussion—one that would probably decide the future, or if we had one, especially together.
It was late in the morning, early enough for breakfast, as Diesel stood in front of the stove.
He was scrambling eggs in a frying pan as Becca buttered toast beside him.
Plates of flapjacks, sausage links, and bacon rested on the counter.
They looked like they’d spent years cooking together, laughing and smiling while they finished the food.
Void sat on a stool, typing on his keyboard, but facing them, occasionally lifting his head to watch their domestic interaction. A smile would twitch his lips before he went back to work, digging for information on who attacked us and why. He hardly took a break, refusing to leave us vulnerable.
The whole atmosphere felt real. Like . . . home.
My hand lifted to my heart and rested there. “This is it.”
Everyone stopped what they were doing to look at me.
“Right here. This is us. All four of us. Family. Our family.”
No one denied it. Good. Because I needed the three of them. It was the only way I was whole.
Diesel dipped his chin. “The day we became whole.”
He took the word right out of my mouth.
Void shut his laptop. “You’re already my brothers. Now we’re bonded through Becca. A family,” he agreed.
“Then I guess it’s settled.” Becca carried the plate of toast to the counter as Diesel set down the eggs. “But I want to know everything, boys. And right after breakfast, you’re gonna tell me.
“Done,” Diesel declared.
It was time.
We ate, cleaned up, and then gathered in the living area as Becca sipped a cup of hot tea.
The safe house had all the windows covered in light-colored drapes, but it was closed off from the world.
Void had gone into detail about the security measures he’d taken to ensure no one could break in when we first arrived.
If they managed it, he had traps, a panic room, and a fucking secret passage that led to an escape tunnel.
He’d thought of everything, every possible scenario, and his cameras were always recording.
Just as we all sat down on the gray couches that faced one another, Hades called Diesel.
Diesel looked to Becca. “I can ignore it if you prefer.”
He was giving her the option, the control. That was a hell of a thing because he was the SGT at Arms. An officer in the club. Refusing his president’s call was fucking sacrilege.
“Answer it.”
Diesel swiped across the screen and placed it on speaker. “Hades.”
“Is Becca with you right now?”
“Yes.”
He slowly exhaled like he’d taken a big breath before dialing. “Can she hear me?”
“Yeah, Pres.”
“Becca.” Hades sounded choked up. Never heard him so emotional. “Sweet girl, I’m so fucking sorry.”
To hear the Feral Rebels MC President apologize was fucking crazy, but given the circumstances, it showed how much she meant to him.
Becca sighed. “You lied to me, Hades. When I told you I knew something was up, you acted like I was imagining it.”
“I know. Fuck, baby girl, I had to protect you. Not even Diesel or Void knows the depth of this shit. I can’t let it touch you. Don’t you understand?”
“Tell me why.” She sounded on the verge of tears. “Don’t coddle me. I’m Bulldog’s daughter. It’s my blood in that club too. I have a right to know what’s going on.”
She had a point.
“Once we open this door, Becca, there’s no shutting it. You have to be sure.”
“I’m sure.” No hesitation. Becca was destined to be an ol’ lady the minute she became Bulldog’s kin.
I believed that. She loved the MC life, and it sure as fuck wasn’t for everyone.
Becca loved the brotherhood among the members and the respect they had for their ol’ ladies.
She understood how shit was run and didn’t try to push against it.
She rode her own bike like the fucking goddess she was, and fuck if I didn’t want to claim her right now.
Underneath me. Riding me and saying the words I wanted to hear from her. This woman owned my ass, and I loved it.
“You weren’t born to Bulldog through his DNA, but baby girl, he loved you from the moment he first held you. Not a single day went by that he didn’t brag about you, put you first, or ride into danger if it meant you were kept safe. You feel me?”
“I do,” she choked, emotion visible on her delicate features. “He loved me. I know, Hades.”
“So when I say he went to war for you, you gotta know, he fought to keep those motherfuckers from ever taking you back.”
She blinked, trying to understand what Hades meant.
I looked to Diesel, and he shook his head.
Void dropped his gaze to the floor. They knew something.
More than me, that was for sure. Maybe not everything that happened, but enough to understand that Becca was in danger and needed extra protection.
I tried not to get pissed because I wasn’t an officer like Diesel, and I didn’t live in her household as the only male kin like Void.
“Who?” Becca finally asked.
“Traffickers. Fuck, I hate telling you this shit. It’s fucking tearing me up.”
Becca gentled her tone. “I need to know, Hades.”
He didn’t agree but pressed on. “I sent Bulldog on a run. It was supposed to be an easy security job. He rode with a few other brothers, and they made sure no one fucked with the truck as it left its destination and drove five hundred miles to a little town in Wisconsin.”
He cleared his throat, needing a moment, and we waited.
“Bulldog told me he didn’t know there were women inside or that they were aiding traffickers as they moved those women across the U.S. to a facility where they would be broken, trained, and readied for sale.”
“Those motherfuckers!” I shouted.
Diesel shot me a look, and I cracked my knuckles, pissed off about shit that happened in the past, and I couldn’t change. I hated it when women were abused, regardless of the type, because it was all wrong.
“How did he find out?” Diesel asked.
I guess he never heard that part of the story before now.
“A scream,” Hades growled. “Two of the traffickers rode inside to keep the women quiet. They spent the entire trip raping them one by one.”
Void looked pissed. Diesel’s disgusted expression probably matched mine. But Becca? She looked shocked. Sickened.
Her pale face turned to me.
I rested my hand over my heart like I’d done earlier, letting her know I was here, in whatever capacity she needed.
Her eyes shimmered with tears.
“There was one young girl, maybe sixteen. She had a . . . baby with her.” Hades kept choking on his words, barely able to get them out. “Prettiest little thing Bulldog ever saw. Big dark blue eyes and rosy cheeks. He said he knew he had to rescue you.”
Damn. I wasn’t one for believing in things like fate, but it sure seemed like this was meant to be.
“What happened to the young girl?”
“I’m gettin’ to that, honey,” he sighed.
“She saw the bikers when the swing doors opened on that truck and knew she had one chance to protect you from the life she’d been sold into by her own uncle.
She screamed for help, rushing toward Bulldog.
Don’t know why she chose him, and he never knew either.
Just told me that she ran to him, jumped from the truck, and cradled you against her chest.”
Becca sniffled. “They killed her.”
“Yeah, baby girl. They shot her in the back as she ran, reaching Bulldog with her last breath. As soon as you left her arms, they shot her in the head. Bulldog ordered the club members with him to open fire. They killed every man there, including the ones sent to rendezvous with the truck. He didn’t want any loose ends. ”
“But they knew it was him. Our club. Right?”
“They did,” Bulldog confirmed. “And so we went to war.”
This happened before I patched in, and Void had been a little kid. We didn’t know about this. Diesel had to be in elementary school back then. None of us knew how we’d eventually end up together.
“We thought we took them all out. The war lasted months. Death and bloodshed on both sides. Bulldog refused to stop until he sent them all to hell.”
“He freed the other women, didn’t he?” I asked in the quiet that followed.
“On the spot. He used to get postcards from some of them. No return address. No messages. Just places they were visiting. The lives they got to live because of him.”
“Oh, God. They’re still in his office.” Becca’s hand hovered above her mouth. “I asked him once, and he said they represented freedom. I never understood until now.”
“It’s been years, but sometimes, they still arrive at the clubhouse. I have a drawer where I keep them. They should be stored with the others in Bulldog’s study.”
“I’ll take them there,” Becca promised.
“I know you will,” Hades confirmed. “You should know he never once regretted bringing you home. Told me more times than I can count. He took one look at you in his arms, and that was it. Said your soul stared back at him when you locked eyes, and honest to fucking god, he cried as he showed you to me.” Hades’ voice broke, and he paused.
“Only saw that shit twice. The day he found you, baby girl, and the day he left you.”
Becca was crying so hard her whole body shook. She sucked in a breath as she sobbed, not bothering to wipe away the tears. I moved without thinking, dropping to my knees beside her. My hand rested on her knee.
Void held her hand, clutching it against his chest. Diesel held the phone, but his gaze was focused on Becca, tortured by her cries.
When she calmed, she sniffled, and Void handed her a box of tissues. “If someone tried to kill us, then they’re back to finish the job. Is that what you think, Hades?”
“Yeah. I do.”
“It’s the only thing that makes sense,” Diesel agreed.
“No other enemies that I know of,” Void added.
“Tell me about this safe house,” Hades ordered. “Can they find you?”
“No.” Void sounded confident.
“Then you keep her there while I deal with this shit and end it.”
“Pres,” I began.
“No, Revenant. I need all three of you there to protect her. I won’t survive it if they take her from me. Those motherfuckers already gunned Bulldog down. They won’t get to Becca.”
How many times had we dealt with these traffickers? Why was it never brought to the table in church?
“Respectfully, Pres, I don’t think you understand. Becca is ours to protect.” Diesel sounded calm as fuck as he contradicted Hades.
“She’s as close as I got to a child. She’s blood to me, Diesel.”
Becca was listening to all of it, drying her tears and blowing her nose. She rose to her feet. “Hades?”
“Yeah?” He sounded gruff, angry, and worried.
“Dad?”
I heard him swallow. “Yeah, baby girl?”
“This is a club decision. It should be brought to church and voted on by all the members. No more vigilante justice, Dad.”
He sighed. “Okay.”
“And I’m coming home.”
“Becca,” Hades tried to argue.
“Home, Dad. With you, my guys, and the club.”
He must have realized arguing with Becca was pointless.
“I’ll be waiting, my daughter.”
He ended the call, trusting us to bring her back safely without further orders.
All three of us stared at Becca, shocked that she just took control of the situation, Hades, and the choice of where she would be staying. Wow. This woman was a fucking sorceress.
Goddamn, I loved her.