Chapter 27
CHAPTER
TWENTY-SEVEN
ASPEN
One second, Adlet and Asher are trading insults. Adlet is calling Asher a traitor while Asher is telling Adlet exactly what he thinks about who he is as a man.
The words are harsh.
The next second, all hell has broken loose. They are moving before I can take in what is happening. All I can see are fists flying, thrusting me into the past.
I feel like I am trapped in my own personal circle of hell that I cannot escape. I don’t know how I am in this situation.
Asher is fighting for me once again. Only this time, the stakes are much higher.
I cared about him before and didn’t want him to die for my own selfish reasons. Now, the thought that he might not make it is devastating. It has my heart threatening to pound out of my chest.
Monster was on drugs when Asher fought him. He was strong because he couldn’t feel pain, but he was sloppy because his mind wasn’t clear.
Adlet isn’t on drugs, and he is fighting to win.
I gasp as Adlet throws a punch, barely grazing Asher’s shoulder.
“It’s okay. He’s going to be okay,” Ashley whispers to me.
I want to believe her, but she hasn’t been here before. I have.
I can tell that Asher is evenly matched with Adlet. This is a battle of wills. Who will last longer? Who will tire out first?
Asher is different this time. Last time, he was fighting to maim. He knew he couldn’t kill the VP of the Ragged Anarchy. It would have been his death warrant. Besides that, he was still a cop. He still had things holding them back.
All of that is gone now.
He is fighting to kill. I can see it in the way he aims for Adlet’s kidneys. I am praying to whoever is listening that he can make it.
“Aspen. Aspen.” Maggie tugs my arm.
“Both of you shut up,” Caterpillar hisses at them, shoving a gun in her back.
I ignore Maggie, staring at the fight. I can’t look away.
Part of me is stuck in the past, watching him fight Monster, while the other part is in the present, watching the same thing unfold, only this time the consequences are dire.
I don’t want to live a life without Asher.
“Aspen, damn it,” Maggie hisses, grabbing my chin to turn my head.
I stare into her eyes, my own glassy.
“I know you are freaking the fuck out right now, but snap out of it.”
I blink twice before I nod.
She gives me a pointed look before looking over her shoulder.
Caterpillar is only half paying attention to us. He is paying more attention to the fight in front of us. I glance back at Maggie, who looks at Calloway and Talon.
Calloway gives a signal of some sort. Maggie understands him. She goes from my sweet best friend to a badass as she throws her head back to smash Caterpillar in the nose.
He curses as she grabs me and Ashley and pulls us away and into Eagle, Yak, and Trout’s waiting arms.
“Let me go,” I growl, trying to get back to Asher.
I don’t want to be far away from him, not when his life is on the line. Eagle scoops me up, not letting me go, as Yak disarms Caterpillar.
I can’t even focus on that, though. All I can see is Asher getting hit by Adlet. Each one is like a hit to myself. It takes my breath away.
“Help him,” I tell Eagle.
When he doesn’t let me go, I claw at his arms, attempting to get to Asher by any means possible.
“Fuck, Aspen. Stop,” Eagle hisses.
“No. Help him,” I growl at him.
“He doesn’t need it. Look. Watch. He doesn’t need help,” he tells me.
I look back again.
Asher is getting hit, but I see what Eagle sees now. Each hit he takes so that he can land one of his own.
I wince as Adlet lands another blow, but Asher punches him in the side. Audibly, there is a crack.
I gasp.
Adlet stumbles a little, but comes back up swinging, angrier this time.
Fear like I have never known fills me as he charges Asher, taking him to the ground. I tense, attempting to break Eagle’s hold once more, but Asher flips Adlet onto his back before he starts raining punches down on him.
It’s savage.
He doesn’t stop, even as blood starts to fly from his fists. He is like an animal tearing into his prey until there is nothing left.
He is going to kill him. I have no doubt in my head that if he keeps going the way he is, Adlet will be dead.
Asher used to be a cop. He has a moral compass. I can’t let him do this. What if he hates himself? I will lose him.
I need to stop him. Not for Adlet, but for his own soul.
“Asher,” I whisper, my heart in my throat.
He doesn’t hear me.
“Asher,” I call louder.
He still doesn’t respond.
“Asher,” I cry out.
He pauses, turning to look at me over his shoulder.
What I see reflected in his eyes is primal.
He looks vicious as he stares at me. He is begging me to understand.
He is doing this because he needs to. He might regret it later, but in this moment, this is what he needs to fulfill the instinct inside of him telling him that he needs to eliminate the threat.
He needs to protect what is his.
Me.
He needs to protect me.
I push my lips together as I give him one small nod.
He gives me a wicked smile as he turns and finishes the job he started.
I will never have to wonder if Adlet is out there waiting to hurt me.
There won’t be any part of him left.
ASHER
Seeing Aspen standing in the clearing with Adlet at her side stopped my heart in my chest. I swear in that moment, something inside of me snapped, making me go feral.
The words slipped from my lips unbidden as I traded insults with him. Then I saw the opening, and I moved.
Part of my brain worried about Aspen, but I trusted the guys to get her out of here safely. My sole focus needs to be on the man who threatened her once again.
I will never let him touch her again. He will stop breathing tonight, one way or another.
I can hear a commotion off to the side, but I don’t dare look. I throw a punch, hitting Adlet, making him wince.
He jerks forward, hitting me on the cheek, but as he does, I let my own fist pound into his side.
We trade jab for jab, both evenly matched as we circle one another. He is getting tired, though. Being president of the Ragged Anarchy means he hasn’t spent a lot of time fighting over the past few years.
No, instead, he reigned over them.
My mind flashes back to the last time I fought in front of him. He made me fight, even if he didn’t order it himself. He knew even then that I would protect Aspen. He didn’t say it, but he wanted me gone and thought Monster was his best bet. He didn’t plan on my being able to hold my own.
Why would he? He thought I was some street rat who stumbled into the bar looking for a job and a place to belong. He had no idea who I really was.
When he forced me to fuck Aspen in front of that crowd, I knew then that I hated him. I had never truly hated someone in my life until that point.
As much as I know, Panther wants this kill, but this one is all mine.
I continue to land blow after blow until I hear a crack. At least one of his ribs is broken. He charges me suddenly, knocking me to the ground. I let him get in a couple of punches before I flip the script, putting him below me.
I am no longer holding back. I’m done playing with my prey. Now all I can see is what he did to Aspen.
All the times I would find her with bruises because his men couldn’t handle her sassy mouth.
Punch.
Every time she would flinch in my presence because of something one of the others did.
Punch.
The fear in her eyes the night he put her body up as the prize that night.
Punch.
I keep punching him, needing to let all the anger out. I never want him to be able to look at Aspen again. I never want him to even think about her. I want him erased from this earth.
“Asher.”
It’s her angelic voice that cuts through the red haze—my little songbird calling to me with her song.
I turn and look over my shoulder at her.
She looks scared to death. I want to go to her, but instinct is telling me to stay here. Finish the threat.
I don’t know what she sees in my eyes, but she nods her head once, giving me permission to end this.
I don’t waste time. I turn back and annihilate Adlet with my fists. By the time I am done, there is nothing left to identify him as the man he once was. He looks as if his head has been through a meat grinder.
Satisfied he will no longer hurt Aspen, I stand and turn to face her. I take several steps toward her, hating that Eagle is holding her back as I do.
Panther steps in my path, making me growl.
“Brother, you are dripping in blood. She doesn’t need that. You need to clean up.”
I look down and see that he is right. I am covered in Adlet’s blood. It makes me want to smile inside, but outwardly, I realize how this looks.
I murdered a man in front of a whole clearing full of witnesses. In front of my sister.
In front of the love of my life.
What if she is afraid of me now?
I look back to her, seeing her doing her best to get out of Eagle’s hold.
“Let her go,” I demand, my tone leaving no room for argument.
He nods once before he lets her go.
My girl doesn’t hesitate. She runs at me with full force as she jumps into my arms.
I catch her, holding her to me tightly as she kisses my face over and over again.
“Don’t you ever do that again.”
“I’m sorry,” I tell her. “I’m sorry, but I had to kill him. He would have never left us alone.”
She pulls back. “You think I care that you killed him? No, you idiot. I care that you could have been hurt. You could have died. You are never allowed to leave me. I wouldn’t survive it. I love you too much.”
My heart thumps in my chest at her admission. I wince as I bring one of my hands up to cup her cheek while the other holds her weight with her legs around my waist.
“I love you too, Aspen. I always will,” I tell her.
“Good, then be smarter. I mean, look at your hand. You broke at least two knuckles on this hand.”
She grabs my hand, putting it in front of us. I try to flex it, but it hurts like a mofo. She is right. I broke something.
I look back to her face.
“It was worth it.”
She shakes her head, looking over at Panther.
“Can we go home now? What do we do with the body? What about the traitor?” she asks.
“We will handle all of this. Eagle, take Maggie and Ashley home. Meet up with Talon, and you two watch them. Prospect, get back to the clubhouse with Aspen and clean up. I want you to burn your clothes. There needs to be no trace that you ever touched him. If they were working with the police, then they will look your way. This all seems like an elaborate setup for you. Talon and Yak, take care of this body. No one should ever find it. I’ll take Trout, and we will escort the traitor to our outpost.”
As everyone moves to do as Panther says, he moves over to me and Aspen.
“I’m glad you are okay. Both of you. There’s a little stream over there to the left, about a quarter of a mile. Clean up before you get on the bike. Both of you. Just in case.”
I nod, marching off in the direction he says. It doesn’t take long to get there. I’m still pumping with adrenaline.
I don’t put Aspen down the entire way, but she doesn’t seem to mind. She cuddles into my neck.
I step into the water, boots and all, shivering at how cold it is. I hate making her cold, but I submerge us, pulling her away from me so I can wash the blood away from our skin. She is quiet as she takes water to wipe my face. When I dunk under, she rubs her hands through my hair.
Once I’m done, I pick her back up and carry her back to my bike, both of us shivering in the cold. As soon as we are there, I pull my jacket out of my saddlebag before I help her take her wet shirt and bra off. Once the jacket is secured around her, I grab her face.
“I would do anything for you,” I tell her.
She nods. “I know. I love you too, Asher. Let’s go home.”
Home.
I’m already home.
She doesn’t realize home is wherever she is.