Epilogue - Wrath
Three years later
I watch Anna chase her little brother around the living room, her dark curls bouncing, her laughter filling our home. Three years ago, I didn't even know I had a kid. Now I have two, and sometimes I still can't believe they're mine.
"Daddy!" Leon crashes into my legs, his honey-colored hair – Lucy's hair – falling into his eyes. "Anna's trying to make me prospect!"
"Am not!" Anna protests, hands on her hips in a perfect imitation of her mother. "I'm trying to teach him the club rules 'cause Aunt Emma said all prospects need to learn them!"
"What did Aunt Emma say?" Lucy's voice comes from the doorway, and both kids whirl around.
"Mommy!" They launch themselves at her like tiny missiles. She catches them both, somehow managing to keep her balance while they pepper her face with kisses.
She's still in her teaching clothes – flowing skirt, cardigan, hair pulled back neatly. Looking at her, you'd never guess she's an MC old lady. Never guess that under that sweet exterior is a woman who can handle club business like a boss and who rode my Harley last Sunday just to prove she could.
"How were they?" she asks, setting the kids down and moving to kiss me.
"Perfect," I tell her, pulling her close. "Anna helped Hellfire work on his bike—"
"After school, daddy," Anna corrects seriously. "Safety first."
I grin. My girl knows the rules – school comes first, then club stuff. "Right, princess. And Leon showed Angel his new karate moves."
"Can you show Mommy?" Lucy asks Leon, who immediately starts demonstrating kicks that look more like drunk dancing.
"Speaking of Angel," I say casually, "she and Ruthless are expecting."
Lucy's eyes light up. "Really? That's wonderful! When did they—"
A motorcycle rumbles up our driveway – the distinctive sound of Crow's bike. Anna perks up immediately.
"Uncle Crow!" She runs to the window. "And Aunt Emma!"
That still makes me smile. My brother falling for my best friend... all because I couldn't make it to her high school reunion.
"Take Crow," I'd told Emma three years ago, just days before Lucy walked into my life. "He cleans up nice."
"Daddy?" Leon tugs on my cut. "Can we go to the clubhouse? Please?"
"After dinner," Lucy answers for me. "If you both eat your vegetables."
I watch my family – Anna showing Emma her latest drawing, Leon climbing Crow like a tree, Lucy directing traffic in the kitchen – and feel that familiar warmth in my chest.
The war with the Outlaws is over. We won, obviously. The club is stronger than ever, with Tank and Savage finally earning their full patches last month. Every brother has found their old lady, their peace.
And me? I found everything I never knew I needed the night Lucy walked into the clubhouse with news about our daughter.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Lucy asks, wrapping her arms around my waist.
I pull her closer, breathing in her familiar scent. "Just thinking about how lucky I am."
"We're the lucky ones," she says softly. "You gave us everything."
"You gave me more," I tell her, watching Anna teach Leon how to stand like a proper biker. "You gave me a family."
She rises on her tiptoes to kiss me, and I hear Anna make gagging noises while Crow whistles.
This is my life now. Kids and kisses and family dinners. Club business and bedtime stories. A beautiful wife who isn't afraid of my darkness and two amazing kids who make me want to be better.
This is what I was fighting for all along. This is what Wrath became Wrath for – not for revenge or power, but for this. For family. For love.
For everything.
For everything.
"Uncle Crow!" Anna demands suddenly. "Tell Leon about the night daddy found out about me!"
Crow grins, settling onto our couch with Emma curled against his side. "Again, princess? You've heard that story a hundred times."
"But Leon hasn't heard it today," Anna argues, climbing onto his lap while Leon settles at his feet, eyes wide with anticipation.
"Well," Crow starts, his voice taking on that storytelling tone he reserves for the kids. "It was a dark night, and your daddy had just finished some very important club business..."
We watch as Crow spins the tale, carefully editing out the violence and blood, making it sound more like a fairy tale than the night it really was. Anna mouths along with certain parts – she knows this story by heart.
"And then," Crow continues, "this beautiful princess walked into the clubhouse—"
"Mommy!" Leon interrupts excitedly.
"That's right, little man. And she had the biggest surprise for your daddy..."
Emma catches my eye over Crow's shoulder, winking. She's the one who helped Lucy pick out Anna's dress for her first club gathering, who taught her the unwritten rules of being an old lady. My best friend became my sister-in-law, and somehow it all makes perfect sense.
"Daddy?" Anna looks up at me with those eyes – my eyes. "Can we have a clubhouse sleepover tonight? Please? Uncle Hellfire said he'd tell us the story about how he found you and Uncle Crow!"
"Yeah!" Leon bounces up. "Please, daddy?"
I look at Lucy, who shrugs.
"It is Friday," she says. "And I wouldn't mind having the house to ourselves for a night..."
The heat in her eyes makes my blood warm. Three years, two kids later, and she still affects me like that first night.
"Alright," I agree, already planning what I'll do with Lucy once the kids are gone. "But homework first."
The kids cheer, and Crow starts organizing the sleepover through the club chat. Within minutes, responses pour in – Angel and Ruthless offering to bring pizza, Hellfire promising story time, Tank and Savage volunteering to set up the movie room.
This is my family. Not just Lucy and the kids, but all of them. The brothers who became uncles, the old ladies who became aunts, the club that became a home.
And watching Anna teach Leon the proper way to fist-bump like a real member while Crow and Emma egg them on, I know one thing for certain:
I wouldn't change a single moment that led us here.
Not one.
Thank you for reading it!