Empire of Savages (Savage Hunt MC #1)

26. Alex

Chapter 26

Alex

Nick had wrapped his body around mine. One arm banded around my chest, the other around my stomach, and his thick thigh over my hip. I was locked in place, and I honestly had never felt so protected inside a motorcycle clubhouse in all my life. Despite feeling protected, I also felt too hot under all his muscle mass. Snaking an arm out, I grabbed my phone from the nightstand and tapped on the screen. It was a little after eight in the morning.

“What time is it, baby?” Nick’s voice came out a little gruff, a little hoarse, and a whole lot sexy. I told him the time, looking into his hooded green eyes. He kissed me thoroughly despite my protests of morning breath.

“I would have my face buried between your thighs right now, but we don’t have time. The funeral starts in an hour and a half.”

I let out a shuddered breath and nodded. “Right. Are you sure you want me to come?”

“Where I go, you go and vice versa. Now, go and take a shower while I make us something to eat and let Lucifer out for a piss.”

After shimmying out from under the covers, I padded into the bathroom and opened the faucet to splash my face with water. The last few days were catching up with me, and I could see it in the dark circles beneath my eyes and the paleness of my skin. Behind me, I heard Nick leave the room, so I pulled his shirt up over my head and dropped it to the floor before stepping into the shower stall.

By the time I stepped back out in his room, Nick had returned with two cups of coffee and a plate stacked with buttered toast.

“Where’s Lucifer?” I asked.

He jerked his head toward the door. “Vox is out there with him.” His heated gaze drifted down my body briefly before he cleared his throat. “This was the best I could do,” he said, gesturing to the plate.

Taking a slice of toast, I said, “It’s fine. More than I usually have for breakfast in any case.”

He took a sip of his coffee, pinning me in place with the intensity in his green eyes.

Noticing he was only drinking coffee, I asked, “Aren’t you going to eat?”

“Not hungry.” He leaned forward and kissed my bare shoulder, goose bumps chasing the feel of his lips. “I’m going to take a shower though.”

I watched him move around the bed and enter the bathroom, leaving the door open as he stripped off his sweats and let them fall to the floor, but when I caught sight of his back, I couldn’t hold back my gasp. Nick turned around at the sound.

“What is it?” His eyes darted around the room, looking for danger.

“Your back,” I said. “I didn’t realize you had that tattoo. How long have you had it?”

His mouth curled up into a small smile. “When I was made sergeant at arms.”

The Grim Reaper covered him from the back of his neck down to the bottom of his hips and spanned the width of his broad shoulders. In its hand was a double scythe, and even though the hood covered its face, I felt as if it was looking directly at me. “It’s terrifying. Beautiful, but terrifying.”

“Not as terrifying as I can be,” he replied, stepping back into the bathroom. A moment later, the water started, and I finished my slice of toast, then stripped off my towel to find something appropriate to wear. As I rifled through the clothes that had been hastily stuffed into my bag when Nick and I left my apartment, his door opened and a man I didn’t recognize walked in.

“Who the hell are you?” I asked, grabbing the first thing I could find and holding it against my chest.

He leaned casually against the doorjamb with a smug smile on his face, his eyes running over what he could see of my naked body. “Didn’t know we had any new club girls. Trust fucking Nick to get one of them though.”

“I’m not a club girl,” I replied through gritted teeth.

“Could’ve fooled me.” He stepped into the room and shut the door. He was dressed in a black shirt and jeans, along with his cut, which had the “enforcer” patch on it. “Nick is real good at sharing, though, sugar. I’m sure he won’t mind if I have a taste while he’s not here.”

My pulse skyrocketed as he stepped closer. “Don’t touch me,” I said, wanting my voice to come out strong, but it was nothing but a breathy whisper.

With my heart pulsing in my ear, I could hear nothing— feel nothing—other than an impending sense of doom.

“I’m not a club girl,” I whispered.

Grabbing me by the wrist and yanking me to my feet, he tore the shirt I’d held up to my chest from my hands, a glint of lust in his chocolate-brown eyes as he looked at my bared breasts.

“I’m not a club girl. I’m not?—”

“Take your fucking hands off her. Right. The. Fuck . Now.” Nick’s voice was unyielding and hard.

I peered up to find him standing in the doorway of the bathroom, his sweats back in place, and a look of murder in his eyes.

“Nick,” the other man said in a cajoling tone, drawing out his name. “You were holding out on me. When did this one come along?”

Nick stepped forward, grabbing the other man by the forearm. “Gunnar, you have exactly two seconds to take your hand off her or we’re going to have a problem.”

The man—Gunnar—grinned. “We’ve shared pussy before.”

“She’s not a club girl,” Nick replied. “She’s mine. Now, get your hands off her.”

Gunnar released my wrist, stepping back with his hands raised and a smile on his face. “Sorry. Didn’t know you had an old lady,” he replied. His dark eyes landed back on my face, his smile turning wicked. “If you ever want a bigger cock to fill you, come and find me.”

Gunnar left the room, throwing the door open so that it slammed into the wall behind it. Nick shut it, then locked it before turning around to me. A look of anguish was written all over his face as he approached me and pulled me into his arms.

“I’m sorry, baby,” he said softly into my ear. “I should’ve locked the door.”

I shook my head, realizing that my whole body was shaking. With Nick’s arms around me, some of the crippling fear slid from my shoulders, but I could feel it hovering around the corners of my mind.

“Let’s get you dressed, huh?” he said, pulling away to settle me on the end of the bed. I turned my head when there was a scratching at the door. With a sigh, Nick opened the door and let Lucifer in again. He immediately came to me, leaning against my bare leg as Nick searched through my clothes. When he showed me a couple of options, I got dressed slowly, my brain processing what had almost happened… again, but my body not quite catching up.

I’d just slid into a pair of black street shoes when Nick lifted my face to look at him. He was dressed all in black, too—black jeans, black t-shirt, and his black leather cut.

“I won’t leave your side today. I promise.”

Nibbling on my bottom lip, I nodded and rose from the bed. Nick ordered Lucifer to stay, and the seventy-pound cinnamon roll pup lifted himself onto the bed and settled into the rumpled blankets.

All I could see as I looked out over the cemetery was black. A sea of people dressed in black. A black coffin. Black hearse. Black birds sitting in the boughs of a tree. But there was one bright stain of color amongst all that black, and that was the mountain of red roses that were blanketing the casket. The president of the Savage Hunt was standing at the head of Molly’s coffin, his hands clasped in front of him. His head bent. His shoulders shaking with silent tears.

A priest was standing off to one side, his white clerical collar stark against his black robes and hair. Nick wrapped an arm around my shoulders, pulling me in closer to his warm body. Even though it was the middle of summer, it was unseasonably cool this morning, and the warmth of his touch was a welcome one.

The Savage Hunt’s members’ cuts creaked with their shuffled movements, cutting through the silence that had filled the cemetery. Then, as the priest started to speak, stillness fell over the crowd of mourners.

I’d only attended a handful of funerals when I was younger. I hadn’t ever wanted to go. The idea of putting someone into the ground forever did not sit easily with me, but because of who I was, of who my father was, it was expected. I’d never truly listened to the words that were said. Never truly understood the meaning. I didn’t know Molly, but as Rixon started his eulogy, choking up within seconds, I understood how important she had been to him.

They had been together for twenty years, married for ten, and even after losing their only daughter, it brought them closer together instead of tearing them apart. Molly had been a nurse, a volunteer at the church, and a mother to every member of the Savage Hunt. She had been the glue that held Rixon’s life together, and now, she was gone.

As they lowered her coffin into the ground, Nick kept me with him as he stepped forward to grab a handful of grave dirt and stared down at the descending casket. With his arm outstretched, he opened his fist, letting the dirt sift through his fingers and dust the red roses.

Turning around, his eyes found mine for a beat before the sound of gunfire rang out across the cemetery.

Nick’s reaction was instant. He pushed me to the ground and covered my body with his. All around us, screams of fear rippled through the crowd as angry shouts began to join them.

“Who the fuck is shooting at us?” someone asked.

“It’s the Devils,” someone else said. “Retribution for yesterday.”

More gunshots punctuated the air, and Nick’s voice was in my ear. “I need to get you out of here,” he said.

More gunfire.

A grunt of pain.

“We’re sitting fucking ducks,” someone yelled.

Nick’s breath was against my ear. “On the count of three, you move. There’s a maintenance shed about ten yards away.”

Peering through the mass of people who had all hit the deck, I spotted the shed he was talking about, but as he turned to leave, I clung to his sleeve. “What about you? You have to stay with me.” I knew my voice was trembling. I knew I was being that girl —the clingy one. The weak one who relied on a man to protect her. I hadn’t been that girl for so long, but I needed to make sure Nick was safe.

He stared at me—really looked at me—and I knew that his loyalty to the club would win out. Just like my father’s loyalty to the club had won out all those years ago. I knew what I was in this world of 1% bikers. I was a commodity. One that could be discarded. Used. Forgotten about. And I began berating myself for getting sucked back into its orbit. Feeling my tears form, I glanced down to hide them from Nick, startling when I felt his strong fingers grasp me by the chin and forcing my eyes back to his.

Without releasing me, he snarled over his shoulder, “Kaash, protect the president.” Reaching behind him, he brought up his gun. “I’ll be right behind you.”

The Hunt were returning fire now, making the women and children who had come along scream in panic. A Hunt member with a skull mask covering half his face was suddenly there, his leather-clad hand wrapped around the skinny upper arm of a young girl who couldn’t have been any older than ten or eleven.

“Take her,” he said to me, pulling the girl forward.

Without hesitation, I brought her into the safety of my arms and nodded to him. The masked man pulled out a gun and started making his way toward Rixon who was being covered by a number of Hunt members.

“This way,” Nick said, urging me forward. The girl came with us without question, and I had to wonder how many shoot-outs she’d been in. She seemed so calm. Keeping low, our trio made it to the maintenance shed and took cover along with a few other women and children who had had the same idea. Nick stayed with us, peering around the edge of the building every few moments and firing off a few shots.

The young girl didn’t even flinch at the sound of bullets hitting the metal structure.

“Hey, I’m Alex. What’s your name?” I asked down into her ear.

She didn’t even look at me.

“Myla is deaf,” Nick explained quickly.

My ASL was rusty, but I was sure I could remember most of it. I tapped her on the shoulder, making sure she was looking at me before I began to sign. Hey, I’m A-L-E-X. What’s your name?

Her gorgeous brown eyes widened in shock before she signed out the letters of her name. M-Y-L-A.

We’re going to get out of here alive, Myla , I assured her.

You promise?

Yes. I promise.

“I didn’t know you could sign,” Nick said, his green gaze skating the entire area to make sure we were safe.

“I had a good friend who was deaf when I was a kid. I learned ASL.”

He looked at me for a long minute before nodding and resuming his watch.

I don’t know how long we were pinned down, huddled behind the shed like it could hide us completely, but eventually the shooting eased, and finally, died down.

Glancing over at Nick, I whispered, “Is it over?”

“I don’t know. Stay here. I’ll go and check.” He leaned down and kissed me on the mouth, then disappeared. Our little group of half a dozen women and children grew as more families joined us. We murmured to one another softly, then collectively jumped when a club member appeared suddenly.

“We’re going into lockdown,” he said. “Kaash’s orders.”

Myla looked to me, and I signed to her.

What’s lockdown? Myla asked.

It means we all go to the clubhouse , I told her, remembering when my father had called lockdowns at the Devils. Together. And we stay there until it’s safe to leave .

Do we have to sleep there?

Only if the lockdown lasts more than a few hours.

You won’t leave me, will you?

Of course not, Myla ,” I told her, taking her by the hand and squeezing.

Myla bit her lip and nodded, resolved. Okay.

Slowly, Hunt members came to collect their wives, girlfriends, and children from where they’d taken cover, and Nick returned with the masked man. As soon as he saw the little girl, he wrapped her in his large arms and buried his head in her neck. I had no idea what kind of relationship they shared—was Myla a sister? A daughter? Whoever she was, she meant a great deal to him.

“Are you okay?” Nick asked, drawing me from my thoughts.

“Fine,” I replied, and meaning it. All around us, the sounds of cars starting and motorcycle engines roaring to life drowned out the peace.

“Kaash has called a lockdown. Let’s go.”

As we walked back to his bike, I asked, “What happened?”

“Shooters. We managed to kill one of them. Captured another. But a third got away.”

I looked around at Molly’s plot while contemplating how low of an act it was to open fire at a funeral, even for an MC. There were small bundles of flowers, or single roses, scattered haphazardly around the ground. Her coffin had been lowered, but there was blood on the steel arms of the lowering frame.

“Who got hurt?” I asked.

“The priest took a bullet in the arm. He’ll survive. And a couple of members. Nothing fatal.”

Nick led the way, settling me on the back of his bike and sitting astride. He kicked the engine to life and followed the narrow track through the cemetery and out onto the road.