We might be different in so many ways, and I might give him shit like I hate him most days, but Dane’s my brother in all the ways that count. I couldn’t imagine a life here without him.
I need him. And I know that the trembling girl in my arms needs him too.
Some of the jealousy that was within me abates in that moment, right as I realize just how strong her feelings for him are. She lifts her hand to swipe away a tear that’s fallen onto her cheek.
“They’ll be okay,” I whisper, wishing I knew if my words were true or not.
Guys scream while others shout and run headfirst into the scene to help. As I scan the area, I see brothers at the compound entrance with their guns raised as if they think we’re about to get ambushed, but that’s not what this is.
This isn’t an all-out attack. It’s a message. One we’ve heard loud and fucking clear.
“Call a fucking ambulance,” someone barks right as a blond head of hair catches my eye.
“Over there,” I say to Sadie, pointing out where I just saw Noble.
She takes off before I have a chance to move and I run to catch up with her, fear still snaking through me that something else is going to happen. We need to get them and get the fuck away from here.
“Wes,” she cries as she rounds a smoking part of whatever the fuck was blown up. “Are you—Dane. No. Oh God, no.”
She drops to her knees beside Wes and reaches for my best friend. All the while I stand there, frozen by sheer panic.
“Dane. Fuck. Wake up. Please, wake up.”
He’s got blood and dirt all over his face, but other than that, he looks normal… in one piece.
She cups his dirty cheeks, willing him to come back to her. Noble looks up at me over her head, his own fear clear in his eyes.
“What the fuck happened?” I demand, needing to focus on something other than my best friend out cold on the ground in the middle of what looks like a fucking war zone.
“He followed the bitch out, the one who mouthed off to Sadie. I think he wanted to say his piece about the way she spoke to our princess.” My teeth grind at the way he says ‘our’ but I force myself to put my issues aside for the moment. “He took off ahead of me but never made it, because that truck exploded.”
A groan from the ground drags our eyes from the mess in front of us.
“Dane,” Sadie breathes as I drop to my knees beside her.
“Stray, you good, bro?” I ask, needing to see some kind of life from him.
His lips part a beat before his eyes do and everything inside me relaxes.
“Y-yeah. Never better,” he croaks out, his eyes firmly locked on Sadie. “Princess,” he groans. “Gonna be my nurse, yeah?”
“Good to see your outstanding personality is still intact,” I deadpan.
“You love it,” he teases, finally looking over at me.
I don’t respond, but I do hope he can read the truth in my eyes. I might never admit it, but fuck, yeah, I do love him.
“You okay to move?”
“Yeah, I think so,” he groans, pushing onto his elbows to sit up with Sadie’s help. “Holy shit,” he gasps when he gets a look at the scene before him. Clearly the scent of burning, charred flesh, and people’s screams wasn’t enough to remind him of what just happened. “Is everyone okay?”
“We’re only worried about you right now,” Sadie says, refusing to let go of him.
“We need to help, we need to—”
“No,” I bark. “We need to get you to your room and make sure you’re really okay. I’ll come back and help out here.”
“But—”
“No fucking buts, Stray. Sadie needs you in one piece, so you’ll do as you’re fucking told.”
He looks from me to her, and his body relaxes.
“Okay,” he breathes, holding her stare and reaching for her hand. Although if his slight wince is anything to go by, the move hurts like hell.
“Are you hurt?”
“I got thrown against the wall. I’m pretty sure it’s just bruising.”
“If you’re lying, I’ll—”
“Sadie, girl, I’m okay. I promise. You won’t get rid of me that easily.” He winks, and I wait for her to hit him, but this time, she manages to refrain from chastising him.
I look up at Noble, who’s watching us all with his brows pulled in concern.
“Ready?” I ask. He nods in agreement despite the fact that I’m sure he has no clue what he’s agreeing to. “One arm each.”
“Motherfucker,” Dane barks the second we lift him from the floor.
“Quit being a pussy, Stray. You only hit a wall,” I tease, as if anything about this is okay.
“Fuck you, Rhett. Fuck you. I got blown up.”
“Yeah,” I mutter as we move toward the clubhouse, Sadie rushing to push the door open for us, “his head is okay.”
Only minutes later, Noble and I are lowering him to his bed. Sadie rushes to his side, playing her part as his personal nurse, pulling his shoes off and making sure he’s comfortable.
“You okay, man?”
“Yeah, brother. You go help out.”
I nod at him before briefly glancing at Noble in thanks and then Sadie.
“We’ll look after him. Just be careful,” she warns with narrowed eyes. “We don’t want to come and have to collect you too.”
“They’ve made their point. There won’t be anything else tonight. He’ll sit back and wait for us to retaliate.”
“You sound a little too sure,” Noble says, clearly not believing a word of it.
“Trust me, I’m aware of how a psycho biker’s brain works.”
Noble scoffs while Sadie and Dane openly laugh. “Yeah, don’t we fucking know it,” Dane murmurs as if it hurts him to talk.
“I’ll check back in later. Be good.” I look each of them in the eyes.
“He’s hurt. What do you think we’re going to do?”
I glance between Sadie and Dane. I’m more than aware of his penchant for watching, especially when Sadie is involved, so I wouldn’t put anything past the three of them.
“Behave,” I repeat.
“You’re just worried you’ll miss out on the fun.”
My muscles tense at his words. I don’t want it to be true, but it is. I want in on anything that has to do with Sadie Ray’s pleasure.
“I won’t be long.”
I slip out of the room before I can come up with any more reasons why I should stay and keep an eye on the three of them.
As I walk back out to the yard, two ambulances come tearing through the gates, followed by two cop cars.
The medics rush toward the worst looking guys and immediately get to work while Micky captures Chief Statham’s attention as he climbs out of one of the cars.
“Stray okay?” Ray asks, stepping up beside me.
“Yeah. Sadie and Noble are looking after him in his room. Thought it was the safest place for her.”
“I’m not happy about this,” he says again. He must have repeated that statement at least five times while Dane and I were in his office earlier. “But I do trust you both to protect her with your lives.”