“I’ve cocked all this up.Let me start from the beginning.”Tessa takes another slow sip of her coffee, then exhales as if trying to release the weight pressing down on her.“The outlanders came into the diner, and over the past year, I’ve made friends with Nancy.She’s married to Bill, the one you had the deal with.While we were talking, Jasper said you lot couldn’t be trusted.I told them both you were fine, but Jasper kept pushing.Nancy left, and then Jasper told me I should watch out for her.But he’s always hated you guys, so I didn’t take him seriously.”
“And yet, you were there,” I point out, my voice low, the pieces of this fucked-up puzzle starting to click together.
Tessa nods, her fingers curling tighter around the cup.“Nancy came back just before I finished my shift and asked if what Jasper said was true.I told her no, but she said there was another outlander who’d gone missing and that a group of fishermen had gone overboard under odd circumstances.Nancy said they’d all had dealings with your MC.I told her you’d been doing business here for years, and no one had had a problem.Maybe it was all a coincidence.But it’s not, is it?You’re all monsters.”
Her words hit me harder than I expected.My eyebrows rise, and I take a beat before nodding slowly, acknowledging the truth in what she just said.
Tessa wraps an arm around her waist, her bottom lip quivering.I can see she’s trying to keep herself together.There’s fear in her eyes, but there’s also something else— acceptance.
“We are monsters, Tessa.It’s why we’re all here.Do we protect ourselves and what’s ours?Yeah.But we don’t kill unless we have to,” I say, my voice low, gravelly.I pause, letting my words sink in.“The homesteaders, or your outlanders, they attacked us last night.No one died, but you saw something...something we don’t share with anyone.Ranger shouldn’t have changed, but he did.The real question is, what are you going to do about it?”
Her eyes widen, her chest rising and falling rapidly.“I won’t tell anyone,” she blurts out, her voice shaking.
I lean forward, my gaze hardening.“No one would believe you if you did.”I don’t flinch as I let my words hit her.
Her eyes flicker with disbelief.“They would.”
I shake my head, the corner of my mouth pulling into a hard frown.“They’d think you were mad.”
Tessa twists in the seat, her eyes locked on the wall as if she’s trying to escape from everything.
“I’ll leave you to think about it,” I say, my voice quiet but firm.I stand and look down at her.“Do you need anything?”
She doesn’t turn around, her voice distant.“I want to go home.”
“Soon,” I mutter, and without another word, I walk outside.
Ranger and Vex are waiting for me, standing as sentinels, their expressions unreadable.
“Did you hear all of it?”I ask, my eyes scanning their faces.Both men nod, and I keep walking toward the clubhouse.
“Rooster!”I bark, and the man steps out of the clubhouse as if he’s been waiting for me to call.“You’re on guard duty.”
Rooster gives a lazy nod and jogs past me, heading toward the cabin to keep an eye on Tessa.
Inside the clubhouse, the weight of the moment sinks in as I walk toward the table where the rest of the chapter is gathered—all sixteen of us.A ragtag crew, but we’re strong, and we’ve made it this far by being something no one expects.We’re misfits, but we fight like hell when it counts.
I take my seat at the head of the table, my eyes locking on each of the men before me.They’re not just my brothers—they’re my family.And right now, we’ve got a problem.
“Explain yourself, Ranger.”
Ranger places both hands on the table, fingers digging into the wood before he clasps them together, his jaw clenched.“I was angry,” he says, his voice low and rough.“We’ve had fuck-ups one after another.Kyler calmed things down, and Scout was inside with the homesteaders.I thought I was alone, so I shifted.”He glances up at me, his eyes full of regret.“It was then I heard Tessa gasp in the woods.I went after her.”
Kyler shifts in his seat, leaning forward slightly.“He didn’t hurt her.He backed her against a tree.Tessa was screaming, scared out of her mind, but Ranger didn’t attack her.”
Vex cuts in, his voice sharp like a blade.“No, he just scared the shit out of her and put us all in danger.”His eyes are hard, staring at Ranger as if he’s ready to call him out.“We can’t have that shit happening again.”
The room goes silent, the tension hanging thick in the air.This mess is far from over, but we don’t have time to pick it apart right now.
I slam my fist onto the table, the sound cutting through the silence like a gunshot.“This shit will never happen again.”My voice is steady, but the weight of the words is there, heavy and absolute.
Glancing around the table, I make sure every man here feels the truth in my words.Their faces are hard, expressions unreadable.They know the line was crossed, and I’m the one who has to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
Ranger shifts uncomfortably in his seat, his eyes looking anywhere but at me.He swallows, but his voice is steady when he speaks.“So, what are we going to do?”
The question hangs in the air.My eyes narrow as I look at the men in front of me—my brothers, my family.
“We make it right,” I say, each word measured, deliberate.“We let Tessa go.See if she’ll keep our secrets, but if she decides not to, we’ll move farther north.”I pause for a moment, letting the weight of the words sink in before I continue.“Vex, you stay close to Tessa.Keep her safe, but you stay fucking calm.Got it?”
