Page 1 of October's Ride with Atlas

CHAPTER 1

ATLAS

Lately,I feel like I've been away from the clubhouse as much as I have been here. I'm grateful that the other clubs are coming to help out, but that just means more people need my attention and I get less sleep.

“Hey, man. I'm just checking in. The guys want to know if you’ve had a chance to look at those photos,” Thunder, my vice president, says, peeking into my office. “What the hell happened to your face?” he asks, instantly sobering up once he steps into my office and gets a good look at me.

“Crank’s cat is what happened to my face,” I say, trying to organize the papers on my office desk, the ones I can salvage, anyway.

“Crank has a cat?” Thunder asks, as shocked as I was when I heard the news.

“Yep. He thought locking it in my office was a good idea, and when I walked in, the cat apparently did not like me in her new space.” I look over at the pile of shredded papers that I will never be able to make sense of again.

“Oh shit,” Thunder says. Then the laugh he's been holding back breaks through.

I'm sure at some point I will be able to laugh at this too, but right now, I’m just pissed. I get it that Crank wanted to impress his girl, but there are just some lines that should not be crossed in the president's office.

Maybe I've been a little too soft on these guys lately, and I need to reestablish my dominance and let them know I'm not to be fucked with, especially not until the situation with the Savage Bones has been resolved.

“I’ll pass on the order that there should be no animals in your office, though I would have thought that would be an unspoken rule.” Thunder shakes his head.

“That makes two of us,” I say as Thunder shuts the door behind him, and I pull up the email Crank sent. He said he took some photos at my buddy Shane's place, where the Savage Bones have apparently been holed up.

Shane's place has been abandoned since his parents passed about a year ago, and they left it all to him. I have no idea what his plans for it are, but I need to call him and let him know the place needs to be secured. It's been a while since we’ve talked, so it'll be good to catch up.

As the photos download, I'm reading texts on my phone and not really paying attention. Everything seems to pile up when you don't have service for even just a few hours.

So, when I look up, I'm caught completely off guard by the stunning beauty on the screen in one of the photos Crank sent over.

She looks so out of place amongst the Savage Bones. Especially since at that moment, even though she doesn't know it, she becomes mine.

“Fuck!” I shout louder than I mean to. I thought we had gotten all the women out of their clutches. Where the hell did this girl come from? I stare at her face, memorizing everythingabout it, from the slope of her nose to the curve of her lips. More than anything, I want to know what they taste like.

The way her hair is pulled up into a messy bun but pieces still manage to fall out and frame her face has my heart racing. I know based on the details of the email that Crank sent, her name is Bex. It suits her.

Taking a deep breath, I collect myself so that my anger doesn’t overtake me. I have to stay in control, especially at a time like this. When I finally turn my eyes away from her beautiful face and look at the other people in the picture, my blood runs ice cold.

My girl is standing next to the man that Crank said they called Malice. It suits him and always has.

“Thunder!” I yell out at the top of my lungs. A moment later, he comes running down the hallway.

“Prez, what's wrong?” he asks, bursting through the doorway.

“I want everyone in the main meeting room in thirty minutes, and I mean everyone, officers, all members, and their girls.Everybody. Thirty minutes. It's important. Anyone who can't be here in thirty minutes needs to be on a video call with us,” I tell him, knowing that he'll have it handled.

“On it. Most of them are already on the grounds anyway,” he says, referring to the fact that pretty much everyone has moved in or around the clubhouse since there's safety in numbers. Right now, it’s essential.

“Crank and his new wife just pulled through the gates as well,” Thunder says before heading out.

Damn, that man wasted no time getting hitched. Of course, part of me had a gut feeling that's how it would go once he landed in Vegas with her. I pace my office, waiting for the meeting to start. How the hell am I going to get Bex away from those monsters? What is she doing there? Are they hurting her?Fuck! I will murder each one of them with my bare hands if they hurt her.

My need to get her away from them as possible is riding me. I need a game plan, and I know any of my men will back me up. All I have to do is ask. These last few months, I’ve asked a lot of them, but now that we know who the Savage Bones president is, I know what they are after. With that information, I think we can end this. We have to end this. For the safety of everyone in town and the safety of my club, this will have to end now.

“Everyone's ready. We only have a few on the video call.” Thunder peeks his head in, letting me know.

Nodding, I get ready to reveal a part of my life to the club that I thought I'd be able to keep secret.

As I step into the main clubhouse room, I find everyone crammed in. Women are sitting on their guys’ laps to make as much space as possible for everyone.

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