Derek nods, a grim smile twisting his lips. "Let's ride, brothers."
Within minutes, every single member of the club is mounting up. The roar of engines fills the air as we prepare to do what we do best. We'll fight, we'll claw, we'll murder if we have to. Whatever it takes to get the revenge our girl needs.
As I kick my bike to life, one thought burns in my mind: no one fucks with an MC princess and lives to tell the tale. Whoever did this to Elle is about to learn that lesson the hard way.
Chapter 2
One Month Later
TWO MONTHS PREGNANT
Christopher
The roarof my bike's engine fades as I pull into the familiar driveway of the clubhouse. The smell of oil and leather fills my nostrils, a scent that has become as natural to me as breathing since I was a baby.
I've been away for months. The training was brutal. Days spent learning the intricacies of club politics; nights devoted to mastering the art of war. My body aches from the countless hours of physical labor, and it’s fucking wrecked me but I loved every second of it.
I’m finally home from being away to start the process of taking over the MC for when my dad steps down, as his before him did.
My training isn’t finished, and we are due back in a couple of weeks. For as long as I can remember, my family has always said that one day you’ll meet a woman, and without a shred of doubt, you’ll just know she’s meant for you.
Butmine was someone I grew up with. I always knew in the back of my mind she wasmine.
We were always close and then one day she walked into the clubhouse, and it fucking hit me that she was my one.
Deep down I think we both have known we were meant to be, it just didn’t really hit me how fucking beautiful she was.
But something has happened over the last two months while I was gone.
I’m not sure what it is. She used to text me nonstop, but now that’s cut short like she is trying to cut the connection between us.
That is something I’m not going to allow to happen, because Elle is mine and I’m going to get to the bottom of this.
To make matters fucking worse, others in the club are avoiding me too, and it’s starting to really piss me off.
I’ve been asking everyone else how she is doing and they avoid talking about her like the plague.
I park my bike after a long-ass drive of six hours in the fucking Texas heat, and no one bats an eye at the sound of a bike rolling in.
No one knew I was coming and I wanted it that way so they can’t come up with an excuse for their actions—because I’m ready to bust some of my brothers’ heads.
My eyes scan the room, landing on a group huddled around the large oak table where we hold our meetings. I recognize the backs of my uncles, my brothers, my father—all the men I've looked up to my entire life. They're hunched over something, their postures tense and rigid.
One by one, they turn to face me. The shock on their faces would be almost comical if it weren't for the undercurrent of something darker, something that makes my stomach clench with unease.
“Chris?" My dad's voice breaks the silence, rough with surprise. "What the hell are you doing here?"
I open my mouth to answer, but the words die in my throat as my eyes lock onto Derek's face. Derek, Elle's father, the man who's been like a second dad to me my whole life. The pain etched into every line of his face, the defeat in his slumped shoulders, it hits me like a fucking truck.
There are only three people in this world who could bring Derek this much pain.
Something happened to Elle. That’s why everyone has been avoiding me—why she has been avoiding me. I’m going to fuck all of them up for keeping this from me.
I should have been here weeks ago when I noticed something was off.
The silence that follows is deafening. They exchange glances, a wordless conversation passing between them
“Where's Elle?" The question is ripped from my throat, harsher than I intended. My heart's pounding so hard I can feel it in my fingertips. "What's happened to her?"