Page 66 of Butcher

That seemed to appease the men. I understood where they were coming from. I’d be right there with them if Isla was staying here while I went off to fight. They were tense, wound up, and if you added that to men who were already possessive as hell, it tended to come out as overprotective caveman behavior, or so I’d heard Kit say more than once.

“Thanks,” Lock said as the men went over to shake Warrant’s hand, showing that there were no hard feelings. He gave the men an appreciative look. “We couldn’t do this without all of you staying here to help our families out while we’re gone.” There were now nine men staying here with the women and children, and I still wondered if itwas enough. Mel, Bear, Dash, Idaho, and Static had everything in the world to fight for, but I knew without a doubt our friends wouldn’t let us down either. It was why my brothers were comfortable enough to get inside the different vehicles parked in the club’s lot and drive away as soon as Lockout pulled out onto the road.

Glancing over,I studied Isla’s face. She looked tense.

“Everything good?”

Her sigh was heavy and I could see the worry on her face. “These guys have wives and kids.”

“Yeah.” I wasn’t really sure what she was getting at, but I knew if I gave it a minute, she’d explain. Slowly we were starting to get to know one another. And my first impression of her had been right. We had a lot in common.

“I feel so damn guilty taking them away from their families. And not only that but putting them in harm’s way.”

“We chose to do this Terror.”

“Yeah, but a big part of why you’re doing it is for me,” she replied. “And I’m not sure I’m worth it.”

Now I knew how my brothers felt all these years because she was exactly where I’d been for so long. Feeling as though I didn’t belong. Not understanding why they did the shit for me that they did. It was a weird place for me to be. Somewhere in the middle of accepting that they just fucking loved me for reasons I didn’t understand, and that reminder of what I am and why it was difficult for others to feel things for me. “I’ll never understand my brothers’ capacity for emotion,” I told her. “But I’ve come to realize that once they accept you into their lives, they’ll burn down the rest of the world to keep you there.”

“Only I’m not one of theirs.”

Clenching my jaw, I just barely managed to keep from growling out that she was because she belonged to me. But did she? This threat was about to be exterminated. And then, once we had a location forRandal, this was going to be over. I couldn’t keep Isla here against her will for much longer. Which meant I had to decide what to do before that time came. I wasn’t exactly the type to take an old lady and have a whole bushel of fat babies. That was for men like Hush, Hell, and Static. Shit, all of my brothers were proving to be that type.

It’d just dawned on me that I was even capable of caring for others. What was I supposed to say to a woman who stuck there in the middle with me? I didn’t know if I could provide a long-term stable relationship—stable wasn’t really my thing after all—but I didn’t want to let her go. I raked a hand through my hair, trying to figure out how to comfort her.

She sighed again. “All I can say is...thank you.” She looked over at me, so I met her gaze. “Thank you. Thank you to them. I can’t explain how much I appreciate the help. How much I appreciate being a part of-” She shook her head and fell silent.

I spent the next two hours struggling to find words that would make her less upset. As we pulled into a parking lot on the outskirts of Phoenix, I realized I’d failed at comforting her. It was just another reminder of why claiming her as my old lady probably wasn’t fair to Isla.

“Shit, that’s a lot of bikers in trucks and SUVs,” Kilo said as he walked up, a huge grin on his face. “Fucking blasphemy.”

Most of us chuckled as we got out of our rides, because we thought the same. Every one of us would have rather made this trip on our bikes.

“Hard to transport rifles and rocket launchers on a motorcycle,” Lock replied with a chuckle as he walked up to shake Kilo’s hand.

I looked around at their clubhouse and was impressed. It was a nice set up. They had acreage, like us, but the building itself was a lot smaller.

“Nice place,” Toxic told him.

“Thanks, nowhere near as big as yours,” Kilo replied, echoing my thoughts. “But it works for us. We all have homes around here that we live in. And our chapter has grown a lot recently.”

“I’ll be putting in a bigger building soon,” Ruck, the Saint’s OutlawsPhoenix Chapter president, said as he walked up. “I like the set up you guys have. Until recently, we just fucking camped outside if we were too drunk to drive home, but having rooms inside the clubhouse would be better.”

“Too damn hot to sleep out here,” Smoke said. “It’s even hotter than Tucson.” He used the hem of his t-shirt to wipe the sweat from his brow.

Phoenix was always hotter. It was a much bigger city than Tucson and all that asphalt attracted the heat.

“Come on inside,” Ruck offered. “Meet the others.”

“You sure you’re good with letting us borrow a few of your crew?” Rip asked as we all started to go inside.

I put my arm around Isla’s shoulders and she didn’t say a word or try to move away. She hadn’t grown up in the club culture, the way Kit had, but she had good instincts. She seemed to understand this was my way of making sure none of the bikers fucked with her. As far as they understood it she was claimed, just by being in contact with me. It would keep me from having to bash in the skulls of any men who touched. Lock wouldn’t appreciate me alienating our new friends that way.

“Oh yeah, it’s not a problem,” Ruck said with a grim smile.

“Prez put it up to a vote,” Kilo added. “Most of our guys are dying for a little action. It’s been too damn quiet around here.”

We stepped into the clubhouse and I sucked in cold air with a grateful breath. The AC was working hard to keep the place cool, but it was doing its job well.

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