Page 19 of Untamed Crow

I smile against his skin but then hesitate. "Why did you and Wrath really come to Cedar Falls?"

His body tenses slightly beneath me, and for a moment, I think he won't answer. His hand stills in my hair as he stares at the ceiling, the muscles in his jaw working.

"You don't have to tell me," I add quickly. "I just... I've always wondered."

He's quiet for so long that I start to regret asking. But then he takes a deep breath.

"We didn't choose Cedar Falls," he says finally, his voice low and rough. "Truth is, we were running."

I prop myself up on an elbow to look at him, but his eyes remain fixed on the ceiling.

"Running from what?"

"Our old man," he says, jaw clenching. "Social services. The whole fucking system. I was 19, could take care of myself, but Wrath... he was still 16. They wanted to put him in another foster home, and I couldn't... I couldn't let that happen. Not after what we'd been through."

The pain in his voice makes my heart ache. I lay my hand over his heart, feeling it beat strong and steady.

"Our dad," he continues, finally meeting my eyes, "he was a mean drunk. Used to beat on us, especially Wrath. Said he was too soft, too weak. Every time social services got involved, we were sent to a different foster home. Some were okay, some were worse than our old man."

"That's horrible," I whisper, fighting back tears.

"Last foster home," his voice grows darker, "the bastard tried to... he went after Wrath one night. I lost it. Put him in thehospital. We knew they'd press charges, try to lock me up, so we ran. We were stealing food from a gas station when Hellfire caught us," he continues after a moment. "President of Iron & Blood MC. Most people would've called the cops, but he... he saw something in us. Saw two brothers willing to do anything to stay together, to survive."

"What did he do?"

A small smile touches Crow's lips. "Gave us a place to stay. Food. Taught us how to fight properly, how to protect what's ours. Showed us that family isn't just blood - it's loyalty, brotherhood. He even helped us legally, got the charges dropped by proving self-defense."

"That's why you're so devoted to the club," I realize. "They saved you."

"Yeah." His arm tightens around me. "Gave us purpose. Direction. Showed us that the violence we'd learned to survive could be channeled into something meaningful - protecting our territory, our people."

I press a kiss to his chest, right over a tattoo of a crow in flight.

"Thank you for telling me. Can you also tell me why everyone calls you Crow?"

He finally looks down at me, his eyes intense. "When I first joined the club, I had this thing about collecting shiny objects - rings, chains, anything that caught the light. Couldn't help myself. The brothers started calling me Crow after they caught me lifting a silver lighter off some rival's bike. Started when I was a kid. Never knew when I'd be moved next, so I'd take something small and shiny from each place. Something to prove I existed there, you know? Old habits die hard. Never told anyone why I did it though. Not even the other brothers know the full story.”

"I won't tell anyone," I promise.

"I know you won't." He rolls us suddenly, pinning me beneath him. "Trust you, Emma. More than I've ever trusted anyone besides my brother."

The weight of that confession hits me hard. This man, who's been through so much, who's learned to trust so few, is sharing his darkest secrets with me.

"Vincent," I whisper, reaching up to touch his face.

"Don't," he says roughly. "Don't say that name. Don’t look at me like that. Don't want your pity."

"It's not pity," I tell him firmly. "It's pride. Pride that you survived, that you protected your brother, that you built something good from something terrible. You're the strongest person I know."

His eyes soften as he looks down at me. "You mean that, don't you?"

"Every word."

He kisses me then, soft and deep, pouring everything he can't say into it. When he pulls back, there's something different in his eyes - something lighter, like sharing his past has lifted a weight from him.

"Stay with me," I whisper. "Not just tonight. Stay."

"You sure about that, doll? Being with me means being with all of me - the club, the danger, everything."

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