Page 13 of Wrath's Redemption

Anna makes a small sound in her sleep, and we both tense, but she settles again.

"Tell me more," I whisper. "About you. About how you and Crow ended up here."

He's quiet for so long I think he won't answer. Then, in the darkness of our daughter's new nursery, surrounded by the sounds of the clubhouse below, he begins to talk.

"We were just kids," he says, his voice rougher than usual. "Crow was sixteen, I was fourteen. Hitching rides, stealing what we could to survive. Then we hit Cedar Falls." He pauses, and I can feel the tension in his shoulder under my palm. "Got caught trying to steal food from a convenience store. But instead of calling the cops, the owner called Hellfire."

I stay quiet, afraid any interruption might make him stop sharing.

"He took one look at us – two beat-up kids, starving, scared – and said 'Follow me.' Brought us here, to this clubhouse. Fed us. Gave us a place to sleep." His jaw works. "First time in my life I felt... safe."

Anna wheezes in her sleep, and his eyes snap to her crib.

"Hellfire taught us everything. How to fight, how to ride, how to be men instead of victims." His fingers curl into fists. "How to be family. That's what I want for Anna. Not just a father – a family. People who'd die to protect her."

My hand squeezes his shoulder gently. He tenses further but doesn't pull away.

"The violence, the blood – I know it scares you," he continues. "But everything I am, everything I do, is because of what I learned here. Hellfire showed me that family isn't just blood. It's loyalty. Protection. Love." He turns to look at me, his eyes intense in the darkness. "That's what Anna will have here. What you'll both have."

My breath catches at his words, at the fierce protectiveness in his voice. Without thinking, I lean my head against his shoulder. He goes completely still.

"Lucy..."

"Thank you," I whisper. "For telling me. For wanting to protect her. For..." I swallow hard. "For being nothing like your father."

He makes a sound deep in his throat, and suddenly his hand is covering mine on his shoulder. His palm is rough, calloused, but his touch is gentle.

"Get some sleep," he says gruffly. "Tomorrow's going to be a long day."

But neither of us moves. We sit there in the darkness, watching our daughter sleep, his hand warm over mine, and for the first time since entering the clubhouse, I feel completely at peace.

Maybe this is exactly where we're meant to be.

Chapter 5 - Wrath

Lucy's head is warm against my shoulder, her hand still under mine. I can't believe I told her about the old man, about running with Crow. I never talk about that shit – not even with my brother, not in years. But something about her makes my walls crumble, just like that night a year ago.

"Why didn't you ever call?" she asks softly, her breath tickling my neck. "After that night?"

The question hits me like a punch to the gut. Truth is, I'd wanted to. God, how I'd wanted to. That night with her had been... different. No expectations, no judgment. Just her soft skin, sweet moans, and those green eyes that seemed to see right through my bullshit.

"Couldn't," I finally say. "The morning after you left, we got word the Outlaws were moving in on our territory. Started a three-month war that nearly destroyed both clubs." I flex my fingers over hers. "By the time things calmed down... felt too late."

She shifts slightly, and I catch a whiff of her shampoo – something floral, delicate. So at odds with the leather and gunpowder smell of the clubhouse.

"Three months," she murmurs. "That's when I found out I was pregnant."

The timing hits me hard. While I was out there fighting, she was discovering she carried my child. My daughter was growing inside her, and I had no fucking clue.

"I should've called anyway," I admit. "Should've..."

Anna's wheeze cuts through the darkness again, and something inside me breaks. All those months I missed. Her first cry, firstsmile, first word. Gone because of club business, because of violence, because of my fucking pride.

"Hey," Lucy squeezes my hand. "You're here now. That's what matters."

"Yeah." I clear my throat. "And I'm not going anywhere."

She lifts her head from my shoulder, and suddenly we're face to face in the darkness. Those green eyes lock onto mine, and just like that night a year ago, I feel myself drowning in them.

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