Page 50 of The Ghost of Rage's War

“We need to inform the allies,” Drake muttered.

“Not yet.”

“What?” Drake blasted Ghost, rising to his feet and leaning on the table.

“Who runs Venomous Fangs?” Ghost asked.

Drake stood up, frowning.

“Wrath, although many haven’t seen the mean bastard. But his word is law,” Drake replied.

“Wrath, Drake,” Ghost said and waited for Drake to catch on.

Everyone looked puzzled.

Manny suddenly sat up straight, capturing everyone’s attention. “Fury!” Manny spat into the silence.

“What?” Axel boomed.

“Wrath means anger, fury, ire. Are you telling me Fury is Wrath?” Manny demanded of Ghost.

“Time to tell you exactly what I’ve been doing for fifteen years. And how Rage was the pawn in a decade-long game of complicated chess. Sheer dumb luck and Drake blocked Wrath’s plans for this MC and its allies. This is a war we might not win, and Wrath is coming for all of us,” Ghost warned.

Ghost began speaking, reminding everyone that Fury had been a founder and as young as Axel when the MC opened. Ghost jolted memories when he mentioned the times that Fury had tried to turn the club dark. Those who remembered nodded their agreement.

“Yeah, Fury wanted easy, fast cash,” Axel agreed.

Ghost noted Axel might be speaking to him, but he hadn’t escaped the big man’s displeasure. Axel’s eyes were burning holes into him.

Ghost told them what he and Anderson had pieced together. That Fury had gathered like-minded assholes in allied clubs, and they had formed a committee called Manticore. Together, they’d started undermining the rightful presidents, and while hidden in the background, they controlled the puppets who took over.

Axel began arguing with him, and Ghost snapped. “And seven MCs all went bad within five years of each other? Good presidents taken out and filth taking over?”

“Co-incidence!” Apache snarled.

“No such fuckin’ thing. One or two clubs going rogue? Yeah. All seven of them? The main MCs in this part of South Dakota? Wake the fuck up,” Ghost shot back with a hint of anger.

“Doesn’t explain why you’ve been dark for fifteen years, asshole!” Apache hit Ghost hard with his pain.

“So, these criminal masterminds took over the clubs,” Drake said with a trace of sarcasm.

Ghost continued and was interrupted when Manticore was mentioned. He sighed. At this rate, he’d be here all day.

“I read this book. It’s by Dan Brown, and they’re called the Illuminati in it!” Apache added with little patience.

“This is really far-fetched,” Axel agreed.

“Except I remember once hearing Fury threaten Bulldog with Manticore’s removal of protection if he didn’t do something,” Fish drawled slowly. His brow was furrowed as he clearly struggled to think back.

“You do?” Drake asked with apparent surprise.

“Yeah, I wasn’t meant to overhear, but when they saw me, they changed the subject. Bulldog was frightened of this Manticore,” Fish replied.

Ghost added, “Bulldog and Fury were standing outside the clubhouse, to the left near the garages, and it was raining. Fury wore a brown tee and—”

“Bulldog had a bandage above his eyebrow. He claimed he’d taken a blow in a fight,” Fish said.

Ghost agreed and continued.

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