Page 24 of Tusk's Fury

“You said something about sister wives earlier,” Clara points out.

“Yeah, some of the men had more than one partner, so I guess we were one of those weird sects after all. Very few had more than one wife, and they weren’t legally married to them because it’s against the law. They used the term sealing, which meant they married in the eyes of God. Anyway, my father made some kind of arrangement with Silas Harper, and it involved me being sealed to him. He didn’t have a wife. Maybe he never married, or she ran off or died. I never knew why. All I knew was that he was twice my age and had the sourest personality of anyone I ever met.”

Clara just shakes her head. “So much about you as a club girl makes sense now.”

“Well, that part of my life is over. I’m a mom now.” Pausing to catch my breath, I add, “You two are the only ones I’ve ever told my story to.”

Tex frowns, “Not even Tusk?”

“He never asked. He told me all about his own past but never asked about mine.”

He glances away. I can see that he’s struggling to deal with his friend being selfish. He murmurs, “Tusk might be a damn fool sometimes, but has a right to know about his child.”

“She’s not his,” I say.

“Quit lying darlin’, I can do the math.” Stephanie starts wriggling, no doubt picking up on the tension in the room, and he pats his daughter on the head lovingly, until she settles again.

My head snaps up. “It’s cute that you think he would care. I know Clara said he hadn’t got back with his ex, and it was just a misunderstanding, but I wasn’t anything special to him. I was just a club girl keeping his bed warm until he found someone worthy of being his old lady. I doubt he’d make a trek all the way to Alaska to see me, much less Victoria. We all know the last thing he needs is to be hit with more child support. Can’t you respect my privacy and just leave well enough alone?”

Changing the subject, Clara asks, “Is that why you came all the way to Alaska?”

“Yeah, I didn’t want my family or Silas Harper finding me. My family would just harass me to come home or get other church members to put pressure on me. But Silas is different. He isn’t used to being told no. I think he’s still furious about me running away because he already had it in his mind that because the agreement was said and done, I belonged to him. He’s dirty and underhanded. I don’t trust him one little bit.”

“I would think that having another man’s baby would dissuade him from wanting to marry you after all this time,” Clara says reassuringly.

“I used to think along those lines. But the more I think about it, the more I can see him using my baby to control me. I don’t want her growing up in the church, and I definitely don’t want him having any kind of control over either of us.”

Tex hands off their daughter to Clara and lifts his son up on to the sofa. Then he leans forward in his seat. “Look, Britt, I get that you and Tusk have some shit to work out, but your gonna need to come back to the clubhouse where we can protect you, if what you say about this Harper guy is correct.”

“I already told you I’m not a club girl anymore. I’m a mother.”

A stubborn expression settles onto his face. “Look Brittany, you’re not just a club girl or a mom. You’re one of us. Hell, you’ve been with the Savage Legion longer than I have, I know we might have had our differences, but you’re good people. You’re one of us. Even if you don’t want Tusk in you and your daughter’s life, y’all need protectors.”

“Aw, that’s real sweet of you, Tex. But I prefer to stay right here, where I’m ninety-five percent sure they won’t find me. With any luck, my family has long forgotten about me, and Silas Harper has moved on to some other poor, unsuspecting woman.” After thinking for a second, I add, “Not that I would wish that man on anyone.”

“But how do you plan to survive out here without a way of supporting yourself? In order to work, you have to pay taxes, and that puts you back on the grid. If you or your daughter need health care, then you’re gonna have to get in the system. And that’s not even getting onto the subject of schooling. If it was just you living off grid, then I’d say go for it, but you can’t hide forever with your daughter.”

He’s not telling me anything I don’t already know. “To be honest, I haven’t worked that out yet. So far, I’ve been living off my savings and doing odd jobs. But my money is running out, and even if I manage to get a job, I don’t have childcare.”

Tex grabs my hand and holds it between both of his hands. “Y’all need to come back with us.”

“I can’t raise my daughter in the clubhouse. And if I’m not a club girl anymore, why would they let me stay?”

“Y’all can stay with Clara and me,” he offers quickly.” I can get you a job tending bar at the clubhouse. Siege can pay you under the table. There are lots of ways for you to earn your way without being a club girl and still stay off the radar.”

When I don’t immediately respond, Clara says in a shaky voice, “I’m terrified about leaving you here all by yourself, I hadn’t realized how remote you were. The weather here is brutal. Both doctors and daycares are too spread out for it to be feasible for you to make it on your own. Please come back with us, Brittany. If not for your sake, then for your child’s.”

Before I can answer, there’s the sound of squealing tires and glass smashing and a rock comes sailing through the window in the next room. Clara lets out a scream, startling her twins, and also Victoria, who starts to cry. I jump to my feet, my heart hammering in my chest as I look in the direction the noise came from.

Not again, this time they’re escalating.

“Stay there,” Tex barks as he rushes into the room. Ignoring him I run after him just in time to see the pick-up truck speeding away. When I look down, I notice the rock has a note wrapped around it. Tex squats down to pick it up.

Clara screeches, “What the hell was that all about? If that had hit the living room window , we could have been covered in glass.”

Tex stands up. “Clara, she didn’t even look surprised. This must not be the first time the locals have paid you a fucking visit.”

He struggles to take off multiple thick rubber bands from the baseball-sized rock and hands me the note. I say, “The teenagers here have been playing practical jokes. This is the first time they’ve done any real damage.”

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