Page 6 of Bound By Consequences
What I didn’t expect was the shock to my core as I saw the members of the Ravage MC and their women all standing behind Mom and Dad. Some with signs, holding them up high.
All. Of. Them.
Cruz and Princess. GT and Angel. Buzz and Bella. Breaker and Shaina. Rhys and Tanner. Ma and Pops. Cooper and Bristyl. Deke and Rylie. Austyn and Ryker. Green and Leah. Nox and his woman, who I hadn’t yet been introduced to, but Mom had told me about her. Axel. Raiden. Booker. Mazie. Every single one of them stood in front of me.
A huge gut punch was Emery and Jacks. Jacks hated me and had every right to. I’d hate me too if the shoe was on the other foot. That bridge gap would take years to heal, if it ever could be. I wasn’t going to hold my breath, or death would meet me faster. I’d earned his backlash for a lifetime, that was certain.
Emery.
The memories flooded through me, but I pressed all the emotions down. God, the woman who I’d thought about so many times over the years. She was stunning even now. There had always been something about Emery to me. Her smile and ease to be around. I’d always thought she’d be mine, but that wasn’t the plan.
She would forever be the one who got away. As long as she was happy, then I was happy for her. It was time to let that go, for good. No going back. That door was bolted shut forever.
It blew my mind seeing everyone welcoming me home.
Just like the people who grumbled and were impatient, I was once in that mindset. I couldn’t see outside of my own boundaries or understand real loss, real sacrifice, and just how big the world really was. This right here was something that I didn’t understand before I left for the Marines. It wasn’t something that I could wrap my head around because I was blind to see it.
Now, I understood.
They were all family.
My family.
A family I had taken for granted. A family that truly meant everything to me now. I once was blind, but now I see, and I saw it all clearly. A family that was as strong as they came. One where blood most certainly wasn’t thicker than a Ravage MC bond.
One that wouldn’t be letting me slide into the fold easily. That I knew for a fact. The Ravage MC didn’t back down, especially from protecting those they considered family. Never back down had become sort of a motto with them, if one could call it that. I crossed lines I knew better than to cross. I burned bridges that could possibly take an eternity to rebuild. Hard work wasn’t something I feared or shied from.
Fuck, I had a lot of explaining to do.
It would be painful, I had no doubt, but I wanted this and wanted to be part of the Ravage MC family.
“Hey, Mom,” I greeted strongly, even though inside I was stunned by them all. She said nothing and pulled me into her arms, holding me tightly as I dropped my seabag to the floor so I could embrace her. There was nothing better than a mother’s love and a mother’s hug. She had always been my biggest supporter. She was the definition of unconditional love. I didn’t deserve this, but I was damn sure thankful for it. Her sobs were choked as she started to hiccup, her body shaking. “It’s okay. Calm down, Mom.”
“Yeah, right. She’s been bawlin’ since we got in the damn car,” my dad commented behind Mom with a small grin on his lips. He was teasing. Something else new to experience as father and son. We didn’t have this ease between us until recently. This was something I craved as a boy, even though I couldn’t recognize it at the time. My dad and I were oil and water, fire and ice through my childhood. We never seemed to click, to bond. Now that we had, I couldn’t stop the small smile from forming on my face because this was everything. The small things that I learned could see me through any hard times.
“Women,” I responded, my lips tipped, and his chuckle could be heard throughout the airport. It took my mom a few beats to pull herself together, and when she pulled back, her hands came to the sides of my face as she lifted on her toes and kissed my cheek.
“Don’t start that shit,” she fired back. It was my turn to smile. My mom took no shit. Even from my father who was a force to be reckoned with, she held her ground. It used to eat at me. I didn’t see what they had. I didn’t understand it. What I saw was this strong woman who held her own against anyone and everyone … except him. I felt like my mom gave everything to my dad who just tossed her to the side. I saw it all so differently now. My mom, she’s the strongest woman I know. In the lifestyle they led, she was absolutely where she wanted to be. My dad, he knew his woman through and through. Which meant he never crossed lines because she wouldn’t take his shit, and he knew it. Only as a boy, I didn’t see the connection between them, so I twisted everything up. She also happens to be the only person I think strong enough to be a real partner to a man like my father. Forever and always.
I saw it all clearly now like never before.
Then it started.
Clapping.
I had no idea who started it, but once it got going, I had to pull away from Mom because the entire airport erupted in it. Loud and boisterous. Whistles started and grunts.
From the Ravage family and complete strangers in the airport alike, the cheering continued. It was a welcome home that nowhere in my mind did I expect. Nor did I deserve it from these people. I’d done them wrong, yet here they were, and not one scowl in place. I take that back, Jacks had one, but I had tried to get his woman, so it was expected.
My father pulled me in for a one-handed hug as nods from the brothers and their women started. It was surreal because never in a million years did I think this group of people would be here, happy I was home. I’d thought they’d want me six-feet under. Hell who knows, they probably still did. It would really suck ass to go through everything I have to come home and get killed so quickly, but we never knew when our end was coming. I would face it all, even death because now I simply knew.
Cruz stepped up. Even though he clapped, his expression was stern. The features in his face almost locked tight, but there was this glint to his eyes … contained fury. Honestly, he had every right in the world to be. I single-handedly turned his world upside down. I left town knowing I held everything in my hands, so to speak. Instead of facing Cruz man to man, I sent the information home to my father. I didn’t give the man the respect he deserved, and I allowed my father to drop the bomb to the entire club. The moment Cruz learned he had a grown son was the same moment the entire Ravage MC learned their Rebellion charter president, Crow, was more than family by the club. No, he was Cruz’s blood. For months I held the information close to my chest, and yet I didn’t share. Instead, I took off to build my life in the Marines and left my dad and the entire club to take care of the fallout.
No explanation.
No more discussion.
Nothing.
