Page 43 of Unmasked Anarchy
He catches me before I can reach him, his arms squeezing hard enough to send the air in my lungs rushing out.For a beat he just holds on.He shakes.I don’t say a thing.The yard’s full of raised voices.Wolfe is barking orders, and Mera stands by his side, her eyes wide as she watches him unravel.
“Jesus Christ,” I whisper, stepping back.“What happened?”
Kael breathes in through his nose, slow.“Ambush.The old stretch pass where we always run lookout.They were waitin’, Sable.Waitin’ for us.”
My heart sinks.“Who?”
He looks over my head, eyes darting.“Don’t know.Masks, but—” He stops.“Lost Carter and Potts.Didn’t even get a shot off.Blood fuckin’ everywhere.”
The silence that follows is heavier than the noise.I search Kael’s face for something, anything, but he is shut off.Before he can say anything else, Wolfe is striding over.His boots kicking up dust with every step.“Was this your old man?”
I blink, shaking my head.“What?”
“Was this,” he grinds out, “your fuckin’ old man?”
“No,” I say, quickly.
All eyes are on me.
“How the fuck could you know that?”
I stare at Mera and she looks at me, helpless, knowing I have to tell them that I was with Gage, and in doing that, it will make me look not only like a traitor but it will hurt Kael.
“Answer me,” Wolfe growls.
Heat rises up my neck.“It wasn’t Gage.He was—he was with me.”The words taste bitter on my tongue.
Kael’s whole body locks up.Wolfe’s face flashes with a mix of rage and confusion.
“He was with you?”Kael repeats, slow.
I open my mouth, then close it again.I don’t know what to say that won’t make this worse.I don’t even know why I want to make it better.
“Yes.He found us in town.He wanted to talk.I was with him for a while.He couldn’t have been on the road at the same time.”
I’m not protecting Gage, I’m just telling the truth, even though the truth won’t protect me.
Kael turns, then with a growl he too kicks his bike over, sending it crashing into another one.They go down like dominos, and everyone just stands there, their faces blank as the bikes crash to the ground.Mera is crying after hearing the news of the members who passed, and I’m left standing there, not knowing where to go.
“We’re not done with this conversation,” Wolfe mutters before turning and leaving me in the dust, alone.
I need to get away from all of these bikers, staring at me like I was the one to pull the trigger.I move past the club house, and toward the back sheds where it’s quiet.Stepping inside, Kael is there, leaning against the trunk of a ruined Mustang.He’s got a bottle of beer in his hands and his head is lowered.
He doesn’t look up, but I know he hears me because his whole body tenses.
“What do you want, Sable,” he grinds out.
“I wanted to talk to you,” I say, not stepping closer.
“About what?How you were with your fuckin’ man?”
“What do you want from me, Kael?”
He finally looks up, pinning me with his stare.“I want you to quit playing everyone.Especially me.”
“You know, I’m done being told I’m playing with anyone.I haven’t done a fucking thing.I haven’t once asked you for anything, Kael.You’re the one who came after me.Not the other way around.I never promised you shit.”
“You let me put my fuckin’ dick inside you.”
