Page 2 of Tater
She didn’t trust him.
Didn’t like him.
Didn’t believe him.
But the dragon went quiet.
And that was the first time in years Ren felt anything close to peace.
The first fire had made her dangerous.
The bar made her known.
Tater made her inevitable.
And the fire inside her?
It didn’t die down.
It turned toward him.
CHAPTER 2
The Ambush
The clubhouse was too damn quiet.
Not peaceful quiet — it was the kind that crawls under your skin and waits to break something. The pool-table lights are off. Someone has left half a bottle of Jack sweating on the bar. Even the air smelled wrong — stale oil, smoke, and tension.
From behind Tater’s office door came the sound voices.
Eagle’s, low and sharp.
Tater’s, lower and rougher.
“…she’s unpredictable,” Eagle said. “You can’t lead with that hanging over you.”
“She’s my old lady,” Tater answered.
“She’s your fuckin’ problem when she burns the wrong side of a fight.”
“She’s also the reason half this club is still breathing. Don’t forget that.”
The silence that followed had weight. she’d learned long ago what each kind of silence meant. This one was the sound of Tater deciding whether to break something — or someone.
Ren should’ve walked away. Instead, she leaned against the wall, listening.
“You keep saying she can control it,” Eagle pressed.
“She can.”
“Until she can’t.”
That one hit deep. She closed her eyes and let the heat rise, slow and steady, behind her ribs. The dragon shifted, restless.
“They’re afraid of you again,”it murmured.
“Not afraid,” she whispered. “Cautious.”
