Page 6 of Zeke

I take the stairs two at a time as I head down, then step outside.

Eden climbs off her bike and rushes to the cab of the truck, and I see Zeke on my other side matching my pace to see what’s wrong, hoping it’s not one of our people. Rebel comes up behind us both, ready to help however he can.

Thankfully, it isn’t. Eden reaches inside and pulls out a dog that looks almost as big as her. She turns, takes a few steps, then sets it on the ground. It looks pretty fucked up, with a leg that doesn’t seem quite right and huge knots of hair and dirt all over.

“I found him out on Jacoby,” she says, kneeling beside him and gently petting him. “Nearly ran over him when I came around one of the curves. He’s in pretty rough shape.”

“Looks like it,” Zeke says.

“What were you doing out on Jacoby?” I ask. It’s a wooded street with a lot of twists and turns, but no businesses to speak of. No bars, no shops, nothing, so I can’t figure out what Eden might have been doing all the way out there.

She stands up and gives me a death glare, one that I’ve learned not to shrink from even though I know it means she’s seriously pissed, and a seriously pissed Eden isn’t someone I would ever want to fuck with.

“I was out for a ride,” she says crisply, as if daring anyone to say something.

“By yourself?” Rebel asks, his face mirroring my own feelings about it, but I’d never say so. At least not right now when she’s still this volatile.

“Yes, Rebel,” she says, the challenge no longer hinted at, but on full display. “Is that an issue for you?”

Rebel opens his mouth to reply, but closes it before he says, “No, Prez.”

“Good,” Eden says, turning to me and Zeke.

“He’s right, you know,” Zeke says, his reckless nature coming through. “What would have happened if someone was looking for you? We’ve been watched before. What if someone saw you leaving and followed you?”

“Do you think I’m going to let some mouth-breathing cunt get the jump on me?” she said.

“Of course not,” Zeke responds, mirroring her angry posture. “But if you recall, we nearly got flattened by an eighteen-wheeler not too long ago, and you’re good, but you couldn't take on a whole club if one decided to make an issue. And what if someone was waiting for you to leave so they could attack the house?”

She glares daggers at both him and Rebel, then turns to me, trying to gauge if I’m planning on scolding her, too. I have no intention of doing that.

Instead, I kneel beside the dog, who looks up at me with big brown eyes set above the black muzzle. It’s hard to tell with how filthy and tangled he is, but I think, based on what I can see of his face, that he’s a pretty cute dog.

I look it over, feeling the hurt leg and watching the dog wince. He lets out a little whimper, and I leave it alone for now. I try to feel the mattes all over him and he recoils.

“He’s gonna need a bath before we can figure out what all he needs,” I say, “but he’s gonna need a vet either way. That leg needs to be looked at.”

“I know a guy,” Justice says, holding up his hand just a bit like he’s asking permission to speak.

“Good,” Eden says. “Let’s give him a call, then.” She and Justice head inside together, leaving me and Zeke alone with the dog.

I watch them go. It’s good they were able to work past their issues to be friends again. Justice had been in love with Eden for a long time, but he never made it known to her. By the time she finally gave him the time of day, it didn’t matter because she’d already met Savage and was totally head-over-heels for him, and Justice couldn’t match up to him in her mind. He’s too nice, too gentle. Eden needs a firm hand to take control since she needs to be in control in every other aspect of her life, and Justice couldn’t give that to her.

He’d taken a while to warm up to Savage, and had even gotten into a fist fight with him over Eden. But when Savage and Eden got married, they buried the hatchet—not literally, thankfully. Justice agreed to a truce, not that there was a whole lot of choice in the matter. Savage had won, and that’s all there is to it.

Zeke stands there, just staring at me with his hands balled into fists, looking like he’s having an internal fight with himself. He’s not usually one to hold back, especially from me, but he and I have been butting heads ever since the Kira thing came up between us.

“What?” I ask him, tired of him being so unpredictable and sullen. “Spit it out.”

He looks surprised, but then his expression closes off. “Nothing.” He turns and walks back to the house, leaving me alone with the dog.

I look down at him and pet him a bit. “Hey, buddy,” I say, and he looks up at me, cocking his head to the side and wincing because one of the giant dirt and hair clumps whacks him in the jaw. “I think we need to get you inside. What do you say?”

Because he’s a dog, he doesn’t respond, which I expected. But when I stand up, he struggles to his feet and takes a step toward me, limping on his front leg as if he doesn’t want to be left alone. I remember how alone I felt when I was hurt, with Torque and Garrotte digging barbed wire into my leg, cutting me down to the bone. I run my hand over the spot, which still hasn’t fully healed. With how bad the wound is I almost wonder if there’s going to be some level of permanent damage.

“Alright, buddy,” I say to the pup before I stoop down to pick him up, careful not to hurt his leg any more or to pull any of those clumps of fur. “I think step one needs to be a bath. Don’t you?”

Great,I think. I’m having a conversation with a dog because everyone else couldn’t give a fuck to stay and help. You’d think after what I went through, they’d be a little less likely to leave me alone, but that’s just the way things work around here.

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