Page 44 of A New Era

JJ leans forward, scowling. “Let me get this straight. You lose brothers and your clubhouse and instead of retaliating, you do nothing and leave town?”

Wyatt narrows his eyes, his mouth parts to no doubt defend his actions but it’s Cookie who speaks up. “We lost everything, how the fuck were we meant to fight with only four of us and no weapons?”

“You get fuckin’ creative,” Pope hollers from his table in the corner.

Tapping my finger on the table stops me from jumping across it and laying Wyatt flat out. JJ’s right to question his actions.

“You shouldn’t have left town. There only being four of you, you could’ve called in for help. Brothers would’ve come riding hard and fast and we could’ve wiped out this gang,” I say.

Creep is the first to answer, “No offence, Leo, you’ve been president for little over a year and spent most of that locked up.”

“He hasn’t been locked up for a while,” Myles defends me, but I lift my hand and he sits back.

“First off, offence fuckin’ taken,” I grunt and then to Wyatt, “Correct me if I’m wrong, but you’re the fuckin’ president over your chapter, is it, not your responsibility to protect your chapter, fight for it, fight for your brothers… and if necessary, reach out for help?”

It takes him a moment to speak up, but it’s not directed at me… but at my dad, sparking annoyance through me.

“Cas, you would’ve done the same. I’m not saying we don’t plan on going home and reclaiming our town, but we need men and guns. We need a plan.”

Dad leans back in his seat, rolling a cigarette between his fingers.

“You’re wrong. I wouldn’t have left town. I would’ve called for backup. Under no circumstances would I have left my town and let my enemy believe they had run us off.” Sliding the cigarette behind his ear, he pointedly adds, “My son is president now, and I agree with him on this matter. You were wrong to leave your town. You need to stop tryin’ to fuckin’ justify it.”

This shuts Wyatt up and he drains his beer to gain a minute to think over his next words.

“Maybe you’re right, but I made the call to leave when me and my brothers were at our lowest. The shit we’ve been through, we’re nearly done.”

Done? Fucking done? I should rip their patches from their cuts. You don’t admit defeat and you’re fucking tired to the point you run away. It takes everything to keep a lid on my temper.

“We have the Five Falls Chapter and the Mercy Chapter arriving within the next few days,” I say, adding, “I think it’s time we all sit down, and sort shit out.”

Rising from my seat, I grab my beer and say, “You’re welcome to stay over at the main house with your old ladies, and Cookie, I’ll have a prospect to show you to a room here.”

I don’t wait for any more bullshit to pass from their lips and head toward my office. JJ follows and closes the door behind him. Falling onto the couch, I drain my beer and toss the bottle in the nearby trash can.

“What are you thinking?” he asks.

“That we’ve got more shit to clean up than we thought. It seems in the time I was locked up, it was open season to fuck us.”

Reaching down to the third drawer, I grab the map of the country I know my dad kept here and spread it across the desk. Grabbing a red pen, I outline around the already circled locations where we have charters and draw a line from Dog City to each one.

“What are you doing?” JJ asks.

“These are our territories and from Dog City, we have a clear path to each location. I’m starting to think the Haywards did much more homework on us than we originally thought, and they know how prime we are for transportation. We need to claim back the Southern Chapter territory, and not just because of pride. The Haywards need these routes and I want to learn why.”

“Where the South is concerned, what are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking, they hang around for the wedding, let this new gang believe they now own the town, then we take a trip with our brothers and start a war.”

The changes I saw for the club are no longer just big, they’re fucking huge. It isn’t just the Willow’s Peak chapter that needs to be modernised. It’s the club as a whole.

“I think a war is going to be our only choice. It seems we have assholes at every turn. We need to make moves that put our reputation on every fucker’s lips.”

“What do you propose?” I ask.

“Exactly what you’re thinking. Wait till the wedding’s over and start sorting out the Southern Chapter. We’re waiting on word from Luca so we have time to deal with other enemies. We can use the next week to gather as many guns as we can and form a solid plan of attack.”

Nodding, I ask, “You think the club is up for this kind of fight?”

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