I needed to get back home. I was done sleeping on couches and not having my space. Knox and Cain had told me I needed to stay at Ravenous until things died down, but I really missed the boathouse. I felt homeless and tired, and I needed to get my head on straight. Lately, everywhere I turned I came across a memory of my green-eyed bombshell. At the moment, I was listening to the brothers as they figured out what our next move was going to be. All the while, I was remembering Ciara’s pretty lips opening in a silent scream as she came for me against the wall that Grayson was currently leaning on. I closed my eyes and pinched my nose. Wolf was pacing back and forth and Grayson was talking about the surveillance van I had spotted a few days ago. Wolf met my eyes and nodded.

“Good job, Seth.”

I nodded. “We have to be on alert. I was just doing my job.”

Grayson frowned. “We got word on your hit and run.”

My ears perked up. I kept to myself about the whole ordeal, because I didn’t want to make it a big deal. But I wasn’t stupid, this shit needed to get dealt with.

“What do you have?”

Grayson looked at Diesel and then they both turned to me. Diesel was the one to give me the information. “It was one of La Cruz’s goons. They were headed right for you, you could see on the footage we hacked. They knew who you were, Seth. Looks like whoever’s in that van, is also giving out our information.”

“So what do we do?”

“We send them a message,” Wolf’s voice was rough and angry. “They want to fuck with us, let’s make sure they know what happens when they hurt what’s ours.”

“Wolf, it’s over, just let it go.” I opened my arms and smiled. “I’m alive. No broken bones...”

“They tried to kill you, Seth.”

“Yeah, but if we retaliate then it’ll be announcing a full on war.”

“They’ve already started it,” Wolf lowered his voice and Grayson patted his back.

“I agree with Wolf. We have to do something. If we let it go, it’s showing weakness.”

“No! It shows that we don’t give a fuck.” I was trying to stop an all-out war from breaking out, but the brothers were on edge, and they had every right to be.

“We do something about it tonight,” Cain chipped in.

“What?!” I stood up. “This is crazy! What the hell are you planning to do?”

“We’re just gonna take the garbage out, for good.”

I stared at my brother and then back at Diesel. I saw the looks on their faces and I knew they were dead serious. There was no turning back now, all hell was about to break loose.

Wolf started shouting out orders and everyone started taking off in different directions. The next thing I know, I’m on Knox’s bike and heading towards the pier. Sure enough, I have a tail. The van is following me this time as I head towards the dark side of the docks.

I’m not alone though. The brothers headed out a back trail. Always have a way out, never get cornered. That was Wolf and his rules for you. As the rest of the members headed down the back trail, Knox followed the van in his old pick up. The mission was simple. I had to lure them into the back docks and then quickly disappear while everyone flanked them at all sides.

Sure enough, the fuckers were tailing me. As soon as we reached the docks I swerved and headed towards a narrow street where they couldn’t follow. Knox’s bike was slim and fast, speeding me through the gritty back docks. I knew these docks like the back of my hand. They had been my home for years. If anyone could get these fuckers turned around, it was me.

As soon as I was out of sight, there was nowhere else to go but to the waterfront. As soon as the van followed me in, Knox closed it off by one of the gates. Diesel, Poe and Ash, two of the Death Shooters, cut it off on the other side. Their high beams went off, blinding whoever was inside the vehicle. Grayson, Wolf, and I banked the opposite side, guns raised.

“Get out of the fucking vehicle!” Wolf yelled, while Grayson and I went around the opposite side.

We pressed our backs against the side of the van and waited. A red dot appeared on the window and I looked up towards the roof. Gunner was probably up there, he didn’t miss the chance to put his sniper skills to good use. Suddenly, there was the sound of screeching vehicles coming up the road and I could hear gunshots and shouts coming from all sides.

Shots rang out from inside the van and se both moved quickly. Grayson yanked the door open while I covered him. I fired two shots and a body slumped forward onto the concrete. Grayson did his checks and we dragged the body to the front of the car. Meanwhile, Wolf was pulling the driver out of his seat and had a gun to his head. Gunner had taken out the driver of the other vehicle which had crashed into one of the freight shipments. The car looked bashed up from the left side and Diesel and Poe were dragging a body out from the back. Cain was also dragging a third guy off a bike while he held a submachine gun in his other.

“Fucker pulled this shit out on me!” My brother lifted the weapon in the air and signaled to Gunner. “If it wasn’t for Gunner I’d be dead.” Blood ran down the guy’s side as Cain dumped him down in front of us.

In less than ten minutes we’d brought down two vehicles and had three men down on their knees and one dead body on our hands. Guns were pointed at them from all sides and Gunner’s red dot was planted right at the main driver’s forehead.

“Who the fuck do you work for?” Wolf asked, his voice low and filled with vile.

All of them kept their mouth shut; right up until Poe fired a shot into the driver’s knee cap. I stared at the Death Row Shooter’s Sargent at Arms and I was glad I was on the opposite side of the barrel. If Cain was scary, this guy was a frightening motherfucker. Adrenaline pumped through him as the muscles in his arms tensed. His menacing glare would have made any man, even me, fear for his life.

The driver screamed out in pain. “La Cruz! La Cruz! We work for La Cruz!”

Wolf looked up at Grayson and Cain. “You part of his cartel?”

The guy Cain was holding up spit blood on the floor by Wolf’s feet. He gave him an evil grin that made me want to punch his face in. He was badly injured as he inhaled a ragged breath, blood coated his teeth.

“When La Cruz finds out about this, he’s going to hunt you and fucking kill you. But first, he’s gonna rape that pretty slut of a wife you have, and make sure you watch. Then he may or may not kill her. He hasn’t decided yet. He might just keep her as a fucktoy and let her watch as he blows your fucking head off. I can’t wait to see what he does to her.”

Cain smashed the guys face in with the base of his gun. Blood splattered out of his lip and Cain yanked his head back. “You won’t live long enough to see it, motherfucker.”

Wolf handed the driver over to me and walked up to the guy lying at Cain’s feet. “You think I’m scared of your piece of shit boss? I used to torture people worse than you for a living.” He pressed the barrel of his gun against the guy’s open wound and he howled in pain. Wolf simply smirked, but his body was filled with tension. Grayson stilled by my side, but his eyes never left Wolf.

Wolf’s eyes nearly went black. He grabbed the back of his head and slammed him against the cement floor. “You think you can come here, to my home, threaten my family and I’m going to sit back and watch.”

He stood up and pressed a boot to his face. The guy started to whimper and moan on the floor. “I thought you were a tough guy. I thought you said you couldn’t wait to see what happens to my wife.” He pressed his foot down harder and I thought he might splatter his head into the ground. The guy struggled on the floor and Wolf reared back and kicked him on the side where his wound was.

The guys kneeling before us made a move, but we held them back. Wolf turned back to them and smirked. “He seems to be someone important, brothers. What do you think? La Cruz’s right hand man? Maybe a family member? Fuckers like him always have family working for him.”

Wolf crouched down beside the guy and tilted his head. It was a rare occasion that we got to see him in action, and he was one scary motherfucker.

“So who are you, his baby brother, a cousin, or his most trusted hound?” The guy just glared at Wolf and Cain propped him up.

“Answer him?” Cain shoved him back so he was looking at Wolf.

The guy just kept antagonizing Wolf as he spit at his face. Wolf closed his eyes and the whole brotherhood stilled. Slowly, Wolf wiped the spit off his forehead and he scrunched his faced in fury. He reached back and hit the guy hard, making him crumble to the ground. The sounds of bones cracking echoed off the nearly empty buildings.

Satisfied for the moment, Wolf came back over to the driver. “Unless you want his same fate, you better fucking tell me who he is.”

“H...he’s Ju...Juan de la Cruz’s son.”

Wolf looked at me and at Grayson and grinned. “Really. This worthless piece of shit is the son of La Cruz.” Wolf started to laugh and as he did, Grayson got closer.

“Don’t do it, Wolf.”

Wolf glared at him, but Grayson simply shook his head. And as they stared at each other Wolf lifted his gun and Grayson closed his eyes. A shot rang out and La Cruz’s son fell to the ground, whimpering. I stared in shock at what had just happened. He’d shot him in his thigh and the fucker was squirming on the floor, crying.

Wolf turned to the guy by Grayson. “That car looks mad familiar, doesn’t it D?”

“Damn straight.”

“I wonder if this was the fucker taking joy rides the other night. The one who decided it was a good idea to run over my brother.”

The guy shook his head in fear. “I...it was an or...order.”

“Who made the order?”

“La Cruz! La Cruz ordered us to...to follow you, and take you down if we had the ch...chance.”

Wolf looked up at me and when I didn’t say anything he looked back at Cain. My brother simply nodded and the next thing I know the guy’s hands are up and he’s yelling please. Wolf focuses his gun on him, the guy grimaces and in a matter of seconds the guy is reaching for something in his pocket.

“Don’t do it,” Wolf warns, cocking his gun, his hand steady on the trigger, but the guy made the move anyway. A stupid move on his part, because Wolf wasn’t the type to kill, he wouldn’t have reacted if the guy would have just stay put.

Before the guy could pull the weapon out, a shot rang out and the guy slumped forward, sputtering at Grayson’s feet while blood poured out of his chest. Grayson stilled by my side, tension running out of him in waves. I watched in shock as the guy on the floor squirmed and choked on his last breath.

Wolf looked down at the guy and shook his head. “Motherfucker. I warned you.”

I stared at my President, a man who was always so calm, so tactical. We knew about his past, about what he had done during the war, but seeing it in person was a whole other shit show. His calm brought with it a ruthlessness that he kept well hidden, and I was glad to be on his good side.

We watched silently as Wolf turned to the driver. He crouched down in front of him and traced his gun along his forehead. The guy was visibly shaking and I couldn’t blame him, two of his partners were dead and he could be the third. The guy sobbed in fear and slumped back, spit dribbled down his chin as he cowardly begged for his life.

“Go to La Cruz and let him know exactly what happens when he fucks with my family. Take that piece of shit with you.” He points the gun at La Cruz’s son who’s lying in a dark pool of his own blood. “Hopefully he won’t bleed out before you get him to daddy.” He stared down at the guy he’d just shot dead, a far off look in his eye. “Let him know we’re ready for him. And let him know I’ll kill anyone who threatens what’s mine.”

We all stood very still, afraid to stir the Wolf before us. The tension in the air held heavy as the driver scurried up and ran to La Cruz’s son, picking up the dying man and dragging him back into his van. He left a trail of blood on the cement floor and we all knew he only had minutes to live. The tires squealed as he jetted out of there, leaving us alone to deal with the aftermath.

We stared at the two men on the ground, casualties of their own violence. “Get this shit cleaned up!” Grayson yelled at us. He walked up to Wolf who had his back to us and was staring out into the vast space of darkness beyond the bay. I was close enough to hear their conversation.

“You shouldn’t have done that, Wolf.”

“I wish I could kill hem all,” he seethed.

“I know, but...”

“He threatened my wife. He ordered for them to kill our brothers. They left Seth for dead!”

“Killing his men and shooting his son is not the wa...”

“Did you prefer for me to let him pull out his weapon?” He answered angrily. “I did what I had to do to protect my family. It sent a message, didn’t it?”

A moment passed and Wolf sighed, dragging his hand down his tired face. Grayson placed a hand on Wolf’s shoulder. “He’d be a fool if he didn’t get the message.”

As I watched them, I realized how worn out they looked. They both had heavy shoulders and the burden of the club and its members weighing them down. I wished I could do more for them.

Cain came up to me, shaking his head in worry. “Get back up to Ravenous and call a lock down. If they don’t want to stay there, they can go to Grayson’s. This shit's about to go down. We’re so fucked.”