Chapter 1
Snake
Everyone was on edge at the lodge. Mac was on high alert with what the Devil Saints were concocting, and people were getting cramped. Fights between close friends were growing more heated, stupid shit like the thermostat was being fought over, and the food was running out faster than we could keep it stocked in the fucking kitchen. This was bullshit, and we all knew it, but none of us wanted to take any chances. That fucking bull-headed asshole, Beast, shot his damn wife in front of us.
That shithead would stop at nothing to take us all down.
Passing the time was difficult. Between keeping an eye on Talon with my damn sister and making sure Emery didn’t run out of the compound, shit was getting real. Hawk was fucking tired, Sidney was doing her best to keep everyone afloat with positivity, Emery was bored as hell like the rest of us, and I cringed every time my sister retreated into a room with Talon.
They were being fucking handsy as all get out, and I didn’t like it one bit.
So, distractions were what I needed. I’d slip out and make my way into town to find myself a nice piece of ass to settle down with for the night. Some trashy broad with painted on makeup, daisy dukes that showcased her ass, and her fat rolls hanging off the sides. The bigger, the better. Those types of women were warm, comfortable, and always had the tightest pussies alive. They knew how to suck down cock as well as the rest of them, but they had no standards on how to be treated. I could lick their pussy nice, and then they’d give me whatever the fuck I wanted in bed.
Why? Because men usually mistreated women like that.
Two good moves in bed and they were putty in my fucking hands. A little lick of the pussy, some nice pounding from behind, and they were all mine for the rest of the night. I’d woken to more blowjobs than I had pots of coffee in my life, which was great. Because coffee was shit.
I hated the stuff.
Mac knew what I was doing, and I knew he didn’t approve. He wanted everyone on the compound to stay put as much as they could. But that shit wasn’t gonna fly with me. I needed out. I needed away from the physical affections of Talon and my sister. I needed away from the tension and the arguments and the fights that broke out over fucking lightbulbs.
Lightbulbs, people. Just go fucking buy another one.
Every night, it was a different girl, and every night it was a warm body to sleep next to. My bed didn’t feel as empty, and my mind didn’t seem so damn distracted. When I was sleeping next to one of these women, whose thick legs and jiggling arms were draped over me all damn night, I didn’t think about her. I didn’t dream about her or crave her or wonder how she was doing in any way.
And it was nice, to not have her take up my mind.
Every night I spent alone, she was there. With her curves and her soft tresses of hair and her sweet little smile. She was there, with her sassy mouth and her crass tongue and her soft skin that called to me even when we were sitting in a restaurant and eating food. Whenever I closed my eyes at night and saw her, the dreams were vivid. So detailed that I expected her to be there when I woke up. I expected to roll over and feel her tits pressing against my skin or feel her short, stubby little legs threaded in between mine.
Laiken, the woman I had loved.
Laiken, the woman I had broken.
That woman had been strong physically, emotionally, and mentally. She was a spitfire with a tongue that could cut you down in a heartbeat. She was a minx in the sack, knew how to suck a dick all the way back into her throat, and could take a pounding in any orifice I shoved myself into. She was perfect for me. A crass young woman with thick curves who knew how to throw her weight around in bed. She was intelligent, educated, and knew exactly what she wanted to do with her life.
Too bad what she wanted to do was become a police officer.
I fucked it up, and I knew I did. Can’t keep lying to a girl and expect her to stay. But I had no choice in the matter, and that was the shitty hand I was dealt. I couldn’t do anything about it, and neither could she. Love doesn’t make a relationship stay afloat. It takes more than that.
She was the one that taught me that, but it didn’t stop me from continuing to love her.
I kept that shit to myself. No one needed to know that I was capable of loving someone. Staying at arm’s length and being crass is what earned me the position I now held with The Road Rebels. I was a cusser. I was a drinker. I was a rider. And I was cold. Hardened to the world. Impenetrable by any woman unless she wanted my cock between her legs.
But this night was going to be different. This night, I would dream about her. Because tonight, Mac had a fucking job for me to do.
Great.
“Snake. Fox. Get over her,” Mac said.
“What now?” I asked.
“Cut the shit and listen,” Fox said.
“Thanks, Fox. Anyway. I need you two to stick to the shadows and go scope out the Devil Saints compound,” Mac said.
“What’s happened now?” I asked.
“I’ve heard some whisperings of them loading up on some stuff. Ammunition. Guns. Grenades. The works. I need to know if that’s true,” Mac said.
“The fuck? Who the hell is this source of yours?” I asked.
“If I told you, I’d have to kill you,” Mac said.
“So, what? You want us to just ride up with our loud ass motorcycles and check them out? Mac, that place is gonna be on high alert. They’re gonna sniff us out in a heartbeat,” I said.
“That’s why you’re taking me,” Fox said.
“Fox is good at this kind of thing,” Mac said. “Follow his lead.”
“Fuck. Fine. Okay. Fox, you ready to head out?” I asked.
“Let me get my helmet, and I’ll be good to go.”
I looked back down the hallway and saw Talon with my sister pinned up against a wall. He was smiling down at her, and she was looking up at him with those doe eyes she got from our father. His had been wide with anger and booze most of our lives, but hers were wide with innocence. I knew that’s one of the things that drew Talon to my sister and I could feel my blood boil. There was no one that was ever gonna be good enough for my sister. Especially anyone in this fucking gang. But she’d made her choice, and I had to respect that.
But I sure as hell didn’t have to be happy with it.
She looked over at me and waved before Talon turned his head. His eyes connected with mine and he nodded like he was trying to show some sign of brotherly love or bullshit like that. But brothers didn’t fuck their friend’s sisters.
I stared him down before he turned his focus back to my sister.
She was giving me a nasty look, but I didn’t care. Just because people supported their relationship didn’t mean I had to like it. I respected her decision as a grown woman with a degree, but I was never gonna appreciate it. I was never gonna like the fact that they snuck around behind my fucking back. I was never gonna be okay with how she got dragged into all this bullshit because Talon was too selfish. He couldn’t have kept his cock to himself until all this shit was done and wrapped up.
Now my sister was involved, and a target and that was on him.
“Ready to go?” Fox asked, pulling me from my thoughts.
“Yep.”
We hopped on our bikes and stuck to the back roads. We scoped out everything along the way. Everything from power lines that could be tapped into to possible surveillance equipment that could’ve been installed on power lines. We rode as slowly as we could in order to keep our bikes quiet, but the closer we got to the Devil Saints compound the more alert I became. They had patrols on bikes for days. People fucking zooming past us in the woods with Devil Saints jackets on their backs. It would only be a matter of time before Fox and I were caught by one of them, so I rode up beside him to get in his ear.
“This is a shit situation, Fox. We need to get back,” I said.
“You scared?” he asked.
“Are you fucking kidding me with that card right now? We’re a mile outside the damn compound, and we’ve already passed four patrols.”
“I know. Just stick close,” he said.
Shaking my head, I backed off and trailed behind him. The closer we got to the compound the more people came whizzing by us. Fox and I had to turn our bikes off and started walking them to make sure we weren’t heard, and I was pissed. My legs burned and the woods were dark. Everyone was yelling and cussing all around us. My head was on a swivel, looking for anything we could take back to Mac.
But there was no proof of this ammunition they were loading up on.
Of course, there wasn’t. Mac’s source was off his fucking rocker. The Devil Saints were crazy, but they weren’t stupid. They were on every single fucking government radar this country had to offer right now. Why the fuck would they be stocking up on shit like grenades at their main compound?
If anything, they were doing it offsite somewhere.
“I’ve got eighteen wheeler trucks ahead,” Fox said. “But they look empty.”
“Of course they are. They aren’t stupid,” I said.
“You think they were full with all that shit Mac was saying?” he asked.
“Don’t jump to conclusions. Just observe, and we’ll report what we see.”
“I don’t see any boxes being unloaded or opened. They’re just empty.”
“How many are there?” I asked.
“Two,” he said.
But then, my eyes saw it. From a distance, but I knew it was there.
“Fox. Stop. Right now.”
He looked back at me, but he listened.
“What?”
“Just shut up and do what I say when I say it,” I said.
It was almost indiscernible, but I could see it. The outline of the black sedan at the tree line. It was across the street from us, tucked back into the woods. They hid that shit well, but I was better than they were. I wasn’t looking out for grenades or guns or any other bullshit Fox had his mind trained on.
I was looking for signs of those fucking government rats.
And I found it.
“We need to call church,” I said.
“What do you see, Snake?”
“Look across the street, a little up ahead. Tell me what you see.”
“Trees. And grass. And… oh, shit. Wait a second. Is that-”
“Yep. It’s a black sedan. And by the looks of it, The Devil Saints haven’t even caught it.”
“They’re fucking scoping this place out.”
“Which is why we need to get out of here,” I said.
We turned our bikes around and made a run for it. We ran for almost two miles before we struck up our bikes and rode back into town. We stuck to the back roads and kept our eyes peeled for any other black sedans tucked away in the woods, and I could feel the hair on my arms standing on end.
The DEA was still scoping out The Devil Saints.
Which meant they were probably still scoping us out as well.