CHAPTER 12

Zara

I tried to swallow but my mouth was too dry. The sounds of moaning and grunts had me not wanting to open my eyes, but I knew full well not looking wasn’t going to change anything. At this stage, I figured it was better that I know where I was. Taking a deep breath, I cracked my lids open and scanned the room.

I was on a mattress on the floor, along with several other girls. Naked, or mostly naked girls. A quick glance down had a wave of relief flowing through me when I saw I was still dressed. Fuck, the ones closest to me all looked like teenagers. Babies that should be home with their parents. Most of them were asleep. At least, I hoped they were asleep and not dead. One girl was thrashing her head and moaning, while scratching the holy hell out of her arms. Drugs maybe? I winced when my gaze caught on a man who was pumping into one of the unconscious teens. Disgusting. With a loud grunt, he held still a moment before pulling free of her. He stood, leaving the girl as she fell, her legs spread wide to reveal his white cum leaking from her to soak into the mattress. My stomach rolled and I bit my cheek to stop the sound of my gagging from leaving my mouth.

“Need a fix, do ya baby? You know you gotta earn that shit.”

He was looming over the thrashing girl now. He hadn’t put himself away and I could clearly see his spent dick laying limp out of his open jeans. What did he expect her to do?

“Pleeease. It hurts…”

He stroked her face gently. “Oh, I know it does, sugar. You put that mouth to good use and I’ll take care of you.”

I turned away and squeezed my eyes shut tight. This was the room Marie had told me about. The Iron Hammers were still doing it. My stomach rolled again. How many girls had this club taken and twisted into drug-addicted whores over the decades? Blocking my sight didn’t help prevent my hearing. The sounds of that biker getting his blow job, then him shooting up the girl had me both furious and sick to my stomach.

“Sledge wants the new girl brought to him. She awake yet?”

“Yeah, she woke up a bit ago. Don’t think she liked the show I put on for her, though.”

The humor in the bastard’s voice set my anger off.

“Time to wake up, bitch.”

I gasped when I was lifted from the floor with a hand wrapped in my hair. Once I caught my breath, I remembered that class of Mac’s I’d taken. Damn, I wish I’d taken more than that one class. I eyed the biker holding me. Throat. That was an open soft spot. I swung my arm, aiming high but he easily blocked it with a laugh.

“Aww, kitten has claws. Sledge’ll love that.”

Before I could do anything else, he had both my hands in one of his behind me and was guiding me out of the room. He kept his grip on my hair tight enough my eyes watered as he pushed me through hallways and into another room. This one had a raised bed, but not much else. My illnesses were tugging at my mind and body, wanting me to give in, but I fought them. I’d seen these bastards were more than happy to rape an unconscious woman.

With a scream, I thrashed against his hold, not caring about the hair being pulled out or the tension in my arms and shoulders. I had to get free and run. I blindly threw out kicks, smiling whenever I managed to make a connection with flesh. I was released, but before I could work out which way to run, pain shot through my jaw as a fist connected with it. I hit the floor from the force of the blow, then cataplexy took me out the rest of the way.

I was roughly picked up and tossed on the bed as two men cursed me. Guess I landed more than a couple kicks on them. Go, me! When they started pulling at my clothes, panic had me fighting through the attack. I refused to lie here helpless as I was raped. As my shirt tore and I felt the cool air of the room on my skin, my body finally responded, my fist flying aimlessly in front of me as I opened my eyes.

“Fuckin’ hell. Cuff her already.”

I knew that voice from the cafe in Galveston. I glanced toward the sound and saw a huge man who had a nasty glint in his eye as he eyed my now-exposed chest. The lacy bra Mac had given me showed more than it covered and I hated that these assholes were seeing me in it.

I growled but couldn’t fight free when my wrists were grabbed and held above my head. Metal clinks sounded a moment before cold metal enclosed each wrist. Within seconds, the cuffs cut into my skin painfully as I continued to fight against their hold.

“The club will come for me. They’re gonna come in here and destroy you!”

The big man laughed. “Sure they are, sugar. That tiny little pissant club of yours wouldn’t dare step foot in my clubhouse. They might be able to keep us out of Bridgewater, but they don’t have the fucking numbers to come onto our turf and challenge me directly.”

Hands tugged at my skirt and I kicked out as much as I could. It jerked my arms and warm liquid trickled down my arm. Blood. My fucking blood!

“Stop it! You don’t need to do this. I ran. I didn’t make my statement formal, there’s no reason to hurt me!”

Suddenly the big man’s face was right in front of mine, his fingers digging painfully into my jaw.

“Bull fucking shit there’s no reason. You told that fucking LEO what you heard, got me and my boys a night in lockup. You need to pay for that shit. Since I like how you look, you get to pay on your back. It’s especially sweet after what your pops did.”

I went silent, stunned at the mention of my father.

Without releasing his hold on my face he glanced around the room, his eyes going hard when he saw something across the room.

“Tic, pass me those bungee cords would ya? Got a better use for this mouth other than talkin’.”

My breath caught in my throat as my lungs froze for a moment. What was he planning on doing with those cords? I locked my jaw, clenching it as hard as I could when he took one of the hooked ends and eyed off my mouth with an evil grin.

“Open up, sugar.”

He dug his fingers into my cheeks until my eyes watered, and, with a whimper, my jaw unclenched. In one fast movement, he had the hook in my mouth, the cord around the back of my head and the other end hooked into the opposite side of my mouth. The ends of the hooks dug into the insides of my cheeks painfully, and my already-dry lips cracked and pulled with the strain. He grabbed a second one and did the same with that one, putting the two straps in a way that they crossed over behind my head and the hooks pulled my lips wide. My jaw was forced wide open to try to prevent my lips tearing. The pain was almost overwhelming.

“That’s better. Now, something to fill that hole with.”

He went for his belt and once more, bile rose up my throat. Ignoring the pain, I glared at the asshole as I forced my jaw shut till my teeth met with a snap. Without a word I made it clear what I would do to anything he put in my fucking mouth.

His smile dropped to a frown. “Fucking bitch.”

He moved back down to continue to pull at my skirt, scratching my leg in the process, so I started up my kicking again. I managed to land a knee in his face but before I could celebrate, he buried his fist in my stomach, winding me a moment before my stomach called time out and the bile that I’d been fighting since I woke wouldn’t be contained. My body convulsed with a groan before I threw up. The hot liquid splashed down my chest and splattered over the bed. My lips being held open really didn’t help things.

It wasn’t just my food that left me, but all my energy as well. Within moments, I felt waves of lethargy wash over me. I needed to take my meds.

“What the fuck?”

I forced my tired eyes to look up at, who I assumed was Sledge, to see I’d splattered his front, too. Good. I would have grinned at the horrified look on his face if I could have. This big tough, rough biker who’d been ready to rape me a moment ago was grossed out by a bit of puke. I mean, his men were happy to fuck unconscious teenagers so I could only assume he felt the same way. Seemed hilarious that this was a no-go for him. My mind went into a hazy place that meant I was going to be out in a deep sleep soon, but I couldn’t muster the energy to care. A chuckle escaped me as I began to float around in my mind.

“You think this is fucking funny, bitch?”

Stars and pain exploded in my head as his fist connected with the opposite side of my face than was hit earlier. Then I was out, my mind detaching completely from my body and various injuries, floating away to someplace else. A place where the pain was gone.

Mac

It seemed to take forever before we got moving. I was about ready to come out of my fucking skin by the time Scout and Maverick gave the go ahead for us all to head south. As I opened the door on the cage, Maverick came to me.

“I know you’re pissed we waited, but this is bigger than I think you realize and to ensure the right outcome, we had to wait.”

I knew how big this shit was. The Iron Hammers MC was about to be shut down, hard. Doing that and getting out clean was going to be a challenge. Generally speaking, the cops looked the other way when bikers took out bikers, but with the body count we were planning on dropping when we got down there, I doubted it was going to be that easy to clean up after. Not that I gave a fuck at the moment. I planned on getting Zara back at any cost.

“They’ve had my girl for hours. Fucking hours. I know Scout showed y’all those fucking photos of what they’ve been doing to women. What the fuck do you think they’re doing to my Zara right now? I’m a Marine, I get the need to plan and have back-up sorted out. But when it’s my fucking woman’s life on the line, my patience is shot to shit.”

Maverick gave me a nod. “I can respect that. And that’s why, despite your training, you’re not in charge here. You’re too close. And you’re not the only one with military blood, brother. I did my time.”

I didn’t doubt that for a moment. Maverick was a big, tough bastard and I could easily see him in uniform. He also had this air of authority around him you couldn’t miss. Made me wonder why he was VP, not president. Also made me wonder what kind of man was the damn president, considering the VP. It was equally easy to see why the feds wanted dirt on his club. I doubted Maverick or, assuming their president was of the same breed, their president, were men to be put in anyone’s pocket easily.

When I stayed silent, Maverick gave me a grunt and a nod before he left to mount his bike. I hopped in, and after I slammed the door, Keys gunned the engine and we were out the gates. The air around the normally upbeat man was dark with grief.

“I’m sorry about your daughter, brother.”

I was a little shocked that both Keys and his old lady, Donna, had insisted on coming.

“Thanks. Not sure exactly what her role in all this shit was yet, but if she led your woman to those bastards, I’m so fucking sorry.”

Donna spoke up from the rear of the vehicle. “Em was always a handful, but she’d been even more so these past six months. She’d started doing drugs and staying out all hours. I’d hoped she’d wake up and calm down but it was wishful thinking. Not like I don’t see this shit at work every damn day.”

Both their voices sounded so fucking weary. I could only imagine what watching your child spiral downward must do to a parent. The fact Donna was a nurse and had seen where Em was heading must have made it so much worse.

“You did all you could, honey.”

Rose, Bulldog’s old lady had also refused to be left behind. Now the woman wrapped her arm around Donna, pulling her in for a hug. I had to say something, clear the air. I didn’t blame either Keys or Donna for Em’s choices.

“Whole fucking thing is wrong on so many levels.”

“Amen to that, brother. A-fucking-men.”

Key’s words were the last said for the entire hour-long trip down to Galveston. We pulled up two blocks away from the Iron Hammers’ clubhouse in a supermarket parking lot. It was just past two in the morning so the place was empty–well, apart from the dozens of bikes and a few other vehicles that now filled the place. Glancing over all the cuts, I could see there were a few extra Satan’s Cowboys that hadn’t been at church earlier, along with a few men not wearing cuts but standing tall and proud like they knew where they were and happy to be about to kick some asses. I opened the door and stepped out of the vehicle.

Maverick moved to stand in front of where everyone had gathered. “Everyone, take a good look around. We don’t want any one going down to friendly fire. Everyone here is on the same fucking side. Primary goal is to get Mac’s old lady, Zara, out of there. Secondary goal is to shut their shit down. That’s where these three come into things.” He nodded to the men not wearing colors and they stepped forward, the largest of the three in front. “Viper sent these boys in down here days before the shooting, they’ve been doing a little undercover work for us. Once we clean house, they’ll be in charge of the Iron Hammers, under Satan’s Cowboy’s guidance.” Annnd there was the “bigger picture”. Viper, president of the Satan’s Cowboys, apparently wanted a presence down south and the Iron Hammers fucking up had been their in. “Joaquin is a cousin of the president of the Iron Wolves MC up in South Dakota. If you’ve heard of the club, you know what kind of man he is.” He turned his attention to Joaquin. “I thought your cousin was going to be joining us tonight?”

Joaquin moved forward. “He’ll be here any moment.” He scanned the rest of us. “We used the delivery of a custom ride from the Iron Wolves to their secretary, Trip, as a cover to get in the door so Sledge never suspected we were anything but a couple of men looking for a place to belong. Since coming down here, we’ve been doing what we can without making it obvious what we’re up to. What the club is doing to those girls is some seriously fucked-up shit.” He turned to look me in the eye and I had to appreciate the strength behind the stare. “Your woman is in a bad way, but I believe she’s been spared from being raped. So far.”

One of the men standing behind Joaquin snorted and I growled at the fucker. “You find the idea of a woman being raped funny, boy?”

As I spoke, Joaquin elbowed the man hard in the gut, doubling him over. “Sorry about that. None of us find anything about what those bastards do to girls funny. Your woman fucking puked all over Sledge when he was about to have a go at her. Seeing him covered in that shit was kinda funny. Scott was given the job of cleaning her up—” I stepped forward with fists clenched but didn’t get more than two steps before Taz and Eagle had me restrained and Joaquin held his palms up.

“Dammit Jenna, give me some fucking warning before you do that shit.”

“Aww, poor Wolfie—”

“Would you two cut the shit, already? You’re scaring the natives.”

I shook my head and blinked a few times to make sure I was really seeing the two huge men and a tiny woman who seemed to have just appeared out of nowhere. What the fuck?

The men were both over six feet tall and built big. They could be twins, except for their different hair and eye color. The one who’d spoken first was dark as night, with black hair and piercing blue eyes. The other one was blond with intense brown eyes. The aura of power radiating off them had me resting my hand over my sheathed knife. The little pixie-like woman turned her gaze on me and I sucked in a breath. She looked like she was in her twenties, but her unusual turquoise eyes told a different story.

“Oh, no, you don’t need to worry, Jacob. Kellen and Xan won’t hurt you. Well, if you mess with their mates they might. But since they’re not here, but there, you’ll be fine.”

How the fuck did she know my name? My real one? I licked my lips to question the woman but didn’t get a chance to talk before the dark haired man spoke up.

“Right. I’m Kellen, the alpha of the Iron Wolves MC, this is my second, Xan. We’re here to help you lot clean out the Iron Hammers, then we’ll be on our way.”

“Alpha?”

Then the little pixie chick started giggling as she skipped over toward me, where she patted me on the chest before I could duck out of her reach.

“Alpha, president... potato, tomato... it’s all the same. No need to worry.”

I didn’t know what to say. This woman was clearly fucking insane. I couldn’t see how she was going be an asset with what we had to do this morning.

“And that is Jenna. Batshit crazy but you learn to love her. She’s also tougher than she looks. Don’t underestimate her.”

The woman’s face softened as she turned back to Kellen. “Aww, I knew you loved me.”

Maverick stepped in front of Kellen. “You’re not planning on cutting out early, are you?”

The lighter-haired one laughed. “Oh, we’ll stay till the fun and games are over. Been a while since I got to crack some skulls, but Kellen needs to make sure he gets home before his team arrives.”

I was getting a headache trying to follow what the fuck these guys were talking about. Was it some fucked up code their club used?

“Shut the fuck up, Xan. At least I’m not still practicing how to get the fucking job done.”

That earned Kellen a nasty glare and growl from Xan.

“Don’t frown, Jacob. Or do you prefer Mac?” She shook her head before I could answer. “Kellen’s mate is pregnant, with an undetermined number of babies, so he wants to get back to her. Xan’s mate isn’t knocked up yet, which makes her about the only mated woman up there not pregnant—”

“Jenna, do I need to call your wolpires in to contain you? Quit telling the world shit they shouldn’t know.”

What the fuck was a wolpire? With a glare, Jenna pointed her dainty finger at the much larger and stronger man. How fucking crazy was she?

“No mentioning those that shall not be named.” She dropped her hand down. “They have a nasty habit of showing up when you do that.”

Figuring all three of them must be batshit insane, I cleared my throat to stop their shit. “I have no idea what fucking drugs you three are on, and I don’t give a fuck. Joaquin, you weren’t done telling me about Zara. Make it fast so we can get this show on the fucking road already.”

The younger man cut a look to Kellen, like he needed that man’s permission. Whatever. So long as we got back on task, I didn’t give shit who held his leash.

“Um, yeah. Sure. Viper had gotten word to me about who she was. So don’t get your panties in a twist over it. Be fucking grateful it was one of mine. Scott was a lot more careful with her than any of the others in that place would have been. It also means that when he returned her to the whore room, he didn’t shoot her up like he was instructed. The needle got jammed into the mattress, not her arm. She’s gonna need medical attention, but not as much as she would have if Sledge and his buddies had finished with her. They told us to clean her up, dump her back in the whore room and drug her up, so she would be ready for them once they got themselves cleaned up. So time is definitely ticking on getting in there to her.”

I stepped forward looking between Maverick, Scout and Joaquin. “I want Sledge and whoever else has hurt Zara taken back to the Charons’ clubhouse and held. I get to deal with those fuckers personally.”

Scout looked to Maverick and shrugged. “We got the cell space.”

Maverick nodded at Scout’s words. “I’ll have to run it past Viper first, but if we can, we will. No promises. There’s more important shit going on here than your need for a pound of flesh, we clear?”

I responded with a “Yes, sir” before I realized what I was doing. I’d felt like I was back in the USMC for a moment there.

“Right, then. Let’s move out and get this thing done. Just in case it’s not Mac that finds Zara, she’s to be brought directly to that van. Donna and Rose will tend to her.”

I winced as I climbed back in the cage. We all knew in the hours they’d had my girl, they would have done damage to her. Joaquin’s words confirming it didn’t exactly ease my mind. With a deep breath, I closed my eyes as Keys drove us to the Iron Hammers’ compound. Please be alive, bunny.

The vehicle we decided to bring down was a basically a fucking tank. The club didn’t use it much because it wasn’t needed, but tonight I was beyond glad we had the thing. The rear interior was kitted out with a basic ambulance-type set-up, perfect for our needs. The bullet-proof glass and armor plating on the exterior were also just what we needed. The huge fucking reinforced grill on the front meant Keys could drive straight through just about anything without having to even slow down. That included the barred gate at the entrance of the Iron Hammers’ compound. I had to chuckle at the ease with which the vehicle sent the thing flying. The roar of all the Harleys following us in was deafening. No way did the entire fucking club not hear that we were coming for them.

Slipping my USMC issued k-bar knife free from its sheath, I jumped out of the cage and followed the other men into the building. Just before I stepped through the front door, Jenna grabbed my arm with surprising force. I glared into her strange eyes, pissed off that she’d slow me down. “Take Joaquin with you. Don’t ask questions, just accept the fact that not all humans are, well, human. You’ve accepted Eagle and his abilities, treat Joaquin in the same way and you’ll get your girl faster. Understand?”

Since Joaquin had spent weeks in this place, it was logical he’d know his fucking way around. I had no fucking clue what she meant about Eagle though, but didn’t want to waste time arguing the point with the crazy lady. Not when I was this close to getting Zara back, so I ignored the rest of her comment. “Fine, whatever. I’m going in.”

Joaquin pushed in front of me and I frowned at the man when he paused a moment to sniff the fucking air like a damn dog, before he headed off toward a side hall. This day was getting weirder by the moment.

Naturally, fighting had broken out the moment we entered, but I didn’t engage. There were enough Charons and Cowboys to keep the Hammers occupied. I caught a glimpse of Kellen and Xan standing together, plowing through men. Fucking hell, those two could fight. I made a mental note to never piss either man off. Even with all my Marine training, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to take down either of those two boys.

Turning away from the fighting, I followed Joaquin around the brawling men in the main room. My goal was to find my girl, then I’d worry about fucking up these bastards that dared take her from me. If there were any left, that is.

Moments after we entered the hallway, two bikers, who were still doing up their fucking pants, busted out of a room further up, and with curses, came at us. Joaquin didn’t fuck around. He throat punched the first one hard enough I was pretty sure I heard the fucker’s spine snap. I slashed my knife across the other man’s throat, deep enough to kill the asshole. Only one reason I could think of that he’d be coming out of a room with his pants undone, so I didn’t feel one moment of guilt for ending the fucker. Before his body hit the ground I was running for the room he’d come out of. Joaquin stayed a step ahead of me, kicking the door in and moving aside to cover me as I entered first.

“Fuck me.”

I’d been told. Seen the old photos, but the sight still knocked the breath out of my lungs. The room was filled with women. No, that wasn’t right. They were only fucking girls. Teenagers. Either completely naked or with their clothes torn to shit, they all looked drugged out of their minds. A flash of my sister’s broken body filled my vision for a moment as rage flowed through my veins. An animistic growl had me stiffening and glancing toward Joaquin. The man’s eyes flashed a bright blue and I could have sworn he had fur for a minute there. What the fuck was he? A familiar feminine groan had me ignoring whatever the fuck was going on with Joaquin and turning to search for my girl.

“Oh, fucking hell. Zara? Baby...”

I carefully and quickly stepped over bodies until I got to her side. She was a fucking mess, but still wore her bra and panties. I hoped like hell that meant Joaquin was right and she hadn’t been raped. Her lips were cracked, and the skin around her mouth was a mess. She still smelled like puke, and when I looked closer at her bra, I could see the remnants of it caught in the fabric. With a groan she lifted a hand to me, trying to roll toward me. I hissed at the sight of her flesh cut up around both of her wrists. They’d fucking cuffed her. And they’d been pretty brutal about it.

“Shh, babe. I’ve got you. You’re safe now. I’m gonna lift you up and take you out to Donna. She’s a nurse. Rose is out there, too. Then we’ll take you home.” Where I’m never letting you outta my sight again.

As gently as I could, I lifted her up and cradled her against my chest. She shivered and whimpered at the movement, and broke my damn heart in the process. I looked for Joaquin to ask him to cover me as I took her out, but he was kneeling down beside one of the girls. Checking for a pulse by the looks of it. He wouldn’t be any help.

“C’mon, mate. I got your back.”

A glance to the door had relief pouring through me. Taz stood at attention, with Eagle by his side. Just like always, my Marine brothers had my back. I strode out of the room and with my brothers surrounding me, I made my way out of the building. I heard a few hisses and curses as we passed through the main room but I didn’t stop. In that moment I didn’t give a fuck that other men were seeing my girl in her underwear. Her beautiful face was bruised up, her lips torn. Scratch marks ran down her left thigh and a large bruise had formed on the side of her stomach. Not to mention her wrists.

I really hoped they saved at least one of these fuckers for me to take my time destroying. The rage inside me was growing out of control and I knew I was going to need to vent it on something, and soon.

Taz knocked on the rear door of the van before turning to raise his weapon to provide cover. Eagle took the other side in a similar pose as Keys opened the way to allow me to climb in with my precious load.

“It’s bad, Donna. She hasn’t really woken up since I found her.”

Donna’s warm hand squeezed my shoulder as I laid Zara out on the stretcher. “That could simply be her narcolepsy. You’re too close to do this, Mac. Go with Taz and Eagle and let Rose and me take care of your girl. Keys will stand guard.”

“C’mon, brother. Go crack some skulls, vent your anger on them. Then come back and we’ll head home.”

I knew they were right. I’d just be in the way and make it harder for them to treat her if I stayed.

“Just give me a sec with her, yeah?”

They all backed up as much as the cramped space allowed and I gently stroked fingertips down Zara’s cheek before kissing her forehead. She looked like a broken doll lying on the white sheet. With my mouth close to her ear, I whispered to her so no one else would hear me.

“I love you so fucking much, Zara, I can’t breathe without you. You hold on and I’ll be back by your side before you know it.”

With tears stinging my eyes I turned and leapt from the vehicle. Keys followed me out and stood at the rear of the vehicle.

“You armed?”

He frowned at me like I’d insulted him. “Of course. Go on and get in there. I’ve got this.”

With a nod I turned back toward the clubhouse and along with Taz and Eagle went to go see if there were any of the bastards left that needed a beating.