“Dawn! Run!”

 

“But I don’t want to leave you!”

 

“I said move! Right now!”

 

Doing as she was told, Dawn Sawyers took off on foot amidst waves of complete chaos. Voices cried loudly for vengeance and bandages, and her eyes focused on a narrow path out when she whipped her head back around. Dawn peeled through the crowd and endured a series of elbows slamming into her sides when a pair of strong arms took hold and hoisted her up into the air.

 

“I told you to get out!” The voice belonging to Cade Everett was harsh and cold—even as she caught a hint of his warmth in his crisp blue eyes. For a moment she was able to drown out the noise and the confusion and focus on nothing but the memory of his hands exploring her wanting flesh. A sharp crack rang through the air, and Dawn startled at the thought that it was another shot fired when she saw the dark-haired woman that Cade had referred to as the healer slamming a chair aside and pushing past them, between them.

 

“Is she going to help us or what?” the woman asked.

 

“She’s on her way out,” Cade insisted.

 

“I never agreed to that,” Dawn said.

 

“Why can’t you just listen to me?” Cade demanded. “This is not what I wanted for you!”

 

The woman—the healer—rolled her rich brown eyes and stepped surely towards the perfect point of carnage.

 

“Let’s say the two of you take it someplace else?” the woman spat. “I have work to do.”

 

“You’ll get no argument from me,” Cade answered. Tugging sharply on her arm, the biker brought her to the precipice of a large door suddenly off its hinges. Again she turned and tried to take hold of his neck.

 

“Dawn, don’t play it like this,” he said. “Danger’s too real now.”

 

“And you’re not safe here either,” she said. Cade laughed darkly and ran a hard hand through his golden hair.

 

“Story of my life,” he muttered. “I can handle it.”

 

“Can you?” she challenged. “This is handling it?” Before he could speak another word, Dawn flung her arms around his neck and clasped him close. He stayed tense in her arms, but his hands started to melt into the small of her back when she slowly looked up into his eyes. “Maybe… maybe we can get back to Mona or call on someone else for—“

 

“Not happening,” Cade countered, as he pulled away from her, his mouth fixed in a straight steel line. “No outside influences.”

 

“Then what do you call the party crashers?” Dawn said.

 

“Price of doing business,” Cade said. “And I already got you in too deep.”

 

“Thought you wanted me to stick close,” she reminded him.

 

“Yeah, well, nobody’s right all the time.”

 

Hurt and biting down on her lip, Dawn started to turn away from him when a hard fist absent-mindedly slammed into her side. She watched a burly man slam to his knees, as he tore his cheek on a stray nail.

 

“Oh my God!” Dawn screamed. “He’s bleeding. We have to help him.”

 

“We does not include you right now!” he said.

 

“But Cade, I can’t just—”

 

“You can, and you as sure as hell will.”

 

She tried to avoid his touch, as more bodies tried to push past the sawdust and broken bottles of beer. A quick glance to the corner and she saw Lenny bleeding profusely, as blood poured through the healer’s hands. Nicole kept the small man’s quivering head on her lap. The other woman tore at her blouse and applied much needed pressure to a gushing wound.

 

“Lenny?” Dawn nervously asked. “And George. How did this even happen?”

 

“Maybe she opened the door.”

 

Dawn cringed at the sight of the Alpha that had wanted a taste when she first arrived, and he licked his lips as his brothers-in-arms tried to decide on the best course of action.

 

“You need to get back in line and—”

 

“So why, Cade? So you can make it with your slut? Getting soft, Everett.”

 

Cade started to speak, and Dawn had to wonder if he would defend her honor or let her fall on her sword to save face. It was the last thing that she wanted to hear, but at the end of day, maybe his loyalty was to—

 

“Is this fucking soft?!”

 

Slamming his fist into the man’s smug face, Dawn gasped and watched the other Alpha stumble backwards. The faces of the brothers that caught him varied from fear for their so-called friend to confusion that Cade would make such a move on this night.

 

And distrust of Dawn. In the absence of the Panthers, she was the obvious enemy, and Dawn clenched her fists, ready to strike and hoping that she might at least have a chance to explain herself when Cade none too gently grabbed her arm and glared down at her.

 

“No more story for you here,” Cade said. “Now come on.”

 

Pushing her out into the night, Dawn saw the opposition riding off into the pale moonlight. Part of her had to wonder why they hadn’t finished the Alphas off in one fell swoop. The rival club had the element of surprise on their side and wanted the territory back in their hands. So why had the other crew just up and left?

 

“Cade! Hold the hell up!”

 

Blocking the man’s way was like trying to move a pillar—rigid, unbreakable, and hopelessly impossible. Dawn’s knuckles threatened to crack under the force of his hard chest, and she cried out in fear and frustration, as she stretched to the tips of her toes and took hold of his face.

 

“Enough, Dawn!” he bellowed. “I should have neutralized you back in town.”

 

“Neutralized?” she asked. “That’s a pretty big word, Cade. If I’m so dangerous, then why didn’t you just—”

 

“You were a sweet lay,” he said with a forced shrug of his shoulders. “And you fell for it. Maybe you’re not as smart as you look.”

 

Her heart curdled in her chest, and Dawn was ready to bat him about the head when she held her small fists back. Because he said maybe. Because he conceded that she did in fact have a brain in her head. Because of the way his moans felt when they vibrated against her skin.

 

“Turn around,” she said.

 

“I’m tired of talking. I think it’s high time that you took off.”

 

“I said look at me, Cade!”

 

Dawn’s scream rivalled the cries still emanating from the clubhouse, and Cade slowly shifted his stance. As he wheeled around to face her, his eyes fixed on the dark grass under their feet.

 

“You can’t,” she said. “You know I’ll spot the lie. Can’t you… can’t you just be straight with me?”

 

“Fine,” Cade said, his voice thick as he met her gaze. A small sigh of relief passed through her lips. It shouldn’t matter so much that he was lying to hurt her, to help her. But Dawn relaxed and took hold of his hand, curling her finger around his wrist.

 

“I… I take it back,” he started. “You were more than that, Dawn. So much more.”

 

She leaned in to kiss him, and their lips nearly met when he held back and sadly shook his head.

 

“Doesn’t matter,” he said. “Still need to get you away from this.”

 

“But I don’t want to leave you!” she insisted. “Not after everything we’ve shared. Everything I know.”

 

“And maybe it’s all too much.”

 

Hurt that he would use those words when she was so close to his lips, Dawn held her ground and clutched at his golden hair as she pressed her mouth to his ear.

 

“I told you that I was in this with you,” she whispered. “Don’t you want that?”

 

“I want you… I want…”

 

Cade pushed her into a dark corner behind a dusty wall and pushed his hands under her shirt. If there was such a thing as a loving maul, Cade Everett had the monopoly on the move, and Dawn leaned in to his touch and moaned for more. She worked her fingers around her buttons and tried to help him along.

 

“But not… it can’t be now, Dawn,” he said.

 

“I know,” she said. “But soon. And only if I stay.”

 

“If I let you stay,” he said.

 

“Let me?” she asked. “I can make up my own mind, Cade. Always.”

 

She kissed him quickly and relished the sweat from his lips mingling with her own. This was crazy. Dawn wasn’t leaving; she couldn’t. But to take time away from the task at hand to hold him seemed a suicide move in and of itself. Vague logic dictated that something far worse could still go down. That she might never get the chance to be with him like this again. And Dawn needed the feel of his mouth, his arms. If the worst came to past, it would be the one thing that she would always cling to in her loneliest moments. This was what would fuel her dreams, and she held him tighter, feeling his hard cock poking through the space of his jeans, when a shrill whistle hit the air. Some of the other Alphas seemed ready to tear off into the night with nothing but murder on their collective minds. However, the voice from above called them back to the fort and dictated the need to plan a perfect course of action before any more blood was drawn.

 

“Cade! Get back here. And get rid of her!”

 

As Cade nodded, Dawn trembled and wondered if the biker would take his boss’s words as gospel when he lightly touched her face and muttered into her hair.

 

“Maybe… I mean if there was some other way.”

 

“I get that, Cade. I still believe you. In you.”

 

She curled into the feel of his fingers and sighed, as he kneaded her soft flesh. Her cunt brimmed between her thighs, but she clenched her legs tightly together as she squared her shoulders and grabbed his face.

 

“I said it can’t be tonight,” he said.

 

“Doesn’t mean that you have to turn me out,” Dawn said.

 

“I would never do that,” he said.

 

“Now you’re speaking the truth. Nice to hear.”

 

He seemed on the verge of returning her kiss when a cry from Nicole pushed them apart. The redhead charged forward with stains on her hands that rivalled the fire in her hair, and Dawn felt as if she was suddenly invisible as the girl clutched his collar and spoke quickly.

 

“Lenny?” Cade asked. “Is… is he—?”

 

“Hanging in there,” Nicole said. “No thanks to any outsiders.”

 

Her glare was wide enough to latch onto Dawn’s face, and the reporter’s attempt to talk was stifled by Nicole’s quick speech.

 

“We came here to plan,” Nicole started. “To get back what belongs to us.”

 

“Working out real well so far,” Dawn scoffed.

 

“No one asked you to be here,” Nicole countered.

 

“Cade did,” Dawn said. “And whether any of you believe me or not, I’m on his side. Your side.”

 

He smiled down at her and started to rub her back when Nicole snapped her fingers under his eyes.

 

“Kiss and make up and whatever if… when this is over,” Nicole said. “Right now you need to remember who you are and get back in line.”

 

Dawn had to marvel at how the girl rose to the challenge in spite of all she had suffered and her years out of the fold. She started to speak when Cade nodded at Nicole.

 

“One minute,” he said. “Pretty sure you can give me that much.”

 

Nicole bristled at the suggestion, but Cade’s stare kept her at bay, as she stared at the blood on her fingers glistening in the moonlight.

 

“For old time’s sake,” the girl said. “And not one second less.”

 

“Didn’t you hear what Mona said?” Dawn asked.

 

“Can’t take time to see if that sticks now.”

 

The girl took off, and Cade just kissed the top of her head, murmuring something that felt sweet as it ran through her hair. She grabbed his arm. “Cade, don’t leave me.”

 

“They need me inside,” he said.

 

“And I need you like this.”

 

Her lips brushed against his mouth, and Dawn started to savor his kiss, as it claimed her mouth. He pushed back again—but kept his hands on her shoulders.

 

“That’s not a no,” Dawn said. “Are you so sure you want me to take off?”

 

He answered her with little more than a grunt, but he kept turning away from her side when Dawn gripped his arms, and he flashed his teeth. “Maybe I… maybe just a second,” he said.

 

“Seems to me like you still have a few to spare,” Dawn said with a faint smile. “And I’m right behind you.”

 

“No,” he said. “Better if you hang back.”

 

“Why?” she asked. “Don’t think I can be of any help? I have some history that might come in handy here and now.”

 

She wanted to tell him that her experience with the Plainfield Plough had allowed her to witness something just as bloody and brutal. Color it a drive-by at the farmers’ market or a concert in the park striking all the wrong tones. But there was nothing in her arsenal that could clean up the mess or start the blood from flowing all over again.

 

And the idea of that, of Cade caught in the crossfire, filled her with an unspeakable sense of dread.

 

“Cade, come with me now!” she pleaded. “We’ll … we can come up with a Plan B or something if you just—”

 

“Wait here!” he demanded. “Can you just do that much without fighting me?”

 

His eyes were harsh as he spoke, and Dawn let him turn away and watched his back moving towards what had to be certain doom when her voice bubbled in her throat and came out in a tight scream. “Not even a please, Cade?”

 

The Alpha grunted, as he stopped for a second. Dawn thought she saw him hesitate and ready to rush back into her arms when he stomped off. Dawn languished alone, and only when his abandonment seemed complete, did she feel her knees knocking together. Dawn slid down the surface of the wall as she gathered her face in her hands. How had it come to this? All she was after was a story and another taste of the man. And now she was out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by the odor of near death and too much noise.

 

“Oh my God. How did that…?” Dawn’s voice trailed off as she glanced down at the blood dotting her jeans. Feeling no wound, she lowered the denim over her thighs and was relieved to find her skin unbroken. But even as she hiked her jeans up again, the stain remained.

 

“Had to be from the guy catching on the nail,” she muttered under her breath. “I’m not hurt.”

 

But even that was far from the whole truth.

 

Dawn curled her shaking arms around her shoulders and tried to drown out the cries from the clubhouse as she pressed her hands to her ears.

 

“This… this is wrong,” she said. “I don’t care what he says. He needs more help.”

 

Struggling to her feet, Dawn walked like a zombie towards his abandoned bike and carefully mounted the scooped seat. Hating herself for even thinking of leaving him, Dawn still pushed down on the clutch and slammed her feet into the pedal.

 

“He wants me to go,” she said. “I’ll do it. And I’ll come back with the cavalry.”

 

Right on cue, the bike lurched forward, and Dawn was ready to jump off and head back or possibly any place else on foot. Ducking her head as the Alphas sans Cade stepped into the night and spoke of war, Dawn tried to move again. The tires moved over the dirt and the stones, and somehow she steadied her stance as she took off.

 

“What the—?”

 

“That’s the piece of tail that rode in with Everett!”

 

“Where’s she think she’s off to on his ride?”

 

A shiver raced up her spine, and Dawn kept pushing forward as the wind just started to catch her hair. Even without him and not knowing which way she should lean, Dawn clutched the handlebars tighter and started to see the way back through the trees. Where should she try first? Mona’s was closer, but the cops were safer. Weren’t they? Better to try her luck with Michael and… no. He’d only want an exposé, and the last thing that she wanted was to betray any member of the Alphas. Cade least of all. Should she try to head back to his side? He had finally asked her to stay. Probably just for a moment more so he could give her the brush-off, but didn’t she owe him and her heart the benefit of a proper goodbye?

 

Thinking that she was riding along nothing as dangerous as a sidewalk with a basket bulging with pinecones accompanied by ribbons flicking in the breeze, she tried to turn Cade’s chopper back towards the barn when a pair of cold headlights hit her eyes. Peering through the glare, Dawn saw a green-eyed Panther on the prowl, his gun poised as his finger trembled around the trigger. Knowing that this was the sad-eyed kid from the Alpha’s Plainfield base, Dawn felt a tug of pity on her heart that his crew would have sent him off on his own to make the recon play.

 

But that didn’t mean that he didn’t want to bring a head back for their wall.

 

“No!” Dawn cried. “You keep the fuck away from me! From all of them!”

 

Her attempt to turn revealed her lack of skill on the bike before she’d made anything close to a real getaway. Falling forward as she tried to keep the chopper upright under her hands, she lost her hold and felt her body spinning through the air, the sounds of her own screams ringing in her ears. Losing the bike, she just absorbed the impact of her body crashing into the earth before everything went black and she knew nothing but a dream of her most recent memories.