As I looked up from the sink, the windows were clear. Fresh blue skies speckled with the faintest spread of clouds in the bright day. If there was a storm picking up, it wouldn’t be coming anytime soon. It had to be bad luck or something.
I dropped my good hand down to the sink to start picking at the shards. This time, I was careful enough to see where my hand was going. When I touched up on one of the shards, I could’ve sworn there was a wisp of red ribbon drawing itself from the bottom of the sink. After blinking a couple of times, the shade had faded into the blue and I was left with three shards sitting on the palm of my hand.
At that moment, the door opened with a terrible screech up till it hit the wallflowers.
The sound of my Dad’s voice calls to me.
“Ashley––honey, you home?”
I throw the shards in the bin and turn away from the sink.
“In the kitchen, Dad!” I holler back, wiping the wet hand on the denim of my new jeans.
His boots rustle up the whole house as he treads heavily down the corridor. The shelves shook at each step, a common thing if he ever came home upset. Daddy could always upstairs as quiet as a mouse when I was fast asleep––but if there was war, he was charging into Fort Monroe like a bull.
I look up to the open arch as he walks inside the kitchen. “Is everything okay, Dad?”
The man shook his head, unwilling to move from his spot. Instead, he spoke slowly.
“Your favorite prospect picked something up from the gate this morning.”
I restrained myself from rolling my eyes at the mention of Roach.
“Was it a new personality?” I asked, hoping he’d find it just a tad bit amusing. He didn’t.
My father’s expression remained sober.
“It’s from your husband.”
That word of news nearly made my heart stop dead.
A cold panic rinsed down my stomach and I had to clench to the sink counters to keep myself standing. I leveled my eyes at the floor, pursing my lips hard. The news made me feel a whole lot worse than the sting that was rising back up to my fingertips. I was standing there, clutching the damn counters till my knuckles turned white.
“Darling,” Dad tries to coax.
“Is he here? Is he back home?” I manage to stammer.
He clicks the roof of his mouth, “Now why would I let that sunnuvabitch crawl his way back to you?”
“He’s got nothing now, Daddy.” I could only shake my head. “As soon as I ran away, he lost every bartering chip on the table.”
“Ash, don’t worry––”
I ripped my eyes away from the floor.
“The Bears should’ve skinned his hide and sent it to his damn mother as soon as he let me get away!”
At that, my father crosses his arms.
“Fuckers are smart enough to give me the honors.”
That didn’t loosen the tension running through my head. All jokes aside, I was filling with dread at any mention of Harry. I wanted all of this to be over. The pain sitting at the inside of my fingers was enough of an omen to say that it wouldn’t be that easy. I’d slipped away, I’d gotten bruised, but the mental scars were still there. I had to scathe my wings to free myself from that fucking cage.
My dad led me back into the clubhouse, directly past the doorway that led us into where we held church where the so called “package” was waiting for us. Cracker, the boys, as well as some of the members were seated along the table in their assigned chairs. Roach was sitting there with a partial grin running up the lines of his hollow face. I knew he was getting off at the idea of being invited to an active meeting. It made me sick to my stomach that he didn’t realize the severity of the situation.
I glanced up quickly as the doorways to church opened, revealing none other than my Uncle Tex. I didn’t even know he’d gotten back into town – not seeing him since I’ve been back. He’s my dad’s brother in law, my aunt Roxy is my dad and Cracker’s little sister. I continued to look around the room until my eyes settled on the man I was searching for.
Blackjack, on the other hand, was sitting next to my father’s chair with Uncle Cracker on just the other side. That made me feel a tad bit worse but a whole lot better. Somehow, his presence made up for the shitty day given that I hadn’t seen him for days. I tried my best not to look at his face as my eyes took in the room while my father escorted me up to the front of the table.
Every man was silent. In church, everyone was quiet. You’d be dumb not to be, it was a place where you let the Prez do the talking, and that Prez was none other than my Daddy.
I could see the package on display for everyone to see, laying on top of the table. It’s opening flaps were ripped apart to unveil the contents. The thing was no bigger than the length of my foot.
As I approached the cardboard box, I could feel the knots tightening up in my stomach. I knew who this was from and yet my body was trying to deny it. Even as my eyes got closer to its contents, I could only make out the grimy outside of the box. Its corners had been soaked in rain and the cardboard was left to dry till the morning.
When I finally forced myself to look inside, the knots loosened up and I could only tremble. Within the box was a leather cut measured and tailored so that it held the heavy bronze of its emblem with pride.
The pieced medallion had anchored it down to the box with a bear on its cast, opening its mouth to roar. I restrained my hand from shaking when I took the cut in my hands by the bronze plate. My father watched me intently, but this only made the men start whispering about them.
I should’ve realized that this was only inevitable.
Upon the plate was engraved, “Property of Bears MC––Reaper”. Below it was a faint parcel note that had been dried and wrinkled up by the rain. My father took it in his hands and unfolded it beside me. I could hear the paper chuckle as my father smoothened it down to size. The sound was haunting.
“We––the Bears MC––have recognized that this holy matrimony has been interrupted by the spoils of domestication. You––the Reapers––should know that despite anything that goes on within the marriage of our unified members, this marriage is tied with no acknowledgement of separation from the patriarch of the family.” My father read and my face could only fill with disgust. “Therefore, we ask that you leave your livestock with the dominant member of this marriage before we take it upon ourselves to make this severe action just. When you do transfer her back to our club,” He read slowly and paused, the cuff of his wrist tightening at his aggravation, “make it apparent that she is wearing our emblem otherwise we will assume she will attempt to infringe on this union again.”
I honestly didn’t have anything to say to that. That letter wasn’t a request, it was a demand. It seems Harry had been doing some sucking up with the Bears, enough for them to leave me this lovely tailored cut for me at my front door. There’s no way in hell this piece of livestock is going back to the dominant member of the family.
Blackjack scoffs, “This fuck off…”
“They don’t think it’s going to be that easy,” Zane stood up from his seat, “That’s our fucking sister on the line.”
“Boys, boys, boys,” My father coaxed them all, the weight of his voice booming throughout the room. “What they’re inciting is the old bylaws where two opposing MC’s are unified for neither of them to touch violence upon the wedding parties. They want to make it known that they’re acting accordingly to the established text and guidelines.”
“Acting like it’s our Bible as well,” Blackjack resounded, his eyes coming back to me.
“You got it, kid.” Fist nods sternly, “But they forget one thing.”
A silence spurred between the members as they waited on every syllable of Fist’s word.
I broke it on a whim.
“The Reapers follow no man who poises himself as a God, therefore the old tradition of MC law is fool’s gold.” I say softly.
“Atta’girl.” My father whispers, his han
d collecting my shoulder with a squeeze.
“They can’t force her to come back then,” Zane insists.
“They can always try to force her to come back through violence.” Blackjack corrects him, “This way, they have an agenda other than saying––“we’re using her as blackmail to get to you”.”
“They don’t know the reason she left in the first place.” Uncle Cracker muses from his thoughts.
“Exactly.” Fist nods. “They think that she left on account of her abuse. They even mention it in their fancy wordplay.”
“Spoils of domestication! Bullshit,” Zane scoffs.
“I just find it funny how this spineless bastard calls himself “Reaper”.” My Uncle Tex chuckles lowly to himself. “It’s as uncreative as it is tasteless.”
“On the contrary,” I look up at him, a grim smile coming across me in the light of the moment. “I think Reaper is a fitting road name for Harry. Let’s see how much is left of him after we’re done with them.” I wasn’t the broken, beaten down wife any more. I refused to be that woman. I’m Ashley fucking Monroe, and this MC Princess is back home – I hope he’s ready for the war that’s coming.
Chapter 8
Ashley
I was a woman on a mission, the soles of my feet were burning through my shoes as I trekked out of church, through the doors of the club and began the walk back to my childhood home. Before I went to church I was so nervous to discover the impending news, now I’m just a rolled-up ball of fury and frustration. All my patience has been exhausted and I’m running on an empty stomach craving vengeance.
My heart rate continued to shoot up, every pulse that was sent up to my ears made me remember the sentences read from the lovely little note that the Bears so happened to leave attached to my gift.
This “patriarch of the family” bullshit had me reveling in my head. They called me livestock, as if I had wandered out of my own house like some lost sheep. No, I wasn’t a fucking sheep and they didn’t have the balls to amount to any kind of shepherd. Harry had to be fooling himself if he thought I’d walk myself back to that house with a leash around my neck. Then again, he was never the smartest man.
Still, it made me red with anger. I was past humility to the point that I could’ve gotten nauseous in the pile of rage sitting in my stomach. The thought made my hand come down to my stomach––to my lost love. It was as bare as that marriage had been and all the time in the world couldn’t have wiped my memory clean of that. What I had developed in my conscience was no longer fear. It was vengeance.
“Ashley!” A voice called from behind me.
I whipped my body around and saw him standing there, panting from what I can assume was him running after me.
“Blackjack,” I mutter. It was the first time we’d even spoken since Billings. I wouldn’t say that things were awkward between us, but I don’t know what to say about how things truly were. We hadn’t talked about it, so it was just there.
“Just, hff,” he coughed, bent over to catch his breath. When he picked his head back up, I felt his weary eyes grow serious. He saw the wound on my hand. Truthfully, I’d almost forgotten about my stupid slip up. Everything with Harry and the Bears was weighing so heavily on my mind.
“Where do you think you’re going now?”
I stare at him, pursing my lips. “I’m going home.”
His brown eyes stayed fixed on me, “Ash, you’re going home with a head full of thought.”
I couldn’t say anything to that. Even when I was younger the man knew me better than I knew myself, those eyes of his made my heart swell up, a tension that could’ve dissolved me to tears. His voice sounded so soft while I was still struggling to come up with words that made sense. In my head, I understood every flicker of resentment I had for the man who destroyed my happiness. Yet, it was Blackjack that made me forget myself even for a moment.
“Do you want to talk about it?” He asks with a tenderness to his voice as he stands up straighter.
“No,” I stutter immediately. “I’m fine, Rob. Really.”
“Ash.” He steps closer.
I falter, and I could feel my own arms wrap instinctively around my body. Blackjack’s expression winced, and I could feel it. It hurt him that I couldn’t easily express what was on my mind.
“I just need some time to think,” I assure him, offering a weary smile.
Blackjack took my words with a grain of salt and nodded. “Sure.”
With that, I turned back around and kept moving with the feeling of his eyes still staring into my back. I almost shuddered with regret, I wanted to run back and tell him everything but before I could do that I needed to get my head on straight.
Despite the terrible news, I could focus on the things to be thankful for – like how this weather hasn’t turned to shit quite yet. I tried my best not to think about Blackjack as I continued the walk up to the house. Every small twig that snapped under my foot made me want to turn around to check if he was still there.
When I reached the porch, I turned around to see the stretch of land before me. He hadn’t followed me back. I should’ve known better. I was a dumb girl, he hadn’t stayed when I needed him before – even though this is completely different – why would he stay now? There was so much that we could’ve said to each other, but we just drifted farther apart. We started as good friends to becoming something I couldn’t even describe at the time. It just didn’t make sense anymore and I couldn’t dwell on that feeling for too long.
I was no longer the sickly thin, black and blued girl that stumbled back home. The shreds of me that were clinging to life in that moment were built up with adrenaline, ready to tear into anyone that threatened me or my family.
The package sent to our gates should have been the signal I needed to pull everyone in the club closer together. A threat was sent to our gates, the biggest MC in Montana.
I couldn’t help but think about how the Bears could hurt us. When I thought hard about it, it was rather easy to do. They know where our strengths lay, as does every other MC in the tri-state area. We had to take our steps carefully when collecting any of the drugs from our suppliers and at best, even our normal distribution. The Bears knew this meant war, but I didn’t put this past them. When they strike – and they will – this would mean that all prior agreements were now void. We couldn’t be sure of anything that would happen – The Bears knew of where we held some of our product, we’d need to move it to avoid any potential loss, or a raid by the State Police, or even the DEA.
If we were careful enough, we could find other routes to undergo our drop offs. As it were, my Dad explained that the drop off locations hadn’t been changed since over three years ago and that would be the only explanation that I needed for why our shipments were short. He even confessed that our warehouse outside of Whitehouse had been hit a few weeks back, all the drugs were wiped clean. I couldn’t believe him when I heard what happened. There was a worry that the police were involved, but if they were they would have already come for my father, and the club. We didn’t have proof, but deep down I knew that this was the Bears. I’d had a long talk with my father to move the product to different locations, locations that we hadn’t used in years.
This is war, it’s barely begun, and I will try to avoid bloodshed, but bloodshed is what got us here in the first place. If worst comes to worst, the Bears will be hunted down like the vermin they are. I will personally make sure that every member of the Bears is extinct.
I kept thinking over and over about how this even happened. How did Harry think of something this slick?
Harry Vale, that fucking snake. It couldn’t have been his idea, so it had to have been Grizzly. The man wasn’t able to snare me in his bear trap to destroy my father’s reign, so he decided to manipulate the system any way possible to slow us down. I knew one thing – and the root of our problems with the drugs is because of the Bears. We have a mole, a rat of sorts. I planned on discovering exactly who this mole is.
If the Bears wanted a fight, we’d give them it. They could cheat our system, they could even cheat the law.
The one thing they couldn’t cheat was death brought by a Reaper.
***
Blackjack
We’d been stuck in church for hours afterward. I was able to slip away to check on Ashley for just a moment, immediately going back through the doors to discuss our next move. We had to think of a plan, and nothing that was suggested measured up. It had been hot as hell in church, it didn’t help that it was blistering outside today. Every man was sweating in their skins at their seats. After hours and hours of sitting in this room, making suggestion after suggestion and us all being shot down – we were beyond exhausted.
This was a sensitive subject, at the very mention of it, I knew everyone was just waiting to tear into it. Whether it was curiosity biting the neck of every man in that the room or the hunger to give the Bears exactly what they deserved, we were prepared for whatever was waiting for us. I wasn’t exactly thrilled that we were leaving this decision up to a club vote. Ashley is family, Fist’s daughter, Kade and Zane’s adoptive sister, she’s the fucking princess of this MC. We shouldn’t be debating what to do at all. It should be obvious. None of us should be on our asses discussing this, a decision on HOW we need to handle the Bears needs to be made – not IF we’re doing anything.
When we discovered what was sitting in that package, I recognized it had very little to do with the Reapers and a lot more to do with Ashley. That’s why I had to fight off my urge in my body to call off the meeting and save her the emotional turmoil that had to be running through her mind.
She had gone pale as death and I couldn’t get it out of my head for the remainder of that day. From the moment she stepped inside and walked to the table to the second her eyes found the bottom of that box, I knew we were losing her. None of the men in church could have possibly understood how she felt in that moment. To them, the Bears had spat on the integrity of the Reapers; to Ashley, it was more than that. This was a woman who had invested some of her best years into a fake marriage with a heart of pure gold. She was cheated out of her club and ripped from her family. To make things worse, she lost her child when she fought to escape.
Havoc- Reapers MC Boxset Page 21