So focused on how she was doing, I scarcely registered all the new names I was to learn. I just shook hands, telling them all I was thankful and happy to be there.
Walking through arches at the front of this large home, we passed older-looking concrete picnic benches in some sort of sitting area, then went through two large connecting wooden doors that had no glass in them.
As we were led down a set of stairs, loud music had Lacey squeezing my hand. She was struggling to stay close to my back the further we went down. We looked at the most expansive basement any biker could wish for, and I knew the warm colors would, someday, bring comfort to Lacey. For now, I had to pass the pool tables, arcade machines, TVs, jukebox, lounging couches… Oh, is that a stripper pole?
The bar stopped me in my tracks, causing Lacey to bump into me and quickly suck in air.
Offering to put my other arm around her, I lured her from hiding. Holding her to me, I pointed to what was on the wall behind the never-ending bar. It was a massive round silver circle, about six feet across and tall. In the center of it was a cutout of a Stallion, its wild mane flowing in the wind. Just like what was on my back, above the horse was the word STEEL, and under the horse read STALLIONS MC. As much as that spoke to my soul, telling me I had finally found my home, it was the smaller silver cutouts of wolves howling that stunned me.
I had spent so many hours with some of these men, before ever learning what their lives were truly about. It was mind-blowing. It was breathtaking.
It was an honor.
I peered down at Lace and smiled, even though she was yet to know how lucky we were. She had so much catching up to do that she was even whispering, “Why are all those people calling you Saint?”
If only there was a simple way to explain all that has happened while we’ve been apart.
Elle and Lynx led us down a hallway that had many closed doors. She stopped in front of one and unlocked it. After opening the door, she gleamed, “Welcome home.”
I accepted the keys she offered while slowly walking inside.
It was only one large bedroom but felt so right, I was dumbfounded. A little apartment made for me and Lace. There was a big walk-in closet—with clothes in it, both for me and Lacey. In the middle of a wall, there was a king-sized bed—with blankets and pillows! There were dressers and comfy-looking chairs with a little table in between them. There was a flatscreen TV on a different wall, even bigger than what my fake-brothers had.
From the doorway, Elle explained, “We’ve left all the true decorations for—”
We all went quiet when Lacey finally left my side. She was entranced, walking toward a wall I had yet to notice, but now I couldn’t tear my eyes from it.
There were picture frames, one after another.
In awe, Lace said, “It’s of you.” She carefully reached up and grazed her fingers along the first one. “You’re smiling, T—uh,” she looked to Lynx, “Noble.”
I think he was in as much shock as me, gawking at the wall.
She petted Charlie’s head. “Your friends took these pictures, Noble?”
Speechless that these wonderful people kept giving me reasons to be grateful, I nodded.
Studying the next framed picture, Lacey covered her mouth. “You had waffles?”
I couldn’t move. Every moment that had been captured by Dagger, Vice, Lynx, Elle… was now on the wall as if a map of my journey to get to this very moment. All I could manage was… “With syrup.”
Lacey smiled, touching another frame. “Your friends make you so happy.”
Barely able to talk, remembering all the times, I whispered, “Yes.
There were so many… So many special moments captured. Some that I didn’t even know they had realized were important to me. Like the one of me in bed, at the rental, sticking my toes out for the sun to touch.
Standing behind Lacey, I rested my hands on her shoulders. “Every time I did that, I thought of you.”
As if I had said the sweetest thing, she looked up to me and touched my face.
There was one picture of me smiling, next to Dagger, eating chicken nuggets. Lace gasped. “Honey!” She touched the frame. “That scary man, he was outside.”
“Yes,” I swallowed, “He is my dear friend, Dagger.”
“The man—your friend fed you?”
“All the time.”
“Then I like him.”
As if reaching back in time and touching the past, Lace touched another frame. It was a picture of me staring at the tree where Lynx found me.
So thankful for that moment to have been captured, I fought for air as I pointed over Lace’s shoulder. “That’s where your cry saved me. You,” my eyes watered, “called out for the pack to hear you.” I whispered, “They did, baby.”
Lacey quickly peered around me to see Lynx, still stunned at this miracle happening.
More confident, Lace faced the wall, setting her shoulders back. “Tell me more.”
I choked at the next picture. It was of me on the treadmill. “That is where I ran toward your smile, every day, until I could run… to you.”
She wiped tears that were suddenly falling. “More.”
I chuckled at me sitting next to Vice, smiling with a mouthful of my first burger. “They do barbecues. So good.”
Lace gasped, peering around to Lynx again. “May I come to one of your barbecues someday?”
As Lynx fought tears, veins pushed against the skin on his forehead. “Anything you want, Pretty Girl.”
Her waving had me looking over my shoulder to see Vice, as shocked as Lynx. Lacey said, “That’s you in the picture!”
Vice’s shoulders softened. “It is. I’m Vice. By the way, your man eats a whole bunch.”
Her back still to my chest, she now looked at me. “They had a lot of food?”
Fighting emotions, I promised, “And shared it.”
Her face lit up as if so pleased I was being taken good care of. Then she looked back to the wall and pointed. “Is that a beer?”
My first beer, on the couch with Lynx’s arm around me. “Yeah. Elle was with us, over the phone.”
Lace peered around me. “Did you have one, too, Elle?”
Elle was wiping tears. “I did. I wouldn’t miss his first.”
My precious wife nodded in more thought, smiling, then gazed back at this wall of surprises. “Oh my gosh, that’s you, getting to me.”
So fucking grateful for the captured moment, I leaned my head down to the top of hers. One of the men, to whom I now owed the world, took a picture of my scaling the wall to my girl.
She grabbed her chest. “I wanted to touch you so bad that night.” Then she smiled. “Oh, that yummy milkshake. Look! I’m taking a sip!”
The wall continued… Lacey gasped and celebrated all the pictures as if now feeling she had been with me the whole time. She got to see me on the back of Lynx’s dragon, my iPhone, Charlie, sleeping in bed with Charlie.
Still petting his head, she asked, “Can he sleep with me, too?”
Melt my heart… “Absolutely.”
She gazed back at the wall… “Why are you and Vice in a backyard with a spoon?”
After a ‘cough’ of “Spoon Bandit,” laughter boomed, including from me.
I explained to Lace, “Vice was training me how to fight. To keep me from getting hurt with a real weapon, he chose the spoon.”
As if keeping me safe deserved an award, she peered around me and smiled at Vice, immense trust in her hazel eyes.
There were more pics. Me sticking out my tongue. Loving Elle’s affection at the rental… but what almost took me to my knees was my actual spoon.
“Noble!” practically cheered Lace when seeing it.
Hung on the wall, it was in a glass box.
The spoon itself had Dangerous Weapon burned into it.
The plaque above the case, read:
Break in case of emergency
Inspected by: Spoon Bandit.
Lace turned and w
rapped her arms around my waist. “Your friends are wonderful.”
I tucked hair behind her ear. “They are. And they’re your friends, too.”
“Sugar,” demanded my wife, smiling and appearing so at ease.
My lips pressed to hers.
So touched by this incredible welcoming that had my wife smiling instead of in a state of fear like she had just been in, I looked over my shoulder. “Who did this wall?”
Elle radiated. “Sapphire.”
“What?” Lynx barked down the hall. “Saph!”
That young woman I had seen on Elle’s phone came bouncing into the room with a skip—the one that drove Justice nuts. “Yes?”
Lynx pointed at the wall. “This was you?”
Her shoulders caved and her expression filled with worry. “Yes. Uh, it’s just… Well, Elle was so happy with every picture sent to her…” She nervously shrugged. “I thought, why not share such memories?”
Lynx stared at her… then lifted his hand. “High five. Amazing idea.”
The little one perked up and smacked his hand. “Thanks! I didn’t do the spoon, though. That was sent in from the Colorado chapter.”
Jesus. H. Christ.
Such an honor.
Sometimes, happy moments have to be balanced with sad ones. There was no way Lacey nor I were going to move on unscathed, but we had support and a chance now. Something we never had before.
Shocking no one who knew our story, I wasn’t the only one who ever woke with night terrors. A couple of nights later, I was desperate for a way to calm her. Then it dawned on me.
Sneaking into the hallway, I wasn’t surprised to see Lynx, Dagger, and Vice in boxers and with guns, making sure we were okay, but they scattered. They claimed they were only trying to give her privacy when she was upset, but I knew better. The sight of Lacey in pain was too much for them.
Such an honor.
At 3:30 am, when holding Lacey’s hand, I led her into the commercial kitchen.
Click! Click! Click went Charlie’s nails, following us.
To keep Lacey calmer, I didn’t turn on all the bright lights. Just enough so we could see. Then, right next to the fancy blender, I sat Lacey on the counter. “Wait here.”
She was sniffling, still shaky from the night terror. Not even the long-sleeved and pants pajamas or little pink throw blanket Elle had given her could warm that chill.
From the industrial freezer, I pulled out every flavor of ice-cream I could find. With my arms full, I went back to my girl.
Sniffle. Sniffle. “What is all that, Noble?”
As if I were a wizard, I said, “Ice cream.”
Gasp!
Grabbing spoons and needed items, I explained, “You and I are going to make our very first milkshake as Jamie and Noble Bryant.”
She stared at me in disbelief. “We can do that?”
“Hell yeah! And, we can use any flavor we want.”
Thank you, Elle.
Lacey reached out, daring to touch a container. “Can I have more than one?”
I swallowed emotions. “Oh yeah. Pretty Girl, we can have them all if we want, just like we can have anything we want in life. Just choose the flavors, then stick them in the blender. Just like sugar can fix anything—my sugar kisses,” I winked, “beautiful memories can make life sweet.”
As my message sank in, hazel eyes lit up, finally full of hope.
Freedom. What a beautiful thing.
That brave girl smiled at me. “I love you, Saint.”
Out of the horror came alliances—a family that would never hurt us or let us go.
Out of the nightmare came me: Hostile Saint.
Out of love, came… Noble Lycan Bryant.
EPILOGUE
Contemplating Outcomes
The night of the reckoning…
The man’s black leather boots beat against the terrain that threatened to take him down, due to the new moon refusing to shed light. Sweat dripped from his brow as he charged forward, leading his men. This battle tonight was why he was here. He couldn’t fail. His dead friend had come to him in a dream—a warning, so he rode as fast as he could.
At the edge of the woods, when seeing all the HOGs, Eagle knew he had found his brothers. A chill had crawled up his spine, like the delivered message from a fallen brother. He knew there would be more if he paused for too long. So, he ran…
Unlike all the sturdy debris that had loomed on the obscure ground, it was a body that finally had him rolling to a harsh stop, crashing into a formidable tree. Scrambling to his knees, he feared he was too late. That he had failed and not arrived in time to save his friend’s only son.
“Prez!” yelled one of his men as more raced toward him. He held a cellphone in the air, beaming a light— “Holy shit.”
Eagle, the President of the Steel Stallions, Colorado Chapter, recoiled, to the point he fell back on his butt. “Fuck! What the hell?”
In the woods lay a woman’s bloody body. Her empty stare returned the chill to Eagle’s senses as he realized she was dead.
“There’s another one!” yelled another of his men. “This one’s alive!”
Eagle rushed to his feet and raced toward the second cellphone light. It was shining down on a woman, sitting with her knees to her chest, her arms holding them close, a knife in her hand.
Even though she, too, was soaked in blood, her eyes in a state of shock, Eagle could still see that she was a remarkably beautiful woman. Entranced by the bloody angel, he took a knee in front of her. “Ma’am, are you hurt?”
Shaking with fright, the woman peered at him with haunting blue eyes, then at the body that had caused his fall.
Observing her tightly clenched knife again, he asked, “Did you do that?”
Had this woman killed?
If she had, she was remorseful. Seeing the knife in her own hand, she instantly dropped it, her ethereal eyes filling with tears and regret.
To Eagle’s surprise, the woman reached out both hands for one of his.
He let her. “It’s okay,” he told her, trying to offer comfort to this stranger who was in dire condition. “We’ll help you.” He squeezed her little hands. “What’s your name?”
It felt like her answer took forever to come, but trembling lips finally moved… “Melony.”
Eagle jolted. He couldn’t believe his ears.
This was Saint’s mother. The boy that he had just given his best dog.
Holy fuck, he thought to himself before looking back at the dead body, suspecting it was the woman the Prospect once lived with. If you killed your son’s enemy, you have my respect.
Eagle knew this unbelievable revelation could cause deaths, in more ways than one, so he stood, telling two of his men to stay with her. “I’ve got to get to Lynx. Get her a blanket.”
“We got her, Prez. Go.”
“Keep her hidden. I’ll be back.”
Eagle stormed into the night. He had a promise to keep.
Legend, the original President of the Steel Stallions, from the grave, had sent Eagle to save his son.
There were two fathers watching and guiding… from afar, that night.
Did you like Hostile Saint? Leave a review! Even if only three words!
I probably say this with every story I write, but… these characters own me! I fell in love with them. Their hearts are so rich with love, I’m in tears, honored they let me speak for them.
So, do you need some more of these beautiful souls?
If yes, then continue with this series. There will be many more to come, so be sure you sign up for my monthly newsletter to be the first to know of all release dates. (The sign-up gets you Hostile Illusions, Lacey’s story, for FREE!)
Now, for a quick India Book Map explanation.
My series (due to my never-ending imagination) do a lot of overlapping, so if there are characters you want to read more about, you can! Now!
For more about Justice, Sapphire, or Brat, you can start with Bleed Me, A Hau
nted Roads Novel.
For more about Diesel, you can start the Haunted Roads series by reading Steal Me, or wait for the first Redemption Ryders novel, Road to Absolution, coming very soon!
And, as I’m sure you can see by that Epilogue, there will be more about Eagle. His story will begin with Damaged Devotions, A Steel Stallions MC Novel, Colorado Chapter.
Thank you so much for being a part of this journey with me! Writing is a passion. I am so honored so many of you love these stories.
Damaged souls are worth saving,
~India
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INDIA’S THANK YOUS
This book slowly crept into my heart, then seized it, violently and beautifully. The people who saw me through this manuscript are women I will never forget.
Cat Imb, you simply never give up. Steadfast by my side is where you always are, doing anything and everything possible to make sure this passion of mine has a chance to keep growing. Even though it doesn’t feel like enough to simply say thank you, I still will because I know you understand how much I mean it. Deep inhale… Thank you for your support, your incredible work ethic, my gorgeous cover through TRC Designs (and my formatting that is stunning), and for your friendship that I treasure, endlessly.
I love you, my star.
Deb, you have become a permanent butterfly in my life. Every time I get scared that my next book can’t compete with my last, you remind me this is not a competition. That this is a soul journey we are so fortunate to be a part of.
I bow to your beautiful soul.
Kendra, you are not just an editor to me. You are a friend that bends over backwards to care for me and my words. Even though you make my stories even better, I am struggling to find the words to say how grateful I am that you continue to work with me. I am a very lucky author.
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