WRAITH (Iron Kings MC, #1)

by Franca Storm

  Despite that, my dad wasn’t taking any chances. He gestured at the sniper rifle I was still holding like a security blanket. “Stand watch for a few seconds.” I nodded, trying to swallow down the shock of him trusting me with something like this.

  He eased the leather jacket off Finn’s wounded shoulder and pulled his t-shirt aside, studying the wound.

  In the next second, my dad was shedding his cut and pulling his own t-shirt over his head.

  “What are you doing?” I asked, as I watched him tear it into pieces.

  “Gotta put pressure on it. If he’s gonna run, he can’t be losing no more blood, or he’s gonna pass out before he gets to the goddamn highway.”

  Finn gritted his teeth as my dad created a makeshift bandage with the pieces of his shirt.

  “Baby, how are you doing?”

  “All good,” he answered.

  He was lying, for sure. I couldn’t actually believe he wasn’t making a single sound as my dad tugged and wrapped his wound. Was he in shock, or just trying not to upset me? Trust him to go to such lengths to achieve that.

  “Gotta get this disinfected ASAP, all right?” my dad warned him.

  “Yeah. I know the drill,” Finn said, as me and my dad helped him back onto solid ground. His eyes darted around all of a sudden, searching intensely.

  “What, baby? What is it?” I asked, gently.

  His gaze went to my dad. “Where’s Knox?”

  The three of us scanned our surroundings rapidly, the urgency to locate Knox building as the sirens drew ever closer. They were almost upon us. Finn needed to head out ASAP. But I knew he wouldn’t until the job was done.

  Just then I saw the blood trail from Knox’s wound, leading across the courtyard. I followed it all the way to the compound entrance and caught sight of him barreling past Wolf and a handful of other Rogues members staggering from the compound. It was the group of them that’d tried to kidnap me from Ridgefield. They all still looked really beat up. Some of them were barely walking.

  Finn and my dad noticed at the same time just before Knox disappeared from view into the depths of the compound.

  My dad snatched the rifle from me and stepped forward, bellowing at Wolf, “Get him back here right fucking now before I blow you all to hell! Drag his motherfucking ass if you gotta!”

  Despite how psychotic he was, Wolf was able to recognize the significant threat my dad posed and his face paled noticeably.

  People weren’t used to him losing it.

  I was arguably the closest person to him, yet I’d only seen him snap once in my entire twenty-three years of life. The night my mom had been killed. And the way he’d unleashed then had been horrific, catastrophic and downright frightening. Finn thought he had a monster inside himself, but it was nothing compared to my dad’s. Unlike Finn, my dad didn’t unleash it, no matter what. He kept a tight lid on his emotions, living his life like a soldier of old, the Spartan warriors basically, hence his road name. So, if there ever came a time when he did snap, it was monumentally bad.

  “Dad,” I said, snatching his hand and squeezing it tightly.

  It worked like I’d intended, his gaze snapping to mine. “Ash?”

  “It’s too late,” I pointed out, gesturing to the flashing lights of the dozen or so vehicles tearing into the area. “You do something now and you’ll end up in jail for the rest of your life along with the rest of them. You don’t deserve that. I don’t deserve that. Iron Kings doesn’t deserve that.”

  It took him a moment, but he lowered his gun with a low growl.

  Just as the Feds blew through the gates.

  My pulse jackhammered in my chest and I turned, afraid for Finn for leaving it too late.

  There was no one there.

  I smiled to myself. He’d made it out. “Oh my God,” I breathed.

  My dad joined me, wrapping an arm around me and giving me a comforting squeeze. “It’s all gonna be okay now, princess. I fucking well swear it to you.”

  I leaned against him. “I know.”

  And as I looked out in the distance, trying to figure out how Finn had pulled that off, which route he’d even taken, I caught sight of a silhouette disappearing over a hill in the distance.

  That was when I knew I’d actually meant what I’d said to my dad.

  I did know.

  Truly.

  Everything was going to be okay now.

  Epilogue

  ~Wraith~

  “UNBELIEVABLE.”

  Ashley rolled her eyes at my grumbling.

  I couldn’t help it.

  Groaning as I tried to sit up and the pain shooting through my shoulder forced me back down again, I muttered, “I can’t believe we’re right back here again.”

  “I told you, you need to rest!” Ashley snapped at me.

  She climbed onto the bed and carefully straddled my hips, shaking her head at me with disapproval.

  “It doesn’t exactly come easy to me.”

  She trailed her fingers down my abs, sending a jolt of heat through me and making my dick sit up and take notice real quick. “I know,” she cooed. “But, the more you manage it, the quicker you’ll heal.”

  “Like I said, right back where we were at two years ago,” I muttered.

  “No!” she snapped again. “It’s not the same as before. You nearly died then. This is a flesh wound, a through-and-through. You’re not at death’s door. You were beyond depressed then, all the light snuffed out of you. You’re different now. You’re lighter, happier. And we’re together now. We’re in love and so happy with each other. We’re lucky. We’re on the cusp of building a life together, baby.”

  I couldn’t help grinning.

  She really saw the good in everything, the bright possibility up ahead, even when the road was more than a little fucking winding. She’d proved that I’d met my match in more than just a sexual sense. What she’d pulled up at the Rogue Riders MC compound had impressed me more than I’d been able to admit at first, because my fear of the danger she’d put herself in had been all I’d been able to see, spilling out at her in anger and an argument that had taken days to resolve.

  But once I’d calmed down and accepted that all was well, that she was well, it’d been undeniable. She’d saved me. She’d stopped me from making all those kills, from blackening my soul to such an extent that I wouldn’t have been able to come back from it.

  She’d saved her father’s life too.

  It was over, because of her.

  She’d seen a way beyond all of us, a way that none of us were used to looking at, a way that none of us trusted in.

  But it’d worked.

  The Feds had come through with everything they’d promised her. Iron Kings MC had been granted full immunity. The Rogues were behind bars.

  There had been some fallout with Scott, though.

  Knox hadn’t been recovered. He’d managed to escape just in time. Tricks had led a recovery mission with a couple of the boys in an attempt to track him down, but it hadn’t turned up anything. Being that close to taking out the man who’d killed his wife, then having it ripped away, was brutal. He was taking it hard, drinking, working out like crazy, avoiding everyone as much as he could, given he was Prez.

  But it’d only been a couple of days.

  He needed more time.

  Then he’d see the situation for what it was. A win.

  The Rogues were gone for good.

  I’d seen the file on them that Jesse had compiled. Every one of them would be doing hard time. And just to make damned sure it worked that way, the right way, that justice prevailed the way it was supposed to, Scott and Jesse were using their high-level connections borne from good friends they’d made during their military days to follow through.

  Knox hadn’t just lost his club, which had been the source of his strength and the reason he was such a threat, but he was also now a wanted man. He wouldn’t be able to come up for air without the law swooping down on him. Nobody in the criminal u
nderground would touch him either. It was too great a risk with his current fugitive status. He was on his own, his threat-level null and void.

  The best thing Scott could do was to take the win and move forward with his life, just like I was somehow managing to do, bit by bit. It was still a little hard at times to accept that I could actually have one.

  And so much of it was due to the incredible woman currently straddling me.

  I reached out with my good arm and clasped her hand. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I just—”

  “You like to think of yourself as invincible. Getting wounded flies in the face of that.”

  “Wow. You know me too well.”

  “And I love you,” she said, leaning in and suckling on my knuckles.

  I drew in a sharp breath, my cock jerking beneath the covers. “Love you too, little warrior.”

  She rose up then, her silky tank top dipping, offering a tantalizing view of her sexy cleavage. I wanted nothing more than to grasp her ass in those cock-teasing satin pajama shorts and yank her against me, impaling her on my cock so fucking deep that she’d see stars.

  Sensing my need and my spiking frustration that I couldn’t react as I normally would with my wounded arm, she wagged her finger at me, telling me in that raspy, turned-on tone of hers, “Just let me take care of you. Relax and enjoy.”

  A loud smack startled both of us.

  I looked around her to see Jesse bursting in. The second he took in the sight in front of him—a scantily-clad Ashley mounting me over the covers—he cursed and spun around.

  “Jesus.”

  “Crap!” Ashley shrieked, grabbing her robe off the floor and hurriedly tying it around her, while I strategically placed a pillow over my budding erection.

  “Is knocking too good for you nowadays?” I griped.

  He held up his hands. “Sorry. I really didn’t think the two of you’d be… doing that… with that fucked-up arm of yours.”

  Ashley perched on the edge of the bed and told him, “He was getting antsy. He needed calming down.”

  Jesse grinned. “Huh. I wish I’d thought of that strategy for all the times he’s been antsy in the past.”

  “It’s a shame you’re not my type.”

  He slapped his hand to his heart. “Damn, that hurts, buddy.”

  The three of us laughed.

  As it died off, Jesse asked seriously, “How you doing now?”

  It was actually thanks to him that I wasn’t holed up in the ICU.

  After I’d fled the Rogues compound and evaded the Feds, I’d made it several miles on foot, until things had started to take a bad turn. I’d been on the verge of passing out when Jesse had come by and pulled me into his car. He’d brought me back to the clubhouse infirmary where a doctor on Iron Kings payroll had treated my wound.

  “Alive, thanks to you. Ask me again in a couple of weeks and I’m sure I’ll be back on top.”

  “Actually, I won’t be around in a couple of weeks. I’m gonna take off. I stopped in here to say goodbye.”

  Disappointment settled in the pit of my stomach. It’d been comforting having him around and I’d regretted that we’d spent so little time catching up, the war with the Rogues taking precedence over everything. But I knew he had to get back to his life. Now that I was finally settled somewhere, my life stabilized for the first time in so long, it’d make it a hell of a lot easier to see more of my old friend.

  “All right, my friend,” I said, holding out my hand of my good arm.

  He came to the bed and took it and we shook hard. “Until next time.”

  I smiled. “Yeah.”

  As he pulled away and gave a chin lift to Ashley, she said, “Thanks for everything, Jesse. We’ll miss you around here.”

  “Miss you guys too. Keep him out of trouble, okay?”

  “Will do.”

  With one last wave, he left the room, his booted footsteps echoing down the clubhouse corridor. I heard Scott’s voice rumbling. It sounded like he was saying his goodbyes too. The next thing I knew, we had another visitor.

  “Dad,” Ashley breathed, as surprised as I was that he’d emerged from his self-inflicted solitary lockdown.

  He gave her a smile, then eyed me. “You healing up?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Good. Take some more time. I got Wrecker taking point on security, until you’re recovered.” He turned to Ashley. “Know it’s your meet to sign them papers for TRUE INK today. Finn ain’t up to it right now so I figured I’d come with you, yeah?”

  She hesitated, looking uneasy at his offer. “Dad, I appreciate it, but I really don’t need a babysitter. The threat’s over. Plus, I’ve got it handled. I don’t want you bringing some heavy-headed persuasion to the table.”

  “Ain’t gonna do none of that. You taking this leap, having your own store, is a big deal. I wanna be a part of it.” He scrubbed his hand over his face, then told her earnestly, “It ain’t gonna be like before, no suffocating shit from me. Made a deal with Finn about it and I’m gonna make it with you directly too. I trust you’re gonna be safe now, cuz I trust Finn, always have. I just wanna be a part of your life. Don’t wanna lose you again. I want you to want to be around me and the club here in Ridgefield. And if all I gotta do to make that happen, to have a relationship with you again, is to back off, then I’m gonna fucking well do it.”

  It took Ashley a moment to take in what he was saying. No doubt, words she’d longed to hear for a very long time. It was understandable that finally hearing them had her at a momentary loss. It was a hell of a lot to swallow.

  But then she beamed at him and shot off the bed to throw her arms around him. “I have missed you, you know, Dad?”

  “Yeah?” he murmured into her hair, his voice breaking a little with emotion.

  “Of course. You’re my dad. I love you and I always will.”

  They broke apart after a while and Scott told her, “I got some news for you too.”

  Ashley cocked an eyebrow.

  “That house up by the lake is finally up for sale.” He held up his hands quickly. “I ain’t interfered or nothing. It’s all your call. Just been keeping an eye on it, cuz I know you had your eye on it before you ended up leaving for the city.”

  “Wow. Thanks, Dad. We’ll check it out once Finn is better.”

  “All right,” he said, planting a kiss on the top of her head. “See you in the mess hall in a bit for lunch, then we’ll head out to your meet after, yeah?”

  “Perfect,” Ashley said, smiling.

  With that, he took off, closing the door quietly.

  “A lot to think about, huh? Big things happening,” I said, as Ashley climbed back onto the bed and snuggled against me.

  “Yeah.” She nuzzled my good shoulder. “Right now, though, I just want to stay here with you.”

  “You took the words right out of my mouth.”

  She giggled and settled herself against me.

  I wrapped my arm around her, pulling her closer, needing her closer. I couldn’t imagine the day when that need would ever dissipate.

  She was in my every living breath.

  Etched deep into my heart.

  The last glow of light illuminating my blackened soul.

  Her scent was burned into my brain. Her sweetness stained my tongue. Her joyful laugh echoed in my memory. She was the most precious part of me.

  Once upon a time I’d been a monster cut off from everyone and everything.

  Until she’d come along.

  She’d brought out the good in me.

  And I’d brought out the power in her.

  She roared with fire.

  I’d discovered peace.

  Peace.

  For a man like me, it was almost completely unheard of.

  It was something worth living for. Something worth fighting for. Something worth suffering all the wounds in the world for.

  Now I’d found the one woman who could bring me the peace I’d been craving, who could soothe th
e monster that lay within.

  Ashley Tate was everything I hadn’t known I’d been looking for.

  And I was never letting go.

  Next Book in Iron Kings MC

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  Franca writes stories about bad-boy alpha males and the tough women who turn their worlds upside down.

  She is best known for her motorcycle romance series, BLACK THORNS MC.

  When she's not writing, Franca enjoys watching action movies and binging on great TV series. Spending time with her lovable lab, hiking, and listening to hard rock music, are her passions.

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