Blade's Awakening (Wild Kings MC Book 5)

by Erin Osborne

  I quickly make my way up the stairs and see that Jason left the door unlocked. Just as I go to open the door, he reaches out and grabs my ankle. Since my fight or flight instinct has kicked in, I kick my other foot out and land it square in his chest. He falls backwards and I don’t stay to find out what happens to him.

  The other men that work with, or for, Jason are only here at night. And Jason never comes down to see me when they’re here. See, Jason has a small problem in that he doesn’t know when to shut his mouth. He likes to brag and talk about every little thing going on. I guess it makes him feel like a big man to manhandle women and try to intimidate them. Since learning his game, it only makes me sick now.

  Even though I’m sure that no one else is in the house, I still tread lightly, but quickly. We are in his house and that means that I know the layout and can figure out the quickest way to get out of here. Especially considering I hear Jason yelling and screaming from the basement. Going out the patio doors off the kitchen, I run to the side of the yard and the hole in the fence that never did get fixed. That’s Jason’s other problem. He’s too arrogant to think that anyone can get one over on him.

  I’m small enough to squeeze through the narrow opening and I know that once I’m through it, I’m home free. The neighbor is always up and I make my way to their back door. I pound and pound on it until Sue opens the door. She’s in her mid-fifties and parties like she’s in her twenties. Nothing illegal, she just likes to drink. A lot.

  “I need your help,” I tell her, the tears streaming down my face.

  “What’s going on dear?” she asks, ushering me inside and locking the door.

  “I need you to call Slim. Please hurry before Jason figures out where I went,” I plead with her.

  Sue already has her phone in her hand and is putting it up to her ear. I can hear her talking and I know that she’s talking to someone from the club. Before she can hang up there’s a pounding on her front door and I start shaking so bad that I can’t hardly stand. Jason can’t possibly be here already. Seeing the panic overtake me, Sue pulls a chair out and sits me down while moving towards the front door.

  “Are you sure it’s one of your guys out there?” she asks Slim.

  I can’t hear his reply, but I hear Sue yell to the door. She’s asking questions that only those close to me would know. And I’m guessing the person on the other side of the door is answering correctly. Soon, she’s opening the door and I peer over to see that Killer and Wood are standing there. Wood rushes for me when he sees me sitting in one of her kitchen chairs and starts to check me over.

  “Sweetheart, we have to get you to the hospital. Blade is on his way here and I know that he’s goin’ to want you there now,” Wood tells me.

  “I’m not going anywhere until I see my children and my husband,” I tell him stubbornly, my tone letting him know that I’m not lying. I will sit right here until Blade, Kenyon, and Cory are here.

  Blade

  It’s been days since my wife was taken from us. Melody is almost inconsolable, blaming herself. We’ve all tried to tell her that it wasn’t her fault. Keira would have done the same thing for any one of the old ladies that asked her to run and get medicine for their child. Or anything else they asked her to do to help them.

  When I’m not out looking for my girl, I’m with our children. Kenyon and Cory can both sense that something isn’t right. They’ve been miserable and it takes shifts of everyone that’s around the clubhouse to try to keep them from crying and getting at least a little bit of sleep. Hell, we’re lucky if we can get them to eat most of the time. But, we keep trying until we can get something into their little bellies.

  Tank has also stepped up the workouts again. I know he’s trying to help me, but all I feel he’s doing is taking me away from my kids and being out there looking for Keira. He keeps reminding me that he knows what I’m going through from when Maddie was kidnapped, but I can’t hear it. Today is no exception. He’s waiting on me right now to go over and get a workout in.

  Just as I go to take Kenyon and Cory over to Skylar and Bailey, my phone rings. I look and see Slim calling me so I don’t hesitate to answer it. This could be the call we’ve been waiting for.

  “Tell me you got somethin’?” I ask.

  “We might. I’ve had Killer and Wood sittin’ on that fucker’s house. There’s been a lot of movement. Especially at night. It’s all been guys, but they show up for a few hours and then leave,” Slim tells me.

  “What’s that gotta do with anythin’?” I ask, confused.

  “Why else would a bunch of guys show up to a house and then leave. I could see maybe once a week for a poker game or somethin’. But, not every night. I’m thinkin’ he’s got your girl there and they’re helpin’ dish out some punishment.”

  “Not one hair on her fuckin’ head better be touched!” I scream into the phone. “I’m gonna head down there after makin’ sure the girls will keep the kids.”

  “We don’t know if she’s there, Brother. You sure you wanna come down now?”

  “No question about it.”

  I hang up the phone and make my way over to the clubhouse with the kids. Skylar and Bailey are waiting for me already. Without stopping to talk to anyone else, I make my way over to them. This makes the guys that are in the main room perk up. They can tell that something is about to go down and they’re all getting ready to have my back.

  “Can you guys keep the kids for a few days?” I ask, my tone is pleading. “Slim might have a lead and I need to be there for my girl.”

  “Of course we can. You do what you have to do and keep us updated,” Bailey tells me.

  As I go to turn around, I see most of my brothers have closed in around me. Grim, Joker, and Cage are the three closest to me.

  “What’s up Blade?” Grim asks me.

  “Slim’s had Wood and Killer on that douche canoe’s house. There’s been movement. If there’s a chance that my wife is in there, I’m goin’ to be there when she gets found,” I tell my President. “I’m sorry Grim, but I have to be there for her.”

  “Go. Cage, Pops, Tank, and Rage are goin’ with you. I’ll take Kasey so you can go. She was talkin’ about comin’ over to play with Zander anyway,” Grim tells Rage and I.

  I don’t even wait for anyone to finish talking or to see if they’re getting ready. Making my way back to our home, I quickly pack a bag and make sure that my knives are packed. They don’t call me Blade for no reason. I have special talents and can prolong someone’s torture when it comes to playing with my knives. I’ve always had a fascination with them and I turned that into a talent when I got older.

  Just as I go to leave our bedroom, I see the shirt that Keira stole from me. She doesn’t wear anything to bed typically, but does like to have something on when she has to go to the nursery. My shirt was the first thing she grabbed one night and she hasn’t given it back yet. I pick it up and it smells just like my kitten. Her touch is all around me in this house and I won’t rest until she’s back home where she belongs.

  My bike was already parked at the clubhouse, so I head in that direction and see that I’m the last one there. Cage and Tank are already on their bikes while Rage is hugging his daughter goodbye. Before Kasey runs back into the clubhouse she runs over to me. Kasey hugs me and tells me to bring her auntie home. I look up at Rage and I know he can see the emotion on my face. Keira has felt like she didn’t belong here, that no one noticed if she was around or not. Kasey telling me to bring her home just goes to prove that more people paid attention to her than she thinks. And I’m going to make sure she knows that when I bring her home.

  “Let’s roll!” Cage hollers after we all start our bikes.

  ~~**~~

  I’ve ridden behind Cage and Tank on the way to Benton Falls. They knew if I were to take lead, I’d be breaking every rule of the road and almost kill myself in my attempt to get to my wife. They’ve been going faster than normal, but not fast enough for me. Nothing will be
fast enough for me until I have my eyes on my girl and her in my arms.

  We pull over to fill up. Since we weren’t planning on making the trip, our bikes weren’t filled up beforehand. In a way, I’m glad we did stop because I see that Slim called me about twenty minutes ago. I quickly call him back to see what update he has for me. I’m hoping that he’s going to tell me that they know for a fact she’s in Jason’s house.

  “Just stopped for a minute, Slim. What do you have for me?” I ask, getting surrounded again so I put my phone on speaker.

  “Your wife got herself out. I’m not sure how she did it. All I know is that right before the neighbor called, Wood and Killer heard a ton of commotion coming from behind the house. They were on their way out back to check it out when I called them to tell them where Keira was. Killer went over to get Jason and he was already gone. We’re keepin’ her secure right now. Blade, she needs to get to the hospital and she refuses to go until you get here. Please tell me you’re close,” Slim tells me.

  Cage looks at me and sees the torment on my face at hearing she needs to go to the hospital. And that she got herself free. Don’t get me wrong, I’m proud as fuck my girl saved herself. I just wish I were there for her. Instead I feel as if I let her down, like I wasn’t there for her when I truly needed to be.

  “We’ll be there in about fifteen minutes,” Cage tells Slim. “We’re just outside town and I’m gonna let Blade take the lead. Where we goin’?”

  “Blade, you know where her house was?” Slim asks.

  “Yeah.”

  “Go past it and take your first right. You’re goin’ to go through four stop signs. I’ll have Killer outside waitin’ for you. It’s on the right.”

  I hang up and head back to my bike. The rest of the guys are hot on my heels knowing that I’m not waiting for anyone. My girl needs to get to the hospital and she’s being stubborn as usual. If she’s going to wait for me, then I’m not going to make her wait any longer than she needs to. Fuck, I want to go as fast as possible but I’m not going to risk getting pulled over or laying my bike down and delaying her getting the help she needs.

  Gunning my engine, I roar out of the gas station parking lot and make my way to the little house my wife used to call home. I’m not going to take fifteen minutes to get to her, it’s not going to take that long. The rest of the guys are staying close and keeping up with me, though I’m not surprised. They don’t want me to do anything stupid and they want to make sure that I’m careful.

  Finally, we pull up to the house I see Killer standing in front of it. Though with all the bikes sitting here, it’s hard to miss where we’re going. He’s pacing back and forth and I can see the agitation on his face. Keira has made an impact on the men and women of the three clubs. Well, the ones that she’s come in contact with and she has no clue. Killer is not so patiently waiting for us to park. Honestly, if it wasn’t my only mode of transportation right this second, I would just lay it down in my haste to get to my girl.

  “Come on Blade, she’s not good and she still refuses to go. Even though Slim told her you were almost here. I’ve just put the call in for an ambulance and they’ll be here any second now,” Killer tells me as I quicken my pace.

  “Killer hang back a second and fill us in on what you know,” Cage tells him.

  I don’t pay any attention. The front door is already open and I burst through the members of Slim’s club as if they’re not even standing there. Nothing is preventing me from getting to Keira. Slim, Wood, and a lady I don’t know are surrounding my girl on three sides, shielding her from anyone else getting too close to her. As soon as Slim sees me though, he moves the three of them back so I can get to her without anyone in the way.

  Taking my first good look at my wife, I fill with dread. She’s hunched over and her arms are close to her sides indicating that her ribs are fucked up. Her face is covered in bruises and cuts. Some are deeper than others and some are longer than others. I’m not sure what they used to cut her, but I know it wasn’t any kind of knife. Keira is holding her one wrist in her other hand and I can see that it’s got an odd angle to it. These motherfuckers touched my girl and they think they’re going to get away with it. They’ve got another thing coming if I have anything to say about it.

  Before she realizes that I’m here, I see that her clothes are now in tatters and I’m dreading finding out that they touched her more than just putting the beatings on her. I can’t see her lap because she’s got a blanket draped over her upper legs. The rage is just continuing to build and build within me. I’m trying my hardest not to let her see it though.

  “Kitten, I’m here and we need to get you looked at. You should’ve gone as soon as you got here and knew Wood and Killer were here.”

  “No!” she screams, her face contorting with pain and tears running down through the narrow slits in her eyes. “I needed to see you needed to know you were okay. Where are our babies?”

  Keira is frantic and I don’t know why. My helpless eyes seek out Slim and Cage. I have no clue what to do here. So, I kneel down in front of her and gently lay my hands on her thighs. I don’t know where she has any other injuries. I tip my head at an angle until I have her eyes on me so I can talk to her with her full attention. Not that it’s easy considering they are so swollen.

  “Kitten, the kids are home with Bailey and Skylar. Other than the few men I brought with me, all the guys are there to protect Kenyon and Cory.”

  “No!” Keira shrieks. “He’s got pictures of them.”

  “What do you mean kitten? Who has pictures? Who are in the pictures?” I ask.

  “Jason has pictures of Kenyon and Cory. Some of them are with you, some are with Melody. Jason has someone in the club he said.”

  Looking up, I see that Cage, Pops, and Slim are all on their phones. Tank is clearing people away as I hear sirens getting louder. Rage is staying close to Keira and I, shielding us from everyone and making sure someone is in range to pull me back if necessary. I go to move to Keira’s side and she starts to flip out again. Telling her that the EMTs are here and I’m going no further than the side of her, I slowly move.

  Thankfully, there’s a woman EMT. At this point in time, I’m not sure how my girl would react to an all-male crew working on her. Not after what she’s been through and I don’t even know what that is. Part of me honestly doesn’t want to know the hell that she went through. The other part of me knows that I have to find out what she went through so I can make sure the motherfuckers that put their hands on her pay for what they’ve done.

  “Sir, you’ll have to move out of the way,” one of the paramedics tells me.

  “I’m her husband and I’m not goin’ anywhere. I tried to move here as you were comin’ in and she flipped out. I’m not havin’ my wife upset like that because you don’t want me near her,” I tell the guy that’s trying to act tough.

  “Bill, these guys are protective of their women. He’ll stay out of the way so we can do our job because he doesn’t want anything to happen to his wife. If you can’t accept that, wait outside,” the female tells him. “Hey Slim, nice to see you again.”

  “You too, Sam. Thanks for settin’ him straight. My man here is hangin’ on by a thread right now.”

  Sam nods her head in acknowledgement as she continues to get Keira ready to load on a stretcher. The man that tried to get me to move shrinks back among all of the bikers standing around the room before heading back outside. As they go to put a brace to support her wrist on, Keira cries out in pain. It’s taking everything in me not to start throwing punches. And it takes Tank and Rage both placing a hand on each one of my shoulders to keep me in place.

  ~~**~~

  We’ve been waiting at the hospital for hours now. I went back with Keira when we first got here, but they’ve taken her in to surgery now. Her wrist and thumb were broken to the point that her thumb needs a pin in it temporarily and her wrist is going to need to be fixed. Other than that, she’s bruised on most of her body
and there’s cuts from various objects all over her body. On top of that, she’s running a fever and is dehydrated. They’re not sure if the infection she has is from all the cuts or something else at this point.

  Sitting in the waiting room, I’m thinking about everything that could be going wrong right now. Once Grim was told that there’s a mole in the club, he decided to send Joker, Glock, Melody, Skylar, Bailey, Ma, Maddie, and my kids down here. The rest of the kids are also coming down just to get the women and kids out of the clubhouse. Grim is staying behind so that he can try to figure out who is feeding Jason information and getting close enough to get the pictures of my children that he has. Keira is tortured by the thought that something is going to happen to them at Jason’s hands and I’m not going to have her go through that.

  “Mr. Branch?” I finally hear.

  Standing up, I make my way over to the doctor that performed the surgery on my wife. I can’t read his expression enough to know if the surgery went good or not. Tank and Cage follow me over and I know that they’re staying close as a matter of protection for the doctor. If anything happened to my wife, there will be hell to pay.

  “The surgery went well. She’s in recovery now before we move her to a room. At this point she’s going to be in here for about a week or so. It all depends on whether or not her body rejects the pin holding her thumb in place right now and what the infection does. Once she’s in her room, we’re only going to allow you in for tonight. Your wife has been through something seriously traumatic and we don’t want to add any more stress to her.”

  “I understand,” I tell him, shaking his outstretched hand. “When can I see her?”

  “Give them a few minutes to get her settled in recovery and then someone will take you back. Tomorrow the rest of your friends and family can visit with her.”

  As soon as the doctor leaves, I’m surrounded by our family. Everyone is hugging me and telling me that they’ll be back tomorrow. For now, the guys from my club, along with Wood and Killer, are going to be staying at the hospital. Because the hospital is used to the club and how many members show up, there’s a room that the men can crash in while I sleep in Keira’s room.