by Simone Elise
I am out of my mind.
I started to breath sharply, and Jacob’s hand went to my back. “Calm down Autumn. It isn’t that much of a surprise to be honest.” He was gentle with me. “Come on, let’s get you across town before he fucks up his second shot with you.”
“What does that mean?” I picked up on Jacob’s tone.
“Let’s just say, while you’ve been in shit’s changed. And that lover boy of yours, well…. He’s been building one hell of a reputation in the clubs eyes. Last week, something switched in him.” Jacob paused and looked at me. “He started living with no purpose.”
Suddenly I was scared. How much trouble could he cause in a week of living with no purpose?
Chapter Four
Autumn
It is a known fact, or at least it should be that when you fall in love, common sense, judgement, all of that goes out the window. Falling for him, was like falling from my heaven shaped life, and hitting the grounds of hell.
There is no coming back after I got a taste of his lips. Nothing could prepare me for what we had become, the chemistry that boiled between us.
No one could tell me that I would fall for a leather cut, one percent biker. If you told me that I would love the touch of a man that had ended lives with those very hands I would have laughed.
While I may have come crashing to the floors of hell, I could legit say, I had fallen in love with the man that ruled this hell.
Good guys give you dinners, flowers, chocolates. Bad guys make you question who you are, run from you, leave you going crazy, and fucking craving more.
And I had fallen in love with a man that only saw grey and as my eyes locked with his, after walking into the Severed Sons Clubhouse, I knew I had officially fallen from heaven and hit the floors of a life that would be full of a whole lotta sin.
He looked at me like I wasn’t really here. Then he barked for the clubhouse to empty; my stomach twisted, tightened and clenched. Of course I didn’t just fall in love with a man, no I fell in love with a man that put a cage around my heart. That ruined other men for me.
They say move on. They say the grass is greener on the other side. Well, I’m telling you now, nothing, and I mean nothing met the same level as his lips on my body, or the fire that burnt through me when his eyes landed on me. The emotions he stirred through my body, just by his eyes.
His lips twitched up, as if he couldn’t believe his luck, but also was expecting me. And so he should be, he should know, how entrapped I was to him.
His hand cupped my cheek and I tilted my head back to stare into those jet black eyes.
It might not be everyone’s type of heaven, but he was my heaven; nothing in this world could have prepared me for the love I felt for this man.
CAGE
Disbelief.
Shock.
And then as I cupped her cheek I realized she was really here. My heart was racing at a pace that wasn’t possible.
She was here.
My hand bringing her scarred wrist to my mouth. Kissing it, as my thumb then ran over the scar. Her eyes locked with mine, and she had to know, that I would never let anything in this world take her away from me; not this lifestyle, not her father and not even her depression.
She was mine and as I brought her lips to mine I wasn’t a religious man but this woman gave me faith that I could face the expectations and commitments that were being placed on my shoulders.
I just wasn’t sure, as I stared into the vivid emerald eyes, how I’d tell her that the Severed Sons were at war with The Vultures. Thus she was going to be forced to pick between her family and me.
That is if, Hawk doesn’t play the next move, like I am expecting.
Chapter Five
HAWK
The tension in the room was enough for me to know that the men had decided for me. They knew where I stood on the issue. But they were more wanting to save their skin, their club, not caring that I was prepared to lose it all, just to keep him fucking out.
“Ain’t gonna lie to you brother.” Wild looked at me from the end of the table. “Us boys have talked since Jacob left.”
My teeth ground together. The fact that my own son walked from this was enough to tell me that the table would be in his favor and not mine.
“Don’t want him pledging with them. Neither should you,” Wild added.
“Jacob won’t pledge to the Severed Sons. He is loyal to us.”
Lit blew out a mouthful of smoke. “We need him back Prez.”
“He’ll come back.”
“Not talking about Jacob,” Lit locked eyes with me. “I’m talking about the madman that destroyed our supplement. The man whose name puts fear in our enemies eyes. He shouldn’t be an enemy. Going up against him is a fucking mistake.”
Cage. It all came back to Cage fucking Hurley.
“He has the power to wipe us out. We need him back on our side of the table,” Vod grunted. “Fucking mistake taking the patch off him. He’s a serial killer with a grudge against us. We need to make this right.”
“A sit down,” Wild spoke up. “A sit down with him and we offer him his own Chapter and family security of a club he wants to be in.”
I scoffed, hating every second of this.
“Can’t have him and the Severed Sons as an enemy.” Wild heard my scoff. “You need to pull it in, reel in the man’s heartstrings. He left the Severed Sons for us once. Let’s pray he can do it again.”
“And if he doesn’t?” I looked around the table. “I offer him a Chapter, my daughter. What if the kid wants war?”
Wild grunted. “He ain’t no fucking kid. The man killed our supplier. The man is a serial killer with no purpose but the need for power. When you gonna see it Hawk, Cage is the mother fucking future of this club.”
“Or…” Lit added, “he makes or breaks our future by wiping out the club. He already took our nomads. He won’t stop. Men fear him. I would rather be with him than against him.”
“Fuck Lit your making it sound like you’ll patch over!” I grunted and he looked at me dead serious. He had fucking considered it! I looked around the table. Vod, Wild, even the damn prospect, had clearly thought about it.
“You know what they say, when the devil comes knocking you give him ya soul, so you can keep living,” Lit said standing up. “Make the man an offer to come back Hawk. Before he kills us and buries the club.”
The room emptied and I looked at Wild for some advice, but his eyes just told me what I didn’t want to know. Cage was going to be The Vultures death or future. And it was up to me to pick which one. Did I let the club die by his hands, or did I let him revive it.
CAGE
When you want something to change you have to be the one to turn that ‘want’ into action. This lifestyle was painful, it would cripple you, it would tighten its noose around your neck strangling you. But something happened to me along the way, I learned to love the pain. I learned that my story was to be told through blacks, blues and as soon as one wound healed- another would slice open.
Teaching me to learn to love the pain.
When I was young, my father taught me- manipulate the results to work in your favor. My father was the king of manipulation. He believed in if it hurts, keep going cause it means it’s shaping you as a man.
Because when you get close to that goal, you’ll be the man you need to be to claim it as yours.
I blew out a mouthful of smoke. My eyes landing on Hawk. A sit down he wanted. I knew it had something to do with the shipment I had stolen from his docks but what did the bastard expect?
He kept doing drive bys at Severed Sons houses. We didn’t have a clubhouse yet. The nomads from Vulture’s had pledged to me. But Hawk didn’t know that where I go, the ex Vulture’s members went.
While they were wearing Severed Sons colors their loyalty was to me, not the patch.
In some ways, that is what every president wants. Members that follow them, not the club.
I got it by cha
nce. Now I had the taste of the power, I wanted more.
Couldn’t help but think that Hawk’s visit aligned with Autumn getting out and Jacob stepping down. He knew that I saw Jacob’s potential. I wouldn’t put him on the side lines like Hawk had done.
“Let’s cut the bullshit,” Wild grunted. “We have an offer, and want you to hear us out.” He scanned the ex Vulture’s members. “We aren’t here judging ya for siding with Cage.”
My men basically had their guns on show, ready for the fight that I was more than prepared to give Hawk’s members.
“What’s your offer?” I said, cutting to the reason why we were here.
“We give you a Chapter. Men. A town where you can earn ya own way.” Wild was speaking while Hawk was glaring at the table. “You come back to wearing Vulture’s colors. The club that you once loved.”
Hawk grunted. “No.” He shook his head and I smirked. I knew Hawk wasn’t going to let me come back.
“Nah I have a better deal for you Cage,” he twisted in the chair and to look at me in a president chair must have gotten a rise out of him, because the glare fell from his eyes.
“I’ll give you a patch at the mother Chapter,” he said as he locked his eyes with me. “As VP. If you want to come back, you’ll fucking come back to our Chapter, and you’ll prove to all my current members that you live up to this reputation of yours.”
“And why the fuck would I want to go under you?” I said, honestly a Chapter of my own sounded more peaceful if I was going to take an offer.
“Cause ya a man with balls right? Prove it!” Hawk barked. “Come back to the mother Chapter, and if you are such a good leader, help lead us to this bright future that everyone thinks you’ll cast.”
“Or I could stay at the Severed Sons, lead my own Chapter and not have to put up with your bullshit Hawk.”
Hawk smirked. “You want Autumn right? You love her. Die for her?”
I nodded my head.
“Then don’t put her in a position to have to pick her family or you. You have an option here to give her both,” Hawk spoke as he rose up. “Think about it, you’ve got till the end of the day.”
Wild and Lit, gave Hawk a glare. For some reason I had a feeling he went off script.
Sometimes life choices are like poker. You have to bluff. I never had any intention on staying here in Severed Sons colors. Being under my father’s thumb was my worse nightmare.
But I had to earn Hawk’s respect and he never respected me as an Enforcer. Him offering me a VP patch at his table, was him telling me, he acknowledges I can do this without him but he’d rather me be patched close to him.
After all, keep your friends close but enemies closer and that was exactly what I was going to do back to Hawk.
Chapter Six
Autumn
Why did it feel like I was about to make a massive fucking mistake. I took a sharp breath in, waiting for the doom to hit. And it did hit, the moment Cage brought the bike to a stop.
God what was I thinking!
Hell what was he thinking!
Being back here, flooded me with memories. From the moment I was a child playing in the lot, to the moment Mom married Hawk, then meeting Cage over that bonfire.
I bet he doesn’t even remember me that night. The night of Mom’s and Hawk’s wedding. All the moments flashed through my head and finally the last moment I was here.
Being rushed into the back of an ambulance. My eyes dropped to my wrist. I had survived that. Only to end up back here?
Cage didn’t bark at me to get off, as I replayed these flashbacks in my head.
Finally I gripped his shoulders, climbing off.
Cage leaned the bike down on its kickstand, and his jet black eyes were locked on me.
“Darling, you know this time will be different?” his hand went to my cheek. Cupping the side of my face, he leaned in. “Ain’t nothing going to happen to you.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because I won’t allow it,” he said then kissed my lips.
“I better help Jacob unload the truck,” I muttered, feeling breathless from his kiss. “Cage,” I caught his hand before he walked into a meeting with Hawk. My eyes on the Vice President patch on his chest.
My eyes lifted. “Did you take this patch so I didn’t pick between you and Hawk?”
He didn’t say a word. Just kissed my forehead, and headed inside. Leaving me with questions.
I walked out to the lot, seeing Jacob pulled to the curb.
Jacob got out of the pickup, and his eyes were on the clubhouse. I looked at my belongings and his belongings on the back of the pickup. If Cage hadn’t convinced me to come back, I wouldn’t be here.
I looked up from the bed of the truck and my eyes widened. My mouth opening. My hand going to Jacob’s arm.
“Autumn what the fuck?” Jacob said, completely annoyed I had touched him.
“Turn around.” I hissed, and he did. “Do you see what I see?”
“What?”
“Her.” I pointed to where the woman was standing. Jacob stilled. And I knew he had seen her too.
It was Mom.
Chapter 7
Autumn
A bus drove past, and she was gone before Jacob could cross the road. He froze at the side of the road, was he thinking what I was thinking? Then he turned around, storming past me.
“Jacob where are you going!” I yelled after him, and then with his pace basically running. I took off after him. “Jacob!”
He opened the clubhouse door, and I was quick to weave in after him. Finally catching him, in the security room.
“What are you doing?” I whispered yelled at him, as he forced the door behind me shut.
I looked at all the monitors, and realized now what he was doing. I watched him rewind the footage. Saw his eyes on the screen. And my heart beats increased as I saw the woman standing on the side of the road.
“It’s her!” Jacob blew out, and I swallowed sharply. It was mom. She was standing right there.
The door behind us burst open.
“What the fuck you two doing?” Lit demanded to know.
“Checking last nights footage,” Jacob said coolly, turning to look at Lit. “Tell Hawk and Cage I’ll be in the meeting soon.”
Lit frowned but nodded his head and left.
“Jacob we have to tell Hawk!” I was quick to say when the door closed. But Jacob was glaring at the screen, and then he did something I wasn’t expecting. He deleted the footage!
“Are you mad?” I yelled at him, grabbing him by the arm. “That was our only proof that she was there! Hawk won’t believe us now!”
Jacob gripped me by the shoulders. Locking eyes with me. “Autumn, we need to keep this between us. We can’t trust the club.”
“Are you mad?” I said again.
His eyes locked with mine. “If she is alive, she is hiding for a reason and she’s hiding from the club. We can’t blow her cover-”
The door burst open again, and I turned seeing Cage.
“Lit said you two were in here. Why?” Cage was looking for answers for our odd behavior.
“Nothing.” And I forced a smile. “You can go Jacob thanks for getting me another aux cord.” I lied, and I realized now I might love Cage, but I’d always be loyal to my brother.
But why would he think Mom would be hiding from the club? The club was family. I looked at Jacob, and his eyes were telling me, there was something I didn’t know.
Mom always said I could do anything I wanted, be whoever I wanted to be. I think every mother tells their children that. But my mom engrained it in me. Even when my teachers would say I would amount to nothing, as I was always behind in my studies. I didn’t know where my path was going.
I didn’t chase a goal, or a career.
I just got by.
But as I packed the groceries into the car, I wondered if she knew I would get sucked into the club life. She wanted nothing to do with the club after Dad
died. It was her love for Hawk that pulled her back in.
She told me once, that loving someone, flying high with them in love, only makes you fall further; you fall when you fall out of love with them.
The image of her standing on the sidewalk ran through my mind again.
Was it her? I stilled, staring into space when a hand tapped me on the shoulder. I nearly jumped through my skin.
“Sorry,” the woman who I recognized said.
I blinked a few times. Trying to connect her to where I knew her.
“They wanted to shut me up,” she hesitated. “But I think you have a right to know.” She then handed me an envelope and walked off.
I frowned at the envelope. Who was she? Why couldn’t I remember her? Closing the door. I walked around the car, getting in. I put the envelope on the passenger seat and turned the car on. God that was weird.
Perhaps she had me confused with someone else?
CAGE
I blew out a mouthful of smoke. The mother Chapter always knew how to throw a fucking party. But coming back after time away, reminded me just how great those parties were.
The liquor was flowing, the drugs were spread out on every surface, meth to boil, coke to snort, weed to smoke, you had your pick or substance of choice. And my drug of choice, just walked in.
It was an immediate reaction to seeing Autumn. My blood went up a level. My heart just pulsated nerves through my system, but the lust fucking slapped me across the face. The fact we hadn’t fucked in nearly a week, was giving me a bad case of blue balls.
And I was reminded of that, as my eyes ran over her. The bright and tight dress, showing off her every asset. Those breasts for one, were on show, with that plunging neckline. I adjusted myself, and it was all from one look at her.