“What the fuck are you two grinning at?” Stupid question. I’m sure they both heard Jaz howling as I fucked her into a coma.
“Nothing at all, brother.” Atticus chuckles.
Case looks at him like he’s crazy, completely missing the sarcasm in Atticus’ voice, “What do you mean? Did I misunderstand the shake of your head as you passed Roman’s door? I was sure you and I were on the same page when we heard Jaz howling like a fucking loon in there.” Rolling his eyes, Atticus slaps Case on the back of the head.
“Enough,” I tell them as Blow steps up. I don’t want these goons saying shit no one needs to hear right now.
“Alphas,” he says with a respectful nod to us. The kid is one of the good ones, he’ll make a good enforcer when he’s fully patched in this full moon.
“Unload Jones’ truck and take everything to the room across from mine. When you’re done, I want you posted at my bedroom door, no one but me, my brothers, or your mother is allowed in. Jaz may leave the room, but she doesn’t go anywhere without you,” I step closer to him, my wet hair dripping down the side of my face and into my trimmed beard, “If you touch her in any way that is not respectful, I will tear your hands off. Got it?”
“Yes, Alpha. I understand.” He turns and quickly does as ordered.
“Drone and Steph raised that pup right.” Case remarks as we make our way to the library.
“Stephanie,” I call to Drone’s ol’ lady and Blow’s mother. She’s one of the few women I trust. She’s an omega who helps with raising pups, teaching them our ways. She also trains the women who come here looking for sanctuary.
“Yes, Alpha?” She smiles kindly like only an omega can do.
“Jaz, my ol’ lady, she’s upstairs sleeping but I need you to help her gain her footing here. Blow is her guard for now. Let her know what the MC life is and help her learn our ways. She’s too used to a pack life, which is a vast difference from how we live.”
“You got it,” She turns to leave but stops, “I almost forgot, Jones is recovering well. His ear drums exploded with the voices he was hearing but they’re about ninety percent healed now, and he’ll be up and about tomorrow.”
I glance at my brothers, my brows furrowed, “Voices?”
“Yeah, he said the beasts you killed were screaming in his head. He says none of you, including Jaz, seemed to be affected by them as he was.”
“Did he say whether the voices spoke actual words or were they just screaming?” Atticus inquires.
“It was in Latin,death must have vengeance,or something along those lines.”
We stare at her for a moment before nodding our thanks. Even as she walks away, we stand there in complete confusion. I mean, it’s not like it’s unlikely that Jones was hearing shit from beasts we have never seen in our lives, but why didn’t we hear it? Who wants vengeance and for what death? So many unanswered questions, and important questions without answers is very fucking dangerous.
“Let’s get to Church and find out if anyone has ever seen or heard of the dark beasts.” I turn and continue down the corridor until reaching the room we turned into our soundproofed meeting hall.
We enter the room and the three hundred full-fledged members of Cutthroat quiet down and stand in respect as we walk through the aisle to our podium. Much like the platform in the dining hall, Atticus, Case, and I have our seats at the front of the room on a lifted floor. After we take our seats, everyone waits for me to make announcements.
Instead, I bang the gavel, ready to get this meeting over with so I can get back upstairs and see where Jaz’s head is at… if she’s even awake.Looks like I know how to shut the girl up after all.I smirk to myself as everyone takes their seats.
“Alright, listen up, boys. As you know, I have an ol’ lady now. I fully expect you all to treat her like family but keep your fucking hands to yourself,”
“And keep sharp objects away from her,” Case interrupts like he does. If he were anyone else, I’d have his head under my boot, “she’s not to be treated lightly.”
“Are you to respect her as your Alpha female? Abso-fucking-lutey, so spread the word to the Sweets and Old Ladies; if you underestimate her or try your luck by challenging her, she will no doubt bring you down to the ground in a heartbeat.” Atticus adds, his stern eyes trained on every person in the room.
“And she will have the approval of the Alphas,” I finish, watching every member in the room give a slight nod to my words, “If there is anyone who disagrees with this, speak now.”
When no one objects to my words, I move on, “Alright, as you all may have heard by now, Gallows MC has a new Alpha and President, Brantley Bishop. With him now in power, we now have gun trades in New Mexico,” The room erupts in whistles and howls at my words. The old Alpha and President of the Gallows was a twisted motherfucker whose actions and rule went against everything MC’s stand for. Though most MC Bylaws resemble one another, no matter the club, Darnick Bishop spat upon every bylaw possible. He had to go. He was the worst kind of leader, and the world had no room for him. Plus, he was an annoying bastard.
“Slick and Duncan,” I continue once the cheers die down, “You two will go down to New Mexico and make sure Brantley understands the treaty. Shadow him and report back. You may take three prospects you think are ready to be patched in. If they prove themselves with this, I will have one of the old ladies sew their patches on their cuts when they get back.”
The two men howl which makes everyone else cheer and howl along with them. Becoming a full member of Cutthroat is an honor to everyone here. We treat our club with respect, and we are all one. Every person here, aside from those born into the club, have known and felt what it’s like to be exiled from their pack. They have the scars of being lone wolves, but when they joined us, they became our family. The Cutthroat may be a gang of bikers who don’t always color inside the lines of the law, but we’re tighter than a normal wolf pack. We gave these shifters more than a home, we gave them a purpose again, an unbreakable bond.
A bond only second to the one I inadvertently tied around Jaz and me.
Try as I might, I can’t completely rid myself of my smug satisfaction that Jaz Monroe is mine and no one, not even she, can change that.
“What happened to Jones?” A voice shouts somewhere in the room.
Atticus stands and pulls out his phone, swiping open the screen to the photos he took of the creatures we fought in the field. I’m glad he thought of that before we left. There’s no proper way to describe these beings and I want everyone aware of what’s been traveling through our lands. Hell, they even seemed to have been following us. Whatever they are, we need to find every last one of them and kill them before they touch any of us.
A murmur goes around the room as everyone looks at the pictures, “Does anyone know what these beings are?” Atticus asks as he continues down the rows of men.
“They’re called Dark Bloods,” A feminine voice shouts from the back of the room. Everyone parts as Jaz comes walking into the room, eyes glaring at me with deadly intent, “and I’ve come to find you so that we can stop them from killing our people.”