Wylder folded his arms over his chest. “Mercy is her own woman. I’m glad to have her as an ally, but I sure as hell don’t expect her to bow down to me. We’ll work together, but the Claws belong to her. You answer to her, not me.”
A few murmurs passed between the assembled men. I held my breath. Would the things I’d said be enough? I didn’t know how else to convince them, but I didn’t know how much hope we had of winning this war without whatever help they could give us.
Jenner stepped in front of me and dipped his head. When he raised it, his eyes glinted with a wild sort of hope. “I’ll recognize you as the new head of the Claws. I’ll fight with you—for all our fallen brothers, but also for you.”
When my lips parted in surprise, he gave me a small smile. “Your father could be a great leader at times, but he was ruled by his ego. Every time you’ve reached out to us, you’ve given us a choice and treated us with respect and humility—even when we’d turned our backs on you. It would be my absolute honor to show the same loyalty in return.”
“And mine,” Kervos said. “I’ve seen what you’re capable of. So did Roy. We can’t let those fuckers get away with this, and you’re the woman to take them down. I’ll pledge myself to you.”
A bittersweet smile stretched across my face. One by one, the other Claws members began to nod. “And me.” “And me.” The words echoed in the room.
I could feel their spirits lifting as hope lit their faces again. Goosebumps erupted down the back of my neck. Momentary tears pricked at the backs of my eyes. Here they were, battered and driven underground, but they were still willing to rise against their enemy one more time.
I pumped my fist in the air. “For the Claws.”
“For the Claws,” they echoed back. In that moment, I was one of them more than I’d ever been before.
“For the Claws,” Jenner said, clapping me on the shoulder. “Let’s take back the Bend.”
“Thank you,” I said quietly.
“You earned it. Now, what do you think we can do about your man they’re holding hostage?”
I inhaled deeply and held up the bag with the stolen phones. “These belong to some of the Storm’s men. We think there might be information on one or more of them that’d give us key information into how they work, something we could use to get the upper hand. Is there anyone here who knows how to crack the lock codes on them?”
A young guy near the back of the room held up his hand. “Toss them over here. I should be able to handle that.”
I handed the bag to another guy who passed it on. As our volunteer got to work on the first phone, the other men dug into the food we’d brought. It was obvious they were starving.
I stepped back by the door with Anthea, Wylder, Kaige, and Rowan. Looking around the room at the Claws men—my men now—sent a weird quiver through my chest that was both anxious and excited.
“We’re really doing this,” I murmured. “I’m really doing this.” I was going to lead the Claws. Dad would be rolling in his grave if he knew.
“You looked like a goddess telling them how it was going to be,” Kaige said with a grin. “A goddess of blood and vengeance. The Storm’s people aren’t going to know what hit them.”
“You were made for this life,” Rowan put in. “I didn’t always believe that was a good thing, but now I know you can turn it into something great.”
I glanced at Wylder, who was frowning. “You don’t look so happy.”
He shook himself and tucked a finger through the beltloop of my jeans. “Not because of anything that happened here, Kitty Cat. I could watch you make declarations all day. You really are becoming a queen now.”
A warm glow of affection sparked in my chest. I squeezed his hand. “And we’ll rule together.” I knew why that wasn’t enough. The heaviness of our loss was weighing on my spirits too. “It won’t feel right without Gideon here. We’ve got to get him back.”
“We will,” Wylder said fiercely, and Kaige and Rowan nodded.
Anthea let out a huff of breath. “I’ll just be glad when this is all over and I can get back to killing people so discreetly no one can even tell it’s murder, like everyone civilized should.”
An unexpected laugh burst out of me. Kaige snorted, and Rowan took my other hand. I’d never been so glad to have all of them with me.
Just then, the man at the back stood up with one of the phones in his hand. “I might have found something. Come take a look.”
My heart leapt. I tugged Wylder’s hand, and he came with me. It was time to get Gideon back.