Page 37 of Echo’s Secret

I sink down beside them, Theo secure in my arms. The women close ranks around us. Protecting each other. Protecting the children. This is family too. Not just the men with their weapons and plans. But the women who survived their own hells and came out stronger. Who know what it means to be scared and choose to be brave anyway.

"We've got you," Eden says. "All of us. You're not alone in this."

I look around at these women I met hours ago who are already treating me like a sister. At Theo sleeping peacefully against my chest, unaware of the danger. At Wesley across the room, already deep in planning mode with his brothers.

My family. All of them.

Demon can come. Can threaten. Can try to hurt us.

But he'll have to go through every single person in this room first.

And somehow, surrounded by dangerous bikers, their old ladies and the sound of weapons being checked, I feel safer than I've ever felt in my entire life.

"We've got this," Rosie says firmly. Looking at each of us in turn. "We survived worse. We'll survive this too."

"Together," Quinn adds, “From Ash, we rise!”

"From Ash, we rise!” they all repeat and I just go along.

Wesley catches my eye from across the room. Nods once. A promise without words.

*I'm here. I'm not leaving. I'll protect what's mine.*

I nod back.

*I trust you. I believe you. We're in this together.*

Whatever comes next, we'll face it as a family.

The Iron Phoenix way.

Epilogue - Echo

Four years later

Four years since Hannah showed up at the gates with Theo on her hip. Four years since I became a father, a partner, and something I never thought I'd be, a family man.

The war with the Vipers ended three years and around seven months ago. Demon is dead. His club is scattered. The threat is gone.

We won.

And in the aftermath, we built something better than any of us could have imagined.

I stand in front of the bathroom mirror, adjusting my collar for the third time. Can't remember the last time I wore a button-down shirt instead of a t-shirt and cut. Probably never.

"You look fine," Hannah calls from the bedroom. "Stop fidgeting."

"I'm not fidgeting."

"You've adjusted that collar four times in the past two minutes. That's fidgeting."

I step out of the bathroom and find her sitting on our bed…

Our bed in our house on the outskirts of Millhaven. We bought this place two years ago, a three-bedroom ranch with a fenced backyard and enough space to actually breathe. It's only fifteen minutes from the clubhouse but far enough that we have our own space. Our own life outside the MC.

Hannah's wearing a simple blue dress that brings out her eyes, hair pulled back in a neat bun. Beautiful. Still takes my breath away.

Theo sits beside her, four years old now and full of energy. The heart surgery was successful. The follow-up treatments worked. He's healthy, strong and absolutely fearless. Dark hair like his mother, gray eyes like me, and a smile that could light up a room.