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The newly built cabin sits on the top of a hill. It’s beautiful, and the path that leads us through the trees is lit up with twinkling lights. There are lots of people gathered outside, some wearing vests like Squealer and Screwy and some from the tribe that Shaniya and Tawk come from.
“Place looks like a scene from a western movie,” Squealer whispers, and Alex swats him hard on his chest, almost causing him to drop her salad.
“I think it’s nice that we get on with our neighbors and Shaniya’s family,” she points out.
“Still fucking weird us breaking bread with the Natives. Never thought I’d see the day, huh, Screw?” He taps his brother on the back before injecting himself into the center of the party.
“You made it,” Shaniya looks pleased to see us, welcoming me with another one of her inviting hugs. “Oh, and you brought coleslaw. I’ll put it on the table. Help yourself to a drink.” Shaniya takes the bowl from Screwy’s hands, and suddenly I feel overwhelmed by all the people here.
I want to reach out for Screwy, but I know he doesn't want me to, so I refrain.
Instead, I stand awkwardly, as close to him as I can get, and watch everyone else. There’s a fire pit similar to the one that’s down at the clubhouse, and Maddy waves me over to join her, Ella and Grace, who sit on the logs surrounding it. I look to Screwy for permission. It doesn’t seem to matter how many times he tells me he’s not my master, I can’t help how I feel inside.
I feel like he owns me somehow, and it’s my instinct to seek his approval.
“Sure.” He shakes his head, irritated, reminding me how annoyed he gets when I do things like that to him. Sometimes I feel as if my past hurts him as much as it does me.
I go to them and take the space on the log beside Ella. She has a baby wrapped up in her arms, with a tiny wisp of hair tied up in a bow and the sweetest pink dress.
“She’s adorable.” I reach out for her hand, and the baby takes a firm hold, making me giggle when a long string of dribble slips from her mouth onto my finger.
“I’m sorry, she’s teething,” Ella apologizes. When I glance back over my shoulder, I see Screwy watching me from a distance, his eyes narrow and protective as always.
“You know, there are some members from the Utah charter here. Declan sent his VP, and a few others, when Dad called in some help,” Ella points her head toward the three men Troj is talking to. “Whatever’s going on is serious. Nyx is worried. He’s not sleeping.”
“It’s my fault,” I think back to what I heard Jessie and Maddy speaking about earlier and have to look away from the little girl. “If Screwy hadn't taken me, none of this would be happening,”
“I didn’t mean it like that,” Ella suddenly looks guilty. “There’s always a threat–it’s what we signed up for. Every one of us women is here because we were taken a chance on. Please don’t blame yourself.” She looks to Maddy for backup.
“I’m sure it’s just a precaution,” Maddy says. "The guys from Utah just need to know what’s going on, in case we need them.”
“And what if we do need them?” Ella asks, kissing her baby's head.
“Then you bitches step up, like I taught you to when those Albanian bastards threatened us.” Rogue appears from behind me, standing over us all, her long blonde hair braided on each side of her head, and her lips are painted bright red.
“Hey Rogue,” Shaniya heads straight over from the food table to greet her.
“Here, I brought potato chips.” Rogue crushes the bag into Shaniya's chest, then straddles the log beside me. Shaniya returns to the table while Rogue places a cigarette in her mouth and lights it up.
“What we need is a plan.” She blows smoke out of her lips, and when it passes me, it makes me choke.
“Jesus Rogue, Sophia is right here!” Ella stands up, putting her baby on her hip and moving to a safe distance.
“We have a plan,” Maddy informs her, keeping her voice down. “Jessie spoke to me about it this morning. Me and Grace are gonna call a meeting tomorrow.”
“How come she already knows the plan?” Rogue tips her head towards Grace.
“You’ll find out tomorrow if you come to the meeting. Tonight we are celebrating Shaniya’s new home. She deserves this after all the shit she’s been through. We’ll talk about it tomorrow. 11am at Maddy's place,” Grace tells Rogue assertively.
I look over to where Shaniya is pouring the potato chips into a bowl, then back at the girls.
“What happened to Shaniya?” I ask them curiously. She seems so happy. It’s hard to believe anything bad could ever have happened to her.
I don’t like the way they all look at each other before I get an answer.
“She was attacked by five men. One of them was a cop, but Alex killed him.” Rogue puts it so bluntly that I almost fall back off the log I’m sitting on.
“You really need to do your Dirty Souls history homework, Viper. Especially if you’re gonna be shacking up with Screwy.” Rogue spins her index finger around her temple and makes her eyes dance.
