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Chapter Two.
Jan 2017.
Looking back over the last six months, I’d settled in well at Rage, taking a job behind the bar and loving the feel of the place. It was co-owned by Rage and a brother MC, Hellfire. I met most of Hellfire within the first month of working there and came to understand their principles were the same as Rage. I’d landed in a good spot and was finally finding something worth living for. The women were freaking nuts, and the kids were insane. And I’d fallen head over heels for all of them. I would admit to getting my kicks by watching their men run around in circles as the ladies led them on a merry chase.
Mac had started me at the bar as soon as I had my cut. That had been a weird experience. Accepting the cut saying candidate gave me a strange sense of pride. This was something I’d earned on my own. Something without Dad’s name behind me. But at the same time, it was bittersweet because I knew I was moving on, and with this step, I finally cut the ties to my past. I felt free. My history didn’t hang over my head anymore. It was gone and dead. Rage had given me something new.
Mac and I became pretty close because of working at the bar together. He often teased me about my skills as I juggled bottles and mixed cocktails with flare. But he said it attracted women, so he didn’t care as long as I did not break one. And as of yet, I hadn’t. I’d been given a club name two days after joining Rage, which amused me. I was clumsy as fuck outside the bar and my bike. If anyone was going to trip over their own feet, it was me. After a few days of me stumbling, Phoe called me Klutz, and Drake officially named me that.
The other remaining candidates, Savage, Gauntlet, and one who’d swiftly become a prospect, Calamity, were amused. We bonded together as we were all on the same journey. Apart from Calamity, he’d earned prospect after a couple of months because he saved Silvie from being captured by a serial killer. The kid had taken a beating protecting her, but he hadn’t backed down and gained love and respect from everyone. And trust me, Calamity deserved it. Savage and Gauntlet rarely spoke unless they needed to, so I suppose Calamity and I were the verbal ones.
Out of the six men who’d started the same time as me (not including Calamity), we’d lost three. One, Chainsaw, completely disrespected Phoenix to her face in front of the club, and Phoe threw down a challenge. Drake’s heart was in his throat that day because I know mine was. Chainsaw would have half killed her if he’d taken it up. But Axel had bounced him out because he was ruining the good vibe and saved Phoe’s dignity. Axel’s actions also had the side effect of Drake not disrespecting his wife by interrupting.
The second was kicked because of his temper. Nuclear instigated a scrap with Lex, got in his face, and Lex pounded him. And then Nuclear compounded this by slandering Jett, who battered him again. Needless to say, he was voted out. Drake didn’t want assholes with that attitude around Rage. Nuclear had threatened revenge, but nobody seemed bothered by it.
The third guy wasn’t only kicked but beaten within an inch of his life and handed to the cops. Frenzy. His name was apt for him. The motherfucker was an animal, and I’m being disrespectful to animals by saying that. He’d attempted to attack Silvie, force her into a car, and kidnap her. That is when Calamity had earned prospect. Rage had taken him to our wet room and beat him down, but Silvie had believed this was not the first time he’d attacked a woman. Investigations uncovered Frenzy was a serial killer. Which should have meant a quick bullet to his ugly, fat head.
But there were over a hundred victims, and Silvie had demanded one favour. That he was tried, so the families of the missing got closure. Usually, Drake and the Inner Circle wouldn’t have listened to her. Women didn’t get a voice in Rage policies or procedures. Oh, they held power but didn’t get a vote. Drake respected Silvie’s request this time and handed Frenzy to the cops.
With the rot gone, we settled down into a routine. Gunner would take us for training to handle ourselves in a fight and build muscle. Savage didn’t need the practice, but he sure as hell took his anger out on punching bags. Gauntlet was a dirty fighter, and Gunner found himself on the defensive as much as he attacked. However, Calamity and I were beaten for months until we finally gained the strength to beat Gunner. The man was a fucking machine.
Calamity and I were close, and Micah, Phoe and Drake’s eldest son, came with Calamity. I knew now that Phoe had given birth to seven of her kids and adopted the rest. Her attitude seemed to infect the club because people were following suit. Sinclair, who owned the Reading Nook, had adopted Jett’s little girl, Amelia. Lowrider had taken on Lindsey’s two children, Ezra Junior and Davinia. And Gunner had fallen head over heels for Autumn and raised Aria, Alyssa, and Aiden.
Blake, Harrison, and Bonnie had been orphaned during a huge flood that affected Rapid City badly. They’d been rescued by Drake and Rock but had been too late to save the parents. Rock and Carly adopted all three kids without hesitation. Texas had claimed Penny and, in doing so, not only adopted her two children, Greg and Daisy, but also her sister Carrie. That caused us endless amusement, but Texas was a big guy, and nobody wished to upset him. One thing could be said for sure, living in Rage, nothing was ever dull.
Micah was a decent kid, car mad, and his designs were out of this world. He’d gone to Miami to study design under some of the top street racing designers. Micah had returned home because Harley had been injured. He eventually returned, finished his year, and came home to Rapid City, where he remained. But he seemed at a loss, and shit was bothering him. Everybody expected Micah to join Rage, but something was holding him back.
Micah confided in Calamity and me that he was reluctant to join Rage because he assumed they’d smother him. I couldn’t deny his thought process. As Drake’s eldest son and a legacy, Micah would be overly protected, were my thoughts on the matter. But it had nothing to do with me. It was Micah’s decision, and Calamity, and I would support him. I never really expected to find friendship like I had with Rage. Being my father’s son meant that when I finished school, we studied for an extra three hours a day.
Only top marks would appease the demanding asshole, so I had little time for friends. I couldn’t even say my siblings were close to one another. Although the second youngest, my sister, Lynda, was my closest friend and sibling. But Lynda, like the others, conformed to Dad’s demands as I also did. The bonds I forged with Rage went beyond any I’d made with blood family. And the friendship between Micah, Calamity, and myself went a fucking long way to soothing my wounded heart.
I’d finally found somewhere I could be myself, and no one judged. And I’d not been asked to medically help a brother. So I hadn’t been recruited for my medical skills as I first feared. It had taken time for me to settle down. I’d been worried about being judged, but nobody gave a shit that I was clumsy or stated what I thought bluntly. I was accepted, and it meant everything to me. Willingly, I opened my heart and let love into my life and responded with the fuck load of love I held.
Yeah, as weak as it sounds, I even loved my brothers as brothers. There was nothing I wouldn’t do for them, and I knew they’d stand by me come hell or high water. This was my world, and I revelled in it, including all the drama, blood, and guts that accompanied the women. And shit, there was undoubtedly drama and blood with them. As soon as one brother found his lady, sorted out whatever crap she was in, and then settled down, another woman turned someone’s life on their head.
After everything cleared, I could sit back and laugh at the antics, although living through them at the time wasn’t funny. My first experience with disaster was Carly and Rock’s courtship. I’d not known Carly before she disappeared for six months but got to know her when she returned, and boy, did she bring some trouble with her. Rock was shot, there was a flood, and Harley, Phoe’s coma-stricken son, awoke. If I’d been in the mood to cut and run, that insane production would have been the cause.
But we weathered it as an MC and came through, sticking together and offering support. And that one courtship showed me that Rage would do whatever it took to help a brother out. Since then, we’d suffered through births, fights, and drama, and I wondered if Drake would ever find the peace he kept mentioning. But in my opinion, Drake thrived on commotion. If everything settled down, he’d be bored within a month. His own daughter Eddie provided enough excitement as it was!
The truth was, I’d finally found a home and was happy. And that was all that mattered.
2018.
What a year and a half. My head was spinning as I sat watching tv, relaxing from recovering Blaze’s woman. I thought we’d seen the worse after Carly and Rock. Little did I guess, everything was just starting. Lex had fallen head over heels for a wealthy French Duchess. Can you believe that? It made me laugh each time I looked at him. Lex married into nobility. Vivie was perfect for Lex in every way, but again, major drama!
Rage’s ally, James Washington, had claimed a woman, much to the surprise of everyone here. And Drake had mentioned how James was finally healing after losing a man he called brother. And Blaze had got himself kidnapped and beat up and then claimed the lady whose land he’d been held on. More drama, a firefight, kidnapping, and a second serial killer.
Life didn’t get any more fun. I snorted in amusement. My idea of fun might not be everyone’s, but it kept life interesting.
Roll on the future.
April 2019
I was washing up glasses behind the Rage bar when church ended, and the brothers filed out. There’d been a meeting with several parties, Hawthorne’s, Juno Group, Washington’s, RCPD, the Unwanted Bastards, Hellfire, the Fallen Warriors, and a group we knew as Delta Force. There was someone trafficking under our noses, and we were trying to shut that shit down. It made me sick to the stomach to think of those poor victims, and it infuriated the hell out of me. No one should suffer as they did.
Drake approached me as I spotted Mac and Casey on one side, whispering. I handed him a beer, and he took a long pull. Noticing the tension and stress on his face, I made him a Jack Daniels neat, and Drake tossed it back without a word. He picked up his bottle and took another big mouthful. The next few minutes were busy with me serving those coming to the bar when a screech echoed.
“You’ve got a fucking daughter you never told me about!” Phoe screeched, her voice full of pain.
