Prologue

PROLOGUE

Ace

I shrugged my shoulder, hitching my bag higher as I headed for the exit of the school where the buses were lined up, ready to take all of us ungrateful teens home. Today had been a shitty day. I’d failed a test because my head was fucking pounding and I didn’t get any sleep the night before. One of the guys in the foster home I was staying at had ripped up my homework for another class, and the teacher refused to accept it, even with it taped up, so I got a big fat zero for that fucking assignment.

All I wanted to do was go to sleep, but that wouldn’t be possible. Not with kids of all ages shouting the house down. Not with my creepy-ass foster dad lurking around the house, high off his ass, ready to pounce on me whenever my guard was down. I had to be on alert at all times, especially when he invited his friends over. Friends who liked to touch twinks like me. Friends who liked feisty boys who put up a fight.

A shiver raced over my skin at the memories, and I shoved them down deep so I wouldn’t vomit everywhere.

Someone shoved into me hard from behind, laughter ringing out. My stomach lurched. Swinging around, my bag falling off my shoulder, I glared at the boy behind me—Keller. He was nineteen—had been held back last year since he failed a class, which was a requirement to graduate. He’d been too fucking dumb to pass it during summer school, too. And for some reason, he had a personal vendetta against me. I’d been ignoring him, trying to just keep my head down and stay out of trouble. Fighting would only get me suspended, which would just lead to more time in that fucking house.

“You got a fucking problem?” I snarled at him.

He snickered. “Finally grew a backbone, Journey?” he taunted. He stepped closer, reaching out to shove me, but I knocked his hands aside, my stomach sloshing when I touched him. I hated being touched or touching other people, especially when I wasn’t prepared for it.

His nostrils flared, and then, his fist swung out. I ducked, just barely avoiding being hit, but one of his friends came at me, shoving me aside and knocking me off balance. Keller quickly took advantage, dropping on top of me and swinging two hits against my face. But I was quick and angry. I managed to flip us, despite him being twice my size, and I fucking lost it . I bashed my fists into his face over and over, my swings too quick for him to deflect or fight back against. His friends tried pulling me off, but I locked my thighs against Keller’s hips, keeping myself in place.

Large hands gripped my shoulders, and I was yanked off the floor. “Get off of me!” I shouted, blood trailing down my chin. I spit more out of my mouth—right on Keller’s bloodied face.

“Stop, Ace!” a male barked. I swung my head to the left in alarm, blinking at the sight of Shaw.

“What the fuck?” I blurted before I spit out more blood. I wrenched myself from his grip, glaring at Konrad as he rushed around the corner. Clenching and unclenching my fists at my sides, I swung my gaze between them, my heart slamming against my chest. “What the fuck?” I asked again, not understanding.

They left years ago. Why the fuck were they here—in my school, at that? I hadn’t spoken to them since they fucking left me behind and joined the goddamn military. At one point, there’d been six of us. Six . Jax got arrested. Shaw and Konrad dipped out of town shortly after. Arlo left next, and then Cameron followed as soon as he graduated. The only person who’d kept in contact with me was Jax.

So, why the fuck were they here ?

“Office— now !” the principal barked as he made his way around the corner, red in the face and out of breath. “Get up , Keller!” he snapped. “Office! Get a move on!”

Ignoring Shaw and Konrad—though not without throwing a glare their way first—I snatched my bag off the ground and stormed toward the office, seething and confused and just fucking angry . I felt like I was crawling out of my skin, too. I needed a goddamn shower to wash everyone’s touch off of me.

When I stepped into the principal’s office, he stiffly pointed at the seats across from his desk. Silently, I dropped into the seat, gritting my teeth and clenching my jaw. The door swung open again as I set my bag between my feet, and I glared at Shaw and Konrad as they stepped in, holding the door open for Keller. He looked fucking rough , and I couldn’t stop the small, bratty smirk from tilting my lips.

Stupid fucker.

“Drop that smug little look from your face,” the principal sneered at me.

I glared at him, my upper lip curling. “Why should I? He fucking started it. He always fucking starts it, and today?—”

“Enough!” he barked at me. I scoffed. “I ought to expel you. You’ve been nothing but trouble, Ace?—”

“Let’s not get too hasty,” Shaw spoke up, coming to stand behind me. When he rested his hand on my shoulder, I lurched away from him. Sighing, he dropped his hand back to his side. “Surely, after the paperwork that was presented to you by Mrs. Sheffield, you understand Ace has been in a… difficult situation,” Shaw said. I gritted my teeth, wondering what the fuck my social worker had to do with all of this. Was she the reason they were randomly appearing in my life? I was doing just fine without them. I didn’t need them. I didn’t fucking need anyone.

“This does not excuse?—”

“No, it doesn’t,” Konrad agreed. I scoffed again, but he ignored me. “But perhaps, before we go pointing fingers, we should look at the security feed and see what actually happened. Then, a solution and a punishment can be decided from there. We’re just asking that you not automatically blame Ace for this… disagreement.”

I snorted. Disagreement .

Konrad shot me a dark look, but I just shot him a fake, sickly-sweet smile before giving him both of my middle fingers. He clenched his jaw but didn’t respond.

Asshole .

Principal Hartly rubbed at the spot between his brows before he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and turned to his computer. Keller, for once, was silent, not saying a fucking word. He just leaned forward and snatched the box of tissues off Hartly’s desk and shoved some up his bleeding nostrils, wincing in pain as he did so.

Served his stupid ass right. He shouldn’t have fucked with me.

The loud chatter of the hallway we’d just left behind suddenly filled the room. I stayed still when the sound of me asking Keller if he had a fucking problem rang through the room. Konrad, not giving a fuck about etiquette, moved behind the desk.

“Rewind it,” Konrad demanded. “I want to see from the beginning.”

The principal clenched his jaw, clearly annoyed, but he rewinded it anyway. Konrad crossed his bulky arms across his chest, his expression unreadable as the audio filled the room once more. Cheers I hadn’t even heard while I was in the midst of the fight grew louder and louder. The video paused, silence filling the office once more. Without a word, Konrad moved back around the desk, coming to stand beside me. I scooted to the edge of my chair, not wanting to even chance brushing against him.

“Well, it appears that you started the fight, Keller,” Hartly said, not looking pleased about it. I barely bit back a smug grin. “You’ll serve a week of suspension, and when you come back, you’ll do a week of after-school cleaning with the janitorial staff.”

Shaw cleared his throat when the principal looked at me. “He’s being pulled out of school today,” Shaw announced. I frowned, trying to remember if I’d missed something. Hartly looked downright pissed that he wasn’t getting to punish me. “We’ll deal with this… behavior ourselves.”

“Who the fuck—” I blurted, turning to glare at Shaw, but Hartly smacked his desk, making me jump and glare at him next.

“Watch your language in my office,” Hartly snapped at me. He looked at Konrad and Shaw. “If he’s being withdrawn, get him out of my office and out of my school.”

I jerked to my feet, and just because I fucking felt like it, on my way out the door, I punched Keller in the face again. Hartly shouted my name, but I just stormed out of the room and out of the front office.

“Ace, fucking stop ,” Konrad growled from behind me.

“Fuck you,” I shot over my shoulder as I shoved through the school doors. When we were outside, I swung around to face them, my backpack smacking against my side. “Why the hell are you here? Why the fuck are you barging into my life, yanking me out of school? Why?—”

“Jax called us,” Shaw told me, his voice patient. Always so fucking patient. I wanted to kick him in his fucking throat.

“ Jax called you?” I snapped, disbelief coloring my tone. “He wouldn’t betray me?—”

“He called us because he’s worried about you, Ace. He heard your group home was being investigated, and he didn’t want you to get shipped across the state to a new home where he didn’t have access to you,” Shaw explained.

A mocking laugh spilled past my lips. “What—so you think you can just jump in here, pull some fucking strings, and just whisk me away?”

“That’s exactly what we’re doing,” Konrad told me, anger creeping into his voice. “Per the state of Washington, you’re now under my care, and I’m your guardian. I?—”

“You can go fuck yourself,” I sneered. “I don’t want your fucking help. I’m fine . I’ve been fine for the past several goddamn years. You left me without a backward glance. You abandoned me. So, go back to whatever fucking hole you crawled out of and leave me alone .”

I spun on my heel, marching toward the road. Konrad gripped my arm, and I swung around, jabbing my elbow into his gut and yanking my arm from his grasp. He bit back a wince, rubbing his stomach. “Don’t fucking touch me,” I snarled, sweat breaking out across my skin. “I don’t like being touched, you got me?”

Pain flashed through Konrad’s eyes. “Okay. I won’t touch you,” he promised me. “But please , just listen to us. We…” He sighed. “Shaw and I never meant to make you feel abandoned. I swear, we didn’t. We just…”

“We had to get the fuck out of here,” Shaw finished for him. “We needed to escape . Yeah, we went about it wrong, but we’re here now. I know that doesn’t fix things, but we want to try to make this right. We can’t erase the past, but we can do something about the future.”

I wrapped my arms around myself, suddenly feeling small and alone and hurt . “Everyone left ,” I whispered. “And the only person who stuck around was locked in a fucking prison cell and wouldn’t let me see him.”

“I know, kid,” Konrad said quietly. “I know. And we’re sorry. We’re so fucking sorry, Ace.”

“Will you come home with us?” Shaw asked gently. “We’ve got a place. Starting a motorcycle club.” A tentative smile tilted his lips. “You’ll have your own room. Food in your stomach every single day. Freedom to be who you want. And you’ll never have to worry about someone hurting you again.” When I hesitated, the promises he was making seeming too good to be true, he added, “Jax is coming home. And we’re working on tracking down Cameron and Arlo. It’s time for us to be a family again, Ace.”

I swallowed thickly, then jerkily nodded my head. “Okay,” I said quietly. “I just need to get my things?—”

“No need, unless there’s something you really want,” Konrad told me, he and Shaw heading toward the parking lot. I silently fell into step, our shoes crunching along the asphalt. “We’re going to get you all new things.”

“I want my letters from Jax,” I told them, my shoulders rigid. “I won’t budge on that.”

“Okay,” Shaw said simply. “Then, we’ll go get them.”

“And I’m going in with you,” Konrad told me.

I just nodded. Maybe with Konrad there, no one would start shit with me while I got my letters.

I refused to leave those behind.

Jax was sitting outside what was to be the clubhouse on a five-gallon bucket, a blunt between his lips when we rolled up. He stood up as I jumped down from the truck, my bag clutched in my hand. With his thumb and pointer finger, he put out the blunt and set it down on the picnic table beside him, watching me with flat eyes.

Jax had always been like that. Sort of detached. Didn’t ever really give a fuck about anything. But I knew he was a bit softer for me. He always had been.

“Hey, kid,” he rasped.

“Don’t hey me,” I sneered, furious now that I was seeing his face. “You fucking told them? I told you that in confidence. You?—”

He held up his hand, and I snapped my jaw shut. “I can’t get custody of you, Ace. I’m a fucking felon. So, I did what I could to keep you close. You can hate me for that all you want, but what’s done is done, and even if I could do it all over, I wouldn’t. Because you’re here. You’re safe now. And you’re with me.”

My throat closed up unexpectedly, and surprising both of us, especially since Jax knew I couldn’t stand being touched, I dropped my bag and rushed forward, crashing into him and wrapping him in a tight hug. He folded his arms around me, squeezing me to him.

And that was that. Jax and I were okay. As long as he was with me, I could handle everything else. Because he hadn’t abandoned me.

Everyone else? Well… they could kiss my fucking ass.