Chapter 14

Kracken

Once Moira is safely ensconced in the bathroom, I turn to Wrecker and Dragon and ask, "What the fuck is going on right now? Why are all of y'all here? When we left, y'all were headed back to your clubhouse due to an emergency of some sort."

"When we got back, it was to find our clubhouse seized by the ATF and FBI. They were there to take down the Cedar Creek Royal Bastards MC," Dragon replies, anger and rage clear on his face.

Wrecker picks up the story then, after taking a long pull from the beer he grabbed from our mini fridge. "We knew when we started this fight against the Fundamentalists of the Communion that we might face some blowback to the club, but we thought it would be against our chapter. One of those fucking agents told us they were going to take down all of the chapters that are connected to us, and that was something we couldn't allow to happen. This was our fight, and while we knew we'd have all of our brothers at our back, the club itself has built a huge empire throughout the world, and many of our chapters are fighting against the Black Railroad to stop all the fucking trafficking. We weren't going to let that happen, so we dropped our cuts and gave them the Cedar Creek Royal Bastards, then we hit the road to get to Roanoke so we could regroup and see what we were going to do next."

"But how did you know we were going to need help here?" I ask.

"Selah's girls have… special abilities. We don't talk about them, in fact, we'll burn down the fucking world to protect them, but the girls told Selah that y'all needed help. She told Butcher, who came to us."

I may not understand all the supernatural shit and abilities that several members have within the club, but my ol' lady benefited from what several of them can do, so at the end of the day, it doesn't make a difference to me. "We will as well," I promise. "Not one hair on their heads will be touched with anything but love from those who cherish them. What's the plan now?" I question.

"Let's get Brick on the phone," Dragon suggests. "And, if Moira comes out, worst case scenario, I'll set up an illusion for her so she doesn't hear anything she shouldn't."

"Definitely not crazy about her being messed with," I admit. "She's gone through enough and since her own fucking parents tried to nab her this time, I think she needs to know. Don't you?"

"You make a good point. I suspect with everything your woman has gone through, she's good at protecting the secrets of others," Wrecker says. "How about this? If she comes out while we're still talking, we'll ask her what she wants us to do. She needs to feel as though she has control in her life, especially since someone's been restricting her from that her whole fucking existence."

I nod as I pull out my phone and call Brick. Once he answers, I say, "Got Wrecker and Dragon with me, Brother. We need to talk."

"Put me on speaker," Brick replies.

I hit the button then say, "You're on speaker, Brick."

"What the fuck is going on, Dragon?" Brick asks. "Hawg got word that shit happened when y'all returned to your clubhouse."

Dragon swipes his hand down his face, exhaustion clear in his expression. He quickly and succinctly explains what happened when they got back to Cedar Creek, which is frequently punctuated with ‘motherfuckers' and ‘assholes', especially when he says, "We dropped our cuts at their fucking feet and took off to head to y'all. When we found out that Kracken was having some trouble, we stopped to lend a helping hand."

"They tried the same thing here," Brick says, his voice hard and unyielding.

"What do you mean ‘tried'?" I growl out.

"Well, you know that Lorelei was indigenous, right?" Brick asks.

"Yeah, hard to miss seeing as both Ban and Ry have the high cheekbones, and both of them can tan like nobody's business," I reply.

"Seems that when she and Bonzai hooked up all those years ago, the land belonged to the tribe she was a part of, so to protect her and any future kids she might have, it was put in trust. Apparently, not even the U.S. government can touch us. Our clubhouse and land are safe, Brother."

"So, Moira and I can head right to y'all?" I question.

I'm slightly disappointed because I know she needs more time to decompress from everything she's been going through. We need it as well so we can get to know each other better. While I know I want to claim her completely, that'll be at her pace, not mine. If I have to jack off in the shower every morning, so be it. Her well-being is more important than me getting my dick wet.

"Not yet, Brother. We're gathering info on the Lynchburg faction and need to deal with them first before it's safe for Moira."

I nod then ask, "So, since those fuckers showed up at our house, what does that mean for our chapter? Because these two just informed me they're planning to try and take down all of the Royal Bastards, Brick."

"Those motherfuckers! Too much good is being done by the other chapters, that's not gonna happen on my watch," he growls out. "Looks like we're gonna be dropping our cuts at their doorstep as well. Maybe that'll buy us some time so we can put out the word to our other chapters."

"We may be able to help with that Lynchburg situation," Dragon states, a smirk on his face. He looks almost… devious right now.

Moira comes out from the bathroom, her eyes wide and frightened. "Is… is it okay that I come out? I'm done," she states.

"It's fine, darlin', and if you don't want to hear anything, Dragon can make that happen," Wrecker replies.

"No, no I need to hear what's going on. I promise whatever I hear will go no further than this room," she says, adamantly pointing her finger toward the floor.

Dragon and Wrecker once again communicate with one another without any words, something I can do with my own brothers. At their nod, I motion for her to come to me

, and once she's closer, I pull her into my arms then settle her on my lap. The desire to keep her close, especially since her parents attempted to snatch her, is somewhat over-the-top, but I'm going with it. She curls close, her hand going to mine, so I lace our fingers together and kiss the top of her head.

She smells fantastic, all flowery and sweet. The clothes we bought earlier fit her far better than anything she's worn before, but she's still too thin. Thinking that, I decide we'll order some pizza once we're done on the phone strategizing.

"Moira, good to hear your voice," Brick says.

"Thank you," she replies, a light blush now covering her cheeks. "I won't say anything, Brick, I promise."

"Not worried about it, Moira. You have a vested interest in what's going on, that's for damn sure."

"I'm sorry I brought this to y'all's doorstep," she murmurs.

"Nothing to be sorry about, darlin'," Brick replies. "We had no choice when the Cleveland branch reached out for help to find Belle."

"So, Brother, what's the plan now?" I question, anxious to get this done so I can feed Moira and we can get some rest.

"We're going to be delivering our cuts to the fuckers who are still milling around town, then when Dragon's crew gets here, we're going to be tossing around a few ideas," Brick replies. "We can start over. We've done it before, and we'll do it again. Us mountain folks don't bend so fucking easy."

I chuckle because he's right. Ace, RiffRaff's dad, and his buddies started the Roanoke Raiders when they left the military because they couldn't find their way when they became civilians once again. Then, as a club, we patched over to the Royal Bastards MC several years ago. That journey has been full of adventure and of course, troubles, but we're made of strong stuff and can rebrand ourselves once again without a doubt.

"Brick, gonna send mine with Dragon so you have all of them to deliver," I announce. No way do I not want our chapter to show a united front in the face of the arrogance of these fundamentalist fuckers. Because I know they're behind all of this, since they've managed to put members in very high places, including the alphabet agencies. Fuckers.

"That works, Krack," Brick replies, "now, let's discuss what's gonna happen next. Because we're gonna be prepared."

"We got a few ideas about that, Brick," Dragon interjects, getting back to the matter at hand. "Since we're unwilling to cause the Royal Bastards to have to fight this battle, although I know without a doubt they would, we'll discuss that when we get there. Can always conference in Kracken since he'll be in North Georgia."

While I do want to be at home with my brothers, I want time with Moira as well, and I suspect with whatever the presidents of the two clubs decide, we're gonna have a lot to do when we finally do get home. I can be patient.

"Then when y'all get here, we'll have church and do just that," Brick advises.

* * *

Dragon and Wrecker left to head to their hotel. We decided on a meet time and place and decided it'll be better than them coming here or us going to them. They'll follow us until we get close to the cabin, then head on up to Roanoke. Right now, Moira and I are stuffing our faces with the pizza I ordered as we talk. I know it hasn't been that long since we ate, but she's still so thin, any chance I can, I'm gonna feed her.

"It's gonna be a long trip tomorrow," I tell her, giving her the warning ahead of time when I see her covering a yawn.

"I know. Always enjoyed road trips with Belle," she muses. "Do you think we'll see a Buc-ee's on the way?"

I start laughing, because that particular gas station is like Walmart and a regular station had a baby. There's not much they don't carry, from homemade barbecue to gift items. "Yeah, babe, there's one on the way. We'll stop."

"Oh, good. I lost my fuzzy throw. That was the warmest thing I ever had."

"Then how about we get this cleaned up so we can get some sleep," I suggest.

I see her glance at the only bed in the room and blush. It's a king size bed, so there's plenty of room for us to stretch out, but I know she's probably got her past swirling in her head. The thing is, I don't care about that because she didn't do any of it willingly whatsoever. Plus, I'm not a monk, and I find it hypocritical as fuck for me to judge her about her past when I have one of my own.

We work together as a team and soon all the detritus from dinner is taken care of, we've both taken our time in the bathroom to get ready for bed, and that's where we are now. I can tell she's nervous as hell, so to alleviate that, I grab the remote for the television and switch it on, then flip through the channels until I come across a movie. It's a comedy, which after the past few days, I think we need.

"Just relax, roisin, nothing will ever happen between us until you want it to," I tell her since I notice how stiffly she's lying there.

"O-okay. I might fall asleep," she admits. "It's been an exhausting day."

"That's for damn sure," I reply, chuckling. "If you go to sleep, you go to sleep. No worries, babe."

"Then I'll say good night just in case," she teases, snuggling deeper into the covers.

"Good night, Moira," I whisper, seeing her eyes are already drifting shut and closing.