Chapter 15

Moira

"This is beautiful," I murmur, looking up at the cabin we'll be staying at for an undetermined time.

"Yeah, it is," Kracken replies.

Our road trip went off without a hitch, and true to his word, Dragon and his club followed us until we reached Buc-ee's, which wasn't too far from where we were staying. I'm now the proud owner of two new throws because I couldn't decide which one I wanted more, so Kracken bought me both.

We also grabbed a ton of snacks because they have a wall there with just about every kind of candy there is, from saltwater taffy which I love, to beef jerky. I've been steadily munching on some beaver nuggets, which I secretly think might be crack or something, because after one bite, I was hooked.

He gets out of the truck and comes around the hood to help me out, kissing my forehead after letting my hand go to grab our duffel bags from the back. He's been doing that a lot; little touches, kisses to my head and forehead. Nothing alarming at all; in fact, I find it sweet that he's taking so much care around me. He has no clue, but he's helping heal more places deep inside.

"I knew he would,"Hannah whispers in my head.

Ever since our time together, she regularly pops in and chats to me. I briefly wonder how Selah is going to handle three little girls who have abilities, then realize that my sweet friend has her old man at her back, and a bunch of burly, muscular uncles who will as well.

Instead of answering her, I smile, because without a doubt, he's the kindest man I've ever known. I know he's a biker and based on his position, which I googled so I could understand better, he can be deadly. But with me, he's patient, kind, and dare I say it, sweet?

* * *

"Shut the fuck up, we got shit to discuss," Brick says through the speaker. "Kracken, you with us, Brother?"

I shouldn't be here, listening, but there's not much choice, so I'm sitting on the bed, flipping through one of the magazines Kracken bought me, while he sits on the couch for his meeting.

"Yeah, Pres," Kracken replies.

"Okay, so let's talk about what we're going to do now that we're both clubs without a name," Brick decrees.

"What do you think about the Imperial Knights MC?" Dragon asks. "We've been tossing names around and there are no clubs with that name. Seems we're on a quest so it made sense to us when we were talking about it."

"Mighta had more to do with the whiskey we were drinking," Butcher drawls, causing the room to erupt in laughter.

I grin, but smother my giggles with a pillow, earning a smirk from Kracken when he catches it. With one ear on the conversation and the other on the article in front of me, I think about what's going to happen.

"Maybe so, but it's a good, solid club name," Wrecker states. "What do y'all think, Brick?"

"Sounds good to me," Brick says. "All in favor?"

A chorus of ‘ayes' come through the speaker as Kracken adds his own to the mix.

"Then it's settled, from here on, we'll be known as the Imperial Knights MC," Brick advises. "We'll get new cuts made and when Kracken gets back, we'll do a patch party for all of us."

"We need property cuts for the ol' ladies," Kracken says. "Are we all going to be in Roanoke? How's that gonna work?"

"Eventually, we're getting our home in Cedar Creek back," Dragon replies. "Until then, we thought we'd go over the state line and see what we can find. That way, we'll be close enough to one another in case anything comes up."

"Until you find the space, there's plenty of room here," Banshee says. "All the ol' ladies from your club and ours are getting along well, and I think y'all's club could use the time to decompress a little."

"Plus, of course, we need to deal with those Lynchburg fuckers," Hawg interjects.

"Got an idea about that as well," Dragon adds.

He doesn't say anything for a few minutes, then I clearly hear, "What the fuck?" from Banshee.

"Brother, why does it look like I'm on the beach right now?" Brick asks. "With a fucking ice-cold beer in my hand and Ryleigh in a bikini?"

Dragon laughs long and hard before he says, "I did that. I have the ability to create illusions, so right now, all of y'all are on a beach."

"Why am I wearing fucking shorts?" Scythe questions. "Jesus fucking Christ, I'm as pale as the belly of a fucking fish!"

I can't help my giggles that time, they erupt and join with Kracken's laughter, as well as the raucous sounds coming through the phone. Seems like Scythe has jokes, which is probably needed to break up the tense atmosphere that even I can sense.

"Here's what I was thinking," Dragon says, and I notice that the sound has quietened down. "We'll go to Lynchburg, and I'll create an illusion that will allow the women and children to escape. Once we know they're safe, I'll have those fuckers kill themselves. No blowback that way for any of us."

"Dammit, I was hoping to crush a few skulls," Kracken murmurs. I can see from his face he's disappointed and I can't say that I blame him.

"Feel pretty confident that with us starting fresh again, we'll have to do that a time or two," Brick advises, chuckling. "Dragon, that sounds pretty fucking good to me. Now, I know those government pussies likely locked y'all's money down, so I'll reiterate Banshee's invitation because y'all need to get back on y'all's feet."

I hear Hawg, who I vaguely remember meeting during my time in Roanoke, speak up. "Uh, about that, Pres. Selah, Beast, and I have been busy working our magic behind the scenes. Those fundamentalists are funding our Cedar Creek brothers' new venture and there's no fucking way they'll ever figure it out. Plus, we also diverted y'all's money that they hadn't frozen yet. Selah's got all those details."

"So, we're flush?" Dragon asks.

"Brother, y'all are so flush, you could wait five years to set up any businesses and still have money to spare," Hawg states.

"Not gonna wait that long, but it sure as hell takes a load off my shoulders," Dragon says, sounding relieved as if a weighted boulder was just picked up and tossed off his shoulders. I bet he was worried how he and his guys were going to financially take care of their family.

"Hawg, any of that diverted our way?" Brick questions.

Kracken bursts into laughter, obviously knowing his brothers well, because Hawg retorts, "With all due respect, Brick, what do you think? Both Belle and Moira went through hell, so they've got their own accounts now, but Selah and I got money for the club as well. We're gonna need new cuts, a new table, all that shit."

"No new table," Brick states, his voice now hard. "That was made by the original President, and we've been using it all this time. It's held through the test of time, it'll hold some more."

"Works for me," Hawg says. "We were thinking, since we have all this land and the Cedar Creek brothers are gonna be here for an undetermined time, about getting in some mobile homes, and even some of those tiny homes, so that those with families have their privacy. The single brothers can bunk at the clubhouse, of course."

"I like that idea, Hawg," Kracken interjects. "Do you have any links for those yet?"

"Got a few marked and once Brick gives the go-ahead, I'll send the links to you, along with a note letting you know which ones we'll be getting," Hawg replies.

"Thanks, Brother," Kracken says.

"Anything else we need to discuss?" Brick questions.

A chorus of ‘nays' come through the speaker, Kracken adding his like he did earlier.

"Church dismissed," Brick booms out. "Kracken, you and Moira enjoy yourselves. We'll let you know when it's safe to head home."

"Appreciate it, Pres," Kracken replies. He then disconnects from the call and tosses his phone onto the coffee table, before standing and striding toward me. "How do you feel about us going into town and exploring a bit?"

My eyes light up at the thought of being with him. "I'd like that, just need to put my shoes on. Are we taking the bike?" I ask, hoping beyond hope that he says yes.

* * *

"This has been such a great day," I mumble, while chewing on a turkey leg.

When we got into town, riding his bike no less, we found out that there was a community festival going on, with tons of street vendors, as well as food trucks. After Kracken found I had never eaten a turkey leg, he immediately got me one. Well, after we traipsed through every single tent that was there. They even had a bigger tent with animals that could be adopted, something we were heading toward now.

He grins down at me then gently wipes at the juice that's running down my chin. "Got it," he murmurs. "Let's go see if we can find a furry kid for you, baby."

I can't help squealing. I've never had a pet in my life, because my father hated animals in the house, but Kracken is willing to get me one!

"Is it okay if we get one while we're here? The owner of the cabin won't mind?" I ask.

"Naw, babe, he's not gonna care at all," he states.

"Wait, how will we get back to the cabin on the bike with an animal?" I question.

"We'll talk to them about that, figure something out, Moira," he patiently replies. I'm so excited right now, I'm practically bouncing alongside him, which makes him chuckle.

He's already made several trips back to the bike and the saddlebags are loaded up with little trinkets I found. Some of them are for me, a few are for Selah and Belle, but the ones I love the most are the tiny, bejeweled tiaras I found for Hannah and her sisters. I wasn't happy that Kracken wouldn't let me pay for anything, but he said that he wanted to, that I was his ol' lady and that was part of him taking care of me. Since he seemed so adamant about it, I decided I'd let him do whatever he needed to do.

I drop his hand, which I've been holding since I tossed the demolished turkey leg, and rush into the tent holding all the animals there to be adopted. Full-grown dogs and tiny puppies bark and yip, the sounds a cacophony of noise that's slightly headache inducing. Ignoring them, I go over to the crates that are holding the cats.

"Oh, look at all the pretty babies," I murmur, hitting my knees. While many of the cats and kittens seem to be ignoring me, I watch as two little black kittens climb over the others, meowing as loud as they can, until they get to the bars.

Tiny paws come through, patting at my hands, and I giggle when I feel their little tongues licking my fingers. "It feels like sandpaper," I say, looking up at Kracken, who's grinning down at me.

"Reckon so," he replies. "Looks like these two chose you, babe. Want to go see those people about a few kittens?"

"Both of them?" I ask incredulously. "Really?" I can feel tears welling in my eyes.

"They look like they're bonded or whatever that shit's called," he says. "Besides, we have the cat tree to end all cat trees already at the clubhouse for the other three that live there."

I remember seeing Ryleigh's two cats, Calvin and Hobbes, and Rory's cat, Sassy. "You don't think they'd hurt these two, do you?" she asks.

"No, babe, they won't," he promises. "We'll figure it out, roisin, I promise."

"Okay," I reply, taking the hand he offers so I can stand back up. "Let's go see some people about some cats."