Chapter 2

2

GENESIS

" T his is going to be a nightmare." Blade, my president, rubs his hand over his beard.

I stare down at the papers I printed and spread out on the table for everyone to see.

"They won't be here long." Conan, the VP, chuckles.

"I'll remind you of that in six months."

"I think it'll be fun. Movie sets have movie stars, right? I've never banged an actress before." Probe rubs his hands together.

"Probe, you're my brother, and you know I've got love for you. But trust me when I say your chances of fucking a movie star are about as good as Kruger winning a beauty contest."

Kruger flips Blade off, not offended in the least.

Years ago, Kruger was known as Freddie, a drunk seventeen-year-old kid camping with his equally drunk friends. They were attacked by a mama bear protecting her cubs. That old saying about not needing to run faster than a bear, just faster than your friends, turned out to be true. They all took off, leaving Freddie behind. He tripped over a tree stump and ended up facing the bear alone. The bear took a chunk out of his shoulder and slashed his face down to the bone with her claws before heading back to her cubs.

When he started prospecting, he had a chip on his shoulder and expected people to feel sorry for him. He got over that real quick when he earned the name Kruger and was given the same shitty jobs as every other prospect.

He told me years later, when I was a prospect myself, that he expected everyone to join his pity party. But nobody gave a fuck about what happened to him—except Kruger himself. He found acceptance here, and now, twenty years later, his scars are just another part of who he is.

"I got an email from the studio. They want to know if they can shoot some footage here at Ravens' Nest. It'd be no more than a week's worth of filming, and just for a few hours a day."

"No," Blade answers, crossing his arms.

"It's not like we have anything to hide. We're clean—mostly," Toot says.

"Mostly isn't the same as completely," Inigo points out.

"They're offering to pay a hundred thousand for the week. And another ten grand a day for every day they go over."

Mac whistles. "That's a lot of cash to turn down. I know we're not broke, but playing it straight isn't gonna to make us rich either. A hundred grand, and all we gotta do is be good boys for a week? We can't say no to that, Prez."

Blade groans. He might be the president, but he always goes with the majority vote.

"You know this is going to come back and bite us in the ass, right?"

"We've survived worse," I remind him.

His eyes flare, probably remembering the night five years ago when our previous VP, Bear, almost killed him and tore our club apart.

"Fine. All those in favor of letting a fucking film crew in for a couple of weeks?"

Almost everyone raises their hand.

"All those against?"

Only Blade and Crane put their hands up.

"Looks like we're going to have company. You make sure they don't find anything they shouldn't. Their access should only get them into certain areas. Anyone caught snooping or filming where they shouldn't, tell me. And I'll shove my foot so far up their ass, they'll taste my boot."

There's a few chuckles and a couple snorts, but we all nod.

"Next order of business." Blade looks to Conan, who sighs and nods, taking over.

"I'm going to be stepping down as VP."

"What? Why?" Drifter and some of the guys ask at once.

"The docs found something during my last check-up. I've got prostate cancer," he says gently, and the room goes silent.

"Fuck, man, I'm sorry. What's the prognosis?"

Inigo glares at me, but I ignore him. I've never been one to hold back, and neither has he, which is why we've butted heads so many times over the years.

"Doctors caught it early, so they're optimistic that with treatment, I'll be okay."

"That's good."

"Anything you need, Conan. We've got you," Mac tells him, and everyone agrees, voicing their support.

Five years ago, when Blade told us his plan to tie us to the Kings of Carnage, most brothers were skeptical. Conan and Inigo were, and still are, members of Carnage and have been since before I was born. But to protect their old lady Sunshine— who's now also Blade's old lady—and to unite the clubs against a mutual enemy, Conan and Inigo became dual members. Their cuts even show Raven's wings around Carnage's burning deck of cards.

I had my doubts that it would work, but I trusted Blade. And, as usual, he was right.

"I was going to hold off on this next part for a while," Blade says, and everyone quiets down. "But I've decided now feels like the perfect time?—"

"Anyone know what he's talking about?" Probe asks in an overly loud whisper.

Blade glares at him. "If you'd let me finish."

Probe pretends to zip his lips, making me shake my head. The guy's got a death wish, I swear.

"I'm stepping down as your president."

"What the fuck? You can't just drop that on us," I shout before the rest of the room can react, pissed that I'm hearing about this with everyone else. Despite our age difference, Blade and I have always been tight. Or at least I thought we were.

Things have been different since Sunshine and the others came along; that was to be expected. But this? Raven Souls is in his blood. How can he just walk away?

"I'm not leaving. Calm the fuck down." He rubs his hand over his face, suddenly looking more tired than I've ever seen him. "We haven't said anything yet because Sunshine wanted to wait until she was in her second trimester. But she's pregnant. With twins."

Everyone explodes with excitement as they jump out of their seats to congratulate Blade, Conan, and Inigo, but I'm still too shocked about Blade stepping down as president to join in the celebration.

"So that's why Sunshine has been MIA lately," Probe says with a laugh. "I thought it was because she was sick of us."

"Don't be stupid. It's just harder for her to hide her bump. It might still be early, but with twins, she's already showing."

Blade walks over to me and stands silently, waiting for me to say something. Somehow, I manage to hug him before offering the same to Conan and Inigo.

Once the noise dies down, I take a seat and shake my head, feeling like I've been sucker-punched.

Crane leans over. "You okay?" he asks me.

"What? Oh, yeah. Just shocked, that's all."

"You're telling me. I thought they'd all be firing blanks at their age."

Midas, who's on my other side, chimes in, "I'm more shocked they can still get it up."

Crane laughs. "You've seen Sunshine, right? She could make a eunuch get a hard-on."

I catch movement out the corner of my eye and watch as Conan moves to stand behind Crane. Midas snorts as Crane looks from him to me before sighing.

"Conan's right behind me, isn't he?"

I nod as Crane smiles sheepishly and turns around.

"I meant it as a compliment."

"Keep your comments about Sunshine to yourself, or you'll learn firsthand if a eunuch can get a hard-on."

"Yes, sir," Crane says, clearly not wanting to cause a fight. You don't want to mess with Conan. He's about six-seven and weighs around two hundred and fifty pounds. Anyone wanting to start a fight with him is crazy. Which, to be fair, describes Crane perfectly.

"Alright, let's call it a night. Give you all a chance to process everything. We'll go over the rest at the next meeting."

With the church over, I head out the door and make my way upstairs, needing a few minutes alone.

I make it to my room without running into anyone and close the door behind me. I sit down on the edge of the bed and go over everything from the past few days, trying to remember if Blade had given me any hints that I might've missed. But I can't think of anything. How fucking hard is it to give me a heads-up?

A knock on the door makes me growl because I know exactly who it is. So much for calming down. I walk over to the door and yank it open, finding Blade standing there with a blank look on his face.

"You gonna let me in?"

I step back and gesture for him to come in, then cross my arms over my chest.

"I know you're pissed."

I snort, and he glares at me before continuing.

"It didn't matter how I told you. It was always going to end like this—with me trying to explain my decision and you wanting to punch me."

"I'm not going to punch you. I'll wait until you're not my president anymore."

He chuckles. "I figured." He sighs and sits on my bed. "This is what's best for everyone. It's what I need to do for my family."

"We're your family too."

"I know that. And that won't change."

He's an idiot if he thinks that's true.

"Look, I knew you'd be pissed. And guess what? I was right. This might make me sound like a prick, but my decision had fuck-all to do with you. As my brother, I expect you to support me, even if you don't like my choices."

I was going to let it go, but he just had to word it like that and fuel my anger.

"I'm a Raven, Blade. I'm always there for any brother that needs me, so don't worry about that. Anything else you need?"

He gets up and heads for the door, pausing with his hand on the knob. He turns to look at me. "When you stop making it about you, you'll see I did the right thing. Come find me then."

He opens the door as I bite back a growl. "It was never about you stepping down. Yeah, I'm thrown, and I can't say I'm happy about it, but I get it. What I'm pissed about is that I'm supposed to be your best friend, and you said fuck-all to me. You let me find out with everyone else. And didn't that just put me in my place?"

"I told everyone at the same time. Why's that a problem?"

"So Conan, Inigo, Sunshine, and King didn't know?"

"Well, of course they did. It affects them too."

I shake my head. He's not getting it. "Before they came along, it was me and you, Blade. I'm happy you're happy. I agreed with you bringing in Conan and Inigo as members and didn't bat an eye at the relationship you all have with each other. I didn't say dick when they stepped into the role I always held. You can never have too many friends, right? Except it feels like that's not true anymore. You should've told me."

He doesn't say anything as he walks into the hallway. But Blade never backs down, so when he turns, I beat him to the punch.

"It is what it is. I'll get over it. Go spend some time with your family. I've got shit to do." With that, I close the door in his face.

I think about doing some work. A few clients want things done this week, but I'm not in the right mood.

"Fuck it." I grab the keys to my bike and head out, taking the back stairs to avoid talking to anyone.

Maybe I am being a little bitch about this. I've never been a fan of change, but I'm not ready to admit that just yet.

I'm sure things will be clearer in the morning. But right now, the only answers I want are at the bottom of a whiskey bottle.