Chapter 19

19

Sniper

"Autumn was conceived through rape…."

She barely says the words, but I hear them.

Rape…she was raped, held captive by an MC brother, an MC we're affiliated with….

Fuck me, she was raped . She brought Autumn up after her being conceived through rape.

Fuck, fuck, fuck….

"How long…" Doc mutters in shock while I stay quiet, my eyes only focused on her.

Aurora, my fucking wife, sniffles and admits, "For a year. The man's old lady helped me escape before running herself…."

Anger bubbles over, rage filling me, and as calmly as I can, I say coldly, "Doc, call an emergency church in the basement. All brothers."

He squeezes my shoulder as I keep eye contact with my girl, and I rasp, "I'm going to need twenty minutes, Firecracker, just twenty minutes, and I'll come to get you. I, fuck, I don't want you to relive your pain, your trauma, but I…."

I can't finish the words; I feel myself slipping, and know I need to leave the room. I can't fucking destroy Doc's med room, especially not in front of her.

Being the woman who owns me, the woman who loves me like the moon shines out of my ass, she nods, reading my body language.

"I don't want…" I start, but she cuts me off, whispering, "I know you don't want to leave me, but even I can see you're slipping."

I nod. "I'll get Momma to sit with you."

She nods again, and I squeeze my fists, my eyes solely on her, my body vibrating. Finally, I nod back, and storm outta the room. I make a loud entrance into the common room, grabbing the first chair I see, my pain and anger burning out of me as I throw it across the room with a raw bellow. The women scream and scatter while the brothers, who were all getting ready to head to the basement, pause in shock.

"Theodore?" my blood brother asks with concern, but I ignore him, grabbing a bar stool, and smashing it against the bar.

"Shit!" Doc's shout as I grab the next stool, then swipe everything off the bar, glass smashing everywhere.

"Annie, get to my meds room now. Tech, he needs the fucking ring, brothers help me!" Doc shouts, or at least I think he's shouting.

I feel like I'm underwater, like I can't fucking breathe.

I grab the next chair, intending to smash it against the wall, before I'm tackled to the ground, Pitbull muttering, "Calm, brother, fucking calm; I've got you."

I can hear screaming and crying as several hands grab me, lifting me from the floor, and I fight back, wiggling my body, trying to kick them, trying to get out of their hold, needing to let this anger out before it consumes me.

I can't lose myself when my girl needs me. I told her twenty minutes….

Twenty fucking minutes.

The brothers struggle as they throw me in the ring after nearly falling down the concrete stairs after I nearly get out of their hold. Like a wild fucking animal, I stand, taking my cut off, and throwing it across the room, my father only just catching it before it hits the ground. The brothers all curse.

They know something bad has happened because I never, I mean fucking never , disrespect my cut.

I tear my t-shirt off as Tech gets in the ring with me, and he may be the bare-knuckle champion, but right now, I'm his worst nightmare.

He sees my anger, he sees my pain, and he nods, lifting his fists and rasping, "Come fucking get it, brother."

And I do. I don't hesitate, sprinting toward him, hitting him left, then right in the face, leaving my mark and making him stumble, before I do a roundhouse kick, hitting his ribs. He doubles over, coughing. "Fuck, I knew I never should have taught you that…."

Seeing I'm not going to take it easy, he comes back at me full force, hitting my jaw, and I wallow in the fucking pain.

I chuckle, spitting blood on the floor, and my brother snaps, "Fuck, he's lost it…."

He has no idea….

I kick forward, hitting Tech's gut. He grunts, bending forward, before I punch him in the face, my fist hitting his jaw, forcing him to the right.

I look at Doc and command, "Time?"

He looks at his watch and winces, "Five minutes."

I nod as Snake asks, "Time for what?"

We ignore him, and I run at Tech, hitting left, and then right. He manages to hit me several times, my ribs hurting and my lip bleeding, but I ignore it all, trying to get this anger out so I can get back to my wife.

I need it out so I can hear the rest of the story.

After what only feels like seconds, Doc shouts, "Sniper, time!"

And I shout in frustration, grabbing my hair, and growl, "Fuck, I need longer…."

The brothers watch us in confusion.

He shakes his head and reminds me, "You promised her."

I chuckle darkly. Yeah, I promised her twenty minutes, and here I am, trying, selfishly, to add more when she needs me. Fuck!

Gripping my hair tight, I look at Snake, and I plead, "I need you to go to Doc's medical room and get my wife, Hunter."

His eyes widen when I use his given name, concern shining from them, but he nods and leaves the room as Tech gives me a nod, and commands, "Again!"

I give him a grateful nod in return before getting into position. He attacks first, hitting my side, my left fist going to his cheekbone.

We go at it until we hear the door open again, and Tech pushes me away. Both of us are breathing hard, his eyes solely on me while mine go to my girl.

She gasps, seeing my state, her hand covering her mouth as her tears trail her cheeks. Snake puts his arm around her shoulders to try and comfort her. All the brothers look at her in confusion, no one knowing what this is about, and in the quiet room, I whisper, "I'm okay, my Firecracker…."

She shakes her head and snaps, "No, you are not; you're covered in blood!"

Tech cuts in, "If it helps, most of it is mine. He'll have Brook on his ass for it, too."

Aurora thinks for a moment before nodding in agreement, making a small smile appear on my face. But it soon falls when we lock eyes, and her pain—the pain she's always hiding from me—shines through.

She was fucking raped….

I take several deep breaths, and rasp, "I…fuck, I don't want you to have to do this, Rory, but?—"

She cuts me off, "I know, Theo. Saying it once will be hard enough, but I don't want you to hear it twice."

I shake my head, running my bloodied hand through my sweaty hair. "It's not me I'm worried about, Aurora!" She narrows her eyes, and fuck, does it do something to my heart, knowing she never lost that fire inside her. Calmer, I state, "I don't want you to have to go through it at all."

She sends me a sad smile and whispers, "I relive it every day when I am not in your arms, Theo. All I ask is that you not tell the Huntsmen I'm here."

Snake steps forward at the mention of our affiliated MC, and commands, "I need to know what's happening, right now ."

Anger takes hold at the way my girl's eyes widen at his tone, and I snap at him, "Hunter!" He looks my way in shock, and I growl, "Right now, you're not to speak to her as a president, you are to speak to her as your sister-in-law."

He tilts his head, his eyes narrowing, before he nods, and looks back at Aurora. " Sorry, darling." She flinches, shocking everyone. My brother's eyes widen, and Doc steps forward, commanding, " No one calls her darling. That endearment is off limits."

Motherfucker….

Snake furrows his brows as Aurora confirms my thoughts, whispering, "It's what he used to call me…."

My dad steps forward and asks, "Who, sweetheart?"

She swallows hard, making eye contact with me, and admits, "Axe, a brother in the Huntsmen MC."

Pitbull climbs into the ring, sensing something bad is about to go down, and he's right. He stands by me as Aurora tells her story, all while I struggle to fucking stand with each word she whispers.

She wrings her fingers together over her bump where our twins lie comfortably, and says, "I grew up around the Huntsmen. My grandfather, who I never met, was a brother before he was gunned down. Mom loved the brothers; they were her uncles in every way except blood, and when she died, my dad continued to be around them. Steel is his best friend and an uncle to me." She looks around the room, her tears falling. "Every time my dad was deployed with the Navy, Steel would watch me, or I'd stay with Piston or Acid…."

I inquire, "Acid…as in their Road Captain?"

She nods with a small smile. "He was like a brother to me, they both were. I was ten when we all met, and they both had my back growing up, or at least I thought they did." She furrows her brows. "Axe is their cousin, and I thought he was a friend," she looks around the room again, "he never showed any interest in me, never gave me any of the signs I was taught to look for, heck, he even had an old lady, Hannah, though he only made her an old lady because she fell pregnant…."

Breaker adds, "She had an abortion, she just wanted his patch, or that's what he was spewing when I was there. Apparently, she stole all his money and ran."

Aurora nods. "She did have an abortion, but not because she just wanted his patch and got pregnant on purpose for it. He forced her to be his old lady, and she didn't like what she saw in him. She knew bringing a baby into his world would be bad, so she got rid of it. The money she stole, she gave to me. She's the one who helped me escape."

Snake steps forward and asks gently, "Escape what, Rory?"

Her tears fall hard, her eyes coming my way, and I brace myself, knowing what she's about to say is going to destroy me.