Chapter Twenty-Eight

Wrath

Wreck should be here any minute; he sent me a text an hour ago to let me know his ETA. I"ve kept it a secret from everyone that he"s coming home. Not even Flame knows; I didn"t want to risk anyone overhearing and telling Shadow.

I"m rather looking forward to Shadow"s reaction when he sees Wreck for the first time in six months. They"ve been inseparable since we all prospected together. These past six months have been the most time they"ve spent apart since meeting. I know Shadow"s been feeling lost without him, even though he"d never admit it. We"re in The Clubhouse having a drink; everyone just thinks I wanted a night over here with all the brothers. Nope, not at all. I"m waiting to witness the reunion. Sitting facing the door gives me the perfect view to see when Wreck arrives. Flame"s next to me; Shadow"s opposite, with his back to the door; and Blade"s next to him.

The door opens, and in steps Wreck. His six foot 1 frame is scanning the room. I know he"s searching for Shadow. I"m not stupid enough to think he"d be looking for anyone else. The other brothers in here who are facing the door have seen him enter and have all gone quiet. They all know how long Wreck has been away and why.

Spotting our table, he lifts an eyebrow at me, his green eyes filled with barely contained excitement. I just nod my head slightly. That's all the permission he needs. Suddenly, he"s stomping his way across the room. Shadow"s none the wiser of what"s about to happen; no one is even bothering to talk to Wreck yet; they all know it"s pointless. He's singularly focused on his best friend. Once he"s standing behind Shadow, he bends down slightly so he can talk directly into his ear. Pushing his long black hair out of his way in the process.

"I was expecting more of a welcome home, you fucker."He says, loud enough for us all to hear.

Suddenly spinning around, Shadow tackles Wreck to the floor. The whole room bursts out laughing. I swear you"d think there was something more between them, but I"ve been told by them both more than once that they"re straight. I"m not sure that I quite believe that with the way they are with each other, it isn"t just friendship, but I"m not sure either of them realizes that.

They"re in their own world now, sprawled out on the floor, hugging and whispering in each other"s ears. I can't help but shake my head at their antics before I address the room. "Go back to whatever guys were doing; Wreck will catch up with you all soon, I"m sure."

Turning to Flame, noticing he"s got tears streaming down his face from laughing. He wipes away the tears, taking a deep, calming breath before speaking.

"I take it you knew Wreck would be here."

"Of course, I knew. I couldn"t ruin the reunion now, could I? Look at them; it"s like they"ve forgotten they're in a room full of people."I reply with a smirk while pointing at the pair on the floor who still haven"t moved.

They"re lying with Wreck on the floor, Shadow sprawled out on top of him with Wreck"s arms wrapped around him. It"s really sweet to see how much they"ve clearly missed each other. I"m not sure anyone would believe they"re big bad bikers if they saw them now, though.

"Yeah, it"s the longest they"ve spent apart since they met; I"m pretty sure we"d be like that if we ever spent that much time apart."Flame says his voice is returning to normal now that he"s calmed down.

"Yeah, I don"t dispute that, babe. The difference is they're only best friends; we"re more. We always have been, even when it went unspoken."

Flame just hums back at me.

By that reaction, I guess he"s picked up on the same things I have where these two are concerned. I know neither of us will ever say anything to them, though; things like this will eventually come out. Normally, when something big happens, I just hope that their something big isn"t something bad.

∞∞∞

Shadow

Fuck, he"s home. God, I"ve missed the big bastard so much. I feel like my world just righted itself. I know I should probably move off him, let him get up from the floor, and greet everyone else, but I can"t yet. I don"t want to share him.

"I take it you missed me then."He whispers in my ear.

"You know I have; it"s like part of me was missing with you gone,"I whisper back.

"Yeah, I get that Shadow. I"ve felt the same. That doesn"t mean you"re not in trouble, though." He says his voice turning serious.

What the hell am I in trouble for? As far as I"m aware, I haven"t done anything to piss him off.

"Why am I in trouble?"My voice is full of confusion.

"Because you didn"t tell me about what"s been going on with Claire and the fact that she is actively trying to fucking kill you!"He whispers angrily in my ear.

Oh fuck, who told? I didn"t tell him because his search for Dre was more important than him rushing back here to protect me.

"You know exactly why I didn"t tell you anything, Avery King. I know you; you"d have dropped everything and come back here. You needed to stay and continue your search for Dre. I"m fine; I know how to protect myself."

"You still should have fucking told me. What if the unthinkable happened and she managed to kill you? I had no clue what was happening. How do you think I would've felt? Is that why you"ve been avoiding my calls because you knew you"d have to lie to me?"

Oh fuck, he"s right about that; if something had happened and he hadn"t known there was a problem, he"d have spent the rest of his life blaming himself. I was avoiding his calls, so I didn"t have to lie to him. But it wasn't this I'd have been lying about; no, I didn"t want to have to lie about Megan. Now I don"t have a fucking choice. This is why I hate keeping secrets.

"Yeah. I"m sorry, okay. I should've told you. Come on, let"s get up and go somewhere. I"ll tell you everything you"ve missed."

He removes his arms around me so I can move off him. Standing, I offer him my hand to help him get up. We move over to one of the empty tables at the side of the room. Sliding into my seat, I quickly grab my phone out of my back pocket. Shooting off a quick text to Megan, telling her I won"t be over tonight because Wreck"s back and I need to catch him up on what"s going on. I"ve got a feeling she"s not going to be happy about it, but I don"t have another option; it"s not like I can tell Wreck about her, and that was her decision, not mine. Hopefully this doesn"t cause any issues in our developing relationship; things have been going really well between us. I"m not going to be able to spend as much time with her now that Wreck"s back, but hopefully that'll be okay. I"ve got to keep everyone from being suspicious about where I keep disappearing. If she wants to keep this a secret, then I"ve got to continue on as I normally would where Wreck"s concerned. If anyone can figure out I"m keeping secrets, it"s him. He knows me far too well. God, when did my life get so fucking complicated?

∞∞∞

Wreck

I"m so glad I"m home. Fuck, I"ve missed this place. I"ve missed all the people, but especially Shadow. It"s been weird not seeing him for the past six months. I rather enjoyed his reaction to my being back. I was worried when he stopped accepting my calls, but at least now I know why. Don"t get me wrong; I"m not happy about it, but I understand why he kept it from me. Shadow hates keeping secrets, so it"s understandable that it was easier for him to just not speak to me.

We"ve been sitting here for the past hour with him explaining to me everything I"ve missed, and fuck, I"ve missed a lot. Flame and Wrath are finally together. I"m really happy for them. I"ve always known they felt more for each other than just friendship; it was actually pretty obvious. It was like an unspoken thing that most of us knew. Then Wrath has a fucking son. How could Claire keep him from his Dad like that? That must"ve certainly been a shock when he showed up. Then to find out she was also abusing him—god, what a life he"s already led. According to Shadow, he"s doing well around here now, especially since he started talking to someone about what he"d been through. I don"t blame Wrath and Flame for arranging that for him; he"s definitely going to have some triggers with all he"s experienced in his life. He's settled in like he"s always been around, which is good. Everyone here will treat him right. Oh, and then to find out we had two fucking moles. Now I wish I"d been here to get a good punch in on them for betraying Devil"s Inferno. Fuckers. We"re meant to be a fucking family, and you don"t betray family.

I'm ready to launch Shadow"s phone, though. He keeps staring at it and messaging someone instead of catching up. I have no idea what"s so fucking important on his phone; I expected him to act more like he was happy I"m back for longer than this.

"Am I boring you?"I ask, my voice sharp.

Once again, he"s distracted by his phone.

"No, why would you think that?"He asks, raising his head to look at me, sounding confused.

"Because all you keep doing is staring at your phone or messaging someone. If you"d rather be somewhere else, don"t let my being here in person for the first time in six months stop you."I say unimpressed.

It actually hurts that he"s acting like this. I never thought when I saw him again after all this time that his phone would be more important than me.

"Fuck. Sorry, let me send one last message. Then I"ll shut my phone off. I do want to spend time with you. I"ve missed you, Wreck."He sounds sincere.

I let it go for now.

He does as he says, and we spend the rest of the night just drinking together. It"s nice. I needed this after my failed search for Dre—just a little bit of normal after my failure. I have no idea where the hell my brother could be, and it"s worrying. It"s like he just vanished into thin air. I need my best friend now more than ever.