Page 49 of Kodiak

“For educational reasons I’ll answer that anyway,” I convey. “Hogs can’t digest the teeth so they’d be left behind as evidence and we don’t want to take the chance of the farmer calling the cops and having inquiries coming to our doorstep since we’re his closest neighbor. It’s a way to protect the club from any fallouts.”

After that admission, the room grows quiet as we sip on our beers. It takes a lot for us to stomach the fact that we had to take out a female. It doesn’t sit right with any of us. But the fact remains that she made herself an enemy of the club, and when justice is served, it doesn’t see in black and white and gender has no room for leniency in these cases.

“I think y’all are right, I’m heading home,” I tell them. “See y’all in the morning for church. There’s another issue that needs to be brought to the table I could use your help with. Let everyone know to be there. Ten in the morning, no later than that.”

“We’ve got you,” Hemi states.

As I walk away, I hear footsteps trailing behind me and instinctively know it’s my brother. “Are we going to bring Demi’s situation up to the club at the meeting?” he asks as his strides slow down to even out with mine.

“Yes. It’s been put off long enough. It’s time to get rid of her issue so she can live her life without watching over her shoulder,” I announce.

“Good. I’m ready to wipe the earth of the scum. What kind of pussy can’t get a woman willingly that he has to take something that doesn’t belong to him? I don’t think I’ll ever understand the mindset of cowards.”

“It’s because we may be lawless, but we aren’t rapists. It’s why we don’t understand and can’t wrap our brains around it,” I state.

“True,” he acknowledges. The rest of our walk to our house is done in silence as we both get lost in our thoughts of what we know about her situation. When we reach the edge of the porch,Xavier asks, “Are we going to tell Demi that we’re bringing it to the table?”

“Yeah. I think we should. That way, she’s prepared if the brothers have any questions about the ordeal. She’s the best one to answer those because she lived it,” I claim.

“I hate that she has to relive it over and over again. It’s like a plague that won’t go away,” he says through gritted teeth.

I understand his ire, so I simply nod. I don’t have any words to help him out here. All I can do is be here for him as a shoulder to lean on and an ear to listen.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

LUNA

When Marcum left,he tucked me in and gave me one of my anti-nausea meds. Needless to say, it knocked me out. When I roused from sleep, Demi was hovering over me, arms crossed and a determined look on her face.

“What?” I ask, rubbing my sleep riddled eyes.

“I think it’s confession time, Luna,” she insists. “The guys’ lips have been sealed and I want to know what led you to being admitted to the hospital because I know it was more than you getting sick all the time.”

Grunting from the physical exertion, I lift my body until I’m lounged against the pillows and pat the bed beside me. “I’ll tell you everything now that I’ve had a chance to digest it.”

“That bad, huh?” she asks, looking more vulnerable and nervous than I’ve ever seen her be. “What happened, Luna?”

With Demi, it’s better to rip the band aid off than to dance around the point. “Peaches poisoned me.”

“She did what?” Demi screams, her hands balled into fists. “I’m gonna kill the bitch. First, I’m going to rearrange her face then I’m gonna make her beg for me to stop with my own brand of facial reconstruction.”

“Wow,” I sputter out. “Demi. Why do you always jump to brutality as a way to solve your issues?”

I mean, I love that she’s so protective over me, but there are other ways to resolve problems. Communication for one instead of flying fists and threats of violence. Still, there’s a reason behind why she reacts the way she does and I need to see if I can get to the bottom of it once and for all.

“Because it’s the only way idiots listen,” she gripes. “Trust me on this, Luna. It’s a lesson I learned the hard way. We’ll talk about my issues another time, right now, I want you to explain the poisoning comment.”

Sighing, I tell her, “So, apparently, there’s an herb that can cause a lot of issues if you’re pregnant. She got syringes and injected it into the caps of my water bottles. It causes nausea, vomiting, and in worst case scenarios, can cause convulsions and even death. And if the woman is pregnant, a miscarriage.”

“What the everlovingfuck?”she hisses with rage. “Why would she do something like that to anyone?”

“She was trying to kill the baby,” I whisper, tears slowly trickling down my face. “She sees him or her as competition.” When those words escape my mouth, I reach down and rub my belly where the baby is still safely holding on.

“And what’s Marcum doing about this?” she questions.

I grin and say, “That’s club business, Demi.”

“Club business?” She snorts. “What doesthatmean?”

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