Page 3 of Healing Souls

“Brother—” Blade steps up next to Axe, his hands raised carefully. “Maybe take a breath or two? I’m the last person to vote against hurting someone, but he didn’t know what was happening behind the scenes. He was protecting his prez.”

My fists clench at my sides, and I take a menacing step toward Blade. “I am the president, and what I say fucking goes. Danielwillbe fucking punished for shootingmyfucking daughter. End of discussion,” I seethe.

I spin around to face Daniel again but come face to face with Sugar instead. Narrowing my eyes, I silently dare him to challenge me.

Sugar crosses his arms. “Don’t give me that fuckin’ look. Now isn’t the goddamn time to be doing anything, so how about Stone and Axe take him down to the cells, and you go tend to your daughter?”

My eyes jump over Sugar’s shoulder to see Doc with Ryker, Grayson, and Nerds. Ryker slowly lifts Harley into his arms and starts heading towards the small medical room we have here. Shouldering past Sugar, I head straight for them.

“How is she?” I ask Doc, not taking my eyes off Harley.

He flashes me a sympathetic look. “She’ll be okay. It was through and through. I need to use our ultrasound machine to check for any internal damage, but based on the bleeding, I think I will be able to stitch her right up.” He slaps my shoulder and starts to walk down the hall.

I place my hand on Ryker’s shoulder, taking a slow, deep breath. “As soon as Doc is done, bring her to my house, got it?”

Ryker narrows his eyes, but Grayson intercepts. “No problem.” He nods and pushes Ryker to keep walking.

Whirling around, I find most of my ranking officers and Daniel left in the room. Locking eyes with Sugar, I clench my fists. “Fine. Take him to the fucking cells. But this isn’t finished with. And you all better watch your fucking mouths because I have the final say in what happens tohim,”I sneer.

The only reason I’m not throwing the prospect outside and beating him until he’s gasping for his last breath is because I need to be there for my daughter and I need more fucking answers as to what is happening.

Heading down the hall that holds the stairs for the basement and a few closets, I soon reach the small medical room we have. It’s not much, but over time Doc has brought supplies from the hospital to keep here, and we have three small beds lined up along the wall with cabinets across from them. Harley lays on the one closest to the door with Ryker and Grayson on one side and Doc on the other, who is currently stitching her up.

“How is she?” I ask, attempting to keep the rage bubbling inside of me under wraps for now.

He nods towards his work. “No internal damage. Honestly, the girl got really fucking lucky. A few stitches on each side and she’s all set.”

I nod and stand at the foot of the bed. As soon as Doc is done, I step up next to Ryker by her side and gently scoop her into my arms.My daughter.Fuck. Walking out of the medical room, I head back towards the main room and out the back door with Ryker and Grayson close behind me.

Luckily, I live on the compound, my house sitting basically in the backyard of the main building. I was the first house to be built out here. It’s small, but it works for me. Plus, most of the time I stay in my room in the clubhouse. But someday, I want all the members to have homes here and make this a community for our families.

Because my dad was wrong about that. Family doesn’t make you weak; it strengthens you. You have something worth fighting for.

And the best part is you get to pick your family. It doesn’t have to be blood.

We head up my back porch steps and into my house. I walk straight through the kitchen and dining room area, pivoting to the left where a small hallway is.

It holds four doors, a bathroom, a closet, and two bedrooms. I have the master bedroom to myself, so I take Harley into the other room and lay her down on the bed. Grayson, who has stayed over here before, quickly finds a blanket in the closet and covers Harley with it.

Ryker walks over to the desk that sits in the far corner of the room and pulls out the chair before plopping down and meeting my eyes.

He levels me with a serious look. “Don’t ask me to leave. I won’t. Gray told me she’s your daughter, but that changes nothing,” Ryker says. There is defiance in his tone as well as subtle challenge, daring me to say something to him about it.

I try to hide my smirk but fail. “Well, if she is my kid, I won’t have a say in who she allows around her. But if things go anywhere, you can bet your ass we will be having a talk.”

Ryker gives a sharp nod, never taking his eyes off Harley. My eyes drift back down to her, taking in her innocent face. As she lays passed out, she looks so fragile, but I know she is far from that. It doesn’t bother me that the boys will stick around her. I’ve known them for years and trust them. I saw how attached they grew to her in the short time they came to know her last year, so I know they will protect her.

Doc comes into the room with a new IV bag and lets us know she is dehydrated. Once he has it set up, he gestures for all three of us to leave the room. “Alright, she’s all good to go for now. We just need to let her rest. I will come check on her again soon. Let’s go out to the kitchen to talk,” he directs, nodding towards the door.

We slowly leave the room with Ryker taking longer to leave, but Grayson nudges him forward, deep frowns set on both of their faces as they follow us out. Normally, I’d be one of the first people to reassure them, but I don’t even know how to help myself right now.

After a quick text to Nerds, he shows up with some of the others in tow, and we all gather around the kitchen and table. The boys sit at the island in the kitchen while Sugar, Nerds, Blade, and I sit around the table that seats four. Nerds fills us in about Lilian; turns out any news articles you look up currently say that she died in a house fire three years ago. But all records of Harley have been wiped away. He assumes that has something to do with Tammy, since Harley’s birth certificate is fake and has Tammy and Richard on it.

Nerds hesitates. “I’m going to keep looking into everything and see what else I can find, but our best answers will come from her when she wakes up. Just… uh, personal advice from someone who has been out for a while then woke up confused… be gentle. Soothing. Maybe one person at a time. Grayson or Ryker would probably be best since she might recognize them, and we don’t know why she was trying to shoot you, Rage. So maybe stay back a little, just until we get answers,” he explains nervously rubbing the back of his neck.

I hate it. I want to fucking scream at him. I will not stay away from my child. When I’ve lost what? Sixteen or seventeen years? Hell no.

But I get it. So I let out a breath and nod. I’ll stay back, but I won’t be far. I need to hear her voice. See her eyes. God, Lilian. I haven’t thought of her in so many years. It gutted me when they told me they found her and killed her all those years ago.

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