Page 50 of Bear

“Crow, find a way to take it down before they shut us down,” Ruin orders. “The last thing we need is the feds crawling all over us for making snuff videos.”

I sit heavily beside Jupiter and pull her into my lap, pressing kisses to her crown as she sobs against me. Every man in this room has something to say, but I tune it all out. I ignore all the noise, all the fucking rules and the club etiquette of awaiting Prez’s decree, all but the woman in my arms and the buzzing in my veins. Rage swells within me, turning my vision white, and all I can do is rock us back and forth and hold on, because if I let go of her now, I’m going to fucking kill someone.

“Church, now!” Chaos commands, tilting his chin toward Jupiter. “Get her out of here. Cambri and Tyra will take her.”

Crow comes over and helps Jupiter to her feet. I pick her up and walk her out of the room, laying her on one of the clubhouse couches. Leigh, Tyra, Kami and Cambri all hover around us, but Jupiter clings to me for dear life.

“I gotta take care of this, babe.”

“Please don’t leave me.” Her sobs are gut-wrenching, and I hope I never have to hear that sound again as long as I live.

“I have to. We need to find this fucker and make him pay.”

“Please?”

It breaks my heart to have to walk away from her, but Cambri scoots to the edge of the sofa and strokes her hair. “It’s okay,” she says to me. “We’ve got her.”

I nod and turn back to my brothers, heading into the room again and closing the door behind me.

The video is frozen on the TV. Bobby Ray’s lifeless body hangs limp, and then reanimates as Crow rewinds. My head swims as all of the blood gushing from his neck suddenly pours back inside. If only real life had a fucking rewind button.

“Who the fuck is that asshole?” Ruin asks. “Who the fuck do we have to kill?”

“He’s Bayou Bastards,” I murmur, but I don’t think anyone hears me. The brothers are shouting over the top of one another. Jupiter’s cries have turned to heart-shattering wails out in the other room. It’s like a dagger being shoved right through my chest. I clear my throat and say louder, “He’s Bayou Bastards MC.”

Ruin turns his attention to me. “How do you know?”

“We don’t know.” Chaos slams his fist on the table, drawing everyone’s attention. “He’s wearing a fucking mask. It could be anyone. We don’t know for sure—”

“Look at the tattoo peeking out from his sleeve. That devil dog is the same as the one on their center patch. It doesn’t matter what officer patch he wears, because they all need to die.”

Sterling turns toward the screen again and nods. “Yeah, that’s definitely the same.”

“Then what the fuck are we waiting for?” Ruin asks. “Let’s go!”

“We’re not going anywhere. Now, Jupiter may have taken out one of their members, but Bobby Ray confessed they weren’t working alone. He was making the drop for Atlanta’s White Nation.”

“Chaos is right,” Bash says. “We can’t go after them without knowing what we’re walking into, and not without a hell of a lot of backup. Last time I checked, White Nation’s numbers were unknown.”

“That’s my goddamn house they just killed a man in. What if Tyra had been there? Or one of the rest of the guys?” Ruin argues with his father. “We’re not just gonna sit here on our fucking hands while these motherfuckers continue to come after us, are we? We’re the fuckin’ Kings. Carnage is what we do. They hit one of our own, we have to hit back.”

Sterling nods. Saint, too.

“Ruin, Sterling, Saint,” Chaos says. “The three of you head to Ruin’s. See if there’s any evidence left behind. Hell, maybe the fucker who did this is still there.”

Rage burns through me, hot as fire and destructive as hell. I shoot to my feet and head for the door.

“Bear!” Chaos says. “Where the fuck do you think you’re going? Church is in session.”

“I’m going after the cunt who just killed my girl’s brother.”

“Get your ass in here now.”

“Sorry, Prez, but that’s not happening.”

“Bear,” Bouncer warns, shooting up from his chair and stepping in front of me. He places his hand on my chest to halt my progress.

“Oh, shit,” Poe says.

“Get your motherfucking hands off me.”

“Let him go. Maybe some time to cool off will clear the fucking idiot notions from his head that he can take on the Bastards and White Nation all by himself.”

I’m nomad. I’m not a patched member of this club. I respect Chaos, I appreciate all of the brothers, and some I even feel closer to than those in my old club, but I turn my back and walk.

I don’t owe them a fucking thing. My girl is hurting, and I intend to put the assholes responsible for that in the fucking ground.

---