Page 21 of Wilder's Promise
I straighten my cut and exit the chapel, stepping back into the chaos of the clubhouse's main room. The brothers are in final preparation mode now, checking weapons, securing extra magazines, donning tactical vests beneath their cuts. This isn't atypical MC run. It's a military-style assault, and we're treating it as such.
Reaper stands at the center of it all, a calm presence amid the storm. He's speaking quietly to Evelyn, his forehead pressed against hers in an intimate gesture that feels too personal to witness. I look away, finding Emma instead.
She stands slightly apart from the activity, arms crossed as she watches her father. There's a conflict in her expression: resentment warring with worry, anger with fear. I approach slowly, giving her time to notice me.
"Everything okay?" she asks when I reach her side.
"Yeah." I don't mention my conversation with Ghost. "Just final instructions."
She nods, gaze still fixed on her father and Evelyn. "They really care about each other, don't they?"
The question seems more rhetorical than anything, but I answer anyway. "Yes. They do."
"It's strange," she says quietly. "Seeing him like that. Vulnerable."
"It's new for all of us," I admit. "Your father's always been... contained. Since Evelyn, he's different."
"Better different or worse different?"
"Just different." I consider how to explain it. "More human, maybe. Less the legend and more the man."
She absorbs this, her amber eyes thoughtful. "Is that why you're all so loyal to him? Because he's a legend?"
"Partly," I concede. "But it's more than that. I told you. He leads from the front. Takes the biggest risks himself. Protects what's his with everything he has."
"And that includes me? Even after all these years?"
"Especially you." I meet her gaze directly. "You're his blood, Emma. Nothing matters more to him than that."
Something flickers in her expression. A crack in the wall of resentment she's built around herself where her father is concerned. Before she can respond, Reaper calls for everyone's attention.
"Mount up in five," he announces, his voice carrying across the room without having to shout. "Prospects, you know your orders. Hold the compound, watch the perimeter. No one in or out without the password."
Two prospects nod solemnly, clearly understanding the gravity of their assignment. They're the last line of defense if everything goes wrong.
"Wilder," Reaper continues, turning to me. "You've got the most important job tonight."
I straighten, meeting his gaze. "I won't let you down."
"I know. If you don't hear from us by dawn, execute the contingency plan. Don't wait, don't hesitate. Just go."
Emma stiffens beside me. "And you?" she challenges. "What happens to you if something goes wrong?"
"Don't worry about me." His voice gentles in a way I've rarely heard. "I've survived worse odds."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the only one I've got, Emma." He hesitates, then steps forward and places a hand on her shoulder. The first time I've seen him touch her since she arrived. "I know you hate this life. Hate what I am, what I've done. But everything I've ever done has been to make a world where you could be safe."
She doesn't pull away from his touch. "Even when you let me go? That was to keep me safe too?"
"Especially then." His hand drops back to his side. "The hardest thing I've ever done was watching you walk away. But I knew the farther you got from me, the safer you'd be."
"And now? You drag me back into danger and then walk out to possibly get yourself killed?" Her voice cracks slightly. "What am I supposed to do with that?"
"Trust Wilder," he says simply. "He'll protect you better than I could."
Her eyes flick to me, then back to her father.
