Chapter Seven
The afternoon sun gleamedthrough the community hall’s wide windows, glinting off rolls of wrapping paper and neatly stacked boxes of toy donations.Ellie stood at the folding table, taping a label onto a plastic tub of stuffed animals with a little too much force.She barely noticed how the tape crinkled or that her thumb caught the edge.She didn’t notice much these days, except when he was in the room.Dasher was here.Again.
He’d shown up every day since they got back from that supply run.Since that night in the cabin, the night that had shifted everything for her.She’d let him in.God, she’d let him in.Not just into her bed, but into the space she’d kept locked up for five long years.And the next morning, he’d shut the door so fast she barely had time to catch her breath.
Now, every time she caught a glimpse of him lifting crates or handing out flyers with Beast, her stomach twisted.She didn’t ask him to stay.She hadn’t expected him to, but he stayed anyway.That made it worse.
“Need help with that?”Dasher’s voice came from just behind her, soft and tentative.
Ellie startled, turning too fast.“No,” she said too sharply.Then she sighed.“Sorry.I just ...I’ve got it.”
Dasher nodded, backing off without another word, but she saw the flicker of pain in his eyes.It cut deeper than she wanted it to.
She returned to sorting toys, willing herself not to look at him again.It didn’t work.
From across the room, she watched him joke with a volunteer, some college kid who was trying too hard to look cool around a real biker.Dasher grinned, said something that made the kid laugh.That easy charm of his hadn’t dulled.If anything, it was worse now.Refined, tempered by age and whatever wounds he’d carried since they last saw each other.
Ellie swallowed hard.This wasn’t supposed to happen.They were supposed to keep things professional.Polite.Focused on the toy drive and nothing more.
She glanced toward the doorway where Beast stood, talking in low tones with another Sentinels member.Tension radiated off the two men, shoulders tight and expressions grim.Something was off.Ellie moved closer.She didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but Beast didn’t lower his voice as much as he thought.
“Red Hounds were spotted cruisin’ near Maple Creek last night,” he muttered to Dasher.“Too close for comfort.”
Ellie’s heart stopped.The Red Hounds.They were trouble, always had been.Not like the Sentinels, who kept mostly to their own and had lines they didn’t cross.
“Any sign they’re gunnin’ for the event?”Dasher asked, voice cool and steady.
“Not yet,” Beast said.“But it’s no damn coincidence they’re showing up now.”
Ellie stepped forward before she could second-guess herself.“You think they’d come after the toy drive?”Her voice wavered more than she liked.
Three heads turned toward her.Beast gave a respectful nod.Dasher’s jaw flexed.
“We don’t know anything for sure,” Dasher said.“But if they’re poking around, I’m not taking chances.”
Ellie crossed her arms, trying to keep her hands from shaking.“I don’t want this to become ...violent.This is about the kids,” she pointed out.
“And it will stay about the kids,” Dasher said, his voice firmer now.“I won’t let anyone mess with it.With you.”
Something in his tone made her breath hitch.
Beast clapped a hand on Dasher’s shoulder and turned to leave.“I’ll have a few of the boys swing by on rotation.Just in case.”
Ellie nodded numbly.The moment Beast left, the room felt smaller.Quieter.
