“She’s not your problem.”
Viper tilted his head.“Looks like she might be.”
The air went tight.The first Serpent shoved Mara aside and reached for his waistband.Viper moved before the man even cleared leather.Viper knocked the weapon away with his hand.
The second lunged at him, but Viper pivoted, driving his elbow into the man’s gut, then catching him by the collar and slamming him into one of their bikes.
Metal crumpled.The first man swung.Viper ducked, grabbed his wrist, and twisted.The crack of bone was muffled by the Serpent’s shout.
“Walk away,” Viper said again, voice low.“Or you’re gonna stay down.”
Neither listened.The fight turned fast and mean.Mara backed away, heart pounding as fists and curses filled the air.She’d seen fights before, but there was something different about this man.
Viper didn’t fight like a biker.He fought like a soldier.He was efficient and brutal, every movement controlled.When it was over, both Serpents lay sprawled on the asphalt, groaning but alive.
Viper stood over them, breathing hard, blood beading on his knuckles.He didn’t even look at it.Instead, his gaze found Mara.
“Are you hurt?”Viper asked.
She shook her head, but the words wouldn’t come.Her throat felt raw.
He stepped closer, and something in his eyes softened.Not much, just enough to make her chest tighten.
“Why were they looking for you?”he asked quietly.
Mara swallowed.“Because my father sold me to their president.”
Viper clenched his jaw “And your father is?”
She hesitated.She didn’t want to say it, didn’t want to see the judgment that always came next.Still, she was cornered, still trembling, and she knew if she lied, he’d see through her.
“The Blood Vultures MC President,” she whispered.“Rex Dalton.”
Viper’s brows lifted slightly.Recognition flickered there.
“Hell,” he muttered.He looked at the unconscious men, then back at her.
Viper must also be thinking about Denny and Rex earlier that afternoon, because he said, “You picked one hell of a family to run from, sweetheart,”
“I didn’t pick them.”Her voice cracked.“I was born into it.”
For a moment, neither spoke.The sound of distant traffic and the low hum of cicadas filled the air.
Finally, Viper exhaled and ran a hand through his hair.“You got somewhere to go?”
She shook her head.
“Then you’re coming with me,” he said.
“What?No way.”
“Not a request.”His tone softened, but the finality in it left no room for argument.“They’ll be back.Your father or the Iron Serpents would send more men after you.”
Mara hesitated.Every instinct screamed not to trust him.He wore the cut of another MC, another man like them, but something deep in her bones said he wasn’t.Not quite.God help her, part of her wanted to believe that.
“Why are you helping me?”she asked.
Viper looked at her for a long beat, then said quietly, “I don’t know yet.”
