Wren joins me. They tugged on their boots so fast, the laces are still undone, but they’ve also pulled on a coat. “Right now,” they say to someone on the phone, their eyes fixed on Grudge. “Yeah, Grudge is here too. All of them, with weapons pointing right at us.” They step in front of me and offer the phone to Grudge. “King wants a word with you.”
If anger could take form, I swear, the temperature around Grudge would increase as he takes in what Wren just said. It was the mother of all “I’m gonna tell Mom” tricks, to call the national president on him.
I take the phone from Wren, then nudge them behind me as Grudge approaches.
Grudge takes a deep breath, then takes the phone from me. He holds it behind his back and says, “I should kill you for this alone.”
“I’m never going to let you hurt him,” Wren says. “I might not be able to fight like you can, or kill with the same ease, but that doesn’t mean I won’t play dirty.”
In a heartbeat, my world flipped. I always thought I’d have a brotherhood to protect me, while I protect my love. Instead, Wren is protecting me from brothers I never thought would lift a hand against me.
“King,” he says, gesturing for my brothers to lower their weapons. “Before you say anything, let me?—”
Grudge stops talking, and while I can’t hear what is being said, I can hear that King is yelling. He walks away from the group, and I can no longer hear what he’s saying.
“Would it have hurt you to call?” Wraith asks me quietly.
I turn to face him. “Would it have hurt you to trust me? Like, for real, when have I ever done anything that wasn’t in the best interest of the club?”
“Ballsy move,” Smoke says to Wren, ruffling their hair like you would a younger sibling.
“Protecting someone you care about isn’t ballsy. As a former first responder, I thought you, of all people, would know a thing or two about that,” Wren says.
Feelings are weird. The residue of one still lingers, even when a new one attempts to replace it. I still feel the panic I experienced when I’d thought Wren wanted me to leave Willa and the twins and Mom behind.
I hated the internal conflict.
That I couldn’t leave my family, who need me, behind just to follow someone I love.
That I couldn’t let Wren, someone I love, go alone, while I stay back and care for my family.
That somehow, I’d be left with a life that would only ever be able to fulfil half of me.
But maybe it’s a good thing. Maybe Wren and I need to see how we react when we argue. Learn more about each other than obvious attraction.
I like the way they apologized.
I like the way they realized that what they might be asking of me was too much.
And I’m proud of myself, the way those lessons Willa taught me about keeping my frustration in check helped me stay in the moment and conversation with Wren.
It’s probably time I acknowledge that, for the first time in my life, I’m well and truly in love.
My breath comes out in a white puff when I blow out sharply. Reaching for Wren’s hand, I tug them back behind me. “That’s enough of you being my white knight today, sweetheart.”
Wren’s eyes lift to mine. “I wasn’t going to let them hurt you.”
“They weren’t. I don’t know why we’re standing here like this, but they were never going to shoot.”
Wren huffs. “Then the club, especially Grudge, just fucked around and found out, didn’t they?”
A wry smile appears on their face, and I can’t help but match it.
Jackal and Shade walk towards us, and I realize they were never holding their weapons. “We got you,” Jackal says as Shade moves to stand on the other side of Wren.
Shade looks across at me. “Congratulations.”
That’s it. One word.
