It suited her. She looked like a Viking Queen with her hair shaved, the rest of it braided around the shorter side.
“What’s happening?” Ace asked, coming from the back to see what the ruckus was about. His eyebrows rose when he saw Shae standing next to me. Hawk’s eyes travelled over his ex-girlfriend, but he no longer held anything other than respect for the first woman to break his heart. He had Morena now, and he was content with that little minx.
“I’ve been doing some recon for the Nomads,” she said. “I’ve been tracking a rumour for a few weeks, but I basically got confirmation earlier today. Something’s going down in Kilkenny.”
“What do you mean?” Ace asked.
“The Broken Reapers and the Rabid Wolves have joined forces for one purpose,” she said. My blood ran cold, knowing we’d pissed the Rabid Wolves off, especially after the shit that went down with the Barones.
“Tell us.”
“To take Kilkenny and end the Ghost Rebels for good,” she said.
“Who told you?”
“I can’t tell you that,” she aimed at me. Something in her eye told me I should believe her, but I wanted to know if this was true or not. “But I can tell you, something is happening and it’s happening today.”
“Why?” Hawk asked her. “What could it be?”
“I don’t know that,” Shae admitted. “But I do know you need to lock down the clubhouse for a few days, at least. Protect the club. I’ll call the Nomads in.”
Ace swore, running his hand through his hair. “How likely is a war, Shae?”
“100%. No doubt.”
“Fuck,” Hawk swore this time. I was rendered numb. We’d just gotten through so much, how could we be at war a-fucking-gain?
“Call them in,” Ace said. “Everyone make calls to your people. Lock us down.”
“Shona,” Ace aimed at the woman behind the bar. “Send out a text to all club members and tell them to stay vigilant. We can’t house everyone here, not yet, but the bigger members need to get back here. Get Maree on the phone. She knows what to do.”
Shona nodded and grabbed her phone, her hands shaking. She wasn’t new to this, she’d grown up in a clubhouse like this, but she was scared.
Two clubs coming up against us? That was cause for concern.
“I need to go and get Orla.”
“I’ll get her,” Shae offered. “I’ll take the car and round up all the women, yeah?”
She knew we needed to strategise, we were the three biggest in hierarchy here. I looked to Ace who nodded.
“Sheridan and the girls are at my place,” he offered.
“Morena is working at the school,” Hawk told her.
She turned to me. “She’s at work, at the old mall. The tattoo shop.”
“I’ve got them, I’ll bring them back here soon.”
I watched as Shae left, to be trusted to bring our women back to the clubhouse while we prepare. I shouldn’t have let Orla go this morning. I should have dragged her to my bed and handcuffed her there until I was done with club business.
“Bear, get in here,” Ace ordered as we headed into church. The room was crowded, as Ace and Hawk talked strategy, but my mind was on Orla’s safety. She’d just gotten away from danger and here we go again. This was club life, and I knew she understood that. She was one of us, but it broke my heart that we couldn’t just be happy for a few months.
Now, I was going to fight to keep her in my life, even if I had to kill every fucker in those MC’s to do it.
The sound of the girls coming in through the door had us breaking from church to get settled. Some of the members had started to drizzle in, ready for the lockdown of the club, the clubhouse had never been so busy.
Ryleigh, Shauna, and Sheridan stepped inside with Shae. A concerned look on her face. Morena tumbled in after the girls, trying to settle them while Sheridan came over to me. Dread filled me instantly.
