Shattered Trust
527 Words
The bag pressed tight against Raven's face, suffocating her with every shallow breath. The rough fabric smelled like oil and smoke, scratching against her skin as she tried to steady her shaking body. Her wrists burned from the ropes, bit the fire in her chest was worse- the sound of his voice still echoing in her ears.
"Mom?"
It was unmistakable.
Jaxon.
Her Jaxon.
Raven's heart cracked under the weight of it, panic surging as her mind scrambled to make sense of the impossible. He called her mom... He's here. He's one of them.
The pieces slammed into place like broken glass. The tattoos she'd glimpsed on his arms but never asked about. The way he sometimes flinched when she mentioned her father. His half-smile when she asked what his family did. The lies hidden in the silence.
She clenched her teeth, fighting back tears. Was every moment we shared just an act? Did he know who I was all along?
But no — his voice carried hesitation, strain. He didn't sound like the cold-blooded enemy her father had always warned her about. He sounded torn. Conflicted. Human. And that only made it worse.
The muffled scrape of boots circled around her. She could feel their eyes on her, even without seeing. A predator's gaze, waiting for her to break. Her pulse thundered in her ears.
Her mind whispered her father's warnings, words he'd drilled into her since childhood: Never trust a Viper. Never let them near. They'll charm you, trick you, gut you while you're smiling at them.
She swallowed hard. And I...I let one into my heart.
"Bring her forward," A cold female voice commanded — Jaxon's mother.
Hands gripped her arms and hauled her upright. Her legs buckled, but she forced herself to stand, to breathe, to fight.
She heard Jaxon's voice again, closer now. "Mom, are you sure? Maybe we should-"
"Enough," his mother snapped, her tone final. "We found her. She is what she is. And now... we confirm it."
The bag tugged against her skin as fingers hooked the edge. Raven's stomach dropped, dread clawing up her throat.
No. Not in front of him. Please, not him.
The cloth ripped upward, blinding light searing her eyes. She blinked furiously, vision swimming into focus. The clubhouse came into view — smoke curling in the air, leather-clad men lining the walls, their expressions sharp and hungry for blood.
And then she saw him.
Jaxon.
He stood frozen, his green eyes wide, his lips parting as recognition crashed into him.
"Raven?" His voice cracked with disbelief, horror and something deeper.
Her world collapsed all over again, the truth laid bare for everyone to see.
The daughter of the Black Roses.
The son of the Vipers.
Enemies by blood.
And yet, their hearts had already chosen.
The room erupted in shouts, men cursing, the Vipers moving closer. But Raven couldn't tear her gaze from Jaxon, he couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't reconcile what his eyes were telling him.
Everything they had built — every stolen glance, every laugh, every whispered promise — turned into a battlefield between them in the span of a single breath.
- Writer
