RIDING WITH THE BEAST
CHAPTER 12:
By sunset, the heavy doors of Rust & Iron were thrown wide open — but this time, there was no fear, no patrols scanning the tree line, no hands hovering over holsters. The bar hummed with loud laughter, clinking bottles, and music blaring from the old jukebox. Every Iron Viper in Blackpine was there, plus a few faces from neighboring chapters who’d ridden in when word spread that Julian Hale was gone for good.
I stood by the counter, watching them, still half‑expecting to wake up back in that cold, silent mansion, or huddled in a bus station with nothing but a backpack and a racing heart. But then a warm, calloused hand slipped into mine, and I turned to see Kael standing beside me, his leather cut clean, his dark eyes softer than I’d ever seen them.
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