Wild Riders

It's the National News

The whole ordeal that went down at today's meeting had me confused. It was my dad's idea to go to WR and get help. He assured me they weren't one of the clubs that wanted too much attention. He was wrong, which means he either didn't know about all the deals Will had been making, or he didn't care about them. All kinds of questions and worries were drifting around my mind on the ride back home. Axel's presence behind me didn't make things better, he was like a heavy storm hanging above my head. I could feel him trying to keep his distance, but the occasional brush against my back was expected, though I couldn't help but shiver whenever he shifted his weight or his jacket grazed my skin. I was happy he wasn't trying anything more. I wasn't in the mood to get involved with a man, neither did I need any more trouble than I already had.

Parking the bike in front of his house, I put one leg down and turned off the motor. I was still lost in my mind, not yet ready to move off the bike.

"He's gonna call you in and ask something of you," I turned my head back, snapping out of my thoughts. Axel had already taken off his helmet, now holding it with his hand against his hip bone, one leg on the ground, supporting us on the bike the same way I was doing. "What?" my voice came out muffled from underneath the helmet. He narrowed his eyes at me, contemplating his next move, before his hands reached up, pulling my helmet of. My long hair came with it, splaying across my face in a mess that was anything but 'lady-like'. A low chuckle came from behind me as I hurriedly tried smoothing the strands of hair away from my face. There was a moment of silence between us then, my hands now resting on the tank, a lump in my throat from the sudden closeness. "He's gonna call you up on that favor," his voice was low. "Yeah, I know," I tried to get a glimpse of him through my peripheral vision, but he wasn't leaning to the side anymore. He wasn't trying to look at me anymore. "What do you think he's gonna want me to do?" It wasn't that I was scared, but for some reason I needed some kind of answer. Maybe my subconscious knew something my consciousness didn't, but I wasn't able to guess what that could be. "Dunno. Steal something, wreck something. He's changed in the last few years. Only today did I realize how much, so maybe ... maybe he'll want something more," he shuffled behind me, the bike suddenly jumping up as he lifted his weight off and stood beside me, holding one helmet in each hand. I slowly gazed up at him, hating the way my pulse hammered in my throat and the heat that flared low in my stomach just from looking at him.

"Like what?" my voice came out breathier than I expected. "Infiltrating them. Taking them out from the inside," I nodded while he was talking, watching his Adam's apple bobbing up and down. "Whatever it'll be, I'll handle it," I was determined and confident as the words left my lips, until I looked up at his, his blue eyes now dark and blazing looking down at me. "Yeah, bet you can," a cold breeze from the ocean made my mind clear up. Realizing I'd now been on Axel's bike for way too long, I slowly dismounted, watching my right foot, so it wouldn't drag over any of the leather. I planted my feet firmly on the ground. The adrenaline of the ride was fading, a comfortable silence filling the air between us, just before a small detail that had slipped through my fingers before, landed, like a heavy punch, in my mind.

"How do you know about the favor anyway?"

I crossed my arms, my brows furrowing together while looking up at the man stood in front of me. A smile was painted on his lips.

"I just know," he pushed forward the hand holding my helmet, indicating for me to take it.

"Yeah, I can see that you know, I'd just love to know how?" I wasn't just gonna let him say s**t and not explain.

"Goddamn it woman, has anyone told you how annoying you can be?" he rolled his eyes at me, the hand holding my helmet reaching behind me, he slammed the helmet on the seat of the bike.

"Willy trusts me, of course he's gonna tell me s**t, especially when he takes a girl into the club,-" he was towering over me, like he wanted me to back down, to feel and show fear. "I mean, it'd be damn fuckin' hard for him to hide you from the whole MC, don't you think?"

"So, he told you? Yesterday? Who else?" I was not going to back down. I'm sure he was used to girls dropping to their knees as soon as he looked at them — in whatever way that may have been. But hell if i was going to be anything like that. I'd rather sit on burning hot coal with my bare ass, then let him dominate me.

"The hell do you care who else? You came to us for help, we don't owe you s**t," frustration was evident in his voice. It felt like starring into a bull's eyes.

"It's my fuckin' business, a deal between me and Will, I don't need everybody else's nose in it." I pushed a pointed finger into his chest, making him take a step back, putting some much-needed breathing space between us.

"It's not like the whole club knows everything," he rolled his eyes, obviously tired, probably both from fighting with me, the trip to the HQ, paired with his painkillers slowly wearing off. "Just the guys who were in the office with us now." I took a deep breath after that. Like a huge rock had been lifted from my shoulders. I mean, it still wasn't great that more people knew s**t that should've stayed between me and Willy, but still better than it being shared like it's the National News.

"And it better stay that way," the words came out gruff, like my throat got all scratched up from the news I had just received.

The air between us filled with loud laughter — the prick thought this was funny. "Was that a threat, Dove? Do you really think you could threaten me? Or Willy for that matter?" he let out a chuckle some time halfway through his speech. God, he was so fuckin' sure of himself. The ego of this man is bigger than Mt. Everest.

"If I'd threatened you, you would know. And besides, if it's just a threat, you can count yourself lucky. Because if it'd been a promise... well, let's just say, you'd be f****d, boy." I took my helmet from his bike, this time, not caring about the leather seat. At that instant, I was inclined to pull out the knife, strapped to my thigh, and rip into it, just to see Axel hurt.