LOGINRAINEThe cartel forces stayed close through the night. I slept in short intervals on the office couch with a gun on the desk, a knife in my boots and the radio turned low. Every distant engine made me sit up immediately at glance around my space. At first light I washed my face in cold water, checked the graze on my arm, and called Ghost into the room.He stood in front of the desk without fidgeting like others would. I kept my voice even.“I thought about it, and I want to give you limited cooperation,” I said. “You get a formal recon unit under my direct command. You report only to me and me alone. You don’t give orders to full members without my word first. You don’t sit in closed votes at all. Ghost, listen to me and listen closely. If any of those lines and the deal ends the same hour.”Ghost nodded once in understanding. “I won’t waste the chance, Raine.” He said, looking at me squarely.I formalized it in front of the inner circle before we launched the larger skirmish. I had
Raine POVThe report of Vex at the airstrip kept playing in my head through the night, as I kept rolling around my bed. I slept in short stretches on the office couch, waking every time I hear a bike engine turned over outside. By first light of dawn, I had the new hierarchy posted and the strike team ready and assembled.Reform rollout and the cartel skirmish ran together. I enforced the new structure hard, and made all the Lieutenants reported directly to me, while the patrol leaders answered to them. There will be no more loose chains of command. Anyone who skipped the chain of authority lost their privileges on the spot. While the rules settled in quickly, I led a fast strike on a minor cartel depot ten miles east of our border.We hit it at mid-morning. Ghost’s recon team fed us the layout we used to enter. The depot was lightly guarded, with two trucks, a handful of men, little fuel and small arms. We rolled in tight and slow, our engines low until the last milisecond. I took th
RAINE’s POVThe near-capture of my key lieutenant left the compound on edge. I ordered every gate locked and every rider accounted for before the sun rose. Blood still stained the infirmary floor from the night’s fight. I walked the yard with my side aching and my mind already calculating the next move.Aggressive reforms were the only way forward. I posted new discipline codes at dawn, and order for more mandatory formation riding, zero tolerance for delayed reports, and random searches of personal gear. Anyone who broke ranks would lose their cut for thirty days. The veterans hated it, but I was so far from caring about anything they thought. I wasn’t Queen to hear everyone’s mind or opinions. They could shove it up their asses.Cartel reinforcements hit our northern line before noon. I led the defensive skirmish myself, trusting no one to handle it better. We met them at the ridge with the upgraded fleet, our engines screaming as we cut across their approach. The fight was short bu
RAINE’s POVThe near-capture of my key lieutenant left the compound on edge. I ordered every gate locked and every rider accounted for before the sun rose. Blood still stained the infirmary floor from the night’s fight. I walked the yard with my side aching and my mind already calculating the next move.Aggressive reforms were the only way forward. I posted new discipline codes at dawn, and order for more mandatory formation riding, zero tolerance for delayed reports, and random searches of personal gear. Anyone who broke ranks would lose their cut for thirty days. The veterans hated it, but I was so far from caring about anything they thought. I wasn’t Queen to hear everyone’s mind or opinions. They could shove it up their asses.Cartel reinforcements hit our northern line before noon. I led the defensive skirmish myself, trusting no one to handle it better. We met them at the ridge with the upgraded fleet, our engines screaming as we cut across their approach. The fight was short bu
RAINEI limped the damaged bike through the back gate just after midnight, my engine coughing smoke. My men rushed out to meet me immediately. I waved off help and walked straight into the main hall, blood still seeping through the bandage on my thigh. The club needed to see their Queen standing.Reforms were already rolling out. I spent the next two hours personally overseeing loyalty oaths and pairing up riders for every patrol. New conduct codes were posted on the board. Some veterans grumbled but most fell in line. While that happened, I pulled my inner circle together and started planning the retaliatory strike on the cartel outpost ten miles south.“We hit them hard at dawn,” I said, pointing at the map. “In and out. Destroy their staging supplies and send a message.”Ghost — the rogue ex-Revenant — stood quietly in the corner. I had to make the call on him tonight.I looked him over. “You fought well today. But trusting a man who burned his own club is a gamble. Give me one rea
RAINEDawn broke bloody across the desert as I stood at the old radio tower, the burner phone in my hand. I never made the call. Instead I smashed the device under my boot and buried the pieces under the sand. Whatever deal the feds wanted, they could choke on it. I wasn’t handing my club over to anyone.By the time I returned, the compound was already buzzing. The cartel strike force was moving faster than expected. I didn’t have the time to bleed or grieve.I called an emergency session before the sun cleared the ridge.“There will be new codes of conduct,” I announced, standing at the head of the table. “Loyalty oaths will be sworn by every member before tonight’s run. We will have no exceptions. We either move all as one or we fall apart.”The room erupted.I laid out the reforms and mandatory requirements. It was a new arc from what they were already used to , and Veteran members slammed their fists on the table.“You’re turning us into soldiers, not brothers,” one growled.I met
Raine's POVThe morning after the Conclave, I tried to get some work done in the garage. Tried being the key word. I had a transmission sitting on the bench that needed rebuilding, but every time I picked up a tool, my brain wandered off somewhere else. I couldn't even sleep last night. The sound
Cole My brain stalled, then kicked back to life in one violent jolt.What the hell did he just say?What the actual, flaming, unbelievable hell did Ambrose just say?!But Ambrose just went on, his voice too cheerful for what he was describing. “They pay a fortune for it and they always come back f
Cole POV I yanked the Jackal through the doorway and stepped into the Revenant’s Lair. The place wasn’t dark, but the lights were low enough to cover everything in shades of red and blue. Music hummed from the speakers, the bass vibrating under the floor. Smoke drifted in lazy clouds across the r
COLEI rode out of that garage and down the road, feeling every muscle in my body tense with anger. Vex Mercer was a complete asshole, everyone knew that. I myself had known that in theory, but actually meeting the man… that was a whole other level of irritating. The way he’d towered over me, all







