MasukHazel stared at the ceiling while King’s arm lay heavy across her. Sleep wasn’t happening. The mill was tomorrow night. Everything had to line up perfectly or she was dead.She slipped out from under his arm carefully, sat on the edge of the bed, and rubbed her face. The snake tattoo still pulled tight every time she moved. Her burner stayed dead silent in her boot. No more messages. Too risky now.Morning hit and King was wired. He dragged her to the main room where Rico and a dozen guys waited around the big table.“Final prep,” King said, slamming a map on the table. “We roll heavy tonight. Hazel’s plan. Mill. Reaper walks in, we end him. Queen here gets the kill shot if she wants it.”Hazel nodded. “I want it.”Rico met her eyes for half a second across the table. He’d come through last night—slipped something
Hazel smiled against King’s mouth. “Can’t wait.”But her hands still had a little blood under the nails. Rico watched from across the lot and nodded once like he knew. This alliance was poison. And it was all about to boil over.King kept his arm around her shoulders as they walked back inside. “You smell like grease and blood, queen. I like it.”She didn’t answer. Just let him steer her through the main room where guys were still drinking and bullshitting about the mill. A couple raised their bottles at her. She gave a small nod.Next morning shit hit the fan fast.King stormed into the garage while Hazel was checking another fuel mix. His face was dark. Gun already out.“Spike’s missing,” he snapped. “You see him last night?”Hazel wiped her hands slowly. “Yea
King’s arm tightened around her in the dark. “Mine,” he mumbled again, half asleep.Hazel lay there stiff, burner phone burning a hole in her boot. She waited until his breathing went deep and even, then slipped out from under his arm slow as hell. He stirred but didn’t wake. She stood by the window, staring out at the lot, heart still racing from that buzz.Too close. Everything was too fucking close.Morning came with chaos. King was hyped.“Big meet tonight,” he told her over burnt coffee in the main room. “Allies from up north and east. You’re sitting at the table with me, queen. Show ‘em who’s really running shit now.”Hazel poured herself more coffee. “I’ll give ‘em ideas for the mill. Make sure they bring enough bodies but not too many. Don’t want it looking obvious.”King grinned and yanked her onto his lap right there in front of three gu
Hazel nodded. “Yeah.”King kept his arm around her in front of the whole room. “This is just the beginning for us.”She leaned into him as she meant it. The other Vipers watched, some smirking, some still side-eyeing her. Rico sat in the corner nursing a beer, not saying shit.Later that night, back in King’s room, things got ugly.King had one of the club girls dragged in — some young blonde named Cherry who’d been hanging around. Hazel sat on the edge of the bed, arms crossed, watching.King didn’t even ask. He just shoved Cherry against the wall, right there in front of her. “Watch, queen. See what you’re missing by holding out on me.”Cherry giggled nervously at first, then gasped as King yanked her skirt up. He fucked her hard and loud, no warm-up, hand in her hair, eyes locked on Hazel th
King kissed her hard, possessively. “Don’t make me regret trusting you.”Hazel kissed back, empty. Counting the seconds until she could put a real bullet in him.He pulled away, eyes searching her face. “You’re quiet tonight.”“Tired,” she said. “Shooting that kid took more out of me than I thought. Happy?”King grinned and slapped her ass. “Very. Get some sleep. We ride at dawn.”She nodded and headed to the room. The second the door shut she leaned against it, eyes closed. Another day. Another line crossed. She touched the snake tattoo through her shirt and winced. Still raw.Dawn came too fast. They rode out with a small crew—King, Rico, two others, and Hazel on the back of King’s bike. The target was some Iron Sons scout dumb enough to get spotted. They caugh
Hazel kept her face still. Heart hammering so hard she wondered if they could hear it.King picked up the gun slowly. “Talk.”She swallowed once. “What do you want to know?”King leaned back in his chair, tapping the gun barrel on the desk. “Rico here says you were messing with bikes funny. Loosening shit. Planting stuff. You wanna explain that, queen?”Rico stood by the door, arms crossed, watching her like a dog waiting for a slip.Hazel scoffed. “Yeah, I was messing. Because half your guys ride like shit and their bikes are falling apart. I fixed a fuel line on that black Harley before it sprayed gas all over the place. Tracker? That’s for the decoy runs you asked me about yesterday. So we can watch the Iron Sons chase their tails.”King’s eyes narrowed. He glanced at Rico. “That true?&rdquo
The days after the countdown passed in a strange, suffocating quiet.King did nothing.No attacks. No messages. No shadows at the fence. Just silence that stretched like a wire pulled tight across the compound. The Iron Sons stayed on edge, rotating longer watches, repairing the damaged gate with s
Hazel didn’t sleep.The burner phone Ghost had given her burned a hole in the pocket of her hoodie as she moved through the compound the next day. Every time she touched it, her stomach twisted.Freedom.Real freedom for her and Lena.But every time
The 48-hour countdown ticked like a bomb in the back of everyone’s mind.By morning, the compound was locked down tighter than ever. Extra guards on the perimeter. No one in or out without Jax’s direct approval. Hazel stood in Jax’s room, staring at her refl
The garage air felt thick enough to choke on.Jax still had Hazel pinned against the workbench, his release still warm between her thighs, when he repeated the question.“You marked that exact blind spot in your notes,” he said, voice dangerously low. &ldqu







