Chapter One: Caged Bird

LISA'S POV

The bruise on my ribs was three days old, but it still hurt when I breathed.

I pressed my hand against my side and kept walking through the Iron Wolves clubhouse, ignoring the stares from the men drinking at the bar. They all knew. They always knew when my father lost his temper. But no one said a word. No one ever did.

"Lisa, wait up!" Ruby jogged toward me, her face tight with worry. "Where have you been? Your father has been looking everywhere for you."

"I was at the storage unit. Someone had to check the inventory."

"You should have told someone. He's pissed."

Of course he was. My father was always angry about something. I was never good enough, never obedient enough, never quiet enough. My mother used to shield me from his rage, but she had been dead for five years. Now there was no one between me and his fists.

"Let him be angry," I said quietly. "I am tired of caring."

Ruby grabbed my arm, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Lisa, something big is happening. The Steel Serpents are here. In the clubhouse. Right now."

My heart stopped. "What?"

"I don't know why, but your father let them in. Diesel Kane is sitting in our common room like he owns the place."

The Steel Serpents. Our enemies for three bloody years. The club that killed my uncle. The monsters who burned our businesses and shot at us in the streets. Why would my father allow them inside our walls?

Unless something was very, very wrong.

I pushed past Ruby and headed for the common room. The door was closed, but I could hear voices inside. Deep. Tense. My father's voice rose above the others, sharp with command.

I opened the door without knocking.

Fifty men turned to stare at me. Half wore Iron Wolves cuts. The other half wore Steel Serpent patches—the snake coiled and ready to strike. My skin crawled being in the same room with them.

My father stood at the head table beside Diesel Kane, the silver-haired devil himself. But my eyes locked on the man standing next to Diesel.

He was huge. Easily six-foot-three with shoulders that could break down doors. Dark hair, cold gray eyes, and a face carved from stone. Tattoos covered both arms—a serpent winding up his right forearm, so detailed I could see every scale. He wore his leather cut like armor, and when his eyes met mine, I felt stripped bare.

This was Jackson Kane. Diesel's son. The enforcer. The killer.

I had heard the stories. Jackson Kane did not just hurt people. He ended them.

"Lisa." My father's voice cut through the silence. "Get in here and close the door."

I stepped inside and shut the door behind me. Every instinct screamed at me to run, but there was nowhere to go. I was surrounded by predators.

"What is this?" I asked, keeping my voice steady.

My father exchanged a look with Diesel. Something passed between them, something dark and final. My stomach twisted.

"The war between our clubs has cost us too much," my father said. "Money. Members. Respect. It ends today."

"Good," I said carefully. "So you made a treaty."

"Better than a treaty." Diesel Kane smiled, and it was the most terrifying thing I had ever seen. "A union. Blood ties. Family."

The room started spinning.

No. They could not mean—

"You will marry Jackson in two weeks," my father said flatly. "The wedding will unite both clubs and end this war. It is already arranged."

The words hit me like bullets.

"No." My voice came out strangled. "No, you cannot—"

"It is done, Lisa."

"I am not marrying him!" I pointed at Jackson, who still had not said a single word. "I am not marrying some Steel Serpent killer!"

"You will do what is best for this club," my father said coldly.

"Best for the club? Or best for you?" I felt tears burning behind my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. "You are selling me like cattle!"

My father moved faster than I expected. His hand cracked across my face so hard I stumbled backward. Pain exploded across my cheek. The room went silent.

"You will watch your mouth," he growled. "And you will obey."

I touched my burning face, tasting blood on my lip. This was not new. My father had been hitting me since I was sixteen. But never in front of outsiders. Never in front of enemies.

He was making a point. Showing Diesel that he controlled me completely.

When I looked up, Jackson Kane was staring at my father with an expression I could not read. His jaw was tight. His hands were clenched into fists at his sides. For a second, I thought he might actually say something.

But he did not.

"The girl needs discipline," Diesel said casually, like he had not just watched a father strike his daughter. "But she is pretty. She will do."

I wanted to scream. To fight. To run. But I knew what would happen if I did. My father would beat me unconscious and drag me to that altar anyway.

Jackson finally spoke. His voice was deep and rough. "Two weeks. Then she is mine."

Not "she will be my wife." Not "we will be married."

She is mine.

Like I was a possession. A thing to own.

He walked toward me, and every muscle in my body tensed. He stopped close enough that I had to tilt my head back to meet his eyes. Up close, he was even more terrifying. Scars marked his knuckles. Violence radiated from him like heat.

"I will not hurt you," he said quietly. "But I will not tolerate disrespect. You will learn your place, Lisa Wood. In two weeks, you belong to me. Get used to it."

Then he turned and walked out, followed by Diesel and the other Steel Serpents.

The door slammed shut behind them.

I stood frozen, my cheek still burning, my whole world collapsing around me. Ruby rushed to my side, but I barely felt her hands on my arms.

"Lisa," she whispered. "We will figure this out. We will find a way—"

"There is no way out," I said numbly.

My father lit a cigar, watching me with cold satisfaction. "Go clean yourself up. You look pathetic."

I walked out of that room on shaking legs.

Two weeks.

In two weeks, I would marry a monster.

And there was nothing I could do to stop it.