“You’re going to make her yours?”
Hunter’s lips curled back as he seethed, “She’s mine—”
“And who is your Road Captain?”
“You are.”
“Who the fuck commands our brothers when we’re in the middle of a firefight?”
“You do.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re the Road Captain.”
“You gonna come at me, Sav?” he continued, sounding nearer now. “Come hit me—”
I held him tight as Hunter cut in with, “I’m not hitting you—”
“Do you answer to me?”
“Yeah.”
“Louder!”
His entire body shook as he roared, “YEAH!”
Silence.
I clutched Hunter tight, pressing my forehead against his chest, waiting…waiting for something when—
Miles laughed, and this time it was light and full of humour. “Then welcome to the Road, son.”
Hunter’s shakes stopped, and his body stilled as he breathed, “What?”
Miles was behind me now. I could feel him as he cut the distance entirely and grabbed Hunter’s shoulder, squeezing him. “Turn around, boy.”
My head was still spinning—what the fuck?—as Hunter spun us around. He let out a soft curse, and I pulled my head back to look at the front of the pub where a small crowd of bikers were. Roy stood there with Jesse and Kyle, and in front of them was a new Harley Davidson motorcycle and a pink girly ribbon around one of the handles.
“You’ve been reassigned to the Road,” Roy said, his voice filled with pride. “You’re ready.”
I detached from Hunter, my hands hurting from how hard I’d fisted them into his shirt to keep him still. Still gobsmacked, I felt Hunter take me by the arm and lead me to the bike.
“You were testing me?” Hunter asked in disbelief, glancing at Miles as he patted the seat of the bike, grinning over at us.
“Of course,” he answered pleasantly, like he wasn’t just screaming curses at him two seconds ago. Like he wasn’t just egging him on to hurt him. Like he hadn’t called me a whore how many times? “I gotta know you’ll keep your cool no matter what I say to you. On the road, you’re going to be tested. You’re not going to know when you’ll be back, or how far we’ll have to ride. Out there, your temper needs to be controlled until I give you permission to lose it.”
Honestly, what the fuck?
“It’s not a fun lesson,” Jesse said, smirking at Hunt. “I wasn’t calm as you.” His gaze cut to mine as he added, “I didn’t have the support you did.”
I fidgeted as they turned their attention to me. Roy’s smile was warm as he regarded me. “When Sav comes undone, he always retreats to his safe place.”
To me,he meant.
“But this time,” Roy continued, “she got to come to you.”
I didn’t know whether to feel flattered by the pride in his eyes as he looked at me, or downright pissed that they would test Hunter like this. In that moment, I was fuming. I wanted to punch them all in their smug faces.