I pushed Chop off of me, his body falling through the broken railing. If King hadn’t appeared and grabbed on to my legs I would have went over with him. “Thia, keep the gun on her,” King ordered, and at the mere mention of her name, I found the strength to hang on. King laid next to me on his stomach leaning out over the balcony under the railing as far as he could stretch. “Pull up as much as you can,” he said. I felt my arm separating from the joint. I pulled up as hard as I could, straining with everything I had in me until King could reach Chop. With a guttural roar he pulled his fat corpse back onto the balcony. My arm and shoulder felt instant relief.

King pulled a machete style knife from his boot and hacked away at Chop’s wrist, blood spurting into the air and all over his face and shirt, until it was severed, and King and I were so covered in blood it looked as if he just starred in a horror movie.

Our horror happened to be very real.

“Noooooooo!” Sadie screamed, and while she was momentarily distracted, I grabbed the gun Chop had dropped and turned it on her. Sadie’s mouth was wide open as she looked from the railing to the pink-haired girl holding the gun.

Ti.

“Thank fucking Christ,” I muttered.

“You bitch!” Sadie screamed at Ti, “What did you do?”

“Same thing I’m about to do to you if you don’t put that fucking gun down.”

I’d thought King had fired the bullet at Chop, but I’d been wrong. It was my girl who’d saved me.

“You leave her the fuck alone,” I said, standing between my mom and my girl. “Put your fucking gun down.”

“Abel,” she pleaded, taking a step toward me.

“Stop,” I warned. “Don’t fucking call me that. You don’t get to call me that.” Without turning my head away from Sadie I called out to Ti, “Are you okay? Did this bitch hurt you? Did Gus hurt you?”

“I’m fine, baby,” she said, her voice snaking it’s way inside of me, making me feel centered, grounded.

Complete.

Sadie looked down at Chop’s handless body. “He’s really gone?” Sadie cried, covering her mouth with the hand that wasn’t holding the gun. A tear fell from her eye and ran down her cheek. “I mean, that’s what I wanted. Him. Gone. But now…he really is.”

“What the fuck did you think was going to happen?” I asked.

Sadie shook her head and took a step back. Her gaze went from me to Ti and then to King. “Don’t know what you were thinking,” I said. “But there ain’t no way you’re walking out of here,” I said, and I meant it.

Sadie wiped her cheek with the back of her hand. “Oh, my Abel.” she said, sniffling. “I never planned on walking out of here.” She looked over to Ti. “Take good care of my boy,” she said before placing the gun in her mouth.

Then she did what Chop was too much of a coward to do all those years before, and she ended it all.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Thia

BEAR LIMPED OVER his mother’s dead body and grabbed my face roughly in his hands. “Hey, Beautiful.” He turned my chin from side to side and looked me over like he was inspecting me for physical damage.

“I’m fine, don’t worry about me,” I reassured him. “Just scrapes and bruises.”

“Scrapes and bruises would be too much, but I call bullshit. Your cheeks are swollen and you just winced like I slapped you. What the fuck happened?” His nostrils flared.

I ignored his question, my teeth not seeming all that important. “Looks like I got off better than you,” I said, pointing to the bloody hole in his thigh.

“Just scrapes and bruises,” he said, repeating my lie. I rolled my eyes. “Now fucking tell me what happened to your mouth.”

“I lost a couple of teeth. Just in the back,” I added, like it would make Bear’s eyes turn any less murderous. I instantly regretted telling him.

“Who?” he demanded. “Who the fuck did Gus leave you with?” Bear asked, like he needed to know whose name he could add to his list of people to kill. “How the fuck you even get out?”

Both questions had the same answer. “Jake.” Bear’s eyes went wide. “But it’s okay,” I said, grabbing on to his arm. “He rescued me.” I left off the part about him being one of the people to pull those teeth.

“Fuck,” Bear said, pressing his forehead to mine, grabbing onto the back of my neck. “That could have gone either way.”

“But it didn’t,” I reassured him. “I’m fine. I swear.”

“I’m sorry, baby. I am so fucking sorry,” Bear said, pressing a kiss to my lips. He was covered in blood and from what I’d just witnessed I knew most of that blood wasn’t his.

“Bear,” I said, placing my hands over his. “You need to believe me when I tell you that I’m okay. Not just physically, but with all of this.” I looked around the clubhouse. “You’re alive. I’m alive. That’s all you need to know.”

Bear threaded his fingers up through my hair. “Why did you come here? You shouldn’t of.”

I shook my head. “You see, that’s where you’re wrong. I made you a promise that I wouldn’t give up on you, and…”

“And?” he pressed.

“And so I didn’t,” I said, adding, “and believe it or not, there is no place else I’d rather be.” Bear laughed and so did I because although it sounded ridiculous, it was true. Bear tugged on my hair. I stood on my tippy toes and pressed a kiss against the corner of his mouth. His lips didn’t move and neither did mine. We stood there for a minute. Just feeling our connection, breathing each other in, reminding ourselves that we were together now.

Alive.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Bear

“BEAR, COME LOOK at this,” King said, putting an end to our moment. Without letting go of Ti’s hand, I walked over to the balcony, dragging her with me, and looked down to what King was pointing at below. I was stunned at the sight before me. Surrounding the pool were Bastards. My former brothers, at least twenty of them, and they were all on their knees with their hands behind their heads while Munch, Wolf, Stone, and several older men I didn’t recognize stood around them, guns at the ready.

Well, there was one guy I recognized in the group. It seemed I hadn’t imagined seeing him earlier. “Ted?” I asked.