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Chapter One
Diablo
“They’re here!”
A flurry of activity filled the clubhouse at that announcement. Rooster stretched one long leg out and nudged me with his boot.
“Get the door, Prospect,” he said. “Tank’s hands are full.”
Grumbling, I slid off my bar stool. Since I wasn’t patched in, I couldn’t kick Rooster back the way I wanted to and tell him to get the damn door himself. With no rank of my own, it was supposed to teach me humility and respect my superiors. But I was too hard-headed for that lesson to sink in.
Besides, Rooster had his hands full, too. His baby boy, Benji, was draped over his shoulder, fast asleep. He took after his mother, Lou, with his wispy honey-blonde hair and infectious smile.
I hurried to the door and pushed it open, standing aside to let Tank and his wife, Jules, inside. A giant diaper bag was hooked over his shoulder. Nestled in the crook of each arm were his twins, Owen and Opal. At two years old, they surveyed the world with wide eyes, clinging to Tank’s shirt with tiny fists.
“Is that my little gem?” Alexandra called over the hum of conversation. She picked a path through the crowded room, her gaze locked onto Opal. As soon as Opal spotted Alexandra, she burbled happily and stretched her arms out.
Alexandra scooped Opal up, pressing a loud, smacking kiss against her cheek.
I stood back, looking over the clubhouse. The Alpha Riders were all here with their families for the afternoon. When I first became a Prospect three years ago, every man in this room was single, unattached.
Now, there were girlfriends, fiancées, wives, and kids who called the clubhouse their sanctuary, too. It felt so foreign to me. Watching Tank beam with pride as he held his son. Watching Rooster and Crow with their kids, cradling them protectively. Watching Mack slide an arm around the waist of his fiancée, Brianna, and whisper something in her ear to make her smile.
This is what a family is supposed to look like, I realized. Safe. Happy. They had created a home together, in the presence of each other.
I shifted in place and crossed my arms.
My home life had been nothing short of a nuclear bomb—disastrous and damaging. My mother bailed when I was a baby, right after I was born. My father was a raging alcoholic, howling his demand for respect and obedience. He took his anger out on me nearly every night until I ran away from home at thirteen years old and never went back.
As Tank stood there with his son’s chubby little arms wrapped around his neck, he held Owen securely, one large hand anchored around Owen’s middle. Supporting him. Making sure Owen felt safe in his father’s presence.
Jealousy squirmed in my chest.
I wasn’t an Alpha Rider—not officially, not yet anyway. I didn’t belong to this family. And I couldn’t shake the feeling that I never would, forever the outsider looking in.
Lost in thought, I didn’t hear the tread of Axel’s boots on the floorboards as he approached until he stood next to me.
“Scowling like that will scare the kids, Diablo,” he said lightly.
He held out a cold beer in my direction. I accepted it, grateful for the shock of icy, slippery glass in my grip. It snapped me out of my head, kept me present in the moment rather than drowning in memories I wished I could forget.
“Good,” I replied. “Maybe they’ll think twice about putting their sticky hands on me.”
Axel chuckled.
As if on cue, Bear’s daughter, Maisie, went darting through the crowd, giggling. The remnants of her peanut butter and jelly sandwich covered her small hands. As she came closer, I pulled back, pressing myself against the door to block her escape. She grabbed my pant leg, trying to squeeze past me.
Bear swept Maisie into his arms. She shrieked and squirmed with laughter while he carried her off to the bathroom.
“Time to get you cleaned up, little one,” he declared. Then he made a noise of dismay. “How the hell did you get peanut butter in your hair?”
“Da!” she said, grinning proudly.
With a pointed look in Axel’s direction, I gestured to the purple jelly handprint on my jeans. He laughed with a shrug.
“What did you expect? Maisie is Bear’s kid. She’s not afraid of anything. You can scowl all you want. She’ll just laugh in your face.”
I moved toward the bar, taking refuge behind the counter as I searched for something to clean my pants off with. Axel followed, browsing the massive amount of food that covered the bar. He selected a handful of potato chips and leaned back against the counter, crossing his legs at the ankle.
