Freedom & Chrome || Book 1 ENGLISH

Anger

Ash, Mitch, and Siria had returned early in the morning and were now making their way through the nighttime camp. Only the guards crossed their path, most of them giving Ash confused or perplexed looks. When did he get back?

The strange motorcycle had been noticed, but with the high wear and tear on wheeled vehicles, it was common for new models to be parked outside their camp, and neither Mell nor Tyler had told anyone that Ash would be back. Hadn't they known it themselves?

"I really still can't believe what you did to that chick," Mitch laughed, not trying very hard to be quiet.

"I don't know, wasn't that a bit much?" interjected Siria a little meekly. She hadn't really noticed the whole situation around V. It wasn't until Ash came storming into the bar and tore the place apart that the two of them knew anything had happened at all.

"When you see my brother's black eye and busted open eyebrow later, don't say that anymore," Ash grumbled angrily. But not because he was angry about Siria's comment, but because the whole thing still pissed him off. He had explained everything to them on the way back and gradually Siria understood the cohesion within a clan. They looked out for each other and the fact that these guys had chosen V, with Ash as their brother, as their target was more than bad luck. Siria still knew the Medics well, these guys were no one to mess with. Ash was the best proof of that.

They crossed the dusty main square, which was still peaceful in the early morning sun and would soon be teeming with people. Ash wanted to be in bed and crashing by then if possible. He said goodbye to Mitch and Siria, who disappeared into a trailer together, and shuffled the last few feet over to Kaden. He was really beat, and admittedly the day was going differently than he would have expected. But V and Kade had signed the contracts, now he just had to deal with his parents, whom he had successfully bypassed so far.

He opened the door to Kaden's trailer and was unsurprised to find the door unlocked. Hardly anyone in the clan cherished their privacy or saw any purpose in putting their few belongings behind lock and key. Everything was always shared anyway, and when traveling as a small group, there was little that the others didn't know. Which just now had the advantage that Ash did not have to wake the two. Because, why wouldn't V be here either? That's why it came as even less of a surprise to him to find them both snuggled up close in bed. Half-naked. And the smell of sex was heavy in the air. He grabbed his bag from the bed and jumped back out of the trailer in one leap. There he was sleeping in the back seat of some car, V's by choice, rather than having to do that to himself when he woke up. As he reached for his bag in the dark, he didn't notice that the documents he had given to V and Kade earlier were no longer there.

x x x x

Tyler and Mell had been beside themselves since they found the contracts in Kaden's trailer. It should have been so obvious to them that Ash could be up to no good when he came back to the clan out of the blue after three years. Especially when V said it would only be for a few days. Mell had been sure from the beginning that Ash would eventually try to take V with him. His brother was sacred to him and as much as he loathed the clan, it shouldn't shock them. But it did and no way, for anything in this world, would she allow V to go with him. Ash had already caused enough trouble, she wouldn't let him risk V's life again.

The last few years had passed without any particular incident, and without Ash, things had been much quieter. Just the way Mell preferred it. She would have loved to get the whole issue with Ash out of the way, in fact she had even had a glimmer of hope that her rebellious son would return to the clan, to the family. But that definitely didn't seem to be the case.

Tyler set out early in the morning and first tried his luck with Kaden. He was looking for his oldest, and cautiously he peered into the trailer through the slightly open windows. V and Kaden still seemed to be asleep, he could hear V's soft snoring, but there was no sign of Ash in the trailer. He kept walking, wondering where Ash might be, when his eyes fell on the cars. It was cold out here at night, so if Tyler himself had a choice, he would try to sleep in his car for now.