Lux furrows his brow, placing his hand on my shoulder. “You’re coming back, Salvation, even if I have to come get you myself. You need anything, burying a body, burning shit down, you call me. The club’ll be there.”
“I ’ppreciate that, Pres.”
“Tell the brothers you’re headed out,” Lux says, hugging me quickly.
I step back, looking Lux in his eyes. “Thanks.” I exit the office and find Ridge and Jude outside the door. “Eavesdropping, boys?” I ask, passing them to stop at the bar.
“Well, we didn’t want to interrupt,” Jude jokes, punching me in the arm.
“But we didn’t want to miss the love fest either,” Ridge chimes in. “You out?”
I nod. “I’m out.”
Jude gives me a fist bump. “Be safe, man.”
Ridge hugs me. Andi nods at me as I walk by. I stop at the door and turn to look at the club and the men who have had my back. “Thanks, boys and ladies.”
“Take care of yourself,” Andi says, her eyes shiny with unshed tears.
“I’ll be back, but in case I’m not…just remember, I love this club. It’s been my home since I was a teen.”
Not another word is said as I throw up my deuces and walk out the door. This may be the last time I see my club.
56
Maximus “Max”
I have no idea how long I’ve been running, but I keep going. Tree branches grab at my hair and face, twigs and rocks dig into my feet as I try my damnedest to run so far into the woods, Genocide won’t find me. My goal is to find a warm spot to hide before nightfall, so I’m protected from the frigid temperatures. I’ve lived in the mountains for most of my life. I’m not a stranger to surviving in the woods, but dying out here is not something I want to do.
I’ve spent most of my life alone - I enjoy it. I’m surrounded by peace and nature, so I couldn’t ask for a better place to live. Right now, I would be ever so grateful for someone to help me out of this fucked up situation. I’d like someone to tell me everything will be okay and that I’m going to live through this bullshit of being hunted like an animal.
I find a hollowed-out shack to spend the night in. I plan to stay here so Genocide can’t find me. It doesn’t offer much shelter from the cold, but at least it’s some shelter so I don’t freeze to death. I find a corner in what’s left of what could have possibly been a living area and curl up into the tightest ball I am able to. I close my eyes and try to sleep, but every animal noise, cricket chirp, wind rustling the leaves and rattling the shack, startles me awake.
This is gonna be a long ass night.
With it quiet out here except for the sounds of the nature around me, I think about the night I was taken. Genocide or Jim had to have been watching me and followed me home. I still don’t understand how they came to the conclusion that I was a lynx.
I can’t explain the connection I have with a man named Salvation either. All I know is that from the moment I was abducted, the link was made. Quite honestly, I don’t know if he even hears my pleas, but I pray that he does.
57
Salvation
I made it as far as Montana, where the connection only got stronger the further I went. I knew that once I entered mountain terrain, my Harley was no longer a good means of travel, so I hid it by a small white brick home next to an ATV.
I scout out the area surrounding the home, making sure no one will witness a human one second and a panther the next. I strip down to nothing, feeling the crisp, cold wind on my body, goosebumps racing across every inch of my flesh; it’s been a long time since I’ve felt cold like this. I get a running start, taking a leap as far as I can reach, shedding my human form. With my nose to the ground, I head off into the snow-covered caps of the Montana mountains to find the woman I feel is the other half of my heart.
I like the snow. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen it or felt it between the pads on my paws.
I dig my claws into the ground; the snow crunching under my paws and for a moment, I want to fall onto my back and make a snow Salvation. Just as I begin to roll backwards, a loud popping sound explodes in the distance followed by three more…
POP!
POP!
POP!
Something snaps in the air over my head and tree branches crash to the ground behind me. My ears perk up, all my senses on high alert as more popping noises ricochet through the air, each one closer than the last.
I’m being shot at, or it would seem I’m being shot at. What the ever-loving fuck?
Most people and animals would run in the opposite direction of gun shots, but not me. I’m running toward them because where there’s idiots with guns hunting my kind in the mountains, there’s a damn guarantee I’m gonna find Max somewhere out there—and I’m not leaving until I find her.
I dodge more popping sounds as I run further up into the mountains, my paws sinking deeper into the crisp, pristine snow. I hear the snapping of twigs and branches, and as I come to a break in the trees, I see a man with a rifle sniffing around a rotted, hollowed-out shack and I realize that he wasn’t shooting at me, he was firing off warning shots to whoever or whatever is hiding inside. I stop short of the shack,
