Hammer's Pride by E.C. Land (brene brown rising strong TXT) 📕

“You sure about that?” Hammer asks, moving us away from Dexter and closer to where Axe and Gunner are holding Malice back.

“Yeah, I’m sure, but I’m also sure no one was in the building. I went through it myself since I knew the inside,” the firefighter mutters.

“And you didn’t find anything, Tap?” this comes from Malice.

Wait a minute, Tap’s a firefighter? So that’s why he’s missing from the clubhouse several days at a time.

“No. I’ve gotta get back in there and help salvage whatever we can, but the entire shop is gone,” Tap grumbles.

Tears well in my eyes at his confirmation of what I can already see for myself.

“Thanks, prospect,” Hammer says, then turns us to his brothers. “If Willow wasn’t in the shop, where could she be. In fact, where the fuck is Knuckles? He was supposed to be here.”

“Ugh, Prez,” Brass calls out.

“What?” Hammer snaps.

“There’s something in the alley over there,” Brass grumbles low enough for those near to hear him.

“Go check it out,” Hammer commands.

Brass, Gunner, and Axe stalk off and head in the direction of the alley. Something pricks at the back of my neck, and I furrow my brows as I glance around the area. My breath catches in my chest, and I stiffen in Hammer’s arms as I stare at the car across on the opposite corner to where all of the bikes are parked. Standing there is my brother, Adam, grinning maliciously at me, but what has me scared is who’s with him. Andrea, with her hand covering Willow’s mouth as she glares at me.

“Hammer,” I say, needing his attention. He must sense something wrong because he turns in the direction I’m staring at and curses. He releases me and takes off at a dead run in their direction. I take off after him. This is all my fault.

Adam and Andrea move quickly and start trying to shove Willow into the back of the car. She tries to fight them, but Andrea leans down and bites Willow. I know she’s biting her because that’s what she does. Bites someone to get them to comply.

Willow screams, trying to fight more. Adam glances behind them, and I can hear him curse as she throws Willow to the ground. He jumps in the car with my sister, and they speed off. Leaving Willow behind, thankfully.

Getting to her side, I fall to my knees and pull her to me. “I’m so, so, so sorry, Willow,” I cry.

“Avery,” she cries and hugs me to her as well. “They’re horrible. Worse than what you told Quinn and me. Oh God, they did this as a message. To you and the club,” she says, breaking into a sob. “You—your brothers killed Knuckles and said that’s one down. I— if you don’t do, as they say, they’ll keep coming. Next time, it’ll be Quinn and her daughter they take, and when that happens, they won’t be so lucky as me. This was a warning; they wanted you to think they were taking me.”

Tears run down my cheeks as I lift my gaze to look at the men now surrounding us. All of them look murderous, but it’s Hammer’s and Malice’s eyes that I see the burning rage in that causes me to shiver.

“Come on, Sunshine, let’s get you and Willow home,” Hammer growls, holding his hand out to help me up. Malice moves and lifts Willow clear off the ground and cradles her to him. “When we get back to the clubhouse, brothers, we’re goin’ on lockdown, and I’m callin’ church,” he says as he guides me to his bike on the other end of the road.

Mutters of agreement surround me, and though I should be nervous about what’s goin’ to happen next, I’m not. The reason for this is because my man prides himself on being who he is. He’s protective, ruthless, and will do whatever he has to to protect those around him.

I feel no remorse for what I know is coming my family’s way, but they started this all, and now Hammer’s gonna finish it. My only prayer is that he and everyone else isn’t hurt in the process.

Epilogue

Hammer

One month later

Avery’s brothers and their gang went into hiding after they gave us their fuckin’ warning.

Why?

Because the very same night, several brothers and I rode hard and fast from where my woman ran from. Those pieces of shits wanted to burn my woman’s house and place of business; I did ten times worst to them. I kicked in the door to the shithole that I knew was her parents; not giving a damn that they were both stoned. I took the sledgehammer I’d brought with me and slammed it down on Avery’s father’s head, smashing his head in. The mother, I simply put a bullet in her head while Axe and Dagger set up the explosives that would blow this motherfucker up.

We then went to her sister’s house several houses down; the other two lived with the parents, so I wasn’t too worried about those bitches. While a few of my brothers took the kids out of the house, I laid into the asshole who thought with his potbelly he could take me. Taking him to the floor, I snagged my sledgehammer and began giving him the same treatment as Avery’s father. But this asshole, I grinned while crushing every last one of his bones. He deserved everything he got.

Once the deed was done, we all stood back and watched the house blow up to smithereens.

The kids were taken to the clubhouse because I knew my woman would want the kids. She didn’t even ask what happened when she saw the blood. She’d been so happy to see the kids. This made my chest ache for some reason. I never thought about having any of my own but seeing the way she interacts with each of them, I knew I wanted to see her pregnant with ours.

The oldest kid actually thanked me for