Thor: Savage Crows MC Book 7

by T. O. Smith

  And I needed that spark back. I needed every piece of my woman back.

  Hatchet stepped onto the porch, his boots thumping across the wood as he strode over to the lawn chair beside me, taking a seat. He didn't say anything; we both just kind of sat there in silence.

  I didn't know what to say to him. I was the reason his wife was lying on her death bed right then.

  "Thor texted me." Hatchet finally spoke up.

  I swallowed past the lump in my throat, but stayed silent, not sure what Thor had texted him about.

  "Lex, this shit with Layla – this shit isn't your fault." He told me, his voice rough with emotion. He pressed his fingers into his eyes as he blew out a harsh breath. He looked like hell. "The only people to blame for this shit are the Burning Devils – not you, Alexia. You're as much of a victim in this shit as she is."

  "Layla would have never been faced with the Burning Devils if it wasn't for me," I told him, my voice breaking as tears welled in my eyes. I hated this shit. I hated being the reason that Hatchet might lose his wife – that his kids might lose their mother.

  Hatchet knelt in front of me and grabbed my hands in his. "Alexia, please believe me." He begged. I sobbed, squeezing my eyes shut. "Guilt – it may as well be a fucking disease once you start feeling it. You're not guilty; none of this is your fault. Please stop blaming yourself." He begged me.

  "Hatchet, how can you be so kind to me about this?" I choked out, tears streaming down my face. “Your wife is in the hospital because of me coming to this town.”

  "Because it's not your fault, Lex. It hurts, believe me. Seeing Layla like this hurts so fucking bad, but I can't let you sit here and take the blame for this. And it's tearing you up so badly that it's worrying Thor to the point that he feels like another man has to come in to try to help you. Believe me, we're all territorial over our women." He gives me a small, barely-there smile. “You’re a woman with so much fire in her soul that it rivals Thor’s. Don’t let this guilt burn it out, Lex.”

  Thor stepped onto the porch. All I could see were the blurred image of his boots in my peripheral vision. "Lex, sweetheart." He softly called.

  I looked up at him. Hatchet quickly moved so that Thor could take his place. "Lex, please, sweetheart. None of this is your fault. Please believe me – believe Hatchet. No one here is blaming you." He pressed his fingers lightly to my temple. "I need the strong Lex back, sweetheart."

  "I want to be her again so badly," I whispered. “But I’m destroying all of you, and I hate this.” My bottom lip trembled.

  "Let her come back, Lex," Thor begged me. "When I first met you, you were so full of fire. I need you to be her again. I need my Lex back, sweetheart."

  I opened my mouth to respond, but before I could, gunshots blasted through the area surrounding us. I instantly dropped to the porch flat on my belly. “Fuck!” Thor roared as he snatched his gun out of his cut. He covered my body with his as Grave, Hatchet, and Scorpion made a tight circle around us. “Lex, I need you to listen to me,” Thor said into my ear. I nodded my head, my heart thumping wildly in my chest in fear. “We’re going to move you inside. I need to get you into my basement. We’ll lock you in there until it’s safe for you to come out, okay?”

  “Okay.” I choked out, my fear almost making it impossible to speak.

  He began to move, and I moved my body with his so I stayed beneath him. Grave, Scorpion, and Hatchet covered us until we made it to the front door. “Go!” Thor roared at me as he yanked me up from the floor with him, pushing me in the direction of his basement.

  We took off running, Thor’s huge body blocking mine. Once we got in the basement, Thor grabbed my face in his hands and kissed me as if it would be the last time that he would ever get the opportunity to. “I love you.” He breathed against my lips before he dashed back up the stairs and slammed the door shut behind him, leaving me in the darkness of the basement with only a single, tiny lamp offering a small, tiny bit of light.

  I listened to the gunshots ringing out overhead – listened to the men shouting orders at each other. My skin crawled. This couldn’t be happening. How had they found us so easily?

  Suddenly, the basement door was kicked open, and I was faced off with the one man in the Burning Devils that I was doing my damnest to run from. Fear crawled down my spine, but I wouldn’t let it paralyze me. If I was doing today, I would not go down without a fucking fight.

  “I knew you had to be around here somewhere.” Darrell drawled as he calmly walked down the steps, the gunshots now louder since the door was open. Three other members of the Burning Devils came down the stairs behind him. “It’s time to come home, baby.”

  “I’m not fucking going anywhere with you.” I spit, forcing myself to be strong despite the fear that was currently rushing through my veins.

  A sick, twisted smirk tilted his lips. I wanted to vomit. That smirk meant pain – blood spilled. “No?” He asked softly. “We’ll see about that.”

  Suddenly, two of the three men behind him grabbed me. “Thor!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, hoping that he might hear me over the noise of gunshots, though I knew it was a slim chance.

  “He’s not going to hear you, babe,” Darrell said. He turned on his heel, striding back towards the stairs. “Shut her up.” He ordered.

  I thrashed around in their grips as the third man stepped forward with a bandana in his hand. One of the men holding me grabbed my hair, yanking my head back painfully. I screamed as loud as I could, desperate for one of the Savage Crows MC’s men to hear me.

  The one with the bandana wrapped the bandana around my head, silencing me. Hot tears slid down my cheeks as one of the men behind me began to tie my wrists behind my back. I kicked out at the man in front of me, but he only shoved my leg down. He quickly knelt and tied my ankles together.

  I was dragged roughly up the stairs, my knees knocking painfully against the wooden stairs. “Cease fire!” Darrell roared.

  Silence rang out a few moments later. I screamed against the bandana, but the sound was muffled.

  Despite it being muffled, Thor still snapped his head around at the sound, his eyes widening in horror. “Alexia!” He roared.

  Hatchet aimed at the man holding me, but in a split-second decision, the man dragging me shoved me in front of him.

  I screamed in agony as the bullet tore into my abdomen. Hot tears of pain slid down my cheeks, my vision momentarily turning white. Sobs tore from my chest.

  Maybe this was my payback for Layla.

  “No!” Thor shouted, pure pain and terror in his voice.

  The man holding me dropped me to the ground, everyone rushing for the trees where they had come from as the rest of the Savage Crows MC tore into Thor’s yard. I screamed in agony against the bandana in my mouth.

  “Lex?” Thor asked as he dropped to his knees beside me. “Fuck, sweetheart, fuck. Fuck!” He shouted, tears falling from his eyes. Scorpion dropped down on the other side of me as Thor tore his cut and gun sling off onto the ground and ripped off his shirt.

  Scorpion pressed Thor’s shirt to my stomach, and I screamed in pain against the bandana. Thor quickly reached behind my head and untied it.

  “Oh, God, it – it hurts.” I sobbed, a cry of pain leaving my lips, my eyes fluttering shut. The world was beginning to fade in and out.

  “I need you to stay awake, Lex,” Thor said. “Please, sweetheart, you’re losing a lot of blood, and we can’t get out of here safely. Stay awake for me, Lex.” He begged. His voice was strangled; he sounded like this was torturing him.

  “Fuck, Thor, there’s too much blood.” Scorpion said, applying more pressure.

  I screamed again, the pain ripping me from unconsciousness. The pain was fucking unbearable. Darkness was creeping into the edges of my consciousness again, pulling me back under. “Thor,” I called, knowing I couldn’t stop this. I was going to black out, and I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to come back to him.

  But I wasn’t afraid
.

  Thor’s bottom lip trembled, tears sliding down his cheeks as he grabbed my face in his hands. He pressed his lips to mine in a short, hard kiss before he pulled back, still holding my face tenderly in his hands. “Go to sleep, sweetheart.” He soothed. “Just promise you’ll come back to me.” He begged me. “This is not how we’re going to end.”

  The darkness was now clouding most of my vision, but there was a determination in my heart – in my soul – to come back to my biker. “I promise,” I swore, my words slurring. “I’ll always come back to you, Thor. I love you.”

  The world faded to black, and I welcomed the emptiness with welcome arms because here, there was no pain, no fear.

  Just . . . emptiness.

  “Drive them back!” Alex roared. “Medic is on his way, brother!” He called over to me.

  “She’s lost consciousness!” Scorpion told him. “Medic needs to fucking hurry up, or we’re going to fucking lose her!”

  I stared down at Lex’s face, hating that it was paling more and more with each second that passed. If we didn’t hurry up and get her to a hospital, I was going to lose her.

  This shit here – this shit I was feeling – it was fucking crippling.

  Was this how Hatchet was feeling?

  This was why I had never wanted an old lady, never wanted the fucking attachment, but the moment I had laid my eyes on her, I knew there would never be anyone else for me. I had tried to deny it at first, but after the first taste of her, there had been no way in hell that I was walking away.

  But now, I might not have an option. Now, she might leave me in the worst fucking way possible.

  I squeezed my eyes shut, sucking in a shallow breath. By this point, Scorpion and I were both applying pressure to her abdomen, doing our damnest to keep her from bleeding out. I opened my eyes again, focusing on my hands. Fuck, they were coated red with her blood. Shaking my head, I looked back at her face. Right then, she looked peaceful. There was no pain on her face, and I could only hope that she was only finding comfort in the darkness right now – that she wasn’t planning on staying there forever.

  God, I don’t ask for much, but please spare her. Let her live. She’s barely had a real chance to live – to fucking grow.

  God, please.

  I looked up from her face to see the rest of the Savage Crows MC steadily walking closer and closer to my tree line, shots continuously firing from our line of men. Having Alex as a member of our club was definitely helpful in this moment, especially since he had been part of the military for so long. He had expertise that we really needed if we wanted to win this.

  I looked back down at Lex’s face just as our black club van tore into my yard. I lifted Lex from the ground and with Scorpion still applying pressure to her stomach, I rushed towards the van, not missing a beat as we stepped into the back of the vehicle. As soon as Grim slammed the doors shut behind us, Medic tore off back out of my yard, heading for the hospital as fast as the van would go.

  “She’ll make it, brother,” Scorpion told me.

  I shakily ran my hand over her hair and ran my fingers down her pale cheek. “She will,” I confirmed. For me, right now, there was no other fucking option – not one that I was willing to believe in anyway. “She promised me. She wouldn’t make a promise she didn’t intend to keep.”

  Stay with me, Lex. I fucking need you here with me.

  As soon as we pulled up to the hospital, the back doors were flung open. A doctor was standing there with a nurse, a stretcher already there to place Lex on. “She’s in good hands, Thor. We’ll take care of her.” Dr. Johnson told me.

  With a clenched jaw, I nodded and lifted Lex’s limp body into my arms, placing her on the stretcher. They rushed her inside of the building, and I stared after them until they disappeared from my sight. Scorpion clapped a hand on my shoulder. “Let’s go sit down while we wait to hear some news.”

  I numbly nodded my head as we walked inside the waiting room area.

  You promised me, sweetheart. Please keep that promise. I begged her. I can’t do this shit without you.

  I looked up at Grim and Alex as they stepped into the waiting room. I had been waiting for hours now, and there hadn’t been any kind of news yet. To say that I was beginning to feel a bit out of my mind was a fucking understatement, but I was managing to keep it under wraps. “The Burning Devils are no more,” Grim informed me. “Any news on Alexia yet?”

  I just shook my head, not bothering to say anything. “Hatchet is pretty torn up about what happened,” Alex spoke up quietly. I sighed, dropping my face into my hands. “Brother isn’t handling it well. She’s here because of a bullet fired from his weapon.”

  I shrugged. “Not blaming him.” I shortly said, not bothering to say anything else. If I spoke anymore on the subject, I was going to lose my shit and destroy something – get my ass fucking arrested.

  How could I blame Hatchet for this shit? He had acted when I had been too horrified by the fact that she was being taken to do what I needed to do to protect her. His head had stayed in the right place. He had tried to save her. She just got caught in the crossfire.

  Scorpion just shook his head at Alex and Grim, letting them know that I wouldn’t be speaking to anyone any time soon. I stared blankly at the wall in front of me. I vaguely registered the rest of the club coming in, eventually followed by the club women, but I didn’t acknowledge anyone.

  “Brother.” I heard Ghost call from the door.

  I looked over to see him standing there with Jessa, Judge, and their son – Ryan – the rest of the King’s Disciples MC standing behind them. When Ghost had first joined the club, he and I actually had been pretty good friends. I was the only person that was actually nice to him during his prospect status, and when Reina had shown up on Savage Crows MC territory after being gone for years, I was the one he’d come to when he wanted to vent.

  “Fuck.” I whispered hoarsely.

  Ghost strode over to me, his boots thumping across the hospital floor. I stood up from my chair as he reached me. He clapped me on my back as he hugged me. “She’s going to pull through, brother.” He told me gruffly.

  “How did you -”

  “Grim called me.” He informed me. I looked over at my president for a moment, but his expression never changed. I looked back at Ghost. “Grim told me you might need your old best friend here.”

  Jessa rested her hand on my shoulder. I turned to face her. She wrapped her arms around me. “She’s going to be okay, Thor.” She whispered as I wrapped my own arms around her, tears finally falling freely down my face.

  I was so fucking scared that I was about to lose her.

  I looked up as the surgeon that had been operating on Alexia for the past few hours stepped out of the back, striding towards our very large group. I stepped forward instantly. “Damien Greene?” The surgeon asked as he held his hand out to me, calling me by my government name. “I’m Dr. Hall. Do you mind if we speak in private about Miss Xane?” He asked, mentioning Alexia.

  I nodded. He turned on his heel, and I followed silently behind him until we reached a small, consultation room. He shut the door behind me and took a seat in one of the chairs. I took a seat in the one across from him. “Miss Xane made it out of surgery alive.” He told me. My shoulders sagged in relief. “Her heart did flatline on my operating table once, but other than that, we didn’t have any complications.” I swallowed thickly at his words as I clenched my hands in my lap. She had almost left me, but she kept her promise to me. “She’ll need to go through a few months of physical therapy. It was a very complicated surgery. The bullet exploded on impact.”

  The surgeon steepled his fingers together in front of him. “And Mr. Greene, Miss Xane will never have any possibility of having children ever again. She’ll be on hormone therapy for the remainder of her life as we had to remove all of her reproductive organs because of this.” He told me quietly. I stared at him incredulously.

  “Fuck.” I whispered as I
shoved my hands through my hair, staring down at the floor.

  We hadn’t even been together long enough to begin discussing a future, and yet, so much of it was already ripped away from us. I knew she said she could never have children, but we had never discussed what happened to her in-depth.

  But if there had been even a sliver of a possibility before, there was absolutely none now.

  “Ms. Xane will also have to go through a diet change – her body will have trouble passing solid food for a while until her stomach and intestines fully heal. So, until further notice, she’s on a soup and pureed food diet.”

  I pressed the heels of my hands to my eyes, drawing in a deep, shaky breath. She was okay. Everything else, I would deal with in stride.