Claiming What's Mine: Crossroad Soldiers MC, #2

Shelby

When my dad, Knuckles, was brutally murdered, and then Mom scurried us off to places unknown, I was petrified. Not only was I leaving the only family I had; but I was losing all the ties to normalcy that I knew. Sasha and I struggled with this event in our lives, because we not only lost our dad, but we lost our mom as well. She’s never been the same since Dad was taken viciously from our lives.

Mom became a mean and spiteful woman. She loathed all the members of the Crossroad Soldiers that survived that tragic day, and she’s never had a nice word to say about them since. Sasha and I grew distant from our mother, deciding that the only people we had, who we could depend on, were each other. Mom started living her life for herself; so, we followed her lead.

Random men started coming in and out of our house; we started hiding out in our room. Not all of them were bad men per se, but they all looked at us like a lollipop they wanted to lick, suck and devour.

Not cool.

I know my dad was turning over in his grave at the kind of woman his old lady ended up being.

Their love was epic, something all romantic movies attempt to replicate. They had their bad times, but Dad doted on Mom and supported her every whim.

I miss him.

I miss them.

My family.

Who we used to be.

Sasha and I became a family of two. We talked about the friends we left behind; but they became more of a distant memory. We agreed when the time came, that we’d go back home despite our mother’s protest.

We needed, deserved those familial ties; whether by blood or oath. And we upheld our father’s chosen family with the highest regards.

Mom may hate them and blame them all, but we need them.

The last straw came the day my mother came home and announced that she was getting married. To a man whom both my sister and I feared each time he walked into our home. He’s in a motorcycle club, which confused us immensely, we thought she hated that life and the men who led that lifestyle.

To our horror, he came with two sons, two boys who were eager to claim Sasha and me for themselves.

Jaryl and Jayden.

No thank you.

Their beady eyes followed our every move, their tongues would swipe their bottom lips, and their words terrified us both. The things they said they planned on doing to our bodies caused vomit to form in my mouth.

Fuck that.

We knew it was time to run. We’d kept in touch with Milly behind our mom’s back. And thank fuck we did. When we told her about our new stepdaddy to be, she told us it was time to come home.

We couldn’t have agreed with her more.

Little by little we began gathering our things and settling our debts. We put in notices at our jobs, and tucked our money away in a safe place.

Sayonara, motherfuckers.

It’s time for a new, better life.

I can’t say that I was sorry to run away from our mother the way we did, but I miss and will always miss the woman she used to be. The woman who used to love us unconditionally and tell us stories of how she fell in love with our dad.

Dallas

When I was a young lad, my heart was stolen by a pixie of a little girl. She was my shadow, one that I always watched for out of the corner of my eye. Every time she fell and scraped her knee, I was there to bandage her up. Whereas we grew up like brother and sister; it never felt that way in my heart.

She was more than that to me, she was my world.

When the girls were kidnapped, my heart literally stopped beating in my chest. Until, that is, I learned that both Shelby and Sasha were safe. One of the sisters had a nightmare and they both ended up crawling into their mother’s bed, this saved them from being taken the night the other girls were. It’s not that I didn’t worry about the other girls who were taken; I was just relieved for the ones who weren’t.

Especially where it came to my Shelby.

I stuck to her side like a leech; never letting her leave my line of sight. My protective instincts where she was concerned tripled what they originally were.

The boys all rallied together and found one girl to stick to like glue. We knew our fathers were busy planning to rescue then retaliate, so we took over the roles that they couldn’t be there for. It didn’t matter that we were kids; growing up the way we had, we already knew that protecting the girls was our utmost priority.

Then that night came, the one where we lost a lot of our family. Shelby was whisked off, out of my life, and I’ve struggled every day since. When your heart is ripped out of your chest, and far away in another’s hands, it’s hard to breathe and exist.

When word came that the girls were returning home, for the first time in years, I felt my heart begin to beat in my chest.

My body, mind and soul woke up.

Milly told me they hadn’t had an easy time of things since Libby, their mother, took them away from the club.

Libby hated us.

Libby wished us all dead.

Fuck Libby for taking my life away from me.

And now, she’s marrying into another motorcycle club? One that has my girl running scared. At least she’s running back home, where she should’ve been all these years.

I can’t wait to wrap my arms around her.

As soon as we’ve been reunited, I plan on finding out what exactly she fears from her mother’s new man and his children.

If they’ve laid one hand on either one of their bodies, they are dead.

I don’t give a fuck if I ultimately start a battle.

It’s a war I will finish and come out on top of.

We’ve trained for years to take on our enemies, I won’t fear facing the unknown. I have a steady hand when I hold my gun. I can outride, outshoot and out maneuver the average man.

Our fathers trained us like soldiers.

They trained all of us that way, even the girls.

We are ready for anything life throws at us. We know that we’re not untouchable, we can be taken down like any other human being… losing people in the past, we are more than aware of that fact. That doesn’t mean we’re going to back down, and not pursue those who’ve threatened or harmed one of our own.

We are fighters. Born and bred in the MC lifestyle. We were trained to face our troubles head on.

And face them we will.

Even our women are highly trained.

Most of them can take down the average man with their hands tied behind their backs.

When the clubhouse door opens, and Shelby walks in, all I do is open up my arms and she comes running into them.

Well, mostly.

Now, my life can re-start.

Our life can begin.

Together.

As it always should’ve been.

Dallas

One year later

The women have been up our ass about gaining a patch into the club, ever since they took out Lorenzo’s men. Men that were sent to eradicate the women of the club and hurt us where it counts the most.

Our women are valued and coveted; we were raised to protect them at all cost. So now that they want to stand beside us in battle, we’re having a hard time coming to terms with it. It’s not that we don’t think they’re capable, we know they are, it just goes against everything ingrained in us.

The protectors being protected is a hard pill for us to swallow.

Some of us are having a harder time coming to terms with their request than others. I know what they’re capable of, it doesn't mean I want them placed in any sort of danger, however.

I officially made Shelby my old lady three months ago, and since then she’s been using our time alone together to pound into me why we should let the women join our ranks in the club.

Shelby, I get it, I tell her, once a-fucking-gain. I’m not the one who makes the final decisions and you know it.

But you have the rest of their ears, Dallas. All I ask is that you rally for us. The troops will listen to you if you argue on our behalf, she states, fists firmly planted on her hips.

"Woman, it’s a thorn of contention in church. We’ve argued with one another until we’re blue in the face. It’s pitting brother against brother; that’s not something that can happen and you fucking know that as well as I do. We have to trust each other and have each other’s backs. You know how this world works," I hesitantly argue. I don't want to be on her bad side, but this has to be approached with caution and a fine touch.

Why does this have to be a big deal, Dallas? I don’t understand what the issue is. Do y’all not trust us to have your backs? Just because I’m not waving around my dick doesn't mean I don’t have balls of steel.

Same damn argument, different motherfucking day.

My advice, Shelby. If you ladies really want this to come to pass with a vote, you might wanna lay off just a smidgen. The more you ladies argue, the more the brothers are inclined to go the opposite way.

That’s your advice? To back off and let you guys go on with business as usual? So, we do this, then what? Everyone just assumes we no longer care and want this? That doesn’t sound productive, Dallas.

Neither does you pissing off every brother, Shelby, I fight back. This shit is getting old, the brothers are fit to be tied and ready to veto their wishes due to the fact that they can’t let the subject rest. If you ladies really want this, you need to find a way to prove yourselves to the men, not just run your mouths.

Let me guess. The men still want us to fight them? Y’all catching us off guard as we walk through the clubhouse isn’t fair, we’re not prepared, Dallas, she spews my name out of her mouth as if it’s poisonous.

You think our enemies are gonna announce themselves to you and give you time to prepare, Shelby? Now, I’m no longer irritated, I’m pissed the fuck off.

No, she stammers out.

So, we should what, Shelby? Give you a courtesy that they won’t? How will that prove to us that you ladies are ready?

I guess it won’t, she says with a sigh.

Chew on that for a bit and take it to your ladies. We won’t be convinced to let you become patched members if you aren’t prepared for everything and anything that could be thrown y’alls way. Sorry if that disappoints you, but it’s called life, Shelby.

Not willing to stand around and have this out with her, I grab my cut off the dresser and leave her in our room. I need a drink and she needs to think.

Fucking women.

Shelby and her team of cohorts are gonna be the death of me.

Why they’ve targeted me as their spokesman is beyond me.

I will always vote for them, but I won’t pick fights with my brothers.

Ain’t happening.

Shelby

Well, you really blew that one, Shelby, I murmur to myself as I kick the edge of the bed in frustration. My big toe instantly throbs from the harshness of my actions. Fucking hell.

I know Dallas is on our side, but the women are on me daily about getting him to fight for us. I understand why he’s hesitant to go up against his brothers, but he’s supposed to be on my side.

Pulling out my phone, I send a group text out to my girls.

Well, that didn’t go as planned, I type out.

You haven't been able to chisel down his defenses? Amberly responds.

He refuses to go against his brothers, I reply.

What will it take to get them to see us as grown, badass women, instead of the little girls who used to worship them and follow their every move? Wasn’t it us who took care of the problem at the gym or do I have a faulty fucking memory? Hope types out her response, and even without hearing her voice, I can feel the angry vibes from her words.

Meet tomorrow at our regular spot? Milly asks the group.

We all reply with a resounding "yes."

With that planned, and knowing that Dallas won’t be joining me in our room anytime soon, I head into the bathroom for a long, drawn-out bath. I need time to think, and the soothing water always helps me when I’ve hit rock bottom.

The stress I get from the women, the arguments with Dallas, it’s all starting to weigh down my shoulders.

I need a vacation from my life.

When I came back home, I had all of these expectations.

Being put in the middle of a shit storm between the men and women was not something I was anticipating. But women empowerment and all of that is something I believe in, will fight for, even if it becomes a battle of wills with my man. I hate that he’s upset with me; I hate it, I wanted everything to be sunshine and roses when I came back home.

But that’s the story of my life.

I always dream big, then am disappointed when it doesn’t play out like I foresee it in my mind. Mom always accused me of living with my head up in the clouds, I can’t help that I want more out of life than what’s offered up to me. I want to fight for what I believe in, not give up until I work my ass off to try and make my dreams come true.

I won’t give up on my beliefs, not only would that make me a coward, but others are depending on me to have their backs. I made promises to my woman posse, and I don’t plan on yanking it back. I’m a woman of my word; in this life, that’s all you have to stand by.

Loyalty and trust isn’t something that’s just freely given to you. You have to earn that shit.

And fuck anyone who says otherwise.

The only people who would