The world exploded around us in a symphony of splintering wood and shouted commands.
"Move! Move! Move!" Jake's voice cut through the chaos as Iron Fang members scattered like a well-oiled machine. Through the bedroom window, I could see black SUVs surrounding the clubhouse, their headlights turning night into harsh interrogation.
Kane's hand tightened around mine, his grip the only anchor in a world spinning out of control. "We're leaving. Now."
"I can't go out there like this!" I gestured wildly at my state of undress—nothing but underwear and his oversized leather jacket that barely covered my thighs.
"You can and you will." Kane's voice brooked no argument as he pulled me toward the door. "Unless you'd prefer to explain to the feds why you're here in your underwear."
The hallway buzzed with controlled chaos. Iron Fang members moved with military precision, destroying evidence and grabbing essential supplies. No panic, no wasted motion—just efficient evacuation by men who'd clearly done this before.
My bare feet slapped against cold concrete as Kane dragged me through corridors that felt like a dying organism's arteries. The jacket rode up dangerously with every step, and I was acutely aware of how several pack members' gazes lingered on my exposed legs.
"Back exit," Jake called, appearing beside us with a duffel bag. "Bikes are ready."
The alley behind the clubhouse was narrow and dark, filled with motorcycles that gleamed like mechanical predators. Kane's Harley sat among them, black chrome that reflected my terrified face.
"Get on."
I climbed behind him, thighs spreading around the leather seat in ways that made heat spiral through my core despite the danger. Kane's body was solid and warm against mine, and when he kicked the engine to life, the vibration shot straight through me.
"Hold tight," he growled.
I wrapped my arms around his waist as we exploded out of the alley. Behind us, the clubhouse blazed with police lights, but ahead lay only darkness and uncertainty.
The city blurred past in streams of neon and shadow as Kane navigated streets I'd never seen. His pack flanked us protectively, their bikes weaving through late-night traffic with practiced ease. Every turn took us further from civilization, further from the world I understood.
Further from any hope of return.
Pressed against Kane's back, I could feel his heartbeat steady and strong despite our desperate flight. His scent surrounded me—leather and motor oil and something wild that made my body respond in ways that defied logic. The wind whipped under the jacket, and I was grateful for the darkness hiding my body's involuntary reactions.
This was wrong. I was fleeing federal authorities with a man accused of assault, half-naked and clinging to him like salvation. My career was destroyed, my reputation in shambles, my entire life reduced to whatever I could carry on a motorcycle.
But Kane's solid warmth against my chest, the protective formation of his pack around us, the way he'd moved heaven and earth to keep me safe—it felt more real than anything in my carefully constructed professional world.
The thought should have terrified me.
Instead, as city lights gave way to forest darkness, I found myself pressing closer to Kane's back, letting his strength shelter me from the storm we were riding into.
Two hours later, we turned onto a dirt road that disappeared into wilderness thick enough to swallow secrets. Trees pressed close on both sides, their branches creating a canopy that blocked out civilization and hope in equal measure.
The cabin that emerged from the darkness looked like something from a different century. All rough wood and stone, windows dark as closed eyes, surrounded by forest that whispered of ancient laws and forgotten freedoms.
"End of the line," Jake announced as engines died one by one.
I climbed off Kane's bike on legs that shook from more than just the ride. The leather jacket had worked its way up during our escape, and I tugged it down self-consciously as Iron Fang members began unloading supplies.
"Inside," Kane said, his hand finding my lower back. The possessive touch sent electricity shooting through me. "We'll be safe here."
The cabin's interior was sparse but functional—stone fireplace, leather furniture worn soft with age, kitchen that looked like it hadn't seen use in months. Everything carried Kane's scent, marking this as his territory in ways that made my pulse race.
"Perimeter detail," Kane ordered his men. "Full watch rotation. No one gets within a mile without us knowing."
As Iron Fang members scattered to follow orders, I caught fragments of their conversations:
"—too convenient—"
"—lawyer shows up and suddenly—"
"—feds knew exactly where—"
They were talking about me. Suspecting me.
Jake appeared at Kane's shoulder, his voice low but not low enough. "We need to discuss the timing, boss. Courthouse raid, then the clubhouse—"
"Not now," Kane cut him off.
"When? After they find this place too?" Jake's gaze flicked to me meaningfully. "Someone's feeding them information. Someone who knows our protocols."
The accusation hung in the air like smoke. Several pack members had paused their preparations to listen, their attention focused on me with predatory intensity.
"You think I'm the leak," I said quietly.
Jake's expression was carefully neutral. "I think it's one hell of a coincidence."
"Coincidence?" Heat flashed through me—fury and humiliation mixing into something explosive. "You think I orchestrated my own life being destroyed?"
"I think lawyers know how to play long games," Jake replied evenly. "How to sacrifice pawns for bigger victories."
"Enough." Kane's voice carried absolute authority, but I could see the conflict in his eyes. Even he was wondering, just a little, if his beta's suspicions had merit.
The realization hit me like a physical blow. These men—dangerous, violent men who'd risked everything to protect me—didn't trust me. And maybe they were right not to.
"I'm going outside," I said, needing air that didn't carry the weight of their suspicion.
"Calla—" Kane started.
"Don't." I cut him off, wrapping his jacket tighter around me like armor. "Just… don't."
The cabin door slammed behind me with more force than necessary, but I didn't care. Rain had started falling—soft at first, then harder, turning the dirt around the cabin into mud that squelched between my bare toes.
I didn't care about that either.
"I was supposed to dismantle men like them in court. Instead, I was the one on trial."
Behind me, I could hear Kane and Jake's voices rising in argument, their words lost to the storm but their anger unmistakable. Ahead lay nothing but forest and darkness and the growing certainty that I'd traded one prison for another.
Thunder rumbled overhead, and I realized this storm was going to be a big one.
Just like everything else in Kane Drax's world.
What had started as gentle drops became a deluge that soaked through Kane's leather jacket in seconds, turning the dirt around the cabin into sucking mud. I stood there anyway, letting the storm punish me for every stupid decision that had led to this moment.
"Stubborn woman's going to catch pneumonia," I heard one of the Iron Fang members mutter.
Probably. But the alternative was going back inside to face more accusations, more suspicion, more of Kane's conflicted stares that made my body betray every principle I'd ever held.
Thunder cracked overhead like the world splitting open.
"That's enough."
Kane's voice cut through the storm, rough with authority that made every hair on my body stand at attention. I didn't turn around, didn't acknowledge his approach, but I felt him behind me like gravity itself.
"You're coming inside."
"I'm fine out here."
"You're soaked, shivering, and about to pass out from exhaustion." Kane moved closer, and his heat pressed against my back despite the rain. "Don't make me carry you."
I laughed, the sound bitter as the storm. "What are you going to do, throw me over your shoulder like some caveman?"
"If I have to."
The quiet certainty in his voice made me spin around to face him. Kane stood in the downpour like he didn't even feel it, water streaming down his face and soaking through his t-shirt until it clung to every hard line of his torso.
"You wouldn't dare—"
Kane moved.