Damian stood in the middle of the room, his chest rising hard, fingers curling into tight fists as he dragged his jacket over his shoulders. The crisp wedding suit only made the tension in his body more obvious. I let out a slow breath, pressing my back against the wall, trying to steady the anger building in my chest.

“Are any of you even listening to me?” he snapped, his voice cutting through the room.

I stayed hidden behind the hallway door I had slipped through moments ago, not daring to step out. In front of me, Kade, Ryker, Dante, and Jax stood facing him, their shoulders squared, blocking my view.

Dante tilted his head slightly, glancing back at me over his shoulder. “You sure you don’t want to come out?” he whispered. “We can handle this.”

My throat tightened. I couldn’t answer. The way Damian stood there rigid, shaking with barely contained rage made my stomach twist. Then, before I could think otherwise, he lunged forward and grabbed a woman by the hair.

She cried out, her voice sharp with fear. “Ahh...leave me alone!” she screamed, struggling against his grip.

Chairs scraped sharply against the floor as the bikers pushed to their feet, tension snapping through the room, but Kade lifted a hand without looking back, and they froze where they stood.

“This stupid fucking psycho,” someone muttered under their breath.

I lowered my head, heat crawling up my neck. This was happening because of me.

“Hey,” Kade called, his voice low and steady as he took a step forward.

Damian’s grip tightened, dragging the girl with him as he shoved her behind his back like a shield.

“If you come any closer without my wife,” Damian warned, his voice rough with fury, “I’ll slam her head so hard into that wall she won’t walk again.”

Kade didn’t stop. He kept moving, slow and deliberate, like he hadn’t heard a word.

My breath hitched. I pushed away from the wall, ready to step out of hiding.

“Don’t even think about it,” Jax said, stopping me without turning around.

I sucked in a sharp breath, frozen in place then a loud slam cracked through the room, making me jerk my head up.

Damian hit the floor hard.

“Fuck!” he shouted, his body twisting as his hands flew to his back, his face contorting in pain.

Kade didn’t hesitate. He grabbed Damian by the legs and started dragging him across the floor toward the clubhouse doors.

“Get your fucking hands off me!” Damian roared, struggling against him. “How dare you kidnap my wife? I’ll make your life miserable if you don’t bring her back to me!”

Kade said nothing. He dragged him straight outside and let go, dropping him onto the ground before brushing his hands together like he’d just taken out the trash.

One of the security guards stepped forward and handed him a handkerchief. Kade wiped his hands slowly, then flicked it down at Damian without a second glance.

Damian wasn’t the kind of man who took humiliation lightly. Even I knew that much.

“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath, my head dropping as guilt pressed down on me.

“Lift your head and look at me,” Ryker said firmly.

I did, meeting his eyes as he folded his arms across his chest.

“Even if you told us not to handle it,” he went on. “we still would have. That’s our job, to protect you. So don’t stand there feeling guilty.”

My gaze drifted past him to the girl. She stood off to the side, arms wrapped around herself, rubbing at her skin like she could wipe the moment away. Her jaw was tight, eyes sharp with anger.

I walked toward her, the hem of my soaked wedding gown dragging against the floor, cold and heavy with every step. When I reached her, I placed a gentle hand on her shoulders.

“Hey… are you okay?” I asked softly.

She turned to me, her eyes glassy, sadness sitting heavy in them. She shook her head without a word.

Carefully, I reached up and tried to smooth her hair back into place, my fingers trembling.

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered. “This happened because of me.”

She gave a small nod, like she didn’t trust herself to speak, then pulled away and started walking toward the clubhouse exit.

Kade’s eyes followed her as she left, his expression unreadable.

“Gosh, this stray is already causing issues for us.”

I turned to my left. Candy stood there, arms crossed, her lips curled in irritation. Great. I was already making enemies.

“Yo, Prez, who’s that sick bastard?” one of the bikers called, pointing toward the door.

Kade didn’t answer. He just drew in a slow breath, his jaw tightening.

“We talk later,”

It was late, too late for the world to still feel this loud but sleep wouldn’t come.

I lay there staring into the dark, my mind running in circles. Damian knew where I was now. If he knew, then the family knew too. My chest tightened at the thought.

What if they did something crazy?

What if I had dragged all of them into something they couldn’t escape?

I turned onto my side, gripping the sheets. Should I just run again?

They kept talking about me like I was something like a werewolf, a shifter or whatever. The word still felt unreal in my head. But the way they said it… like it wasn’t a joke, like it was something I couldn’t walk away from.

And that scared me more than Damian.

Because if they really believed it, then they weren’t going to let me go.

And if they didn’t understand what kind of trouble was coming for them…

My breath hitched.

I swung my legs off the bed, the cold floor biting into my skin.

I needed to run, I had to and I didn’t care what it took.