Warlords MC: Book 6 – Traven : Chapter 5

Traven watched them both. It surprised him when Winter seemed to go along with the plan, finally. The girl was a mystery to him. She had fought tooth and nail literally all the way to this point, then now she seemed to take it all in stride.

Will wheeled his chair over to a special door. He opened it and went down a ramp into the house. He wheeled down a hall to his bedroom where he began to pack up his laptop and other computer stuff. He put them all in a special bag then went to his dresser and packed a few clothes as well.

Winter disappeared into her own room and when she came back a few minutes later, she had her own small duffle bag.

Traven hiked down the street to get the SUV.

In a few minutes, they joined Traven in the garage again.

Then Winter went back into the house and brought out another duffle. She told Traven it was packed already with Muttly’s food and water dishes in along with some treats.

They all made their way out to Traven’s SUV.

She helped her brother transfer into the backseat and Traven collapsed his chair and put it in the back. She put the bags in there as well as Will and Muttly took up the entire backseat.

When she and Traven got into the front seat, they left town only after they made sure they weren’t being followed.

As he drove, Traven noted that neither of his passengers spoke. Even the dog remained quiet.

An hour later, they were entering the compound again and Traven hit the gate lock after they drove through.

Will turned to watch the hidden gate close as they drove to the main house. When they arrived, he had to look around before they got his chair to where he could get out.

Traven grabbed the bags and Winter helped her brother into the main house.

When they entered, the men looked up and watched as they came into the room.

Traven set their bags down by the front door and introduced them. “Guys, meet Will. He’s Winter’s little brother and this is his protector, Muttly.” He laid a hand on Will’s shoulder and said, “Will, this is part of my crew, Venom, Phantom, Nite Stalker, Heathen and Flint.”

Each man nodded as Traven stated their names.

Will nodded back. “The names are very cool.”

Winter scoffed. “Appropriate too.” She looked over at Traven. “Well, I called that one correctly. The Ghoul Squad.”

Traven almost smiled as he shook his head.

Phantom spoke up, “It’s actually the Ghost Riders MC.”

Will’s eyes rounded. “An MC? You guys are actually an MC?”

Winter looked back and forth. “What does that mean? Like Monster Corp or something?”

Traven stifled a chuckle.

“No sis!” Will retorted. “Motorcycle club. Come on, haven’t you ever seen Sons Of Anarchy?”

She rolled her eyes. “That’s just made up shit, Will.”

He raised his hands at the men gathered in the room. “Take a closer look, Winter.”

She then swiveled her gaze around the room and did see vests, leathers, and biker boots. “Mmm, I missed this fact before. And I didn’t see any motorcycles out front.”

“We have them stored in the garage building,” Nite Stalker spoke up.

Will looked back up at Traven. “And your name?”

Traven opened his mouth to answer.

Winter stepped closer and tilted her head at him. “No, let me guess.”

“Well, this should be entertaining,” Venom muttered.

The men all agreed as snickers and chuckles could be heard.

Traven silently agreed as he crossed his arms over his chest and waited for the joke names to come from the mouthy little firecracker.

Winter stared at him with those emerald eyes of hers and raised a perfect brow. “The Reaper,” she stated flatly.

Traven blinked at her.

The men in the room were so silent that you could hear their breathing now.

Winter caught onto the shock and slowly gazed around at the men.

Will did the same, sensing there was some hidden meaning to their silence.

Traven then broke the quiet with a chuckle. “Very apt.”

She stared at him curiously. “So that is your like… gang name?’

Will scoffed. “Winter, it’s Road Name.”

The men all smiled at him.

Will looked each of them in the eye as they stared at him but he didn’t see the look he expected to see. Pity. He hated that look in people’s eyes when they looked at him in his chair. When he didn’t get that look from these men, he sat up a little straighter in his chair. “Well, I did have something to tell my sister, and you all should know too, I guess?”

Traven gripped his shoulder in a seemingly fond way and said, “Come on, I’ll show you two to your rooms. It’s late and we should all think about getting some sleep. This will wait until morning. We can compare notes again then.”

Winter glanced at the clock on the wall. She was more than a little tired as the clock told her it was close to three a.m. She put Will’s bag on his lap and hitched her own over her shoulder. Grabbing the dog’s bag, she turned and began to follow Reaper, Will and Muttly.

Reaper showed Will to the first room down the hall. She watched her brother wheel himself inside the room and look around.

The room seemed small but it was big enough for him, besides the bed and the dresser there was also a desk and Will was already unpacking his laptop and setting things up. He looked up at Winter and grinned. “Good night sis. I’ll be fine.”

Winter nodded then put the dog’s bag on the floor by the door. “Get some sleep tonight, we may need your brain tomorrow.”

Will grinned again and gave her a thumbs up.

Winter turned and waited for Reaper to lead the way.

He gave her the room next door. She entered and looked around. It was bigger than Will’s room but she didn’t care. It was cleaner than she would have thought and she appreciated that. The bed and dresser matched the one in Will’s room too. There was an ensuite bathroom, the same as with Will’s room. The only difference was there was an additional door that would led to the next room and she had a window overlooking the backyard.

She turned to look at him and raised her eyebrow.

He shrugged. “This room joins the room next door.”

“And who is next door?” she asked.

He stared at her and said, “I am.”

Winter’s eyes went wide.

He smirked and nodded. “But the door locks on both sides. I’ll keep my side locked if you keep your side locked.”

“You better.” Winter growled as she walked over to the bed and dropped her bag on it. She turned to glare at him and finally made a shooing motion for him to get out.

He shook his head and turned to leave the room. He paused when she spoke softly, “Thank you.”

He turned his head and looked at her. “For what?”

She gazed down and her twisted fingers together. Admitting this cost her some pride but the truth was the truth. “For saving our lives and getting us to safety. You didn’t have to do that.”

“I may be a bastard in most things but I’m not heartless. I have a feeling you and your brother hold the key to finding this group and destroying it. That’s our mission here, destroying that camp and everything its doing. I know your brothers run the camp, so I hope you’re not too attached to them, because they will go down.”

Winter glared at him through narrowed eyes. “They took my dad’s life and left my youngest brother in a chair for the rest of his life. I don’t know what else they’ve done, but I do know they turned their backs on us a long time ago. We may share the same blood but we’re not family anymore.”

He again, stared at her as if assessing the truth in her words.

Winter felt something odd under his stare. Her skin grew warm and then hot. Unlike the shiver, she thought to have under this man’s gaze.

He finally moved that intense gaze from her then closed the door behind him, leaving her alone in her room.