Surrender lost souls mc.., p.1
Surrender (Lost Souls MC Book 2), page 1
CONTENTS
Also by BROOKLYN CROSS
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Epilogue
Thank You
Stalk Me Links
Copyright © May 2023
SURRENDER
Snake - Book Two
Lost Souls MC
Written by: Brooklyn Cross
FIRST EDITION.
ASIN: 978-1-998015-11-5
ISBN: 978-1-998015-15-3
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Edited by: R. Mudawar
Cover Art: Dazed Designs
Cover Model: Rhiannon Carr
Photographer: Craig Devlin Photography
Book Cover Disclaimer: Individuals depicted in the images on the cover and anywhere are models and solely used for illustrative purposes.
This book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without the author’s written permission. Author Brooklyn Cross.
This book is a work of fiction, and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events, or locales is purely coincidental. The characters, incidents, and dialogues in this book are productions of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real.
The ideas represented in this book are not factual representations of anyone’s thoughts affiliated with Author Brooklyn Cross, or of any of the trademarked acknowledgments mentioned in this story. This story is simply a work of fiction.
Trademark Acknowledgements
The author Brooklyn Cross acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of familiar wordmarks, products, actors’ names, television shows, books, characters, video games, and films mentioned in this fiction work.
Created with Vellum
ALSO BY BROOKLYN CROSS
Lost Souls MC
(Motorcycle Club - Dark 3.5-4.5 Spice 3.5-4.5)
Malice
Surrender
Showbiz
Handcuffed
Other Books in the Lost Souls World by T.L. Hodel
Adversaries
Frenemies
Warfare (Coming 2023)
The Righteous Series
(Vigilante/Ex Military Romance - Dark 3-4 Spice 3-4)
Dark Side of the Cloth
Ravaged by the Dark
Sleeping with the Dark
Hiding in the Dark
Redemption in the Dark
Crucified by the Dark
Dark Reunion (Coming 2023)
The Consumed Trilogy
(Suspense/Thriller/Anti-Hero Romance - Dark 4-5 Spice 3-4)
Burn for Me
Burn with Me
Burn me Down (Coming 2023)
The Buchanan Brother’s Duet
(Serial Killer/Captive Horror Romance - Dark 4-5 Spice 3-5)
Unhinged Cain by Brooklyn
Twisted Abel by T.L Hodel
The Battered Souls World
(Standalone Books Shared World Romance/Dramatic/Women’s Fiction/All The Feels- Dark 2-3 Spice 2-3)
The Girl That Would Be Lost
The Boy That Learned To Swim (Coming Soon)
The Girl That Would Not Break (Coming Soon)
The Brothers of Shadow and Death Series
(Dystopian/Cult/Occult/Poly MMF Romance - Dark 3-4 Spice 3-4)
Anywhere Book 1 of 3
Backfire Book 1 of 3 by T.L. Hodel
Seven Sin Series
(Multi Author/PNR/Angel and Demons/Redemption - Dark 2-5 Spice 3-5)
Greed by Brooklyn Cross
Lust by Drethi Anis
Envy by Dylan Page
Gluttony by Marissa Honeycutt
Wrath by Billie Blue
Sloth by Talli Wyndham
Pride by T.L. Hodel
Raine
The bus station was surprisingly quiet when I walked in, but it seemed all the strange shit wanted to follow me around lately.
“Penis,” someone yelled, and I turned to look along with everyone else, quickly wishing I hadn’t.
“Penis,” the man yelled again. He looked like he might be drunk, but it was hard to tell. His hair was a mess standing in all directions, and the glasses were askew on his face. He wore a business suit that looked expensive, but the shirt was wrinkled and partially untucked, and there were no shoes on his feet. That wasn’t the strangest part…. The open zipper with this dick hanging out had me pressing my lips together to keep from laughing.
It wasn’t funny. He could’ve taken a party drug that went sideways. Might’ve even drunk too much or lost a bet. But he kept yelling penis like he was calling a dog and pointed at his dick like he was shocked to find he had one, and I couldn’t stop the giggle.
“Penis!” He screamed again, and a woman exiting the bathroom with her two children turned them around and went back inside.
“Security, we have a 10-56. I repeat a 10-56.” The person on the PA said. A few guards walked out of a door not far away and immediately went to surround the guy. The man had other ideas and wasn’t interested in going quietly with the guards.
“Penis, penis, penis,” he called out like he was in the midst of the game Marco Polo. It was like a train wreck I couldn’t look away from as he took off in a run around the bus terminal. He hid behind shocked people, using them as shields and the large planters with small trees before sprinting toward the exit. “Penis,” echoed back through the open door until it closed.
“I do hope he finds his pecker, terrible thing to lose it,” the elderly man beside me said, and I couldn’t hold back the laugh any longer. The man was dressed like an old English gentleman, from the wool cap on his head to the polished shoes on his feet and the wooden cane in his hand. He lifted a bushy white eyebrow and smiled before turning to face the front of the line once more.
“How can I help you?” The teller smiled as I stepped up to the glass.
“I need to get to Seattle,” I said.
“We don’t have a bus that takes a direct route, but there’s a bus that goes from here to the Atlanta bus terminal. From there, you can take one bus the rest of the way or shorter distance ones if you want to stop along the way,” she said.
“Sounds good. I always wanted to see Atlanta.” I pulled out my wallet and was going to swipe my card but thought better of it and handed her cash. I had no idea what tricks Kai might have up his sleeve, but I wouldn’t put it past him to track my cards.
I grabbed my ticket and wandered out to the bus idling on the curb. Seattle was the furthest place I could think of to put space between myself and all that had happened here and it was a spot I always wanted to see.
“Penis! No, you’ll never take me alive.” I looked toward the parking lot and saw security forcing Penis Man into the back of a police car. On the plus side, I wasn’t starting my day in the back of a cruiser. I guess there was always a silver lining…
I hated this. I hated that once more, Kai found a way to terrify me. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t him that hurt me when I was fifteen. I’d still spent my whole life believing it. Then when he came back, it certainly wasn’t to try and explain that it wasn’t him. Then again, I don’t know if I would’ve listened to him if he had knocked on my door. It was all so complicated.
No matter what I’d said to Kai, I was scared that my life would be forever living out of a backpack on the run from him and the rage that had built up like a volcano inside him. I realized that I could never be with anyone ever again. Whether it was five, ten, or even twenty years from now didn’t matter. That shimmer in his eye had said it all—no one would ever be safe.
Maybe I just wanted to hurt, but I did what I ordered myself not to do and pulled out my burner phone. My finger hovered over the text message before giving in and tapping on the little dot. This would be my one guilty pleasure. I knew I wouldn’t be able to resist when I sent myself the pictures. I had snapped some images of Avro and me at the beach and another that Avro insisted we take after Jace’s concert with all three of us in it.
My heart ached for so many reasons, and I started questioning if I should be going.
“No, there is no point in dwelling on the ‘what ifs,’ ” I mumbled.
Glancing at the time as a few people lined up, I realized I’d been staring at the photos for over half an hour. Stuffing the phone into my jeans pocket, I pushed away from the wall and made my way to the line of passengers slowly boarding the bus.
“Any big baggage needs to go around to the other side of the bus,” the driver called out as the procession shuffled along.
&n
I handed my ticket to the man collecting at the door. My nose curled as I stepped inside, bombarded with the fake scent of coconut and pineapple. I normally didn’t mind these particular flavors, but it was as if the smell had reached inside my nose and tried to choke me. Opting to sit as far away from the smell as possible, I wandered to the back of the bus and picked a spot with two empty seats.
Sitting by the window, I placed my bag in my lap and pulled out the pamphlets and maps I’d taken from the bus station. Of course, the first one I opened had an ad for Eclipse, and my heart fell.
My boss wasn’t impressed with my impromptu departure. I told him it was an emergency that couldn’t be avoided and recommended Avro take my place. He still grumbled and cursed into the phone about how no one could run the place as well as I had. It was a stupid statement, I hadn’t been the manager for very long, but I promised that if I came back into town, I’d call.
My finger rubbed over the image, and I choked up. It felt like I was trying to contain the tide with my emotions raging and swaying one way and then the other. Never allowed to settle, never able to feel too safe before it all fell out from under me all over again. Like a bottle lost at sea forced away from shore only to tumble back and be yanked away once more, that was the story of my life.
I stared out the window, keeping my eyes on the butterfly floating around. Its brightly colored wings shimmered in the golden rays of the bright sun. A sun that had shined every day since my attack. A reminder that no matter what had happened to me, the girl in the bed beside me, or even the man in the room down the hall…the world continued to turn.
It was a terrible thing to realize that you were unimportant. I was nothing more than a blip on the radar or another grain of sand along the beach, blending in with all the others. I was no one special. The girl with cancer in the bed beside me was no one special. There wasn’t a collective holding of breath to see if either of us survived. Only difference was, she had people that visited daily.
That reality was terrifying and freeing. I didn’t matter, and no one cared, so I had no one to disappoint, but never being seen or understood and never being able to trust again was scary. I was now sixteen, having spent my birthday in the hospital, and it already felt like I’d lived three lifetimes and died twice along the way.
“Hi there, sweetie, are you all packed and ready to go?” The warm and cheery voice said from behind me. I smiled as I recognized Nurse Liz’s voice. Pulling back on the wheels of the wheelchair, I slowly turned to face her. She always had the warmest smile. She nodded toward the wheelchair. “You’re getting better,” she said.
“Thanks. I’m still awkward, and I get mixed up on which way to pull and push to turn. It makes me feel stupid.”
“Nonsense. A baby learns to crawl before it can stand and eventually walk and then run. You’ve only been able to get up and move around for a few days. You’ll get used to it.”
“Hopefully, I won’t need it much longer. The doctor said that the wounds are healing well and the grafts are holding, so I can start walking around more.”
Liz smiled and grabbed my packed bag, laying it on the bed. “You’re not forgetting anything, are you?”
“I don’t think so.” I didn’t have much, just a few changes of clothes and my journal. “Did my foster parents say when they would be coming to get me?” The bright smile slipped.
Liz looked away, and I knew something was wrong. “I thought you would’ve known,” she said.
“Known what?” I wheeled myself a little closer, and Liz sat on the edge of the bed. She glanced out the door and lowered her voice as she spoke next.
“I guess I shouldn’t be the one to tell you this, but it’s Child and Family Services coming for you.” My eyes went wide, and my heart tripled its pace.
“What? Why?”
I wouldn’t say I loved the Collinses, they were both kinda cold and distant most of the time, but they were the only family I had left. I had loved Kai, or at least I thought I did, but he betrayed me and left me for dead. Now the Collinses weren’t coming. What had I done to deserve this? Was I really that much trouble? Did everyone hate me so much that they wanted to hurt me?
“I don’t know why, sweetie. I just heard that is who was coming to pick you up, so maybe they are just sending them to collect you or something,” she offered, but I knew better.
I ignored Liz as she called my name when I wheeled out of the room and turned to roll down the hall. I didn’t know where I was going. I didn’t care as the tears hit and flowed down my cheeks. There was a small sitting room to my left, and I stopped the wheelchair and pulled into the small space, closing the door behind me. Breathing hard from the burst of exertion, I sat in the privacy of the four walls and covered my face to let the tears fall. Why did the world hate me so much?
It was then that I realized I was probably better off alone. No one could hurt me when I didn’t let anyone in. I didn’t need anyone anyway.
Kaivan
I watched the black sedan turn around and ground my teeth together. The guy was gutsier than I pegged him for. Once I was sure Avro was out on the main road and out of sight, I closed the door and ran up the stairs.
“Fuck, I think he broke my nose.” Pushing open the door to the bathroom, I paused to look in the mirror and assess the latest injury. It didn’t look broken, but blood was running down my upper lip. I think my tear ducts were broken ‘cause I didn’t tear up anymore when I got hit in the face. Now all I got was more pissed off.
Grabbing tissues, I twisted them and shoved them up my nose to stop the bleeding. I definitely wasn’t winning any beauty pageants looking like this. Aside from my nose, I had a black eye and a cut over my brow from Jace. There was another cut and long bruise—a nasty shade of yellow—on my jaw, and my knuckles were once more split open.
Since the cops weren’t knocking on my door and hauling me back to prison, I assumed that Raine had won the argument with Jace and Avro…at least for now. It was stupid to storm into their home, but I couldn’t let them have her. Raine was mine. She’d always been mine, and there was no fucking way I was letting her take off and disappear.
Stripping out of my relaxed clothes, I pulled on my road gear before slipping my arms into my leather jacket. I picked up my phone and turned on the tracker app, smirking when I saw the little blinking dot. I knew it was smart to put that in her go bag. Wilder came through. Crazy fuck.
She was on the move, almost halfway to Atlanta, and a shit load further than I thought she’d be. With her headstart, she would be there by the time I caught up if that was where she stopped.
Sweat suddenly coated my body, and my gut churned as I pictured her hitchhiking her way there. She could be in some creepy trucker’s cab right now. I knew she didn’t have a car, and if Avro was here with his that left bus or putting her thumb out. If someone else hurt her, I’d kill them.
Grabbing my gun, I held it up, and what she’d said last night came rushing back.
“Look at me, Snake,” Raine yelled. She’d always refused to use the nickname given to me when I started fighting. She said it wasn’t me, said that she could only see me as Kai and that Snake was some made-up character to scare people. She said she never wanted to see me like that or be scared of me. It had divided us then ‘cause I thought it was cool, and it hurt now to hear her use it.
