CHAPTER 15
KRAIT THINGS ARE COMING
Morning light crept in through the blinds, thin and pale. Kolton lay on his back, one arm flung over his eyes, breathing easy. Kait was still, flat on her back, staring at the ceiling like she was already somewhere else.
Kolton broke the silence first.
“You’re fucking amazing, babe,” he said, letting out a long, satisfied breath.
Kait only winked at him.
“So yeah,” he went on, “I might finally repaint The Mare. Sun’s making the black fade. Maybe do something custom this time.”
Kait rolled onto her side and sat up. She didn’t look at him.
“Isn’t your kid getting his cast off this week?” she said.
Kolton lifted his arm, glanced at her. “Yeah. Friday.”
She stood, pulling on her jeans. “Get him something. A toy. A bike. Kid was brave.”
Kolton smiled at that, small and genuine. “He was.”
She reached for her shirt and tugged it over her head.
“I mean, I could still do both,” he said. “Toys are not that expensive, and the paint job—”
“Paint jobs are expensive as shit,” she cut in. Calm. Not sharp. Final.
Kolton let it go. For a second.
“Oh. LeeAnn violated probation,” he said then. “Failed her drug test and got picked up. She’s gonna be gone for a while.”
Kait paused just long enough to register it. She grabbed her boots.
“What she go in for?”
“Burglary.”
“Nice.”
“Yeah, I know. But… the house is empty,” Kolton went on.
She sat on the edge of the bed, laced one boot. Then the other.
“Mom’s gonna go clean it up,” he said, hopeful now. “We could be more comfortable there.”
She stood. Still not facing him. “Huh?”
“We could move in before Kyle starts school,” he added. “Makes sense, right?”
Kait checked the time on her watch.
“Um, what… um, we’re gonna miss breakfast,” she said.
Kolton frowned. “I’m serious,” he said lighting up a cigarette.
She grabbed her kutte. “Yeah? Oh, Kyle likes dinosaurs. I think he said that the other day. Does he like dinosaurs?”
“Loves ‘em,” he said automatically.
“Cool,” she said.
Kolton watched her move around the room, already gone.
“We could take him out,” he said. “Miniature Golf. Or dinner. Just us. Do something normal.”
She stopped at the door, hand on the knob.
“I can’t. Gotta be at the Alley,” she said.
“Well, just whenever.”
She looked back at him then. Not cold. Not soft. Just measured.
“Yeah. Okay, I need coffee,” she said, and shut him up with a quick kiss.
“I’ll be out there in a bit. I still need a second after all that.”
She opened the door and stepped out, the latch clicking shut behind her, leaving Kolton alone with the light—and his cigarette.
The Nest kitchen was already settling down when Kait walked in. Plates stacked. Coffee refilled. The sharp edge of morning work replaced by low conversation.
She slowed when she saw Blaze at the table.
Mack leaned back in his chair, mug in hand. Ram sat across from him, quiet as ever, eyes tracking the room more than the talk.
Blaze looked up. “Morning.”
Kait recovered without breaking stride. “Didn’t expect to see you here.”
“Didn’t expect to be,” Blaze said laughing into his coffee mug.
“He got into it with Julie-Jules,” said Ram.
Mack smirked. “Again.”
Blaze ignored him and nodded toward the hallway. “Yeah… Kolton up?”
“Yeah, still in the room,” Kait said, already pouring herself coffee.
Blaze nodded once, like he’d just checked something off.
“Where’s everyone?”
Mack answered this time. “Don, Kount and Klaus left early.”
“Where to?” she asked sitting down.
Alejandra slid a small plate with two pieces of white toast.
“Thanks.”
Blaze tipped his mug back and waited for Alejandra to go back to the kitchen. “Last-minute meet with Mondragón. He’s in town, I guess.”
Kait’s hand paused at the jelly jar. Just for a beat.
“Didn’t say what for,” Ram added.
“Or how long,” Mack said.
Kait nodded and went back to eating.
The table fell quiet. Not awkward. Just watchful.
Blaze studied her over his mug. “What you up to today?”
“Just running errands,” she said. Vague. True enough.
He considered that, then said, “Want company?”
She finished her coffee, set the mug down. “Sure. There’s something I wanna check out.”
Something in Blaze eased at that. Not relief — recognition.
Mack raised an eyebrow. “Look at that. People making plans before noon.”
“Fuck that,” said Ram and they laughed.
Kait stood, grabbed her jacket. Blaze followed suit without rushing her.
Five minutes later Kolton came out, hair still damp, pulling on a shirt. “Hey—”
He stopped when he saw the jelly jar.
“Where’d Kait go?”
Mack jerked his thumb toward the door. “Rode out with Kowboy.”
Kolton’s jaw tightened. “He stayed here?”
Ram finally looked up. “Yep.”
Kolton stared at the door a second longer than necessary, something sour settling in his chest.
He checked outside — already gone.
She rode out ahead of Blaze, not fast, not slow — just enough to keep the space hers.
The road to the lake peeled away from Dryden in a way that always felt intentional, like it didn’t want witnesses. Mesquite gave way to scrub, scrub to open land, the air thinning into something quieter. Kait let the engine hum steady beneath her, hands loose on the grips, eyes forward.
She’d passed the house twice before.
Once without thinking.
Once thinking ‘what if’.
This time she slowed.
The lake house sat back from the road, half-hidden by trees that hadn’t been trimmed in years. The FOR SALE sign still on display crooked, sun-bleached, stubbornly there.
Not sold.
Something tight in her chest loosened just a fraction.
She pulled off onto the dirt shoulder and killed the engine. Blaze rolled in behind her, cut his bike, stayed seated. Didn’t ask.
Kait swung off and stood there a second, helmet still on, staring at the place like it might bolt if she blinked.
Kolton’s voice echoed where she didn’t want it.
We could move in. Makes sense, right?
It didn’t.
That was the problem.
She walked up to the sign, boots crunching on gravel, and peeled a number from the contact sheet. The paper was stiff, curled at the edges, ink fading from the sun, but the number was legible. Still active. Still real.
Good.
She folded it once and slipped it into her pocket like she’d always meant to.
Blaze finally dismounted and joined her, hands in his jacket pockets, gaze on the house instead of her.
“You buying it?” he asked.
“Thinking about it.”
He nodded. “Looks like it needs work.”
She glanced through the window over his shoulder. Empty rooms. Bare walls. Light cutting clean across the floor. “Maybe that’s why no one’s buying it.”
“Ain’t that hard. I can help you fix her up.”
“That would be awesome.”
The lake behind the house reflected the sky in dull silver, unmoving. The kind of place that didn’t crowd you. Didn’t ask questions. Didn’t wait for you to explain yourself.
She started toward the water. Blaze followed, unhurried, close enough to hear her but not crowd her.
“It’s really nice out here.”
“Pretty quiet. That why you want out of the Nest?” he said.
Kait stopped at the edge of the shore, hands in her pockets.
“I don’t,” she said. “Not like that.”
Blaze waited.
She took a deep breath.
“Kolton just wants something I don’t,” she said. “He was talking about moving to his old house, with Kyle.”
Blaze nodded once. No comment.
“I’m not playing house,” she went on.
Blaze chuckled. “Playing? Imagine actually doing it.”
“Yeah, I don’t know when this became that.”
“That’s Prince for ya. He can get pretty intense about things, especially when he feels entitled to them.”
“Well, I didn’t sign up to be stepmom.”
She looked back at the house. The porch. The empty windows. The distance from everything that pulled at her.
“Maybe I should have my own space,” she said. “Somewhere that doesn’t come with expectations baked into the walls.”
Blaze studied her a moment, then smiled faintly. “That I can support.”
She turned back toward the bikes.
“Keep that between us?” she said.
“You ain’t gotta ask,” he replied.
They walked back together, the house still quiet behind them—unsold, unclaimed, and, for now, exactly what she needed it to be.
“Thanks,” she said putting her hand on his arm.
Blaze smiled faintly. “Anytime.”
Her phone rang. It was Kolton.
She didn’t answer and then Blaze’s phone rang.
Kait shook her head and he didn’t answer either.
They mounted up again, engines catching almost in sync. As they pulled back onto the road, Kait glanced once more in her mirror.
The house stayed right where it was.
Waiting.
They left the lake behind them, the road flattening out as Dryden crept back into view. Blaze rode just off Kait’s left shoulder, steady, unhurried. No rush. No chase. Just movement.
Brews N’ Crews came up on the right.
Two bikes sat out front.
Wrong bikes.
Kait clocked them the same instant Blaze did. Reyes del Camino. No mistaking the lines, the custom work, the ugly confidence of the airbrushed crown stretched across one tank like it belonged there.
Blaze tapped his brake once.
Then he lifted two fingers and rolled his wrist.
Kait didn’t hesitate. She leaned, cut it clean, and brought the bike around in a tight, controlled U-turn.
They pulled in and parked.
Kait leaned toward him, voice low. “So what’s the move?”
Blaze didn’t look at her when he answered. “We don’t make one. Especially you after last time.”
Her mouth twitched. “Ha-ha. Funny. We don’t call anyone?”
“Nope,” he said. “We go in, get seen, and let them know we saw them.”
Kait nodded.
“We’ll report to the Nest when we got something.”
INSIDE
Brews N’ Crews was dim and cool compared to the heat outside. I Can still Make Cheyenne low from the jukebox like it had nowhere else to be. Late summer in Dryden sounded like that—lazy, worn, pretending nothing ever changed.
Chugs stood behind the bar, arms crossed, eyes already on the door. He gave Blaze a short nod. That was it. Neutral ground acknowledged.
Roque and Santos sat at a table off to the side, kuttes on, Bud Lights in front of them. Talking. Waiting. They looked up when Kait and Blaze came in, faces giving nothing away.
Mitch was posted on his usual stool, elbow hooked over the bar, glass sweating onto the wood.
He squinted at Blaze, then broke into a grin.
“Hey, Kowboy,” he drawled. “Last time I saw you, you were gettin’ thrown off a bull like a lawn chair in a tornado. Whew,” he said spinning his finger.
Blaze didn’t stop walking. “I remember.”
Mitch wasn’t done. He never was.
“Bull sent you flyin’ so hard I thought you were gonna pull down a pigeon witcha,” he went on. “I had money on that ride too. Lost it faster than a preacher’s temper at the Dirty Alley.”
Kait glanced sideways at Blaze. Then nodded at Chugs.
“I still held on long enough.”
“Saw your old man last week,” Mitch added, tapping the bar. “Kowman still bettin’ like God’s got a tab open for ’em and he ain’t—”
Chugs set a glass of whiskey down in front Mitch without comment.
That shut him up.
Kait and Blaze took stools at the bar, backs angled just enough to catch the room in the mirror behind the bottles.
Chugs followed and poured Kait a vodka shot and Blaze a glass of Jack.
“Just having a drink, promise,” Said Kait.
“Oh, I know,” said Chugs and walked away.
Kait’s eyes flicked to the mirror. Santos shifted in his chair. Roque was taking a sip.
“So we just sit?” she asked.
“We get seen,” Blaze said. “They get seen. That’s it.”
Mitch lifted his glass.
“I think it’s time you and I get to know each other better,” he muttered.
No one answered him.
“Kind of a coincidence to have that run, then the meeting this morning and now this,” she said low.
“Yeah, something is definitely in the works,” said Blaze glancing at the mirror this time.
Kait downed her shot and got ordered one just in case.
The song on the jukebox droned on. Ice clinked. Bottles being set down. Otherwise, nothing moved.
“We can run away together, I hope you have good credit, so we can buy a house—” said Mitch.
After a minute, Blaze exhaled. “Alright. Unless you wanna plan your future with Mitch, we’ve got enough.”
Kait nodded once. “I’ll pass.”
“Yeah,” he scoffed. “Thought so.”
They finished their drinks and slid off their stools and headed for the door.
And that’s when the balance shifted.
The door opened.
Murrieta stepped in first, loud and easy, like he owned whatever air he walked through. Severino followed a half-step behind—quieter, eyes already forward.
Murrieta grinned. “What’s up! You leavin’ already? Let’s order a bucket of Modelos and catch up.”
Blaze didn’t slow. “That’ll be the day.”
Murrieta laughed. “C’mon, man—”
“Move,” Blaze said flatly.
Murrieta stepped aside, smile thinning.
Severino didn’t.
He stopped just short of Kait. Close enough that she felt it before she understood it. His eyes moved over her slowly, deliberately—like this wasn’t new, just confirmed.
Kait met his gaze. Calm. Still.
Something dark settled behind his eyes.
“Nos vemos,” Severino said quietly.
It wasn’t friendly.
It wasn’t casual.
It was inevitable.
Blaze stepped through, shoulder brushing Severino as he passed. “Keep walkin’.”
They pushed out into the sunlight, engines firing a moment later.
The door shut behind them, muting the music and the low hum inside Brews & Crews.
Heat hit first. Sun high. Air heavy.
Kait swung her helmet into place, hands steady.
Kait glanced back once.
Through the front window, she could still see Severino standing just inside the door, his attention locked on her like the rest of the room had stopped existing.
Blaze swung his leg over his bike. “Weird motherfucker.”
Kait nodded and mounted up, the engine firing clean beneath her.
As they pulled away, the patrol car stayed exactly where it was.
The Nest was loud with lunchtime noise when they pulled in. Bikes packed tight out front. They were back from the meeting. Inside, most of the table was already full — plates out, conversation overlapping, All of Krait MC back in one place.
Kolton saw them the second they walked in.
He pushed back from the table so fast his chair scraped. Didn’t wait. Didn’t finish chewing.
“Where the fuck have you been?” he snapped, already moving toward her. “Why didn’t you answer your phone?”
The room didn’t go quiet — but it did shift.
Kait stopped walking.
She didn’t answer him right away. Instead, her eyes lifted and found Lane at the far end of the table. He wasn’t eating. Hadn’t been for a while. He was just watching the exchange quietly.
She looked back at Kolton. “I’m gonna wash my hands.”
Then she turned toward the kitchen without waiting.
Kolton followed.
“Kait,” he said. “I’m talking to you.”
She pushed the door open, stepped inside, and turned on him so fast he nearly ran into her.
“Stop,” she said. Low. Controlled. “That shit. Right now.”
Melanie and Alejandra looked at each other and immediately left the kitchen.
He bristled. “I just wanted to know why—”
“You don’t fucking interrogate me like that,” she said.
“I wasn’t interrogating—”
“I told you to stop treating me like you own me,” she cut in. “You don’t own me, Kolton.”
His jaw worked. “You fucking left. You ride out with Blaze. You don’t say anything, you don’t answer.”
“I was doing shit,” she said.
“All fucking day?”
She stepped closer, voice dropping. “Yes, all fucking day.”
He scoffed. “What, with Blaze?”
“You’re shitting me right now…,” she said more to herself than him.
“So I’m just supposed to be cool with that?”
“Cool with that, as if I have run shit by you first?” she said.
He searched her face for something — apology, reassurance, softness.
There was nothing there.
“Are you high again,” she asked quietly, “or is this really you?”
The color drained from his face.
She leaned in just enough that only he could hear her. “You do this again— and we’re done.”
He swallowed. “I just—”
“I do not belong to you, Kolton,” she said.
Silence stretched between them, thick and airless.
From the table, Lane watched them disappear down the hall.
That’s when the room shifted.
Blaze sat down across from him. “We got tied up. Reyes were at Brews,” he said calmly. “Santos and Roque were there first, then Severino and Murrieta walked in as we were leaving. We went in, got seen, then cleared out.”
Lane’s eyes stayed on the kitchen door. Then Alejandra and Melanie came out quickly.
Don caught his attention with a glance. A small tilt of his chin. Nothing more.
Lane stood.
He moved down the hallway without hurry, boots quiet against the floor. The voices reached him before he reached the door.
“We spotted Reyes,” Kait replied. Even. “We were watching them.”
Lane stopped just short of the doorway.
“Okay, but I just—” Kolton pushed on. “I freaked out. I thought I scared you away asking you to move in. Just c’mere, babe.”
Silence followed. Heavy.
Then it shifted.
Lane heard it before he saw it — the change in distance, the soft scrape of a step that shouldn’t have been taken.
“Kolton, don’t,” Kait said.
Kolton didn’t stop talking. His voice pressed closer. “I’m just saying, I don’t want—”
Lane stepped into the doorway.
Kolton had his hands on her now, not rough, not gentle — claiming space that wasn’t his. Kait was rigid, pulling back, jaw set.
“Hey.”
One word. Flat. Enough.
Kolton froze. His hands dropped like they’d burned him. He stepped back, color climbing fast up his neck.
Lane didn’t raise his voice. Didn’t accuse. Didn’t question.
“Church in twenty minutes, we’re voting,” he said. “So if you’re gonna eat, eat now.”
Kolton nodded once, sharp and humiliated. “Yeah. Alright.”
Kait didn’t look at Lane. She didn’t have to.
Lane kept his eyes on Kolton until he backed away and the air between them settled again.
“Let’s go grab a bite, babe,” Kolton muttered, already turning.
Kait stayed where she was.
Lane noticing the trembling in her breath.
“Go,” Lane said jerking his chin.
Kolton glanced at Kait then left.
Lane held the doorway a moment longer, watching him clear the kitchen, allowing her more distance.
Then he stepped aside.
Kait passed him without a word.
Lane turned back toward the dining room, the noise rising to meet him like it always did — plates clinking, voices overlapping, order snapping back into place.
Like nothing had happened and that was the point.
They sat back down at the table.
No one said a word about what had just happened.
Kolton ate anyway, fast and distracted, fork scraping too loud against the plate. Kait didn’t touch her food. She drank her water instead, slow and deliberate, like she was steadying herself.
Once, Kolton looked at her.
She didn’t look back.
She pushed her chair out instead, stood, and went around the bar. She poured herself a shot of vodka and didn’t wait for anyone to notice.
Then she headed straight for the chapel.
She went in first, took her seat, lit a cigarette, and waited.
Within minutes the chapel filled in around her.
Chairs scraped. Boots shuffled. The door thudded shut behind the last man in. Smoke hung low from her cigarette, already settling into the room like it belonged there.
Don took his place at the front without ceremony. No monologue bullshit.
Don waited until the room settled.
“Alright,” he said. “Here’s what’s on the table.”
The room leaned in.
“Met wtih Néstor at the crack of dawn,” Don continued. “He met with his Tijuana partners. So the intel Toast and Kode got checks out. They’re expanding.”
No adjectives. No drama.
“Bigger routes. More movement north. They were real happy with the last run.”
A low ripple moved through the room. Interest. Pride.
“They want us handling protection,” Don said. “Not once in a while. Regular.”
He paused. Let it breathe.
“Twice a week. Starting as soon as tomorrow.”
That landed.
“Pay’s solid, raised it to five g’s a head,” he added. “Enough that everyone eats. Enough that nobody here’s wondering how they’re covering next month.”
He stopped talking.
Didn’t sell it.
Let the room do the math.
Lane shifted slightly, but stayed quiet.
Don nodded once. “Questions before we vote.”
Silence at first.
Then Ram. “How long we talking?”
“Open-ended,” Don said. “As long as the channels stay hot.”
Mack leaned forward. “Same route?”
“Yeah,” Don replied. “Maybe we’ll go further north down the line, but not any time soon.”
Kode asked, “Escorts only?”
“Yep,” Don said.
A few looks traded. No one loved that answer.
Kait spoke without standing. “Will we know what we’re protecting?”
The room stilled just enough.
Don looked at her. Calm. Measured.
“No,” he said. “And that’s on purpose. The less we know, the better. Keeps us safe.”
Lane’s eyes flicked to her, quick.
Concern.
No one argued.
Don let the quiet stretch until it became acceptance.
“Alright,” he said. “You’ve heard it.”
He looked around the room, slow and thorough.
“All in favor of taking the protection contract — twice-weekly runs, five grand a head. Hands?”
Hands went up.
Not all at once, but all did.
Don nodded satisfied.
“None opposed. It passes,” he said to Randy who wrote it down.
The room exhaled.
Don continued, like the danger hadn’t just doubled.
“Well, we will work on an official schedule soon, but as far as tomorrow’s run it will be Blaze, Ram, Mack, and Kode.”
No reaction. Assignments were assignments.
“We’ll rotate,” he added. “Keep it fair. All right, VP. You’re up.”
Klaus stepped in then. “Since we’re gonna be gone more.”
Don looked at him.
“That leaves holes,” Klaus said. “We need more bodies so we’re bringing Diablo back from Huntsville. Kount will be going up there this weekend, we’re patching in a couple members there too, see about new prospects, and he’ll come back with Diablo. We also need to patch in Cricket and Buster to get them out on the road fast.”
A murmur of agreement. Practical. Necessary.
“Any questions about that?” asked Don.
“They’re gonna need bikes,” said Randy.
“I can unfuck the Nope, that give us one bike. Buster is used to it anyway,” said Mack and they all laughed.
“Well, we can all pitch in for Cricket’s bike then,” said Lane.
“Shit, man…,” said Blaze.
Ram also sighed.
Kait noticed their reactions.
Don nodded. “We’ll make it work. Let’s vote it then.”
He didn’t dress it up.
“All in favor of patching in Cricket and Buster.”
For a split second, no one moved.
Then hands went up.
One after another. No hesitation. No counting needed.
Unanimous.
Don took it in without smiling. “Also passes.”
Lane exhaled through his nose, slow. It helped. It didn’t fix anything.
Someone slapped the table once, sharp, satisfied.
“It’s gonna be good. Great things are coming,” said Don.
“Krait things are coming,” said Kode.
“You fucking nerd,” said Lane disgusted.
“You’re so clever, Kody,” said Ram in a baby voice.
Blaze pushed Kode playfully.
Money was coming. Bodies were coming. The club was growing.
That should’ve felt solid.
Don glanced around the room one last time. “That’s church. Krait Dismissed.”
The room broke apart into noise again—plans, jokes, numbers already being spent in people’s heads.
Lane stayed where he was for a beat longer than the rest.
Kait looked at Lane as she got up.
He met her eyes.
They both understood what had just happened.
The club had voted for something bigger than they would ever imagine.
