Carley
It's finally lunchtime. When I get to the cafeteria doors I find Jase Alto blocking my way.
"You're eating with us Carley," he says. It's not a question, but a demand.
He holds the door open for me to enter. I got straight to grab a tray but he smacks my hand away. I turn to him with a glare.
"I'll get your food. Tell me what you want," he demands again.
"I'm capable of getting my food," I grouse.
He cocks a rich auburn eyebrow at my reply with a dare in his eyes to defy him.
I roll my eyes and huff. I allow him to get both of our food and drinks.
I follow Jase to the table outside in the courtyard where Lachlan and Weston are waiting. The former is drawing in his sketch with charcoal while the latter is talking to another guy I cannot see due to the people blocking him from view.
"Hey, baby girl," Weston says I sit down between him and Jase with Lachlan on the opposite side of the table.
"Care to tell us where you've been, sweetheart?" Jase asks about halfway through my grilled chicken salad.
"Seriously, Carley," Lachlan breathes. He looks up at me, pausing his drawing. "I tried to call you and your mom multiple times, but your phones were turned off." Those shadows are still in Lachlan's eyes pleading with me to tell him what happened to us.
I cannot deal with his emotions right now, instead, my eyes dart around not wanting people to listen in to our private conversation. I notice most people are avoiding our table and some have wary looks when they notice us.
"Guys I tried so many times to..."
"Well if it isn't the Choas whore? I thought you were dead," I hear a woman say so I turn around to find her.
There she is my high school tormentor, Julia Snipe. "If it isn't the wicked witch of Jones High. Sorry to disappoint you sugar, but here I am," I snark back at her.
Julia's eyes narrow on me in destain. "Developed a backbone I see. I'm just going to have to break you all over again. Maybe this you will actually manage to..."
"Don't finish that sentence Julia," Jase warns drawing her attention to him.
"Oh Jase, I'm free tonight if want to come over and have some fun," she purrs seductively at him. My little biodegradable fork snaps under the presser I place on it.
Jase's eyes slide to my broken cutlery. He chuckles under his breath. Before he can turn back to Julia to address her she is yanked away by tattooed fingers.
"What do we have here? Couldn't get into my pants last night so you thought you would try Jase tonight huh?" The man tuts at her. "Oh come on Julia, we know where you've been. There isn't a dick on campus you haven't ridden, other that Chaos'," the man says in a mocking tone.
I turn to look at the man she is talking to. I'd know this man anywhere. Just as I know Jase, Lachlan, and Weston. Arson.
"Only because your whore's pussy seems to have sunk its teeth into you five," she snaps at him with a frown on her blood-red lips.
A deep cruel chuckle leaves his lips. "The only snatch with teeth around here along with who knows what diseases is yours. Heard that the math professor you were with has chlamydia. Might want to go get tested there, Jules." A cruel smile graces his lush lips. His dimples are now hidden behind a dark well kept beard.
"Fuck you, Skaggs!" She snarls at him before turning on her heels and slapping him in the face with her hair. All the while he just laughs at her retreating form.
When she can no longer be seen, Arson sits beside Lachlan. I turn around to come face to face with his golden eyes boring into me. I feel as though if he looks hard enough that he might be able to read my mind.
"What happened to you? Where did you go? I thought you might have been kidnapped if it weren't for your mother disappearing too," he questions.
I chose to ignore him, instead looking for the missing letter in their acronym.
Jase sighs deeply. "He isn't here, sweetheart," he says with disappointment.
"Why isn't he here? Where is he?" I ask desperately needing to seek out my former best friend.
"In prison," Jase says before looking away from me.
"In prison!" I squeak. "How did that happen?" I ask in alarm.
"You weren't here so we owe you no explanation," Arson snarls at me. He has never snarled at me before! I used to get a side of him no one else did, a gentle side. What happened to make that sweet boy this angry man before me?
"Air, I had a good reason for leaving. Yeah maybe I should have called but how could I without a phone? I didn't have any of your numbers memorized and neither did mom."
He scoffs at my words so turn my attention back on Jase. "Can I go see him?" I ask.
"Not sure he would want to see you, sweetheart. He is not the same," Jase says shaking his head in disappointment.
"I care about him. I want to see him," I assure him in an urgent voice. Being away from my best friend for over six years feel as though I've been missing a vital organ.
"Stop acting like you care," Arson sneers at me. "If you cared, you wouldn't have ghosted us."
"It wasn't intentional! It's not like I wanted to vanish from you in the first place. You are my boys," I snap back at him. Though they aren't boys now as they? No, they are now dangerous-looking men.
"I missed all five of you," I say in a hushed voice.
"Yeah, well, you have a funny way of showing it," Arson snaps having clearly heard me. He stands walking over to a girl standing by a tree making eyes at him.
Weston makes a sound of disgust. "There he goes again," he mutters.
My gaze travels over to Arson to find him with his hand up that girl's short skirt and his tongue down her throat. My upper lip curls up in a sneer at the sight.
Jase vibrates beside me with a silent chuckle. He leans over to whisper in my ear, " Are you going to let your boy disrespect you like that, sweetheart?"
At that moment I know Jase can see my body tremble with fury. How dare he touch another woman like that with me here!
The guys stand around me. Jase holds his hand out for me so I take it coming to stand. He kisses my temple.
"Go get our boy. Remind him who owns him, " Jase whispers in my ear. The way my body responds to him is as though he is uttering filthy sexual words instead of telling me to go dominate his friend.
Do have the right to own Arson? Any of them? I'm the one who left them. My mind is made up for me as soon I see the unzip his pants and reach inside.
I stomp over them with the other three CHAOS boys right on my heels. I grab Arson but the waistband of his jeans, yanking him out and away from the girl he was balls-deep in. He stumbles back in surprise and lands on his rear.
I jump on him, straddling him and hiding his body with mine. I grab a fist full of his umber hair with one hand and his chin in the other. We curse in unison at one another.
Dawning enters his gaze when he realizes who has him. He glances around at the other three looking down on us and blocking us from the view of onlookers with their large bodies.
"Don't speak, Arson!" I snap at him harshly. "I don't want to hear another excuse out of your mouth," I snarl with venom. "Do you realize how bloodthirsty it makes me seeing you with another girl?"
"You were gone," he hisses at me. His golden eye glare at me with defiance and hurt shining in them.
"You're right I did leave. I'm here now. I'm not leaving again. Chaos in mine. You're mine," I say succinctly in a hard confident tone.
I reach between our bodies with my hand not entangled in his hair. His golden eyes shutter close as he bites back a groan before they locate back on mine.
"Who owns all five letters that make our acronym of C.H.A.O.S.?" Jase says. We look up at him. He has a satisfied smirk on his handsome face. "For whom did we grow to power?"
I have no idea what he is talking about, but Arson Skaggs is mine.
Arson grunts underneath me in response to him. I look at him with his heavy-lidded liquid gold eyes hidden behind thick dark lashes. He has the sexiest bedroom eyes. The frown on his face has turned into a maniacal smirk.
"Welcome back, Carley. Nice to see you finally know what you want. I'm yours huh? Does that mean you are finally to fight for us? Possess us? I want you to. They want you to, " he teases.
I cannot believe he is teasing me! I squeeze him and don't mean his hair.
"I'm going to do more than just fight for you. All five of Chaos are mine including your bodies," I say lowering my voice seductively.
Arson chuckles huskily underneath me. "Let me get you a crown, baby. You just staked your claim on us in front of the whole university."
I release Arson. Jase reaches his hand out to me, helping me to rise to my feet. He helps me step over the man left laying on the ground. Lachlan helps him up so he can right his clothing.
The boys fan out behind me and that's when I notice all the phones pointed at us.
This is not how I expected my first day at this university to go. I roll back my shoulders. I take a deep inhale holding for a count of four then releasing it all.
"Carley! There you are darlin' I've been looking all over for you!" Oh yeah. Did he see or hear what just happened? I forgot he was here too. This might get complicated.
Arson 'Who is the cowboy? Why is he calling our girl's name?' He shouldn't be. Everyone here knows exactly who we are without knowing exactly what we are capable of. Regardless we are respected and we are feared. So who would dare be so friendly with the one girl who belongs to us? 'Or should I say we belong to her? ' I never would have expected the meek little girl would become this fiery goddess of a woman that would grab my dick with livid steel-blue eyes full of determination. My stomach growls in hunger. I should have eaten something instead of deciding to anger Carley and my friends in the process. Jase is going to make me regret my behavior later. "Hey, Storm! How is your day going so far?!" She chirps excitedly at him and then greets him with a warm hug. I let a out low growl but I doubt either of them heard me. My friends sure did. None of us are happy with his hand lingering possessively on Carley's lower back as he talks to her. Our arms are crossed over our chests
Arson We sit side by side in the human anatomy class. I spend the entire duration watching her take notes. There are so many questions running through my head that want to ask her. The most important is why she left us. I remember the first time I met her in seventh grade. I had this nerdy kid shoved up against the lockers by the front of his shirt for bumping into me and sending my autobody magazines go flying. He didn't even apologize to me. Carley in her little pink dress with worn cowboy boots on her feet, her white-blonde hair curled in a ponytail, shoved me off the kids and onto my rear. She caught me by surprise that time too. She stood above me giving me the lecture of a lifetime about bullying people and how just because I'm stronger than weaker kids didn't mean I had to be a thug. It made me so furious that when I stood up, I yanked her ponytail hard enough to send her falling to the floor. She just look up at me with a sneer on her face. Next thing I knew I was be
Arson 'WTF.' I feel as though I've been shot in the chest again, only this time instead of a bullet piercing my chest cavity it was Carley's words. I wouldn't do anything physically to her without her consent and enjoyment so she is right about that. 'But does she think I would abuse her mentally or emotionally on purpose?' I mean, yeah, I guess, I do things to make her angry on purpose but that's it. I don't ever want to make her cry again. 'I can't do this. How could she think that? Is this what betrayal feels like? Screw this!' The urge to pound something or someone is too strong right now so I leave her with Storm, quickly thundering out of the building and into my 1985 car in solid black that I rebuilt myself. It's the first car I ever rebuilt so it's the one I'm most attached to. I drive to the boxing gym we own. There is a punching bag with my name on it. When I arrive I don't bother to change into shorts, instead, I kick off my boots and pull off my shirt. I didn't
Carley "So what are you doing tonight Moon-bear?" My mom asks while I work on my assignments at the kitchen table. She is cooking spaghetti tonight alongside her girlfriend Lidia. Lidia and Storm both moved in with us in July after we'd been back in Palamino Bay for several months. They are both from another southern state town in a city called Blanche which is where Storm grew up. It's a wonder I didn't run into the Chaos boys before today. Lidia has helped my mom, Amy, in the process of mourning my father and twin brother. Lidia and my mom needed each other in the beginning and their friendship morphed into love over the years. I couldn't be happier for them both finding love again. "I'm going up to the loft to work on my assignments and the boys are coming over," I reply to her. My mother frowns at me. "I know what you're thinking mom. The boys had nothing to do with the bullying or the depression. They can't be held responsible for the actions of others. They tried to hel
Carley *Trigger warning- mentions of suicide*I climb up the stairs to the loft and get settled on the floor in front of an old leather couch the Chaos Boys brought up here with my twin brother Carson. This old hay loft is decorated with fairy lights streaming down from the rafters and around the railing and posts. There is a couch, a rug, two reclining chairs, a coffee table, several oversized bean bag chairs, tons of blankets, two mini refrigerators, a few small fans, and space heaters as well. The first thing I did before even unpacking when we arrived back was dust and clean up everything here in our sacred space. No one would bother us here and I was always free to be myself without a care in the world when I was up here with my boys. It was also a safe space for them to escape their tumultuous home lives. Mom didn't want to sell our house and land because it was paid for, so it sat empty while we were gone for over six years. It was exactly as we had left it too. The pastures
Carley "We had a drunken one-night-stand, " I say quickly holding my hands up in a placating gesture before they attempt to leave. "Hold on boys, before you go castrating him, we are just friends now. That one-night stand clarified that we work better as platonic friends. He is also living with us temporarily. Our mothers are a couple," I say and the guys relax back in their seats. "So you guys are basically step-siblings, " Weston states with an adorable confused look on his handsome face. "Pretty much, " I affirm with a shrug. "Besides he is in love with his childhood best friend. His three friends are in love with her too, but I've only ever met Jensen and JT. I've never met Carter because he didn't work at the ranch with us," I say. "What guys are currently outside with him now? The two you know?" Arson asks. "Yep. Jensen and JT are my casual sex partners," I chirp goading Arson in retaliation for his lunchtime debacle. I'm thankful Lachlan and Weston both dog pile on t
*Trigger warning. Mentions of child abuse.* Jase "Hey, Catcus! The guys say sorry they missed you and they'll see you next time. They didn't want to bother you since you had company. You good?" Storm's booming voice shouts up to Carley. "Yes Storm, I'm good. Thank you for letting me know," Carley shouts back down to him from our sacred space. I don't want him or any other up here in our sacred space surrounded by nothing but memories worth keeping. "I've got know what with the whole catcus thing! You keep avoiding the question so I need the story behind Catcus Carley," Lachlan asks. His curiosity will get him killed one of these days, but I also know he'll use this story as artistic inspiration. Carley blushes but finally gives Lachlan the story he has been craving to hear. "I fell into cactus when a snake spooked Loki. He went one way and I went the other into the cactus. It was my fault for not paying attention to my surroundings while riding. Being the only girl, it was
Jase I look up to find a frown on Carley's face while she examines the blood on her hand from where it was resting on my thigh. My jeans are soaked in blood. In hindsight, I should have changed the bandage before coming over. "It's nothing," I say now fully awake once again. Her brow creases and she tuts me under her breath. "This too much blood to be 'nothing' Jase Orion Alto." You know you're in trouble when someone addresses you by including your middle name. "Let me look at your thigh," she huffs at me. Her uncle is a doctor and she takes after him, always bandaging us up. I haven't met the man, but she looks up to him. 'I wouldn't mind her being our team medic.' I stand peeling my jeans off my legs until I'm standing in my boxer briefs and Kings of Death band tee. Carley grabs the medical kit we keep hidden up here. She takes out bandaged scissors to remove the bloody bandage wrapped around my thigh. With her kneeling in front of me, all I can think of is how g
Carley I am sitting with my feet propped up doing coursework on my laptop while watching my uncle Jaxson, along with my husband Arson, teaching dance lessons. Jax and Air are teaching hip-hop to children who range from 5 to 18 today. Other days, they teach ballet, tap, jazz, and lyrical. Jaxson is doing most of the teaching until Arson can dance all day again. His legs tire quickly. I don't need to eat saltines and ginger ale constantly to avoid vomiting, but I still can't tolerate the taste or smell of cooked ground beef. All thanks to the hamburger, I vomited back up. Gross. I smile at the memory. I thought Jase was going to keel over from embarrassment since he was the one who cooked. He understood. Lachlan had just announced I was pregnant hours before. The grief-stricken look on Jase’s face is anything but joyful as he looks at me now. His hair is still wet from a shower. I look around for my other husbands, but they aren’t present. I watch as his Adam’s Apple bo
Carley It's been months since Lachlan conquered his fear of cigarette smoke by doing to his mother what she used to do to him. He and the others put their cigarettes out on her before Ransom came up with the idea to light her on fire. She burned to death on the concrete of that mansion's patio. Aftermath Crew was called in by Uncle Ryder to handle the disposal of the bodies of Francis Hartley and Julia Snipe. Lachlan is in a much better place now not having to deal with the stress of That Woman breathing down his neck. Hanging on the wall is a painting of our family. I'm holding our son and all five guys are gathered around the hospital bed staring with adoration at our tiny newest member. I wasn't very nice while in labor for fourteen hours. I cursed them all and called Jase a 'bad Daddy' for doing to this me as I pushed our son out. The doctor and nurse gave him some disgusted looks which was made worse by Ransom agreeing with me. Speaking of Ransom... “Rainy, if you wake up t
LachlanI put this off as long as possible. I don’t want to be here in this house, even my father’s ghost is unwelcome. I don’t want to deal with this woman, but I must. She gave birth to me, but that doesn’t mean I can tolerate being in her presence for long. It’s been over a month since she requested I be at her diner. She got her wish, just not as she expected.I'm in a charcoal suit with a silk yellow tie, and Carley is wearing a gorgeous yellow lace dress with an off-the-shoulder style. On the other side of Carley is Weston, who is wearing the same suit I am. Before we arrived, there was a wedding ceremony.“Breathe, Hotel. I can tell you aren’t by the lack of sound coming from you,” Jase says through the earpiece.“We got you covered,” Doc Fox says through the earpiece, holding a glass up toward us to signal the supposed man of honor has arrived at the party. Ryder is weari
Ransom"Look, boss, we didn't find Grothman's body. I've told you that daily for weeks now. The cops said he was dead, but he wasn't in that cave where Carley said he would be." Colton's words send a sense of foreboding into me as he talks with Ryder. He'll be back.
Razor"Who are we going after for this, boss?" One of my older members asks.I currently can't talk, since I had my throat stitched up. So here I sit in a hospital, a "victim" of gang violence. I wasn't about to fess to being the leader of one of the gangs. Both those killed each other according to the story I wrote and signed for the police and the federal agents.Amongst the feds, I swear I saw none other than the youngest Zen, Slater. What an exciting bit of juicy information that is. He didn't notice me, which is a small mercy.I wrote on my notepad that we would take care of all that later. I need a plan first.I'll have to be carefu
Lachlan"I'm exhausted. I'm taking Uncle Jax's fruit snacks and going to bed," Carley says with a yawn. "Take Air with you. I'll help you get him to bed," Weston suggests. Arson fell asleep in his chair due to the morphine drip Ryder had given him earlier. So I'm glad Weston is going with them. "Sounds great," Carley yawns and I gather up the giant box of fruit snacks Sidhe brought. He claimed that keeps a stash of juice boxes and fruit snacks in his car for his baby nephews. I don't doubt that, but I also know Sidhe, they are more for him than his nephews Kassius and Darius. He only sees Darius once a month when they go visit Gator's mother in Grele. "I'll walk you out. I'm going to stay and keep an eye on the other two," I inform them. "Somebody sober should," Weston says pointing his chin and Doc Fox and Gator who are drinking whiskey straight from the bottle. This going to be an interesting night with some mixing alcohol with pain meds and others getting crossfaded like the
Carley"Stop being such a big baby, J. Sit still," I hiss."That burns you brat," Jase snarls. "That's why you need this local anesthetic I'm attempting to put around the wound. You keep jerking your shoulder away from me," I growl at this infuriating man. He is being ridiculous. He is snapping, snarling, and flinching. He is awful when he is in pain. He didn't behave this badly when I bandaged his leg. I glance over to find Tee inserting a syringe of liquid into a juice box he hands over to Jax. Ryder nods to him. I briefly leave Jase to talk with my uncle. "What did Tee put in that juice box he handed to Jax?" I ask in a hushed tone as he stitches up Storm's calf. "Vicodin mixed with peanut butter whiskey in his apple juice so can't taste it. Why? Is Alpha being a big baby and getting on your ever-lovin nerves?""He is on my last nerve. Seriously! What is his problem?" I grumble. Ryder gives me a knowing gentle smile. "Baby bear, you scared him. The first thing he saw was you
Jase“What were you thinking, getting shot?” Ransom yells at me as I attempt to staunch my bleeding shoulder.I glare at him for daring to use such an indignant tone with me, acting as if I purposefully got shot to inconvenience him. “Watch it, Hound,” I snarl at him, already enraged about being shot in the first damn place. Then I look at him and see the large patch on his eye. I searched him for other wounds, but I couldn’t tell underneath the long-sleeved black shirt, bulletproof vest, and black cargo pants with combat boots on his feet if he was injured anywhere else. I touch his face with a bloody hand over the patch.“You can give a thorough inspection later, Daddy. Right now, we need to get out of here,” he says with a suggestive wink, causing my dick to tent my black jeans.
Carley When we arrive, it’s all-out war. Ravagers against Damned Forsaken with my entire family caught in the crossfire. Even Lydia and Grandad Leo, with his friends, are here. What gets my attention is the group on motorcycles pulling up beside us, with Ryder and Lachlan in Ryder’s custom vintage car. There are two teenage boys in the group as well. A gruff man with tattoos, long blonde hair, and a scruffy beard pulls Ali into a hug. “Hey, Sissy.” “Hey, Bubba,” Ali replies, pulling back so they can face Ryder. So this guy must be Grimm, her older brother. They look a lot alike, minus the hair color. “Is that our boys taking cover in the middle, Frosty?” He asks Uncle Ryder. “Unfortunately, Reaper, yes, that’s our team. Sierra and Sidhe are picking off as many as they can. But, of course, Jaxson gave away his position. Collector,” Ryder addresses another honey-blonde man with his hair in a messy top not, clean-shaven face, an