The smoky biker caf\u00e9 fell completely silent.<\/p>\n
Pool balls stopped rolling across the tables.
\nCoffee cups froze halfway to mouths.
\nEven the old jukebox seemed quieter somehow.<\/p>\n
At the back corner booth, the massive biker holding the scratched medallion stared at it like it might burn through his hands.<\/p>\n
His name was Boone Carter.<\/p>\n
And the engraving inside the medallion shattered twenty years of buried guilt.<\/p>\n
BROTHERS TILL THE LAST RIDE.
\n\u2014 JACE<\/p>\n
Boone\u2019s breathing became uneven.<\/p>\n
Across the caf\u00e9, several older bikers slowly stood from their chairs.<\/p>\n
Every one of them recognized the name.<\/p>\n
Jace Morgan.<\/p>\n
Former road captain of the Steel Vipers.<\/p>\n
The man they believed died during a violent border run nearly twelve years earlier.<\/p>\n
The little girl tightened her grip on the younger boy\u2019s hand. \u201cYou knew him, didn\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n
Boone looked at her carefully for the first time.<\/p>\n
She had Jace\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n
The same stubborn expression too.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s your name, kid?\u201d he asked quietly.<\/p>\n
\u201cLily.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the boy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy brother, Noah.\u201d<\/p>\n
Boone slowly sat back down, stunned.<\/p>\n
Jace once told the crew that if he ever escaped the biker life, he wanted two children and a small house far away from highways and gunfire.<\/p>\n
Nobody thought he\u2019d live long enough to have either.<\/p>\n
But somehow\u2026<\/p>\n
he did.<\/p>\n
Boone looked down at the medallion again.<\/p>\n
There was fresh damage on the back now.<\/p>\n
A long deep scratch that hadn\u2019t been there years ago.<\/p>\n
His expression darkened immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere did your mother get this?\u201d<\/p>\n
Lily swallowed hard.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy dad mailed it to us last month.\u201d<\/p>\n
Every biker in the caf\u00e9 froze.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s impossible,\u201d someone whispered.<\/p>\n
Boone slowly looked up. \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
Lily\u2019s voice trembled.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he said people were hunting him again.\u201d<\/p>\n
The caf\u00e9 suddenly felt colder.<\/p>\n
One older biker cursed quietly beneath his breath.<\/p>\n
The Steel Vipers had enemies everywhere back then.<\/p>\n
But only one group ever managed to break Jace.<\/p>\n
The Black Kings.<\/p>\n
A ruthless biker syndicate believed to have disappeared years ago.<\/p>\n
Boone leaned forward carefully. \u201cWhere\u2019s your father now?\u201d<\/p>\n
Lily\u2019s eyes filled with tears.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was supposed to meet us yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n
Noah suddenly hugged his sister tighter.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe never came.\u201d<\/p>\n
Boone\u2019s jaw tightened.<\/p>\n
Around the caf\u00e9, bikers exchanged nervous looks.<\/p>\n
Because deep down\u2026<\/p>\n
they all remembered the truth.<\/p>\n
Jace Morgan never actually died.<\/p>\n
The club lied.<\/p>\n
To protect him.
\nTo hide him.
\nAnd maybe\u2026<\/p>\n
to save themselves.<\/p>\n
Then the front door of the caf\u00e9 creaked open again.<\/p>\n
Cold wind swept through the room.<\/p>\n
Three men wearing black leather coats stepped inside slowly.<\/p>\n
Their jackets carried a symbol Boone hadn\u2019t seen in over a decade.<\/p>\n
A gold crown stitched over a skull.<\/p>\n
The Black Kings.<\/p>\n
One of the men smiled coldly after spotting Lily.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell,\u201d he said softly, \u201clooks like we finally found Jace\u2019s family.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The smoky biker caf\u00e9 fell completely silent. Pool balls stopped rolling across the tables. Coffee cups froze halfway to mouths. Even the old jukebox seemed quieter somehow. At the back corner booth, the massive biker holding the scratched medallion stared at it like it might burn through his hands. His name was Boone Carter. And […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2118,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trending-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2116\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}