Chapter 44 Brothers broken
Ryder's POV
Time stopped moving as soon as the door burst open.
Jaxon stood frozen in the doorway, his eyes moving from me to Sage and back again. I watched his face cycle through shock, then disbelief, then fresh red hot anger.
He looked like he was just going through the worst form of betrayal possible.
"Get out," he said. His voice was quiet and deadly. "Both of you. Now."
I moved to shield Sage while she scrambled for the sheet. My heart hammered against my ribs but I kept my eyes on Jaxon, watching for the explosion I knew was coming.
"Jax, let me explain," I started.
"Get dressed and get out of this room." Each word was clipped and controlled. "You have thirty seconds."
We dressed in silence while Jaxon waited in the hallway. I could hear his breathing, harsh and uneven, and the stomping of his boots on the floor, like he was fighting for control. Sage's hands shook as she pulled on her shirt. I wanted to tell her it would be okay but I couldn't lie to her right now.
As soon as we stepped into the hallway, Jaxon's fist connected with my jaw before I could react or even say anything.
Pain exploded across my face as I staggered back and tasted blood in my mouth.
"You son of a bitch," Jaxon growled. "My sister? My fucking sister?"
He swung again. This time I blocked it, my instincts taking over even though I knew I deserved every hit.
"I love her," I said.
That's the worst thing you could say to me right now!
Jaxon's face twisted with pure undiluted rage. He tackled me and we crashed through the hallway, slamming into the wall hard enough to crack the wood. He pinned me beneath him and started raining punches down on me. I tried to block them but he was beyond reason.
"I trusted you!" Each word came with a blow. "You were my brother! How could you take advantage of my only sister?!"
I wanted us to talk like reasonable adults but he was obviously not going to stand for it. So I shoved him off and got to my feet, my own anger finally unleashing.
"I AM your brother!" I shouted back. "And I love her! Deal with it!"
We collided again as he speared me to the ground, and started trading brutal hits. His fist caught my ribs and I felt a sharp burst of pain and I knew he had cracked it. My elbow connected with his jaw and his head snapped back. We were both bleeding nownfeom different points on our faces, definitely both past the point of thinking clearly.
Sage screamed at us to stop but her voice was lost in the roar of punches and blows in my ears.
Club members ran into the hallway. Tommy grabbed Sage and held her back while Snake and Diesel moved to separate us. It took three men to pull Jaxon off me and two more to keep me from going after him again.
"Let me go!" Jaxon struggled against the hands holding him. "Let me finish this!"
"Jax, calm down," Diesel said.
"Calm down? He's been fucking my sister behind my back! In my clubhouse! While pretending to be my brother! While pretending to be my friend!"
"I never pretended," I spat blood onto the floor. "I've been your friend since we were kids. That hasn't changed."
"My father took you in when you had nothing, when you were NOTHING! How could you turn around and stab him in the back like this?" Jaxon wiped blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. "You crossed a line you can't come back from."
"The only line I crossed was falling in love with her! I've loved her for a very long time! But I buried my feelings for years because of you! Because you wouldn't want me to have her."
"She's not yours to have!"
"She's not yours to control!"
Jaxon didn't give a response immediately and brothers from both sides of the hallway watched, waiting to see how this would play out.
He straightened up. His breathing was still ragged but his expression had shifted from rage to something colder.
"You're out," he said.
The hallway went silent.
"What?" I couldn't have heard him right.
"You heard me. Pack your shit and get out of my club."
"Jax, don't do this," Tommy said quietly.
"This doesn't concern you."
"The hell it doesn't. Ryder's our brother. He's my elder brother. He's been with you since I was in diapers."
"And now he's betrayed my trust and disrespected my family." Jaxon's voice was ice. "I want him gone by morning."
"You can't kick him out over this," Snake protested. "Half the guys here have slept with each other's sisters."
"I'm president. I can do whatever I want." Jaxon's eyes never left mine. "And what I want is him gone."
The room erupted.
Brothers shouted over each other, some supporting Jaxon's decision and others calling it bullshit. Diesel argued that club law gave presidents the right to remove members who betrayed them. Tommy countered that love wasn't a crime and that Sage wasn't property.
"Enough!" Jaxon's voice cut through the chaos. "My decision is final. Ryder leaves or I start stripping patches from anyone who stands with him."
The threat was clear. Anyone who sides with me loses their place in the club too.
I looked around at the brothers I'd been through thick and thin with, at Tommy, who looked sick over this. At Snake, who was shaking his head. At Diesel, who wouldn't meet my eyes.
Then I looked at Sage. She was sitting on the floor with tears streaming down her face, her eyes wide with shock.
"Fine," I said. "I'll go."
"Ryder, no," Sage started moving toward me but Tommy held her back.
"It's okay." I looked at her and tried to make myself look calm. "I meant what I said. I love you. That's not going to change just because I'm not a part of Steel Wolves anymore."
Jaxon scoffed loudly. "You think you can just walk away from this club and have a happy ending? You think she's going to choose you over her family? Over her blood?"
"That's her choice to make. Not yours."
I turned and walked toward the room to pack my things. Behind me, the arguing started up again. Brothers were taking sides, the club was splitting down the middle over whether I deserved this or whether Jaxon had finally lost his mind.
I had lost everything tonight. My club, my brothers, my purpose.
But looking back at Sage standing in that hallway with tears streaming down her face, I knew I'd make the same choice again.
Some things were worth burning the world down for.