Ride Hard (Raven Riders 1)

Oh, shit. Alexa Harmon, the only woman Maverick had ever been serious about. Who chose another man over him.

His easygoing demeanor immediately gone, Maverick bolted across the room. “Where is she?”

Dare and a few others followed Blake and Maverick as they rushed through the clubhouse to the kitchen, where they found a bruised, bloodied, and very shaken-up Alexa sitting at the kitchen table. Haven crouched down next to her, embracing the other woman in her arms.

“It’ll be okay now,” Haven said. “The Ravens will take care of you. I promise.”

If the picture of Haven offering a total stranger such compassion didn’t reach into Dare’s chest and fuck with his heart, her words certainly did. And they also made him feel like an even bigger pile of shit for doubting her trust back at the lake, because he’d seen how his doubt had cut her deep.

Alexa and Haven both looked up at the same time at the group of men pushing into the kitchen.

Oh, hell, Dare thought, scanning Alexa’s battered face. Maverick had been a teenager when his parents’ marriage imploded, which meant he’d been old enough to see Bunny’s face look like that more than once, so Dare knew what this must be doing to the guy.

“Jesus,” Maverick bit out, taking a knee in front of where Alexa sat. “What the hell happened?” he asked. He reached out as if to touch the cut on her lip but stopped just shy of doing so. Haven stood, giving Mav room to get right up into his woman’s space. Well, in his mind she was his, anyway. Alexa had always seemed to resist the chemistry clearly brewing between them, and the way that cut at his cousin had often left Dare feeling a flicker of resentment toward her, truth be told.

Alexa dipped her chin, bringing long brown waves down to shield her face. Dare turned to the men behind him and jerked his chin toward the door. Phoenix, Jagger, Doc, and Blake backed out of the room, leaving him, Mav, and the women. Whatever had happened here, Alexa didn’t need a big audience for it.

“I just overreacted,” Alexa finally said, her voice high and tight. She shook her head and wiped her fingers under her eyes. “I shouldn’t have come.”

Dare frowned, his attention divided between trying to make sense of what Alexa was saying and watching Haven move about the room—wetting some paper towels, grabbing a bag of peas from the freezer, filling a glass of water, and spilling a couple of pain pills into her hand from the cabinet over the sink, which had developed over the years to the one-stop shop for all their medicinal needs.

“Look here,” Maverick said, gently tipping Alexa’s chin up with a nudge of his fingers. In addition to the split on the right side of her lips, she had a bruising cut on her right cheekbone and eyebrow, too. “Coming here was exactly what you should’ve done.”

A quick shake of her head as panic filled Alexa’s hazel eyes. “No, I’m sorry,” she said, pushing up from the table. Almost immediately, she lost her balance and nearly fell against Maverick, who caught her in his arms. “Please,” Alexa said, desperation lacing through her voice. “Let me go.”

Haven rushed across the room and placed a hand on Maverick’s shoulder. He initially braced as he looked up at Haven, but then his gaze went to the things she carried in her hands. “No one’s keeping you here, Alexa. Don’t worry,” Haven said. “But let’s get you feeling a little better before you go anywhere, okay? Let’s start there.” She put the towels, frozen peas, water, and pills down on the table in front of Alexa.

Maverick heaved to his feet on a troubled sigh, backing up just enough to let Haven tend to Alexa but staying close enough to be there for her, too. Should she let him?

“Okay,” Alexa said, giving Haven a small, tentative smile. “Okay.” Alexa swallowed the ibuprofen and tilted her head back to allow Haven to clean up her face.

“I’m sorry if I’m making it hurt worse,” Haven said, leaning over to gently swipe at Alexa’s bleeding injuries. Watching her work was when Dare realized she’d changed clothes, and the damp waves of her hair revealed she’d showered, too. Which of course made Dare think about why she’d needed to shower in the middle of the day. For fuck’s sake.

“You’re not hurting me,” Alexa said, wincing as Haven dabbed at her cheekbone. “And thank you.”

Haven smiled, a smile so compassionate and sincere that Dare would’ve given just about anything to see something so beautiful and honest directed at him.

Even more than that, Dare was absolutely floored—and not a little awed—at how good Haven Randall was in a crisis. Gone was the shy, introverted woman she usually was. Instead, she was taking charge, doing what needed to be done, and putting Alexa at ease the way no one else could. The only other person they had around to play that role was Bunny, but she wasn’t always there and was old enough that they couldn’t just expect her to be at their beck and call at all hours of the day and night.