Python: Soldiers Of Hades MC, #2

Python laid in his bed as the dawn’s early light chased the shadows of the night into oblivion. He’d been awake for a while now and he was thinking about what had happened here just a few days ago. The battle they’d faced and then the grisly end of the man Tory had been searching for, for almost a year.

Juan Nunez, son of the man he killed here in Odessa, years ago. He remembered well that day. They had been battling the cartel for a few weeks by then. There had been a few clashes between them but nothing serious, mostly it had been each side learning what the other could and would do.

During that last particular battle many men had died, more on the cartel side than his side but that battle had stopped the war. Python found out later that not only had they taken out the second biggest cartel man, Garcia Nunez but they had killed one of the cartel’s sons.

They hadn’t found that out until the second day after the fire. Alejandro Brago had died of multiple bullets in the same wave that took out Garcia Nunez. Alejandro was the one of the cartel leaders, Luis Brago’s, second born son.

The Brago cartel was founded by three brothers, Luis, Francisco and Angel Brago. They ruled the area just on the other side of the Texas/Mexico border between McAllen in the south to Del Rio in the north. Brago hated Python, this he knew for damn sure. Python had thought they might just get him at that warehouse, but they hadn’t, despite waiting for id on the men they had captured there. He felt it in his gut. Brago was still in the wind and he could likely be anywhere right about now.

This cartel was particularly vicious in their dealings on this side of the border. And that was why their group had to bring the cartel to its knees. They killed anyone in their way. They ran everything from drugs to human beings and no one had the guts to stop them. Most likely you would stay alive long enough to do anything to even make a dent in that organization.

He frowned as he remembered back then. Shortly after that fire all those years ago, his woman Peggy Sue had left him without any kind of word at all. She not only walked out on him but she left her three sons, Richard, Micah and Lucian behind.

He closed his eyes as he tried to remember her face. She had been beautiful, willful and a hell of a woman back then.

With her dark, cherry red hair and violet colored eyes, she had been his whole world. She passed her coloring onto her sons and every time he looked at them, he saw her. After she left, he felt betrayed and could barely look at his two oldest sons. Mostly, because they were just as angry at her disappearance as he had been. They were a lot like their mother though, so much so, he could hardly look at them which is what led them to wanting to start their own MC.

Yes, he had made that mistake and for a long time, he’d lost contact with his sons. He felt relieved that they were here now, with him. He could not make up for that lost time, but he intended to try to keep them in his life now. Life was short and it had a short fuse too. It could all blow tomorrow and give a person no time for regrets.

Python shook his head and finally, got out of bed. Even though it was barely light outside, he couldn’t sleep anyway.

The dog laying at the foot of his bed picked up his head. Tory’s dog Wolf had attached himself to Python, much to his chagrin. He sure as hell, didn’t like the damn dog. He felt like he had to guard his balls every time the dog came near him.

Tory had tried to tell him and the others that Wolf wouldn’t hurt them unless they tried to come at her but it had been a little hard to believe her words after witnessing what he’d done to Juan. A beast wolf. The animal was good protection but it still made all the men nervous. Why the animal took a shine to him, Python would never know. He had been putting up with it, because you just didn’t want to piss the creature off. It was smarter to just go along with whatever it wanted.

Python chuckled a bit at the thought. He had stopped wondering why the animal liked him so much. It just was and he hoped the wolf-dog would take a shine to someone else soon.

He pulled his jeans on and then tugged his boots on. He didn’t put a shirt on, as he didn’t think anyone else was awake yet. He got up and walked toward the door.

Wolf got up and trotted after him, knowing Python would let him outside. Of course, he would, but the damn dog would just come back in, so it felt sort of useless to hope he wouldn’t return.

Python walked through the clubhouse without turning on the lights, as he knew every inch of the place. This was the place he’d called home for over forty years now. When he unlocked the door and stepped outside, Wolf shot out behind him and took off. When the dog suddenly stopped and growled low, Python looked over to where he was.

The sight Python took in was more than odd.

A woman stood there while looking around the compound. Dressed in a blouse that hung off her shoulders and a long simple shirt that reached a few inches from the ground, she looked fine enough. Her clothes weren’t in the best condition and they looked dusty as if she had been wearing them for a few days. Her shoes were barley there and they looked like something a homeless person might wear.

Python just stared at her for a moment then he frowned and studied her closely. Her hair was pulled back into a simple braid but it came down to her waist. There were streaks of a dark red mixed in with the gray, still her hair was beautiful and it reminded him of something, but he couldn’t figure what or who.

She looked confused as she gazed around.

Python sighed. Some woman wandering around high or lost. They had some bad people to deal with and he did not need innocents walking into the line of fire while on his compound ground. He sure as hell, didn’t need this right now, that was for sure. He took a step or two toward her then heard someone walk up behind him. Peeking over his shoulder, he noted it was Cobra.

Cobra was also staring at the woman.

The woman finally turned in their direction. When she noticed him standing there, her eyes got huge in her face. Then she whispered, “Tiberius, oh my God, is that you? Am I finally home?” She took a step toward him but Wolf growled and she stopped. She peered down at the animal like she was afraid to move.

Cobra stepped away from his father and frowned at the woman. “Pops, who the fuck is this?”

The woman turned her head and she paled as she stared at him. “Lucian, oh my god, Lucian? I thought you were dead. He told me he killed you in revenge.” Her color went from pale to ashen and then without warning, she crumbled in a heap on the ground.

Both men rushed toward her but it was Python who reached her first. He gently turned her over and brushed her hair away from her face. He couldn’t be absolutely sure but he thought he knew her. It was a huge leap, but it had to be true.

He pushed the collar of her blouse down and away from her left shoulder and saw the tattoo on her arm. “Peggy Sue…” he whispered, “Where the fucking hell have you been?”

“Who is this fucking woman, Pops?” Cobra snarled.

Python gathered her in his arms and lifted her up out of the dirt. He looked over at Cobra and snarled, “Hush your mouth boy, this is your mother.”

“The fuck she is.” Cobra growled. “She’s been dead to me ever since she walked out and left us behind.”

Python let out a heavy sigh. “I suggest we find out what happened before we throw her out. We need to know why she came back here after all these years,” he told his son. Then he carried her back into the club.