Rift.
Book one of the "Veterans" MC series.
Mason Ashford is a former marine, also known as Rift, his road name. He is a hard around the edges man. Involved in the VETERANS MC, he has a family that he wants to protect. He always jokes around, but un...
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I was panicking. It was true! My nightmares weren’t just that. What I had dreaded came up to the surface and tried to get to me, suffocate me, take me away once again. I tried to breathe, but air did not come through, I was shaking, trembling with fear and realisation. This couldn’t be true! This can’t be happening!
“Breath, god dammit, breathe.” I heard a voice close to my ear. Rift, he was pinning me to the door, his breath fanned the side of my neck and a shiver ran down my spine. Breathe, Marina, breathe. I tried, once, twice, but nothing. This was happening, the truth I so hard did not want to face hit me straight to the heart and left me cold, dead, in a pile of my own ashes to the ground.
Rift grabbed my throat softly, raising my eyes to meet his and I saw it then. He was as scared as me, he was panicking the same way I was, but he controlled it. I can do it too, I can do it too. “O- Okay.” I said, my voice breaking, following the pattern of his breathing for a long moment, until I could finally breathe for myself.
“Fuck.” Rift roared and brushed a palm through his messy long hair, pacing the room now. His brothers were concerned for him, even Satan had his brows furrowed and his attention completely on the both of us. “What happened?” I asked, knowing very well now what had happened as reality hit me greater than ever before.
“You- They- I-” Anna tried but I knew she couldn’t do it. What had happened to her was enough to leave a man scared for life, and she was trying to lead this kind of conversation like it was her obligation to. It wasn’t.
“I am sorry.” I shook my head, remembering how she once again had to watch a woman she loved get the same treatment she had gotten through all those years before. Her eyes watered and I gasped as a sob left her mouth. Anna didn’t cry, not ever. But now she was crying for me. She… She really wanted to protect me and couldn’t, she saw her family- No… Shit. I couldn’t let her think it was he fucking fault!
I stalked towards her and she put a palm down to stop me as she tried to turn away but I didn’t listen. Nova was on her feet and Cecilia to her side. “It wasn’t your fault!” I roared at her, “You need to understand that, Anna. Why are you always blaming yourself for things that you can’t control!?” she shook her head sharply and turned to the side, masking her emotions perfectly once again.
“Get her out of here, I will continue the story.” I said and Cici sighed in relief before taking her out of the room. Rift had stopped pacing and I glanced at him.
He was staring back at me with furrowed eyes and seeing his confused expression, he lifted his chin slightly towards Satan. Satan was wide eyed, frozen to his seat as he looked to the door where Anna had left. The man was in a daze as he looked lifelessly to the door and Rebel quietly tried to talk to him, but failed.
After a long moment, we were seated back down and Satan was looking at me with furrowed brows. “What happened?” he asked and I sighed in a slight panic but contained it as well as I could. “You know what those people do to women, it happened to me that day. The worst is that Silvie knew what Anna had gone through and deliberately forced her to watch me-”
“Don’t.” Rift shouted as he banged his fist on the table, his jaw tightening as he fumed in anger, shaking as he looked down at me. I sighed, willing the tears to stay back as I looked back at him, feeling vulnerable.
“After that, days passed and Cecilia and I finally got a lead as to where they had been. We went there and got them out, but before that Anna had said that there was another woman who needed help, a woman named Madelyn.” Nova was the one who spoke up now and the men stiffened at the name.
“What happened?” Shaw asked carefully and I saw Rift visibly shake as he focused on Nova. “Madelyn was new there, we can recognize the ones that are. I saw her and tried to help. Anna got us all out of there, Madelyn included, and we all went back home.” Nova continued and I shook my head.
“Madelyn, I remember her now faintly. Didn’t she leave right after we brought her back?” I asked and Nova nodded. “I think she is okay, Anna helped her get a new passport and stuff like that, but she didn’t stay with us, she just left.” Nova said with a sigh and a shake of her head. This was too overwhelming and I needed air, space. I needed to get out of her and soon.
