Axel
Reapers MC Book 17
Elizabeth Knox
Contents
Gone But Never Forgotten:
Billings, Montana Charter
Las Vegas, Nevada Charter
Chihuahua, Mexico Charter
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Epilogue
Axel
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are all products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblances to persons, organizations, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Axel. Copyright © 2021 by Elizabeth Knox. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations used in articles or reviews. For information contact E. Knox.
Editing: Kim Lubbers, Knox Publishing
Proofreading: Jackie Ziegler, Knox Publishing
Formatting: E.C. Land, Knox Publishing
Cover Designer: Clarise Tan, CT Cover Creations
Photographer: Golden Czermak, Furious Fotog
Models: David & Kayla Cook
Created with Vellum
Available Now From
Elizabeth Knox
Series: Skulls Renegade
Reign
Redemption
Revenge
Relentless
Reckoning
Reclaimed
Reckless
Regret
Reclusive
Retribution
First Generation: A Skulls Renegade MC Boxset
Series: Steele Bros.
Tough as Steele
Stripping a Steele
Protecting a Steele
Steele her Heart
Stolen Hearts: The Complete Steele Bros Boxset
Scarred
Blackjack
Here Kitty, Kitty
Booger
Widow
Kade
Hawk
Bull
Cobra
Mouser
Dixon
Zane
Amara
Grim
Chaz
Frost
Zorro
Axel
Series: Iron Vex MC
Enraged
Bossed Up
Vex’s Temptation
Series: Royal bastards Mc: Baltimore/Knights of retribution mc
Bet on Me
Rely on Me
Hate on Me
Series: Satan’s Raiders MC
Inc’s Regret
Series: The Clans with Iris Sweetwater
Promised
The Trade
Cherished
Deceit
Love is War
Defiant
Shattered
Ruthless
Covert
Heretic
Venomous
Flawed
Demise
Series: The Mackenzie & Volkolv Duet
Deceptive Love
Series: The Mackenzies
Forbidden Love
Corrupted Love
Sin City Fets with Linny Lawless & Aubree Valentine
Switched
Surrender
Full Throttle with Erin Trejo
Against All Odds
Sharp Edges
Pins and Needles with E.C. Land
Blood & Agony
DeLancy Crime Family with E.C. Land
Degrade
Anthologies
Santa’s Naughty Helpers
Do you like Paranormal Romance?
Check out Elizabeth’s Alternate Pen Name, Liz Knox.
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Series: Bloodlines Trilogy
Fated by Blood (Free Prequel)
Series: Nightshade
Blood Oath (A Prequel)
Series: Lone Wolf MC
Origins (Free Prequel)
Series: Hells Gateway MC
Caym’s Fated Mate
Shax’s Destined Mate
Series: Bloodborn Academy
Bitten Magic
Anthologies
Romanticizing the Gods
The Elementals
Trigger Warning
This book is intended for mature audiences only. If darker books are not for you, please do not move forward. After re-adjusting my trigger warning system, I will not be giving any spoilers. Please understand that this is not your run of the mill romance and tough subjects will be spoken about in this storyline. This story could include things like: rape, kidnapping, abuse, domestic violence, drugs, alcohol abuse, and many other potential triggers.
Please also be advised it is not recommended to read this book as a standalone.
Gone But Never Forgotten:
Fist – Former Prez (Deceased)
Cracker – Former VP (Deceased)
Saffron – Fist’s woman, Sakura’s sister, Sydney’s mom. (Deceased)
Billings, Montana Charter
Zane – Prez – Ol’ Lady – Octavia
Children: Sydney (adopted), Neo
Blackjack – VP – Ol’ Lady – Ashley
Children: Dex (Blackjack’s previous relationship), Noelle & Fist
Bull – Enforcer – Ol’ Lady – Alexa
Grim – Sgt. at Arms – Ol’ Lady – Natalie
Children: Aggie, Davina, Sorcha (Nat’s Kids)
Tex – Full Patch – Ol’ Lady – Roxy
Children: Kat
Dracus – Full Patch – Ol’ Lady – Roxy
Children: Nova
Bolt – Full Patch – Ol’ Lady – Roxy
Children: Jordyn
Zorro – Full Patch — Ol’ Lady — Ruby
Axel – Full Patch
Hammer – Full Patch
Frost – Prospect — Ol’ Lady — Cheyenne
Chaz – Full Patch – Ol’ Lady – Crina
Turmoil – Prospect
Bama – Prospect
Stiletto – Prospect
Siren – Prospect
Doom – Prospect
Las Vegas, Nevada Charter
Damon – Prez – Ol’ Lady – Kat
Children: Luna
Dixon – VP – Ol’ Lady – Indra
Children: Jalen (Indra’s previous relationship) & Khloe
Booger – Enforcer – Ol’ Lady – Camila
Children: Ransom
Widow – Sgt. at Arms – Ol’ Lady – Tania (A Jackal)
Children: Zoe (Widow’s previous relationship) & Talon
Cobra – Full Patch – Ol’ Lady – Izzy
Kade – Full Patch – Ol’ Lady – Ivy
Children: Orion & Fate
Mouser – Full Patch – Ol’ Lady – Sakura
Ripper – Prospect
Jolt – Prospect
Spark – Prospect
Poison – Prospect
Brick – Prospect
Doc – Prospect
Boulder – Prospect
Rooster – Prospect
Chihuahua, Mexico Charter
Amara – Prez – Ol
’ Man – Dante
Prologue
Strong souls aren’t just born. They’re built by forging through the most fucked up perils in life and still having the ability to shine.
~ Unknown
Rosa
Age Fifteen
Outrage boils my blood at his words. He promised me this would never happen, and yet it is. My mother always called him a liar and now I wonder if she’s right, if he’s a man who constantly lets people down. From the age of ten she’s been telling me how my father is nothing but a pig, someone who does what he wants and doesn’t care if others are impacted by his decisions.
“You . . . you promised me this would never happen,” I say while straightening up my spine, I look into the same dark eyes I inherited from him. He’s the one who’s always taught me to be strong, to stick up for what I believe in and what I want in life. But he’s so quick to falter to her pathetic demands.
He takes a seat in his pleated chair and grabs my hand, still looking into my eyes. “I never wanted this to happen, mija. Don’t think I did, because you’re the most important thing to me. Don’t you understand that?”
Tearing my hand away from his I stand, about to give him an earful. “If I am, then why are you doing this to me?! I don’t want to go back to Arizona! I don’t want to go back with her. You know what she’s like and you still want to send me there. It’s not fair. It’s not . . . I don’t care what you try to say to me, but it isn’t fair! Why would you do this to me?”
He sighs and closes his eyes, shaking his head. “This isn’t up to me, mija. Listen to me, will you?”
“If it’s not up to you then who is it up to?” I snap, though it comes almost out as a scream.
The door to my father’s study begins to close and I watch as Gloria gives me a saddened look. Even she knows I’m being sent away. God, this is ridiculous.
“Your mother has gotten your grandfather on my case, so I need to—”
“You don’t need to do anything! You’ve always said that to me, haven’t you? Haven’t you always told me how nothing in life is ever required, how it’s optional and we have the power to make our own choices?” I throw his words right back in his face and wait for some sort of apology, some sort of way to get out of this and the sad part is I don’t think there is a way to get out. I don’t want to go back to America, I want to stay here with my father. At least he doesn’t view me as a cash cow like my mother does. In his eyes I’m a diamond, but in hers I’m a task, something she never wanted and was forced to give birth to.
She’s told me many times how she told my father she was pregnant out of decency, but that she wanted to get an abortion. He of course stated she couldn’t do such a thing, and he offered her a million dollars to give birth to me. She only had me because he paid her. She’s about as good as a surrogate, and for the last year while I’ve lived with my father, he hasn’t paid her a dime. It’s the only reason she wants me back and I know it. If I go back to Arizona, he’ll continue to pay her to ‘provide’ for me, but I never see a dime of the money. It goes straight into her body in the form of pills or a syringe.
The grandfather he’s speaking of is my mother’s father and he knows people in high places. Considering he works high up in border control, I know for a fact he uses my grandfather to get his drugs into America. Ironic, considering he doesn’t use but my mother does.
“Mija, choose your words wisely. Remember who it is you’re talking to,” he sneers, glaring at me from across the room. I walk over to the window and suck in a deep breath, place my hands on the wall and exhale. After a moment of calming myself down, I turn around and lock eyes with him.
“I don’t understand how you can honestly believe she gives a damn about me. She wanted to abort me. All the money you send her goes straight to her drugs. She’s not a good person. She has issues and she lets those demons overrun her life.”
“The money I’m giving your mother doesn’t even matter. I have something set up to take care of you when you turn twenty-five, which far surpasses the money I’ve given her. Everyone has demons, Rosa. When you’re an adult you’ll understand.”
“Maybe, but I highly doubt I’ll be doing drugs.”
“Never say never,” he murmurs under his breath and I’m not even surprised. This is the guy who snaps and says the stupidest shit whenever he gets upset.
I shake my head, knowing he won’t be doing anything except shipping me back to my mother. “You don’t give a crap about me either. What you care about is your precious contraband getting across the border,” I seethe.
Within an instant, he’s risen from his chair and he’s wrapped a hand around my throat. He proceeds to shove me against the wall and his nostrils flare. If anything’s for certain, I got my temper from him. “How dare you say such things. You are my blood, Rosa, but no one speaks to me in this manner, not even my own daughter.”
“If you’re going to send me anywhere, send me to Uncle Alejandro. He’ll take me in, and he won’t treat me like my mother does. I’m fifteen, almost sixteen. I’m not a child and I have a voice, a voice that needs to be heard. I can go to Canada and live with him and Leti and—”
“Enough!” he roars, slamming the wall beside my head he releases my neck and walks away from me. “You act as if you know what’s going on, Rosa, but you don’t. You are a child. You don’t understand how the world works yet and for your own sake I hope you don’t have to know for a long time. I hope my position will protect you from the cruelty of it all.” He grows quiet and shakes his head, sits back down in his chair and picks up his glass of tequila sitting on the table next to his chair. He’s always drinking tequila, calls it the cure, the way to settle any problem.
In actuality, I think all alcoholics say that type of crap.
“What are you going to do with me?” I question, wanting some sort of answer. I need to know my fate so I can do whatever I need to ensure I won’t go back to my mother. I don’t want to be around her and I’ll do anything to stay away from her.
After taking a sip of tequila, he stares at me dead in the eyes and for the first time today I believe he’s being honest. “I don’t know, mija. I don’t fucking know.”
Chapter One
No matter how much you revisit the past there is nothing new to see
~ The Love Bits
Axel
“Bet you’ll be happy to get out of this cramped little thing,” I say to my brother, Grim, lookin’ around the trailer his ol’ lady was renting before they got together. Since they’ve been an item, Grim’s been living here with her and her three daughters. Natalie, his ol’ lady is pregnant with his baby now and they’re finally startin’ to talk about moving into somethin’ a bit bigger.
“Yeah, I will, just need to make sure we can get everything sorted to get a nice modular put up on the property at the club before the baby’s born. Zane already gave me the go ahead and everything.”
I nod, confirming I heard him. “That’s fuckin’ great, man. So, you need help with anythin’ or whatever?” I’m sure there’s a shit ton to get started on, but I know nothing about construction. I mean, I could build a damn bird house if the kids wanted to do a project like that, but I’m not versed enough to build a deck or any advanced shit like that.
“Only help I need is figurin’ out how the fuck I’m gonna get a loan.” Grim scratches the back of his head and leans his neck against the back of the couch. “Banks don’t exactly give loans out easily, you know?”
“How much money you need?” I have a little bit saved up, so if I can help them I will. It’s what family does after all, and we’re family. Ruby, Grim, and I all share the same deadbeat father. Our dad was shit, but fuck our moms were the best, they banded together and made sure we always had a relationship growin’ up. Even Grim and I put money together to help get Ruby through college. Out of the three of us, she’s gonna go off to do amazing things and I know it.
“Shit, fuck if I know. Nat’ keeps changing her mind
on what floor plan she likes the best. I need the woman to make a decision. She wants a bedroom for all the kids, which I’m not complaining about in the least bit. It’ll be four average bedrooms, a master suite with a bathroom, and two more bathrooms too. With four kids we’re gonna need it, you know?”
“Damn straight, especially with all those kids,” I chuckle, and Grim laughs.
“We did get the septic pricing, and it’s a little over five thousand which should be easy to handle. Just the pricing for constructing the home and the foundation is a bit worrisome. I need her to pick a floorplan so I can see what we need to do. Now, I’m grateful as hell to Zane for even letting us put up a place on the Monroe property. You know?”
“Yeah, of course, man, but Zane’s our Prez. He was never gonna say no. You picked out where you’re gonna build yet?”
Grim nods and smirks. “Yeah, we’re gonna be a little ways off from Ashley and Blackjack, on the other side of the lake. The girls love playing with Noelle and Fist, so it works out. Ashley or Nat’ just have to take a quick drive around and they can have playdates.”