Healing His Darkness: The Dark Leopards MC East Texas Chapter, #9

By Screaming Mimi

*This title is a continuation of Dark Leopards MC East Texas Chapter* The East Texas Chapter stories should be read in order.If you love lawless bikers, protective mates, and justice of the vigilante sort, then one-click your copy today!My name is RoosterI'm the Vice President forThe Dark Leopards MC East Texas Chapter. I've watched my fellow brothers find their mates over the last year, and frankly it's making me sick. There is no such thing as fated mates, it's all an illusion, and soon they'll find out for themselves. In the meantime I need to get away from all the lovey dovey crap before I do something I might regret. What I wasn't expecting, what I wasn't prepared for was Georgia May Crenshaw.Georgia "George" May Crenshaw, is a human who's been raised by a family of gorilla shifters. She knows exactly what Rooster is to her, even if he refuses to admit it. Determined to get him to admit it, she'll do anything, no matter the cost. Even at the cost of her humanity. #1 Shadow's Revenge - Dawn Sullivan#2 A Slash in the Darkness - Samantha Conley#3 Mated to the Darkness - Screaming Mimi#4 Protective Instincts - Lynn Burke#5 His Light in the Darkness -Screaming Mimi#6 Just Killin' Time - Samantha Conley#7 Demon's Hellfire - Dawn Sullivan#8 Feral Instincts - Lynn Burke

• Language: English
• Publisher: Screaming Mimi
• Release date: Oct 19, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201435769

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© Screaming Mimi - 2021

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by means mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior permission from the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and events are fictitious in every regard. Any similarities to actual events or persons, living or dead are purely coincidental. Any trademarks, service marks, product names or featured names are assumed to be the property of their respective owners and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if any of these terms are used. Except for review purposes, the reproduction of this book in whole or in part, mechanically or electronically, constitutes a copyright violation.

Published in the United States of American in the year 2021;

The right of the Authors Name to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by them in accordance with The Copyright, Designs and Patent Act of 1988.

Edited by: Jamie Caulette King-Hicks

Copyright 2021 © Screaming Mimi

Language: English

Chapter One

Rooster

I walked through the clubhouse that looked like Cupid threw up all over the place. Red, white, and pink hearts are every fucking where. There are tissue paper roses in every color of the fucking rainbow strewn all around the place. A giant fucking Cupid blow up thing sits on top of the bar staring at me. What the fuck happened to my club? They went from badass biker shifters to pussy whipped mated dumbasses. 

Ripping one of the stupid roses off a table, I stomped into Wraith’s office. Of course, his mate Angel was there sitting in his lap pretty as you please. I rolled my eyes at the pair of them. Didn’t he know it was just a matter of time before she took off for greener pastures? I’d tried to warn them all that mating didn’t mean shit, but none of them would listen to me. Well fuck them, when they were left brokenhearted then I could tell them I told them so.

I’m leaving for a while. I stated as I flung the stupid pink rose onto his desk. They both looked at me like I’d lost my damn mind. Maybe I had, maybe that’s what happens when your mate fucking leaves you for a new dick. Who the fuck knows, all I know is I can’t stay another damn second surrounded by all this lovey-dovey bullshit. I needed a break, and I knew right where to go, my dad’s.

Dad’s was safe, zero women, zero mates. He was just as hardened as I was, which meant I’d get a break from all the sights and sounds of mated couples. I should be happy for my friends, they found their mates, but something was broken inside me. Had been since Summer walked out on me. She took a piece of me with her, something I could never get back. The fact was that mates weren’t some mystical fate driven thing that lasted forever. They fucking left, they ripped your heart out, stomped on it, and tossed it away like it meant nothing to them. Leaving a dried husk of the person you once were, walking through life on autopilot just surviving. Fuck, I needed to get away. 

Oh, come on Rooster, it’s only one day a year. Can’t you just suck it up until it’s over? I growled low in annoyance. Angel was lucky I knew what kind of murder kitty hid underneath her sweet face or I’d tell her to go fuck herself. 

Watch it asshole, that’s my mate. Treat her with respect or you and I will have problems. I bowed my head in submission to him. I didn’t want to lose my friend over my own issues with mates.

I get it, you hate Valentine’s Day, but is it really necessary for you to leave? I hated leaving Wraith, hated leaving the club, but watching all these fuckers with their happily ever after’s was too damn much. 

My dad called, he wants me to visit him up in Oklahoma, figure now is as good a time as any. I need to get away for a while man, get my head back on straight. All of this, I wave my hand around the whole club.

It’s too much for me right now. Wraith knew my history; he knew what kind of shit-show I really was. 

We’ve talked about this. I don’t think what you had was real. I glared at him. We’d had the same talk a million times, and every time he tried to tell me I hadn’t really mated to Summer. But I knew what I’d felt for her. I’d marked her, hell I still had her mating mark on me. We were mated, and then she left me a year later for someone else. A man she swore was her true mate, that what she’d had with me was nothing compared to what they shared. 

I almost killed him, but the part of me that loved her enough to see her happy didn’t do it. Rubbing at the mating mark, she made on my chest over my heart it aches like it always did this time of year. No, I was mated, and I lost her to someone else, it was that simple. Nothing Wraith or anyone else said would change that fact. 

If you need me to stay, I’ll stay, but I’m asking you to let me go. I need some space, from everything. He knew I was running from my problems but being around all the mated couples was starting to break me. I thought I’d tucked all those feelings of worthlessness away all those years ago but watching them brought it all back full force. 

Fine, go see your dad. Get away for a couple of weeks but check in every now and then will you. You’re like my brother man, I don’t want to lose you because of this. Come back to us once you get your shit together. I nodded as he pulled me in for a back slapping hug. Angel came around and hugged me tightly to her.

I hope you find the peace you are looking for, Rooster. I don’t like seeing you so unhappy. I didn’t like to see the sadness in her eyes for me. She was a good woman; she was the perfect match for Wraith, at least for now.

I’ll call once a week okay mom. I smirked at her and she swatted me on the arm.

Ouch, dude get your woman under control she’s trying to beat up your brothers. She laughed as I turned to leave.

Take care of him while I’m gone, and I don’t just mean with naked snuggles either. Angel growled as she threw a cup at me; I barely ducked in time.

I should feel lighter knowing I was leaving all this fru-fru lovey dovey shit behind, but this was my family, and I was going to miss them. Just two weeks and by the time I get back all this red, pink, and white bullshit will be over. Then things can go back to fucking normal, I can ignore the mated couples and they can all keep pretending its forever.

Where the fuck you going? Stonewall stopped me as I was making for the door.

Going to visit my dad up in Oklahoma. He’s been asking me to visit, and now's as good a time as any. Stonewall gave me an assessing look like he was trying to figure me out. 

Want me to go with you? Was he fucking stupid, he’d just mated up with a hot little thing that was full of piss and vinegar. No way would she let him go with me during Valentine’s Day shit. 

I know that being mated is new to you, but dude you don’t offer to leave your woman on Valentine’s Day for another dude. Are you trying to get deballed? Because that’s how you get deballed. I smiled at him trying to lessen the sting of my reprisal. Truth was Stonewall and the rest of the mated guys were fucking lucky ass sons-of-bitches. I was fucking jealous of what they had, but I knew what the cost of losing it was. They needed to enjoy every moment they had with their women, because that shit didn’t last. 

Kam won’t mind, she hates Valentine's Day, says it’s nothing but greeting card company bullshit. Besides, she’s got a contract, so she won’t even be home. I knew I liked that chick for some reason; she was a spitfire and would keep Stonewall on his toes. 

Still, I need to do this trip alone. Maybe I can finally get him to move back down here and out of that godforsaken Oklahoma hell. As much as I usually loved company, this trip needed to be about me getting my shit back together. I’d let what Summer did to me claw at me too long, old wounds needed to be flushed and cauterized to seal them up tight. 

Good luck with that, Sawyer’s as stubborn as you are. Why the fuck he’d ever want to live in Oklahoma when he could be living here in Texas is still beyond me. We gave each other back slapping hugs. 

He likes the adventure of trying to survive around all those rednecks up there. The truth was he ran to Oklahoma to get away from the memory of my mother, Lillian. She died when I was six, shot and killed by poachers on our land. Dad was never the same after that; he withdrew from the rest of the world. His sole focus was raising me, making sure I was safe and taken care of. He’d waited until I graduated high school and was out of the house before he moved, but I knew that’s why he’d left. Like father like son, always running from our problems. 

So, like a game of Risk or Battleship, only with crossbows and rifles? Stonewall snorted laughing. I couldn’t help but laugh with him, because that about summed up exactly what it was like living in Redneck, USA also known as Oklahoma. 

Yeah, basically. Stonewall looked like he wanted to say more, but the big guy still didn’t have a lot of confidence in himself, so he tended to get tight lipped. 

Look this is just a short ride to get away for a while, visit my dad, and... I hesitated to tell him the truth. 

And get away from the Cupid vomit. Kam came sauntering up behind Stonewall finishing my sentence. The woman was a perfect ten in my book, all curves and sex appeal, and all Stonewall’s. She rubbed up against his body as he wrapped his arms around her. Damn he was a lucky sonofabitch. 

Exactly! Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m out of here. I reached for the handle of the door, but Kam’s voice stopped me.

I have a feeling this ride might just be exactly what you are looking for. What the fuck did she mean? I wasn’t leaving to look for anything, well except for peace and quiet. Stonewall and I both gave her a quizzical look.

What is that supposed to mean? Do you know something I don’t? I knew she didn’t have the sight but maybe she’d talked to someone who had. 

I don’t know anything for certain, but from personal experience the more you run from something the more it follows you. Running won’t solve your problems, it might even give you new ones you aren’t prepared to deal with on your own. Maybe she was right; maybe running wasn’t the solution to my problem. All I knew was if I stayed, I was going to say or do something that would hurt one or more of my friends. I couldn’t live with myself doing something like that. No, leaving was definitely my best option.

Is that woman's intuition, or are you just sad to see me go? I winked at her.

Tired of the big guy already? I saw Stonewall grab Kam as she stepped toward me hissing. And that right there was why I needed to leave, because my bitterness was going to hurt my friends. They deserved to enjoy their happiness, for as long as it