Chapter 1
The little girl appeared beside the biker’s booth so quietly that he almost didn’t notice her until she whispered.
“Sir…”
He turned mid-bite, still holding his fork, and saw a tiny girl in an oversized yellow t-shirt standing in the dusty diner light. Her cheeks were dirty, her hair was tangled, and her eyes kept jumping toward the young man at the counter.
The biker’s face softened.
“Hey… you okay?”
The girl leaned closer to his ear, trembling so badly her voice barely came out.
“That’s not my dad.”
The diner went silent in his mind before the room actually did.
The biker’s jaw tightened. He gently pulled her into the booth beside him and placed one heavy arm in front of her like a wall.
“Stay behind me.”
Across the diner, the young man at the counter slowly turned around.
The biker stood, leather vest creaking, chair scraping hard against the floor.
“We need to talk.”
The girl clutched his vest, then suddenly froze at the wolf patch sewn onto the leather. Her eyes filled with tears.
“Mom said… if I ever saw that patch… I should run to you.”
The biker stopped breathing.
His voice dropped.
“What’s your mama’s name?”
The girl looked at the man at the counter, then whispered:
May you like
“Rose.”
The biker lifted his eyes toward the young man—
