Strong

Chapter 1

POV Petal

I sighed and looked over at my best friend as we sat in class. She grinned back at me and I rolled my eyes. We both knew that this was the last time we were going to sit in this class. No one else did though. In fact, this was the last time we were going to be in any class in this school. We were gonna do a runner as the boys would say. At that thought, I looked over to see my twin brother Tommy or Viper as the boys called him. He frowned at me and gestured for me to pay attention to the teacher as he looked back at his phone.

That was just like him. He didn't bother to pay attention but he would be on me if I didn't. It wasn't just him though, it was this entire lifestyle. The MC was based on brotherhood and loyalty but also a huge line of sexism.

Don't get me wrong, I loved my brother. I loved all three of my brothers and my dad too. Hell, I loved most of the men in the Lost Boys MC. I had to, I was related to half of them. That didn't mean I agreed with them or wanted to continue my life with them.

My Great Grandfather had founded the MC with his brother and their best friends. Since then, it had flourished. First under my Great Grandfathers rule as President, then under my Grandfathers and now under my Dads. My big brother, Len or Shooter as his patch stated would probable be next. If not him then Margo's big brother Ace aka, Bear.

It was a surprise when Margo was born. Her Mother and mine were best friends as are our Fathers. There hadn't been a girl born to one of the founding members families in generations and they had just assumed that tradition would continue. Even more shocking was when I was born with my twin a month later.

Our Grandmothers and Mothers looked at us with worry as the men in our family closed ranks and tightened security. We, of course, had no idea.

We thought that it was normal to have several big, burly prospects with us at all times. We only realized when we got older that something was off.

My Grandmother knew it though. She knew that I was strong and she knew that Margo was too. She used to take us away on 'girls trips'. My family all thought that we were having tea parties and painting our nails but she was actually teaching us how to fight, shoot and throw knives. She made sure that we knew to keep our mouths shut though.

Grandma had grown up in a gang and she would love telling us about her  glory days. In the gang, it didn't matter that she was a woman, it just mattered that she was strong. She hated the way the Lost Boys treated women but she adored my Grandfather so she stayed. She taught this all to Margo and I at the tender age of seven.

When we were young, Margo and I had enjoyed being treated like princesses. We were cuddled and cherished but at six, we started to notice the way they treated us differently. We weren't allowed to roughhouse with the boys. We weren't allowed to play much with them at all, even our own brothers. We also weren't allowed to train or learn to fight. We were expect to stay with our Mothers and help them cook and clean and take care of the rowdy bikers that lived in the club house.

Luckily, Grandma was there to tell us about it and to explain how it was wrong but that we couldn't argue against it yet.

As we got older, things got worse. We weren't allowed out of our rooms during any party unless it was deemed safe. We were expected to obey not only our fathers and grandfathers but our brothers as well. Even my twin brother was allowed to tell me what to do. The few times we disobeyed, we were put in lock down for weeks and my Grandmother told us that we needed to just play along. She vowed that she would help us when the time came. Unfortunately, that's not how things worked out.

Margo and I were twelve and we had been invited to another girls birthday party. It was a sleep over and we really wanted to go. My father was against it at first but when he saw how much my heart was set on it and the fact that both my Mother and Grandmother were going to give him hell, he agreed. The same was true for Margo and we happily left that afternoon, hugging and kissing our Mothers and Grandmothers.

We had a grand time at the party and went to sleep late at night. The next morning we were awoken by our friends Mother. She informed us that our fathers were on their way. We were confused as it was still early but got up and packed quickly.

A prospect pulled up to the house in a SUV with both our father's calling for us to get in. We rushed to the vehicle and were both pulled into our father's arms. I'll never forget the look of fear, sadness and pain on Dad's face. He had tears in his eyes as he held me. I begged him to tell me what was going on but everyone was silent until we reached the club house. There, in a room with our brothers, fathers, grandfathers, uncles and cousins were we told.

A rival MC had attacked the night before. Most of the Lost Boys were out on a job but all the women were here. The enemies killed the prospects that were still here and then raped and slaughtered every woman. My Grandma was the only one that seemed to fight back and it appeared as if she had killed a few men before they shot her in the head.

Margo and I stared at each other as tears flowed down our cheeks as each of the men and boys hugged us and vowed to avenge our family. They also vowed to keep us safe. Margo and I knew that this was a vow they could never fulfill. We kept silent as they looked at us in pain and regret. Then when the last of them had hugged us, we both got up and went to my room.

There we grieved together. We were heartbroken but more than that, we were angry. Livid even. We wanted revenge against the rival MC but we also blamed our MC, our family. This was just as much their fault.

If they had protected them, this wouldn't have happened. If they had allowed women to be trained this wouldn't have happened. If they had included women in their decisions and meetings this wouldn't have happened.

That was when we knew that we couldn't stay. We loved our family but we couldn't trust them. They had learned nothing from this harsh life lesson but we had. We knew that they couldn't protect us. We knew that staying with them would only end up killing us. First our souls, then our lives. We decided all this in a day.

That night, my Grandfather knocked on my door. Margo and I were still holed up inside despite the pleadings of our fathers and brothers. I opened the door and Grandpa handed me a large envelope.

"Your Grandmother had this in her desk. It has you and Margo's name on it. She always told me that if something happened to her, I was to give this to you, unopened. It's the last thing I can do for her." he stated sadly and then walked away.

I shut the door and turned to Margot who had heard the entire interaction. We opened it together. Inside was a letter and several documents. The letter was from my Grandma. In it she explained that she had set up an account for Margo and I along with instructions on how to escape. We just had to wait until the time was right.

Six long years later and we were finally ready.