Chapter 15
The dust slowly settled back onto the clearing, leaving behind only the quiet rustle of the pine needles and the steady chirping of morning birds. Jax stood in the center of the clearing for a long moment, letting his breathing return to normal, before turning around and walking slowly back up the wooden steps of the porch.
Leo was still standing by the doorway, holding the faded photograph in both hands. His hazel eyes were shining with a profound, quiet awe, entirely free of the terror that had shadowed his small face ever since he started walking that endless highway three weeks ago.
Jax walked up to the boy, kneeling down on one knee so they were eye to eye. He reached out and gently touched the corner of the photograph resting in Leo’s fingers, his rough, calloused hands completely steady for the first time in ten years.
"You okay, kid?" Jax asked softly.
Leo nodded, a small, genuine smile finally breaking across his pale face. "I told you. You're the old bear. Nobody messes with the bear."
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Jax let out a deep, rumbling laugh that started in his chest and reached all the way up to his eyes, a genuine, unburdened sound that chased away every last ghost of his past. He stood up, wrapping one large, protective arm around Leo’s small shoulders, and turned to look out over the sunlit expanse of the Black Hills stretching endlessly toward the horizon.
The road behind them was long, dusty, and full of scars, but the road ahead belonged to both of them. Together, they walked back inside the cabin, closing the heavy wooden door behind them, and locked out the rest of the world forever.
