Beast (MC Fables #1)

Chapter 27

CHAPTER 27

B ELLE

“I like it just as much as you do,” Annika says when I open the bedroom door after hearing her knock.

She looks as unimpressed as I feel, and I realize Beast has said the same thing to her as he did to me about making an effort.

She wouldn’t be here otherwise.

I step aside so she can enter. “I didn’t think you’d show.”

When he told me I was to accompany Annika to town today, I spent the morning bracing for her reaction.

She casts a look around the room. “I didn’t want to let Beast down. He’s got this wild idea that we should be friends.”

I close the bedroom door. “I mean, it’s not a crazy idea.”

“But certainly not his best.” Standing at the window, she brings her icy blue gaze back to me. “It will only be disappointing when I have to break your face when you break his heart.”

I lift my brows and say mildly, “You’re coming in red hot just like your cousin. I’m wondering if it’s a family trait.”

She walks toward me. Arms folded. Fierce expression in place. “That’s something you’ll learn about me, I don’t fuck around.”

“Duly noted. But your suspicion is misplaced. I’m not here to hurt anyone or to break anyone’s heart.”

She stops right in front of me, her crystal blue eyes searching my face for something. “Beast is family. I’d kill for my family.”

I refuse to pale beneath her blazing glare. “Wouldn’t we all.”

She scoffs. “We’ll see.”

Annika drives her Dodge Challenger like she’s competing at Daytona, oozing confidence as she navigates the corners with ease.

“So considering this might be my last few minutes on Earth, want to tell me why you’re so sure I’ll break Beast’s heart?” I ask as the landscape rushes past us.

“Because being an old lady to the club president is hard work, and I’m not convinced you’ve got it in you.”

“Beast obviously thinks I do.”

“Sure he does. But he’s thinking with his dick. Not his heart.”

“Or perhaps he has faith in me.”

She lifts her brow. “What happens when you have to put his needs before yours. That usually requires sacrifice. Especially in club life. Can you do that?”

“That’s usually how relationships work.”

“You won’t be able to let your emotions cloud his judgement.”

“Obviously.”

“Okay, what happens when an Outsider steps out of line and decides she wants to fuck the club king? And you can bet your life there will be many Outsiders who think they can turn the eye of the club president. What will you do then?”

“Beast isn’t like that,” I reply.

“Maybe. But this club is about to go to war with the Psychos. Things are different during war. The stress will be high and Beast will feel the weight of it all on his shoulders. You will be left alone a lot. There will be arguments because he’ll have put the club before you. And you’ll storm off because he didn’t come home, or you feel lonely, or because you don’t feel important enough to him. And when you do, a sexy little Outsider will swoop in like a cute little starling, and in a moment of weakness your old man will succumb to her pumped-up lips offering to suck his cock.”

I turn my head and pop an eyebrow at her. “Are you suggesting your club president has a weakness?”

Annika’s lips twitch. “Hypothetically speaking, of course.”

“Then, hypothetically speaking, I would kick the little starling’s ass.”

The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them. And they surprise me. Because I am not a smack talker. I’m not badass. And I don’t know why I give a damn about what Annika thinks of me.

Or why the idea of another woman sucking Beast’s cock feels like a punch in my chest. Which is a sudden revelation. But it’s true. And if any Outsider puts her paws on Beast then I will give her many reasons to remove them.

Beside me, Annika shakes her head. “I’m not sure you could kick anyone’s ass.”

“Then you need to speak to Ben Pocock.”

She glances at me. “Who is Ben Pocock?”

“I broke his nose when he called me an orphan on the school playground.”

Annika gives me another sideways glance. “You broke his nose? How old were you?”

“Ten. He didn’t like me because I could draw better than he could. So he used to pick on me. Called me names. So I gave him a good reason to stop.”

Annika keeps her eyes on the road but she chuckles lightly. “There might be hope for you after all.”

“Why, because I broke the nose of a mean schoolboy for being a dick?”

“No, because you’re not afraid to stand up for yourself.”

I sharpen my gaze on her. “And you should remember that.”

At first, she doesn’t react. Then she starts to laugh. “Okay, Punchy. I’ll keep that in mind.”

We pull off the winding road leading to town and turn down a narrow street. It’s Friday and there are a lot of people out shopping and running errands.

“Where exactly are we going?” I ask as she pulls into Main Street, the only historical part of town that survived the firestorm. It’s a long street filled with cute stores and cobblestone streets.

“Rina is having cravings. We’re getting her cupcakes, and The Village Bakery makes the best cupcakes in town,” she says, climbing out of the car.

I follow her along the street to the bakery but the moment we step up to the front door, the owner, a pinched-face woman with mean eyes, steps in front of us.

“We’re closed,” she says coldly.

Annika tilts her head. “But it’s lunchtime.”

“Let me rephrase that. We’re closed to the likes of you.”

The owner points to a No Bikers Allowed sticker on the window by the door.

“What the hell?” I gasp.

The woman’s eyes flick to me. “We don’t need your type in here. Don’t need your blood money. The sooner you leave this town, the better off we’ll all be.”

My pulse quickens as Annika’s expression darkens. She keeps her gaze firmly on the older woman. “You really want to start this fight with the Knights?”

“We don’t want you here. With your drug dealing and loose women hanging about.”

Loose women?

Annika chuckles. But her smile vanishes just as quickly, and she doesn’t look away as she says, “Come on, Belle. Let’s go to The Emporium instead. They have better cupcakes anyway. The ones from here are little tasteless.”

The woman tries not to look offended but fails and closes the door on us.

I follow Annika down Main Street as she takes note of each store with an anti-biker sticker on their window, and every time we see one, I feel a jab in my heart.

Annika does her best to remain poker-faced. But I can feel the emotion radiating off her. The town has turned against the club and she’s feeling every bit of it.

“How is this even happening right now?” I ask.

“Boney has been at it for months. Telling everyone he’s going to clean up St. Boniface by running the Knights out of town. Every chance he gets, he’s running his mouth off about it. At every building he opens. Every school appearance. Every public event. At first his complaints fell on deaf ears, but then he started to talk about the green space he plans for the land the clubhouse sits on. He’s sold the town on Sunday cookouts in the brand new park and strolls in the botanical gardens he’s going to build. And let’s not forget how he’s dangling a giant swimming area and kids playground in front of the moms and dads.”

“But in order for all of that to happen, the Knights have to leave first,” I say.

I can’t believe I never noticed this happening. Although, local politics were hardly an interest of mine.

Annika nods. “And they’re slowly freezing us out.”

“Because he’s bribing them.”

“With that stupid green space. But it’s a lie. I don’t think for a second it’s true. Boney is a slimy ass.”

We reach the end of the street and stop, both of us looking at the rows of stores with the anti-biker sticker in the window.

“What do we do now?” I ask.

Annika thinks for a moment, probably weighing up if she wants to start something with any of the store owners. But then she blows out a deep, shaky breath. “We go buy cupcakes.”

We cross the road to The Emporium and step inside the massive department store, which feels unusually quiet.

Annika disappears to the back of the store where the cupcakes are kept, while I wander around the store and try to figure out why I feel such an overwhelming sense of injustice over what just happened.

I’m still trying to figure out how I fit into the bigger picture. I mean, these people are a part of the problem for me. Their leader kept me prisoner in a room for two days. Is forcing me to marry him. And they’re all complicit.

I should be cheering on the people trying to run them out of town.

Yet, I can’t help but feel like I am a part of them. I belong with them. Which is insane. But from the moment I arrived in the clubhouse, it’s felt so familiar .

Annika appears with the box of cupcakes.

“Don’t they look great,” she says, opening the box so I can see. “Rina is going to love them.”

She’s right. They look good. Six to-die-for cupcakes with thick icing and sprinkles.

And now I want to eat my weight in cupcakes.

The doorbell chimes, and Annika stiffens beside me.

When I look up, my breath gets stuck in my throat and my heartbeat pounds like a drum in my ears, because standing in the doorway is Gaston.

I exhale roughly and start to shake, because the way he looks at me takes me back to that night and reminds me I’m in danger.

His black eyes burn with lust and deviance as they roll up and down the length of me.

“Well, well, well…” he says as he moves toward us. “It looks like my day just took a turn for the better.”

He licks his lips. In another life, Gaston is handsome and charming and popular with the ladies. But in this one, his good looks are tinged in evil and he’s clearly psychopathic. I wonder how many people have fallen for his looks only to feel the sting of his cruelty.

Annika turns to me like she doesn’t see him. “Come on, Belle, let’s get out of here.”

But Gaston steps in front of us.

“Aren’t you going to say hello to me, Annika?” Gaston says, then adds. “Ah, that’s right, I’m a Nameless Man now.”

His eyes slide to me, and he licks his lips.

“I’ve been waiting for us to meet again,” he says darkly.

Annika puts herself between him and me. A wall of protection from the man who has already caused so much damage in my life.

She grits her teeth as her gaze meets his. “You stay the hell away from her.”

Gaston’s grin drips with evil. His dark eyes gleam. But he doesn’t respond with words. Instead, his fist flies out of nowhere, and he strikes her against the side of her face, knocking her to the floor.

I gasp and take a step toward her where she’s lying bloody on the ground.

But he shoves his hand out to stop me. “And where the fuck do you think you’re going?”

“She’s bleeding.”

He steps in front of me, and I can feel the menace radiating off him. His scent peels back the memories in my brain to when he had me bent over the table and was about to rape me.

Barely able to breathe, I take a step away from him, but he comes closer until I am pressed up against the counter. “Stay away from me.”

He reaches for a lock of my hair and twists it around his finger. “We got interrupted the last time we met. I’m looking forward to finishing what I started.” He brings his face closer and whispers in my ear, “I’m going to enjoy defiling Beast’s fiancée.”

My heart pounding, I reach out and grab the closest thing I can find to arm myself. It’s a bottle of wine. I smash it against the counter and shove the jagged glass dangerously close to his jugular vein.

“Whoa there, baby girl,” he coos, like we’re having a lovers’ spat, and he expects to talk himself out of the situation. Desire flares in his black eyes. He’s fucking enjoying this. Instead of repelling him, the psychopath is getting off on me pressing a broken bottle to his neck.

“I told you to stay away from me.” I press a pointy end of glass into his skin and draw blood.

Annika slowly lifts herself off the floor, but my pulse is racing so hard I barely register that she’s moving toward the baseball bats lining the wall.

She arms herself with one.

But thankfully neither of us have to use our weapons because the bell over the door rattles and someone walks in, and relief seeps into every pore when I see it is the sheriff.

Immediately, Annika lets her bat-swinging arm drop to her side. But Gaston doesn’t move. He just stands there, those black eyes burning straight into my soul.

“What the fuck is going on here?” the sheriff demands.

Only then does Gaston move. He swings around to look at the sheriff, a charming smile lighting up his face. “Ain’t nothing but fun and games, Sheriff.”

“Don’t look like fun and games to me,” the sheriff says, bringing his gaze to me. “You okay? Although, that broken wine bottle tells me you’re not. Want to tell me what’s going on?”

But my throat has closed over with cold fear. I try to swallow but my throat is tight.

“We were talking and things got…” Gaston looks at the jagged wine bottle in my hand and smiles. “Spicy.”

I drop the rest of the bottle and it smashes on the floor beside his feet. But I don’t drag my eyes from him. “You come near me again, I’ll kill you.”

I don’t even recognize the words that leave my lips. But they vibrate violently between us.

Gaston’s smile slips, maybe because he can see I’m not cowering in his presence anymore. And that maybe, just maybe, I mean it.

His gaze burns across at me. “You hear that, Sheriff? My friend here just threatened to kill me.”

The sheriff takes off his hat. “She did? Funny, I didn’t hear her say a thing.”

A dark cloud passes over Gaston’s face. But he doesn’t say anything. He simply rips his gaze from me and stalks out of the store.

“Now do you want to tell me what happened?” the sheriff asks.

Annika picks up the box of cupcakes. “Like he said, Sheriff, ain’t nothing but fun and games.”

Taking my hand, she leads me out of the store.