11. ~Ronan~
Chapter 11
~Ronan~
Bowie, Zack, Ty and I walked toward the warehouse office building at the port. This was the physical address of the NOWFC according to the website. It was also one of the many port offices for Baron’s father’s company, Hammond Industries.
I’d expected at least something that appeared to be unaffiliated with Baron and his championship team, the Iron Claws, but apparently not.
It had been far easier to convince Ty to do this than I’d thought. On Monday, I’d pulled him aside and explained what I was doing. When I mentioned the NOWFC, he said he already knew about it. I started to explain that he was an ideal candidate because he was already trained in multiple martial arts.
“So that’s why you’ve been interrogating me on my extracurricular activities,” he’d said. After an in-depth discussion where he asked quite a few questions, he finally agreed to be on the team .
“This is pretty sketchy,” said Ty as we approached the building. The sound of boats on the Mississippi River and men work- ing the port and large machinery echoed around us.
“Just a bit,” I agreed. “But his daddy can’t help him win fights, so it doesn’t matter.”
I opened the door, and we entered. The office was one room with about five desks and computers squeezed inside. There was a middle-aged woman—a witch of some kind—at the first desk, typing away. She wore glasses and looked a bit like a no-nonsense librarian.
She stopped when we entered. “May I help you?”
“Yeah. We’re actually here to register for the NOWFC. This was the address I was given.”
Baron had finally answered my DM on Instagram and sent me the address yesterday.
She briefly eyed the guys behind me. “Is your entire team present? You can only register with everyone to sign their own waivers.”
“Yes. This is the whole team.”
She spun on her wheeled chair and opened the second drawer of a filing cabinet. After rummaging a minute, she finally pulled out a file and spun back to her desk while taking out a sheet of paper. The logo for the NOWFC, the wolf’s head with the skyline of NOLA behind it, was at the top of the sheet.
“You’ll need to fill out everyone’s names and contact information. And I need to copy your driver’s licenses.”
The four of us pulled out our licenses while I took the waiver form and stepped over to a table with a couple of chairs against the wall. Ty sat next to me, Zack on the other while Bowie remained standing.
“In case of injury or death in the ring, I will not hold NOWFC responsible or file civil suit against NOWFC,” Ty read. “They’re not playing around.”
“Have you ever seen this before?” Zack asked me.
“I’ve never signed a contract because I’ve only fought in illegal rings.” I turned to the woman copying our licenses on a printer. “How many fighters have died in the NOWFC?”
“None,” she replied dryly. “Severe injuries, though. A few broken arms. One was in the hospital for a week. But we provide top-rate healing witches following the fights for anyone who needs it.”
“Is this waiver normal?” I asked.
She turned with the licenses and walked over to set them on the table. “Same waiver they all use in Louisiana. You’re not from here?”
“Texas.”
She chuckled. “Yeah, the cowboys over there need to make it legal.” She leaned over and pointed down at a line below the contact information. “You probably didn’t see this part, did you? This form guarantees your payment of winnings to be deposited to your bank within seven days of a winning fight.”
I read that part carefully, smiling at the percentages of the house earned by each champion of the night.
“All fighters get paid, though. The losers just get paid a much smaller percentage of the house.”
“Well, hell,” said Zack, “hurry up so I can sign.”
We chuckled as I filled out my contact information, my emergency contact information—Uncle Shane—then finally signed the waiver below and slid it to Zack. After we’d all done our part, I stood and handed the form over to the woman at the desk.
“So what happens now?”
“I’ll input your information into the NOWFC database, and once I get the approval from the central office in Baton Rouge, which usually takes one business day, you’ll be registered as official fighters in the WFC of Louisiana.”
Zack made a woot sound and clapped.
“I think that means we’d better start training harder,” added Ty.
“Definitely,” I agreed, then asked the gatekeeper of this organization, “When will the first fight be scheduled?”
“That will be decided by the board of the NOWFC. Since the current champions have fought and beaten all of the other competitors this year, you’ll be fighting them. The Iron Claws. Oh!” She frowned, looking at the form. “You didn’t put a name for your team.”
I glanced at the guys, one by one. “What do y’all think?”
Bowie shrugged. “The Blood Moon.”
“Yeah,” added Zack. “The Blood Moon Crew.”
“That’ll work,” agreed Ty.
She wrote that down, then looked up at me. “Are you the leader of the team?”
“Yeah.”
“They’ll be contacting you with the fight schedule. All right, boys.” She reached out and shook my hand, then the others. “Welcome aboard. And good luck.”
We left, walking through the lot toward Bowie’s SUV in silence. While I was filled with hope and excitement, for I was finally on a legitimate WFC team, I wondered what the guys were feeling. I wished I had Celine’s Aura ability so I didn’t have to ask.
We piled into the SUV, me and Ty in the back seat.
“So what are y’all thinking?” I asked as Bowie turned out of the port gate.
“I think we could make a lot of money,” said Zack with a smile.
“We need to get training harder,” added Ty.
“Agreed. I was hoping you could teach them more on the kickboxing end, Ty.” I tapped open my phone and sent the screenshot I had to all three of them. “I actually pulled the shop schedule and worked out a training schedule for us on our days and afternoons off.”
Ty read the schedule. “That’ll work for me.”
“I know this will take up a lot of your free time, but we need to train hard from here on out.”
“I’ve got nothing better to do,” added Bowie.
Zack chuckled. “Me neither.”
I sat back and sighed, looking out the window as we headed into the Lower Garden District toward Ty’s house to drop him off. Celine now weighed heavily on my mind.
Since our date Saturday night, we’d texted daily, both of us unable to meet up for that second date yet. She’d been immersed in work, and I’d been either in the shop or out behind it with these guys.
So strange that my dream was finally taking shape. This was the first step, but it was still a move forward and upward. And yet, all I could do was think about how much less time I’d have to be with Celine.
“Damn.” Ty looked over at me. “Now that’s a heavy sigh. ”
“Wouldn’t have to do with a certain redheaded witch, would it?” chuckled Zack from the front seat.
“No way.” Ty shook his head. “You’re really trying to date Celine?”
“Not trying.” I smirked. “We went on our first date Saturday night.”
“And she’s giving you a second date?” asked Bowie.
I smiled, not about to give these nosy asshats any details. “Yeah. She is.”
“Interesting,” said Ty.
“Why do you say it like that?” I asked, annoyed.
“She’s just very particular.”
“Never gave me the time of day,” said Zack. “Like that’s a shocker,” added Bowie.
“And quite frankly,” said Ty, ignoring them, “few guys want to deal with her father and brothers.”
“And uncles and aunts and cousins,” added Zack.
“They don’t intimidate me.” I made that clear.
Ty gave me a look of respect along with a somewhat mischievous smile. “Good for you, Ronan.” He glanced out the window, then tapped on Bowie’s shoulder in front of him. “Hey, why don’t we grab a bite right here. That café’s got the best brisket sandwiches in town.”
I checked my watch. “Yeah, let’s get some food. But we’ll have to make it quick. I’ve gotta finish that paint job on the Camaro.”
Bowie pulled over to the curb and parked. It didn’t escape my attention that he flashed a grin at Ty as he got out on the driver’s side .
“You two got a private joke you want to let me in on?” I asked as we walked into the Silver Moon Café.
They just laughed as we made our way into the café, which also seemed to be a coffee shop. There were several loners set up with laptops and coffee at booths and tables.
A pretty woman with black hair, brown skin, and green eyes greeted us, breaking out into a big smile. I read the vampire designation buzzing off her, but also a little something more. Strange.
“Hey, Ty! It’s been a while since you’ve been in here.”
“Hi, Samara. Yeah, we were on this side of town, thought we’d get some of Joaquin’s famous brisket sandwiches.”
“Great. So is that four of the special?” Ty turned to us, and we nodded.
“What can I get y’all to drink?” she asked.
Zack and Bowie ordered. I got a bottled water, needing to hydrate after my early run this morning.
“Oh, Samara,” said Ty suspiciously, “you haven’t met Shane’s nephew, have you? This is Ronan Reed, new to town.”
Her green eyes widened, as did her grin. “ You’re Ronan Reed?”
Frowning, I nodded. People knowing my name before I knew them hadn’t always been a good thing for me. It usually led to a bar fight. But this was a pretty witch, and she didn’t seem pissed off on hearing my name. Quite the opposite.
I shuffled uncomfortably. “Have we met?” I asked to be polite, knowing we hadn’t.
“No,” she said on a laugh. “But you’ve met my cousin, Celine Cruz.”
Zack and Bowie chuckled. I rolled my eyes at them .
“Yeah. I know Celine,” I told her.
“Oh, I know you know her.” Then she completely checked me out from head to toe. “Celine told me.”
At that moment, the kitchen door swung open, and a tall, supernatural man wearing an apron walked straight toward us. He had dark red hair and familiar looking green eyes that flicked to Ty first before swiveling to me with a scowl.
“You’re Ronan?” He propped his hands on his hips.
I definitely read a werewolf signature pumping off him with some aggression, but like the woman beside him, he also seemed to have some witch in him.
“As I just confirmed, yes, I am,” I answered firmly. I’d already figured out who he was. “You’re Celine’s brother, aren’t you?” The other triplet.
He continued to examine me, as if he could determine whether I was a good guy or a piece of shit by staring me down. Hell, maybe he could. This family seemed to have a mixture of magic I hadn’t ever seen before.
“I am,” he answered gruffly.
I wanted to punch Ty in the face for blindsiding me and kick Zack and Bowie in the balls for snickering off on the side like children. But I needed all three of them in good health to fight on my team.
My team. A sense of pride swept through me. Then I stepped forward and stretched out my hand.
“Ronan Reed. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
His intense gaze flicked to my hand. I waited, wondering if he was actually going to leave me hanging. But he didn’t. He shook my hand. “Joaquin Cruz. ”
I knew that, but I said, “Nice to meet you” anyway.
He looked at Ty. “Did you know he’s chasing my sister?”
“I’m not chasing her,” I said emphatically. “We’re dating.”
That green-eyed gaze came back to me, and he crossed his arms. “Is that so?” But rather than seem angry, he actually seemed pleased.
“Yep,” said Samara. “That is so much so.” We all turned our attention to her.
“It’s true,” she added. “They’re going on a second date soon. Isn’t that right?”
I hid my smile because, apparently, Celine told her cousin quite a lot about us, and we hadn’t even met. Also, she was defending me. I liked this cousin a lot.
“We sure are,” I confirmed.
Joaquin looked at me again, pensive and grave. “You don’t look like her usual type.”
“Thank the Goddess,” muttered Samara.
My body locked up at the mention of other men. I mean, obviously a woman as beautiful as Celine had dated lots of men, but I didn’t like thinking about it. Not one bit.
I shrugged. “I’m dating her all the same.” And unable to stop myself, I added, “I ain’t going anywhere either.”
“Good,” Joaquin said rather emphatically, which surprised me, then he huffed a small laugh. “You’re going to need balls that big to date my sister.”
“That’s what I understand,” I answered, shooting Ty a death glare. “Some warning might’ve been nice.”
Ty smiled. “More fun this way.” Then he looked at Joaquin. “Good to see you again. ”
“Yeah, you too.” Then he turned back to me. “Good luck.” He turned abruptly for the kitchen. “I’ll get those orders,” he called back.
“You’re not going to spit in mine, are you?” I yelled after him.
He stopped with the door open and looked back. Then he laughed a real laugh. “Nah, man. But I’ll do worse than that if you hurt my sister.”
“It’ll never happen,” I swore, feeling the truth of it down to my bones.
“Then we’re good, Reed.” He nodded and left, letting the door swing behind him.
Zack, obviously put out, stepped forward. “What in the hell was that ? That’s it? That’s all? Joaquin’s just going to let him date her?”
Samara scoffed. “Celine is a grown-ass woman. She can date whoever the hell she wants.”
Zack laughed. “But come on, no punches thrown? No death threats?”
“There was a bit of a threat there,” interjected Bowie. “And Ronan hasn’t met Mateo yet. Or his wolf.”
Samara set our drinks on the counter for us to take. When I took my bottle of water, she leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially, “Hang in there, Ronan. Celine needs a man like you in her life.”
“I was being truthful to her brother. I’m not going anywhere.”
She stared for a second, then dipped her chin. “You’re exactly what she needs.” She winked, then turned to take the next order as a couple had come in behind us.
“I hate you,” I said as I sat down next to Ty .
“No, you don’t.” He nudged my elbow. “You need some allies. I knew Samara would be on your side. And I had a feeling about Joaquin. Celine is closer to him than Diego when it comes to personal matters. He understands her more.”
There seemed to be something else he wasn’t saying. “Understands what more?”
I also wondered about what Samara said, that I was the kind of man she needed. It made me think there was more to that statement too. Some secret behind it.
“Nothing.” He shook his head.
But it wasn’t nothing. I was quickly realizing that Celine’s family wasn’t blindly overprotective. There was a catalyst for this type of overbearing behavior. Whatever it was, it wasn’t going to stop me. That was something the whole damn family needed to realize right quick.
Celine was mine. Or she was going to be. And no one was going to keep me from getting my girl.