Chapter 11
Chapter
Eleven
“Steel, say again,” I repeat, but the call drops out a weird hollow noise in my helmet instead of his voice. A quick check of the time and I see I don’t have time to pull over and dig my phone out of my pocket. All I can do is wait until he tries again.
He does. Because Steel is like a dog with a bone when he’s got shit to say and his brother Tyson and I are the only ones he’s got to mouth off to. We’ve learnt it’s better for him to get everything off his chest instead of overthinking and under sharing. The last time that happened was years ago, and he’s got a jagged scar to remind us how bad things can get when Steel gets backed into a corner.
“He’s a fucking prick,” he starts up as soon as the call connects. His dulcet tones are full of simmering anger, his emotion crackles through the Bluetooth making me edgy enough to think about turning around and gunning it back to the compound.
I fucking would too. But since Tyson is locked in his residency, working his ass off for peanuts, we need some fast cash and modelling is the quickest and easiest way to make money. We’re all so close to being able to tell Rex to shove his club and rules up his ass, and as soon as Tyson has finished this rotation we will. But not yet.
We would have ages ago except of course Rex found out along the grapevine that we were looking at moving out of the compound. The next day Steel was driving his mom to see Tyson at the ER for a split lip, and I was being pulled over by the local cops.
Shockingly but unsurprisingly too, they miraculously found half a key of coke in my saddlebag. Of course it was a complete set up, they knew it, and so did I. The cops executing the search of me and my bike only acted after receiving an anonymous tip off. They were also the same cops who walk through Rex’s titty-bars and chop-shop every second Tuesday, to leave with a wad of cash in their back pocket beefing up their already fat asses.
The situation was made worse because the drugs ended up back in Rex’s possession. The smug look on his face when Steel and I showed up that night to the clubhouse while he was cutting lines on the bar top confirmed it was him who set me up too.
“Mav, he keeps saying Harley needs to start paying her way. The asshole was smiling when he suggested she can work for him if she hasn’t got the cash. It was lucky he said it to me and not Tyson.”
People working is not a big deal, we ain’t rich but we’ve got enough money to survive at least. But Harley is Steel and Tyson’s thirteen-year-old sister and Rex saying she’s gonna be working means something else entirely.
“I’ll be finished before four and we can ride over to Tunda’s for a few rounds. We can catch up with Tyson at the hospital to figure out a rough plan for the next few days. You and I can keep an eye on Harley, but we need to get the girls gone. Hopefully when we get back to the clubhouse they’ll be too busy drunk, or fucking, and they ignore us so we can move some of their stuff in preparation.”
Steel’s quiet which confirms how wound up he is. Rex is a manipulative bastard even to his own flesh and blood. I’ve seen Rex do some fucking questionable shit since the three of us started hanging together years ago. I’ve seen first-hand the hate Rex has for his own flesh and blood but until we manage to get Sallyanne and Harley out of the Death Riders clutches, we’re not going anywhere.
Getting help for the girls has been something we’ve been working on for a long time. The problem is Rex has reach and the women’s shelters around here are too close and under-resourced. Since we’re broke, Tyson made a deal with the devil when he called The Phoenix Group, so the good news is we’re all waiting for the right time to get the girls out of here, while the bad news is as a pack we owe a debt that can be called at any time they choose.
“Yeah, maybe I should ride out,” he says eventually, weary resignation in his voice overtaking the raw flash of anger from a moment ago. “Harley”s gone to her friends for the week. It’s all I could figure out at a moment’s notice but at least it gives us some time. And Ma’s got her hands full getting the club ready for the Chapter meeting.”
“Rex won’t be back till tomorrow, right?” He grunts an answer, and before he can argue I confirm what he needs to hear. “Your ma will be fine with all the other women, Steel.”
Sallyanne will be fine and could probably do with the break from her Alpha’s harsh hand, and her kids’ enduring support. Because despite the endless promises Sallyanne makes to leave Rex she never does. Each time it happens, one of us is there picking up the pieces. Sallyanne oozes guilt but only when her boys are around. Of course, the both of them wrap her up in a hug and tell her over and over it doesn’t matter before reminding her he’s there to help however he can. But knowing Sallyanne has locked into the same cycle, and the three of them are still under Rex’s watchful eye hurts her. I know it does because she’s told me. She’s also begged me to get Tyson and Steel to leave and never come back, but like this whole fucked situation, us escaping is a work in progress with lots of moving parts.
“Come on, we’ll be back before he is and we can check in with her then,” I offer quickly, also trying to focus on not getting sandwiched between two massive trucks.
I get a quick murmur of agreement, then the call disconnects giving me the chance of focusing more on surviving the traffic and trying to find the location of the shoot. I take a wrong turn down a one-way street but get back on track after checking my map quickly, even making it to the place where the shoot is early.
Parking in the shade on the far side of the lot, I text the address to Steel before hopping off my bike and searching out one of Teddy’s assistants. The carpark is half full with models enjoying the standard breakfast of cigarettes and coffee while all the other staff are running around organising and setting up.
I think I get about two steps before all my internal alarms go off. The warning comes so suddenly I almost trip over my own feet as I get on the defensive. All the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, my stomach bottoms out, and my heart goes off like a rocket. It’s such a weird feeling because while I have no idea about what’s going on all my Alpha senses are going off.
I drop my bag to my feet freeing up my hands in case it is a fight heading my way, and I’m twisting behind me searching out shadows when a Range Rover pulls into the lot. And instead of my internal alarms shutting off now that the threat’s right in front of me, they get louder, and the only thing I focus on is a drop dead fucking honey parking.
She’s got a wild mane of long blonde hair; it spills around her shoulders framing her face. Even though most of her face is covered by a cherry red pair of sunglasses that match her cherry red lips, you just know she’s a stunner. Her lips that look like they’d promise fucking heaven to a dying man.
And then she flicks her sunnies off her face and rests them on her head. Goddamn she’s got the bluest pair of eyes I’ve seen on a person. She’s distracted, looking my way but not seeing me. Faint crease lines on her forehead confirm she’s concentrating on something. Her hands wave around like she’s frustrated.
Two beefy Alphas get out of a car that pulls up next to her and my stomach drops in disappointment but a woman as fucking gorgeous as she is wouldn’t be without a pack, or without Alphas.
It’s weird though, they don’t rush to open her door like packed Alphas usually do. Instead, they spread out and each take a protective stance. The scene finally clicks, they’re bodyguards. And once she twists around to face the front again, I see the reason why. Jesus fucking hell I’m slow at putting all the pieces together today. I’m doing a photoshoot with Tristan Cameron.
Tristan Cameron is fast on her way to being one of those models forever immortalised as one of the iconic faces of the industry. I knew we were signed by the same agency, I just never figured we’d get to do a job with each other because she’s upper shelf and I’m mid at best.
I watch like a stalker because she’s oblivious to the fact and all it does is allow me to study her better. And she’s as stunning to watch as she is in looks, the way she moves is like flowing water. The way she talks, her facial expressions change constantly, and she uses her hands for emphasis.
Even though I can’t hear a word she’s saying, the way she holds my focus, it’s like I’m in the car with her. When she laughs it’s huge—she throws her head back without a care in the world and I end up smiling, chuckling under my breath because her happiness is infectious.
And then it hits me, or maybe the realisation I’m gawking hard at her, smiling like I’ve only got half a brain is what pulls me out of the moment. I nearly look away but she’s so fucking captivating.
I make out the exact moment she finishes the call; it’s easy to see because it causes another flip in her mood and posture, like she’s an actor who’s walked off set. After a quick check of her lipstick, she reaches across to grab her bag with one hand, opening the door with the other.
I’m immediately pissed she’s not being more aware of her surroundings, not even bothering to look out the windscreen before she opens the door.
That train of thought evaporates. Actually, everything in my head disappears when I get the smallest hit of her scent and then the only thing I can focus on is getting more of her scent because that warning and premonition from before comes careening back towards me like a bullet.
Bubble-gum. God, it’s so fucking sugary sweet my mouth waters. Even over the distance, I’m swamped by raspberry, strawberry, orange and musk and vanilla so real I can taste her on my tongue. Her bubble-gum scent takes me backwards to memories of happy times, another lung full of her unique scent promises me even better times ahead. It is that potent.
Without knowing I’ve taken a step, I’m walking. Straight to her. And the only reason I realise I’m on the move is when I get stopped by an Alpha shoving a hand into my chest as he blocks my way.
“What?” I slap his hand away.
“What is fucking right. Take a step back,” he murmurs. And the cockhead talks softly, making me have to lean down to double check he said what he said.
He purposely spoke too quietly, diverting my attention to him instead of her. The threat in his voice and the look in his eye has all the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end. Because of what he did though it pisses me off and gets me ready to knock his fucking head off in the blink of an eye.
I rock back on my heel, my hands fisting at my side and the flash of adrenaline in my system has me cracking my neck to ease the tension and to limber up.
“Hey, hey!” A female voice rushes towards us from the opposite side of the lot. I swing around to figure out what the hell’s going on, since I’ve clearly lost my mind and my sense of self preservation.
I learnt hard and fast: you don’t rush people until you know what’s going on. But the cloud of sweetness that descended over me like a fog robbed me of any insight and kicked the world out of alignment.
The wind shifts or stirs, I seriously don’t know, but my Alpha has to have more of her sweet scent and the only thing keeping me from what I want are these fucking guards.
In the middle of the shit storm raining down on my senses and sensibility, I miss the moment she moves. I do not miss the way she touches me though, because her touch not only sears but the symphony of imagined drama and crazy noise that accompanies it all in my head vanishes, leaving me doe eyed and completely bewildered by the way her hand looks resting on my arm.
“You good there? Big Tom can be a goddamn menace, but he’s got a good heart.” Tristan’s up close in my space, her voice loud enough to be heard over the other side of the street, but I also know all her attention is homed in on me.
And up this close I’m all ass over tit again on the inside. Because where I thought she had pretty eyes before, now I’m lost, adrift in the sparkling of a hundred or so different versions of blue in her eyes. So fucking lost.
A small squeeze on my arm, “Are you one of the photographers today?” Her question blows her scent over my face.
And then I realise one huge fucking thing about Tristan Cameron that I completely forgot: she’s an Omega.
She’s a fucking Omega which is why she smells so fucking delicious.
And she did the magic calming shit that Omegas excel at, puddling my brains in the process. Distracting and blinding me by her scent and presence to a degree that I couldn’t think enough to put two and two together.
Humiliation and a mix of embarrassment chases the immediate sweetness of our meeting, especially when I realise I’ve made a complete cock of myself. I twist out of her touch in my escape of the situation and in the process get a breath of fresher air. Part of me hates the loss of connection but I need to find some sort of way to level out my emotions and behaviour because she is nothing but class and I’m gonna need my A-game to impress her.
One steady inhale and exhale of fresh air is all it takes to pull my head out of my ass. In the next breath my clarity returns, but so does proof that my craziness impacted her.
“Hey”—I nab her hand to stop her pulling away—“sorry.”
I can see the sting in her eyes as she blinks at me, and I can’t ignore knowing I added the downward twist to her plush, pink lips. The Alpha from before takes a step towards us and I show some teeth quickly, warning him to wait a fucking second so I can answer her. “I’m Maverick, my friends call me Mav. We’re working together today, I’m one of the other models.”
She looks at me for a second and this time while I get lost in her ocean blue eyes, I somehow maintain control of my composure. She watches me while I do it too and I want to say she likes what she sees because I get swamped by a puff and steadily rising plume of her sweetness again. Instead of coming closer though, she shrugs and spins away.
“You gonna be like that, huh?” I call after her chuckling, ignoring the whole fucking world again in the process.
She laughs, and it’s as loud and as infectious as it was when she was in the car.
“Hurry up, Maverick, we’ve got a long day ahead of us.”