Chapter Fourteen
Sera
That was fucking amazing. I should’ve realized how much my fighting skills would be appreciated around here. I thought I might be judged for not being the typical woman, but I was so wrong. I couldn”t resist getting involved after that fucking Prospect started running his mouth about my brother and Flame. He”s one of those fuckers who needs taking down a peg or two, and I was happy to do it; it was a good lesson for him and clearly caused him embarrassment because I”m a woman.
My family all looked at me with pride after they saw a little of what I could do, and I”ve never had that before. It”s such a nice thing to experience. Blade though there wasn”t just pride in his eyes; there was heat too. He tried to hide it, but a woman can tell when a guy likes what he”s seeing. He definitely liked that I had skills and am more fierce than people expect. It gives me a whole lot of hope that we can be more than just the friends we clearly already are.
I can”t wait to train with Flame either; that”s going to be amazing, as I”ve never had a chance to really test my skills against a worthy opponent before, and Flame is definitely a worthy opponent. I could tell by how he moved against Eric; it was like watching live art. I”m relieved none of them asked why I”d trained myself, though. I”m pretty sure Blade has figured out the reason why after our heart-to-heart, but at least my family didn’t start asking questions. I’m not ready to talk about what happened with them yet. I shake off my thoughts about why I learned to fight and make my way back to Dad”s house. I need a shower now.
I let myself in the house and make my way upstairs to my bathroom, turning the shower on as soon as I enter the room so it”ll be nice and hot when I get in. I quickly strip out of my clothes and let my hair down out of my ponytail. I step under the hot water and feel the tension start to seep out of my body. I love a good hot shower; it always relaxes me. I wash my hair and body and then just stand there, enjoying the heat. When I step out, my bathroom is covered in steam due to how hot I had the shower. Oh well, it”ll clear up soon, I”m sure. I grab a towel and step into my bedroom to get dry and dressed in fresh clothes, choosing just a simple pair of leggings and a baggy top, as I”m not planning on going anywhere and might as well be comfortable. Once I”m dressed, I braid my hair, as I can”t be bothered with the effort to dry it right now.
When I”m finished, I go downstairs to grab a bottle of water before chilling out for a while. What I wasn”t expecting to find is Cam sitting on the sofa, looking upset. Forgetting about grabbing my water, I go over to Cam and sit next to him.
”Cam, what”s wrong? Why do you look upset?”
He looks at me, his eyes full of unshed tears. “Did you do it?” He asks.
“Did I do what, Cam?”
“Attack my Aunt Jasmine and then lie about it so Dad would throw her out.” Oh god, why in the world would he think that?
”No, Cam, I”d never do anything like that. Where did you hear that?” I”ve got a bad feeling I”m not going to like his answer.
“Aunt Jasmine, she called me earlier and told me you”d attacked her at The Clubhouse, but Dad didn”t believe her and threw her out instead of you. Why would she lie about that, Aunt Sera?”
I pull him into a hug because he”s breaking my heart. He”s clearly struggling to understand why she”d lie to him. Once again, I’m ready to seriously hurt that woman. What does she think this is going to achieve?
“I don”t know Cam; there was an altercation between us yesterday for sure, but I didn”t try to attack her. I stopped her from attacking me and Blade. I wish I had the answer about why she”d lie to you.”
While leaving one arm wrapped around Cam, who is still crying and really worked up. I use my other arm to grab my phone from where I dropped it to comfort Cam and text Wrath that he needs to get here ASAP because something is wrong with Cam. I keep Cam in my arms while we wait for his Dad. I cannot believe Jasmine has done something like this, though. Trying to use and manipulate Cam after everything she knows he”s already been through in his short life. Fucking bitch. She seriously needs to grow up.
The front door flies open a few minutes later. Wrath enters the house with Flame, Shadow, and some men I”ve never met before. Bringing up the back of the group is Blade. Wrath takes in the scene on the sofa and rushes over to us.
“What”s happened?” he asks while sitting on the other side of Cam.
Cam pulls back to look at my face, and I give him a small smile, trying to reassure him that everything is okay. He looks terrified, and I can”t help but feel for him. What the fuck was Jasmine even hoping to achieve with this bullshit?
“It”s okay, Cam. I promise. Tell your Dad what you told me; you”re not in any trouble.”
He turns to face his Dad before telling him, “I asked Aunt Sera if it was true that she attacked Aunt Jasmine and then lied about it so you”d throw her out.” His voice sounds so small right now. I hate it. He has been through e-fucking-nough, and without a doubt, Jasmine has triggered a hell of a lot of underlining issues Cam probably wasn’t even aware he had.
”Cam, where did you hear that?” Flame asks from close by.
When I look, he”s standing behind Wrath, who is sitting on the sofa, with one of his hands clamped tightly on Wrath”s shoulder, keeping Wrath from flying off the sofa. When I look at Wrath, I see why Flame has done it. Wrath”s eyes are full of fury, and his jaw is clamped down hard. He looks ready to explode.
“Aunt Jasmine when she rang me earlier.”
I look around at Blade to see how he”s taking what Cam has just revealed, and he looks devastated, like he”s blaming himself for what she”s done to Cam. I get up and walk towards Blade. Everyone is looking at me confused until they see where I”m walking and see the look on Blade”s face. When I get in front of Blade, I grab his face in my hands, making him look me in the eyes.
“Don”t do this. This is not your fault.” I sternly tell him.
“But it is; all this goes back to me.”
”No, it goes back to her; you”ve done nothing wrong.”
“She”s right, Blade. Jasmine started all this when she verbally and physically attacked you. Now she”s bringing Cam into her games. None of us are blaming you.” Flame interrupts before Blade can say anything back to me.
“I can”t help but feel responsible, though. This is what I”ve been trying to avoid. I never wanted Cam brought into this.”
“You didn”t bring him into it; she did. I”ll fucking deal with it, Blade. Listen to us when we”re telling you none of this is your fault.” Wrath tells him with a serious tone.
“Dad, why is Aunt Jasmine doing this? Why is she lying about something so serious?” Cam asks with tears still running down his face.
“I don’t know, son, but I promise I”ll have a talk with her and make sure this never happens again. What she”s said to you isn”t okay, Cam. I will not have her upsetting you like this, trying to cause issues between you and the rest of the family. You”re finally coming out of your shell around here. I won”t have her ruining that. I”m proud of you for coming and talking to your Aunt, though; it shows maturity for someone so young. I know people older than you who would have just believed what they were told and acted on that information. Not you, though; you were smart.” Wrath answers him.
“I wanted to know what she had to say about it; that”s why I came over here on my own without saying anything to anyone, because if what Aunt Jasmine said was true, I wanted to protect you all from what Aunt Sera was doing. You”re my family, and families protect each other; you all taught me that when I came to live with you.”
Oh, my heart is breaking for him right now. I let go of Blade and walk over and crouch in front of Cam.
“I know why you feel that way, Cam. I did something similar earlier today. I may be older than you, but we have a lot in common, if you think about it. We both grew up without our dads, with terrible moms, and are now part of this amazing family and would do anything for them. They love you, Cam. Look at how many people came over here when I text your Dad something was wrong. I don”t even know half the people in the room right now, but they are all here for you. Your family is bigger than you think.”
Cam looks around the room and wipes his tears away.
“I didn”t even realize you were all here. Thank you.”
“You don”t have to thank us, Cam; you”re family.” I don”t know the name of the one who spoke, but he”s fucking massive. He”s the tallest man in the room; he”s got to be around six foot six with short blonde hair and pale green eyes, and he”s built. I mean, he”s almost as wide as he is tall. He is definitely someone you wouldn”t want to mess with.
“I”m sorry for worrying you all.” Cam tells us all.
“Don”t worry about it, Cam. We”re all just glad you”re okay, and we know what”s going on. Shall we go home and leave your Aunt to do whatever she was going to do before she found you?” Wrath asks his son gently.
”Yeah, come on, I”m hungry now. I want Papa to cook for me.” Cam stands and starts to walk towards the front door, not waiting for his Dad to follow.
Everyone starts laughing about Wrath and Flame getting left in the wind by their son. They quickly follow behind him, flipping everyone off over their shoulders as they go.
“You handled that really well. I wouldn”t have had a clue what the fuck to do if I found him like that.” Shadow says to me as he comes and sits down on the sofa.
“I didn”t really know what to do other than be honest and comfort him until you all got here. Are you going to introduce me to everyone else?”
“Shit yeah, the giant fucker over there is Rock. Then the one covered in tattoos is Ink. The one with practically no hair is Eagle. Piston is the one leaning against the wall. They”re all Officers for the club.”
So the one who spoke earlier was Rock. Ink is definitely covered in tattoos, but he”s also got pale blue hair, which does something to make his gray eyes pop. I”m actually sort of jealous. Eagle does have hair, just not a lot at all; he”s got it cut military short. You can still tell it”s black, though, and his eyes are dark blue. Piston is the other one in the room. He has black hair like Eagle, but his is so much longer; it”s tied up currently, so it”s out of his face, and he”s got green eyes. They”re all ridiculously handsome and tall. Is there some sort of rule for joining this MC? Everyone I”ve met has been attractive in their own rights.
”Wow, bro, that”s some lovely explanations of your friends” looks.”
Everyone bursts out laughing at my comment except for Shadow, who has his stupid pout back on his face.
“What the fuck is your face doing right now?” Blade asks Shadow, looking horrified.
All the other men turn and look at Shadow”s face, and they all end up looking equally as horrified as Blade.
“He”s pouting.” I inform them all, and they all just shake their heads.
“No grown ass man should ever have that look in his face. Fuck Shadow, please don”t ever do that again; it”s horrifying.” Eagle says with disgust in his tone.
“It”s not that bad, guys.” Shadow says while dropping his bottom lip, so he”s frowning.
”Yeah, it is.” They all reply at the same time.
”Okay, let”s stop picking on Shadow and his ridiculous facial expressions; I need to ask. Is Jasmine coming to Cam”s party?”
The atmosphere in the room suddenly goes from happy to wary.
”Yeah, she”s coming; she”s been told not to make a scene as it”s Cam”s day. She was warned before she left the other day; we couldn”t exactly uninvite her, even though we really wanted to. She is still Cam”s aunt.” Shadow informs us all. None of the men look happy about what he”s saying.
“Maybe I should skip it.” Blade suggests.
”No, you”re not skipping Blade. It”s Cam”s first ever party and his first birthday as part of the MC. You need to be there.” Shadow tells him seriously.
“I just don”t want Cam”s day ruined.”
“It won”t be ruined. Now enough talk of you not coming. Let”s tell this lot about how good my sister can kick ass.”
And that”s what they do; they both tell the rest of the officers in detail about me taking down the Prospect and why. The respect in everyone”s eyes when they hear what I”ve done means a lot to me. I”ve never had something like this before. I feel like I fit here as part of this MC. I can certainly say I”ve never fit anywhere before. God, I hope this lasts.
After a few hours of getting to know the Officers of Devil’s Inferno, they all clear out of my Dad’s house. Except for Blade. I’m happy he stayed; I want to spend some more time with him, just us.
We decide to have a chill night, watching movies and ordering takeout. I can’t help but cuddle into his side on the sofa as we watch some new action movie we both wanted to see. His arm wraps around me automatically, causing me to smile.
As the movie is coming to an end, my Dad comes home. He glances at us cuddling up together but doesn’t say anything. Just winks at me and walks into the kitchen. From that reaction, I’m guessing he doesn’t have an issue with whatever this is between me and Blade.
I’m glad. Don’t get me wrong, though, even if he didn’t like it. It wouldn’t have changed my plans with Blade. I’m my own woman, and I make my own choices, and my choice is Blade.
Blade clicks on another movie, and I can’t help but let my eyes start to close. The safety and comfort I feel in Blade’s arms is so relaxing. I don’t even make it halfway through the movie before I’m asleep.