Chapter 7
Ace
After Elena had eaten, I took her to The Shifter Shack. In the bar, the others had already gathered around Hunter. Heads turned when they saw me walking in with Elena. I didn’t have much of a track record of being seen with women, and I also suspected it had something to do with how gorgeous she was.
A path cleared out for us, straight to where Hunter was sitting on his bar stool, and I caught Daredevil’s eye as I walked up to the front. Elena was right behind me, and I could sense that she was nervous. I had filled her in already with the details of what Church was usually like so that Elena had an idea of what to expect. However, I knew she didn’t belong in this world, and it was all new and scary for her. Especially now that she had the attention of a room full of tattooed up shifters in leather jackets.
“Ace. Congratulations!” Hunter spoke, but his eyes were on Elena the whole time. He had to have heard that I had left the warehouse sooner than everyone else, and now he was sizing up the cause for it.
“We got all the cubs out,” I replied, and a low cheer rang out in the bar. I could sense Beasty, Jordan, and Daredevil exchanging smiles as well. Our mission had been successful, and as far as I knew, none of my brothers had been lost to the cause.
“Where are they now?” Hunter asked, and Daredevil stepped up to chip in.
“They’re upstairs in the rooms, eight of them in total, Justine and Melody are taking care of them,” he said, and I looked at him. He hadn’t gotten out of the habit of referring to his mother by her name, Justine, and Melody, of course, was his wife. They were the only two permanent female fixtures in our Club at the moment.
“They can’t live here!” Hunter barked in surprise and Beasty spoke up next.
“Justine said that she would house them till we can figure out a more permanent accommodation for them. Melody wants to work towards figuring out school and reuniting them with their families,” Beasty said, and Hunter’s eyes narrowed even more.
“When you say that Justine has offered to house them, you mean, house them in our home?” he growled, and Beasty nor anyone else replied. Justine and Hunter were a shifter power couple, forces to reckon with. While Justine openly disapproved of her husband and son’s lifestyle, she had learned to live with it, and she made sure that the MC was looked after with a feminine touch. Hunter might have been our leader, and as tough as they came, but he was putty in the hands of his woman.
He turned to me now, blaming me for eight kids living in his house. For putting him in this position.
“I can take them,” I suggested because ultimately, this mission was mine and I should have been responsible for their upkeep. Hunter waved his hand in the air and grunted.
“Justine won’t let me live this down if I take those cubs away from her care. Besides, where are you going to fit eight cubs in that tiny place of yours?” he asked and a few of my brothers laughed around me. I wasn’t joking. I would have found a way if it came to that. I wasn’t a man to shirk responsibility when it arose.
Hunter’s gaze landed on Elena again, who was standing beside me, half shielded by my body now.
“And who is this?” he asked, and I could sense the deathly silence around us. It was the question that was on everyone’s mind. Including Daredevil’s, even though he hadn’t asked me directly.
“This is Elena Luis, her father is Duncan, the former leader of the Snake Skulls,” I replied and watched as Hunter’s brows furrowed in confusion.
“You mean the same fuckers who got the Claws involved in the fighting ring business?” he growled, turning his rage to Elena now. I said nothing but only tipped my head once in response.
“The same fuckers who I had to rescue you from ten years ago?” Hunter continued in the same barking voice, and now he stood up from the stool. I could see him taking slow, dangerous steps towards Elena. His mouth was scrunched angrily; he was breathing fire from his nose. The Snake Skulls had been a pain in the ass for him for a long time, and now he had the daughter of their leader in front of him.
I didn’t want to fight Hunter, but if he laid a finger on Elena…
“Daughter of their former leader. My dad is old and sick now, he wasn’t involved with the Claws and their fighting ring,” Elena spoke up, and I jerked my head down to look at her. I could see the fear mixed with defiance in her eyes. She was staring Hunter down, holding her chin high up in the air.
Hunter stopped in his tracks; the room was still silent. He hadn’t expected Elena to speak up like that. He grunted, as his eyes roamed over her, he was still sizing her up.
“And what are you doing here? Daughter of the former leader of Snake Skulls,” he said, in a low hissing voice.
“They were holding her captive. Duncan owes the Snake Skulls money, which he hasn’t been able to pay back. They kidnapped Elena as revenge,” I cut in, and Hunter turned his emblazoned eyes at me again. I could nearly feel the heat coming out of his nostrils now. If I wasn’t careful a tiger would be standing in front of me soon. And the old man still had some serious fight in him.
“And what is it to you?” he asked, and I clenched my jaw. He was going to make me confess my feelings and my past, in front of all my brothers here.
“She’s my friend. I knew her from when I used to work the fighting rings for her father,” I said, and Hunter and I locked gazes. He was searching my eyes, trying to figure out the truth behind my words. Then he snapped his head away to look at Elena again.
“Friends huh?” he said, and he looked into her face, and she looked back. I was proudly surprised that she had the courage to stand up to Hunter, to look him in the eye. She knew exactly how he felt about her father and the rest of the gang that he used to belong to.
“And you’ve brought her here?” he asked me, and I shrugged my shoulders.
“I rescued her from her captors, and she needs to be kept safe,” I replied, and Hunter narrowed his eyes at me.
“And you want to take on the responsibility of keeping a Snake Skulls girl safe?” he countered.
“Yes,” I replied, as authoritatively as I could. It would be within the MC code and within Hunter’s power to refuse Elena’s presence here, on Roarin’ Rebels territory.
Hunter grunted, then turned from us and walked back to his stool.
“You’re taking too many risks that are unlike you, Ace,” he said and reached for his can of beer that was resting on the bar counter all this while. He took a swig of it, and when he was done, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “It’s how we turn into men,” he added, and I stared back at him.
Had he permitted me to give Elena the MC’s protection?
“She can’t stay with you. They’ve seen you rescuing her, they’re going to come after you,” Hunter continued, and I looked at Elena, whose eyes seemed diffused. I could see that she didn’t want to stay anywhere else, but with me. Hunter was right though.
“I’ll find somewhere for her to stay,” I said, and he tipped his head to me.
“And let’s make sure that those Claws know exactly what they’re in for. Using cubs for fight clubs is not going to go unpunished,” he cried out loud, and a huge cheer flew around the room. The MC was still bloodthirsty. Our business wasn’t finished yet.
I met Elena’s eyes and a weak smile formed on her face. She knew I had meant it when I told her that I was going to keep her safe. Before we walked away from Hunter, he stopped us in our tracks.
“I’ve always been curious. What does Snake Skulls mean?” Hunter was speaking to Elena directly. She smiled, as she answered him.
“If you cut off the head of the snake, another three grows in it’s place,” she said.