My hands grasped the railing in a death grip, knuckles turning white, as I watched the souleater stumble to her feet only for Tegan to sling her fist against her jaw once again.
My hands shook and I tried telling myself to walk away.
To walk outside and smoke some belladonna.
To let it fucking go.
She did this to herself. You don’t owe her shit. Certainly not help.
Blood splattered and Lex tried regaining her balance once more.
She was going to get herself killed.
Fucking hell.
“Little brat,” I hissed under my breath and tossed my cigarette onto the tiled floor, stomping on it with more force than necessary.
I pushed past Danny and his entourage and took the steps two at
a time, down to the lower levels of the Pit. I had no patience to deal with this sort of shit, but I wasn’t going to let my brother’s friend get killed on my watch.
People moved aside as I stomped my way to the ring.
Steel caught sight of me and frowned, quickly approaching.
When he stepped in front of me, clearly in no rush to let me pass, I growled.
“Move,” I warned him, my tone low and deadly.
“No one can interfere during fights, you know that, Savage,” Steel said, tilting his head to the side. I could tell by his pinched lips that he didn’t want to say no to me, but the rules were the rules.
Where there was only one rule to abide by in the ring, there was also only one rule to respect outside of the ring; never interfere with a fight. Ever.
Steel, unlike most of the scum here, liked to live by the rules.
“That girl,” I said, my head jerking in Lex’s direction. “She’s a fucking minor,” I half-lied, teeth clenched. Just as I did, the girl was flipped onto her back once more, a pained whimper leaving her lips.
She wasn’t really a minor, Lex was eighteen, but that was still too fucking young to be fighting in the Pit. Too young, too inexperienced, and too weak.
Everyone here would eat her alive.
She and I, we were going to have a few words once I got her far away from this dump.
Steel cocked a brow and swallowed, but the longer I waited to get the girl out of there, the more bruises appeared on her pale skin.
I didn’t have that fucking time to waste.
I didn’t need anyone’s permission, I took whatever the hell I wanted and right now, what I wanted was that girl out of the damn ring.
I pushed past him and lifted myself over the ropes and into the dirt pit. The crowd went wild at the sight of their savage beast entering the ring.
They probably thought I was going to join in the fight.
I didn’t pay them much attention. All my focus was on her. She swayed as she again forced herself up onto her shaky legs, Tegan pacing around her like she was raw meat.
Tegan lunged again and Lex braced herself—but she never felt the blow.
My hand caught Tegan’s arm in a tight grip and she froze instantly.
“We’re done here,” I said through gritted teeth, lips tight and fury burning the back of my eyes.
Tegan looked back at me, her eyes narrowing at my sudden appearance. Anger flashed in them. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, Savage? This is my fight.”
“Not anymore. This is ending right now,” I hissed and pushed her back, away from Lex.
Lex held an arm underneath her chest, as if holding her ribs. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were bruised, and I knew from experience just how much that fucking hurt. I swore under my breath.
As she caught sight of my beat up combat boots, Lex froze too.
Slowly, ever so fucking slowly, she traced the length of my body and the closer she got to my face, the quicker her chest heaved.
When her gaze found my face, her busted mouth parted open in shock.
That’s when I saw the full damage done to her.
Bruises lined the side of her cheeks, her bottom lip sliced open, bleeding down her chin, and one of her eyes was swollen shut.
“Beau—” she whispered, sounding almost shocked as her fat bottom lip caught my attention.
“It’s fucking Savage in here,” I warned her.
No one called me Beau here and I preferred it that way. I was still a Knight, still the heartless beast, but in the Pit, I was also Savage, the fighter. Someone I’d chosen to become instead of all the other names that had been imposed on me.
Her shock vanished at the harshness of my words and her eyes became livid slits. “I’m busy right now, can’t you fucking see?”
My blood boiled at that. Her fucking attitude.
The crowd had quieted now, so they could hear our conversation.
And I didn’t fucking like it.
I wasn’t one for public displays. I kept my life to myself and my conversations private.
I go the fuck out of my way to save her neck and she gives mouth?
“Get the fuck out of here,” I told her, jerking my chin toward the entrance of the Pit. “Now.”
Her dark brows dropped into a frown. “No.”
And it was that single word that did it for me.
The demon side of me—the more dominant, uncontrolled side of me, roared at the disobedience and disrespect.
Lex’s body shuddered, as if she could feel the beast raging within me, but her glare didn’t waver.
I snarled and with one move, lifted her off her feet. She gasped and immediately punched my chest, but I didn’t stop.
“Fucking. Asshole,” she snarled back, as she kept hitting my chest with her tiny fists.
And she thought she could earn money in the Pits with those tiny hands? Fucking ridiculous.
The crowd grew loud once again as I walked across the Pit with Lex trapped in my arms.
Steel observed us, a brow raised in surprise. I kept walking, ignoring Lex’s pathetic punches and her mouth cursing me out.
That filthy mouth.
I shoved open a heavy door and then another, entering the men’s restroom.
It was dirty and dark in here, just like the rest of this dump.
A few men were standing with their dicks out and one turned, about to cuss me out for bringing a girl into the restroom, but when he saw me, he paled.
“Out,” I said, and Lex finally stopped smacking me.
They all shoved their dicks back into their pants and zipped them up mid-pee, before rushing out.
I moved to the sinks and placed her on the edge of the counter, caging her in with my body so that she couldn’t escape.
I knew the brat. It wasn’t above her to try something as fucking useless as running away from me.
Flee. Always flee.
It had been engraved into her since birth.
“Fuck you,” she spat out, jerking forward, but I gripped her wrist, forcing her back and scowled when I saw her wince in pain.
“You’re too fucking tiny to fuck,” I said lowly through a tight jaw. “And you’re too fucking weak and young to fight. What the fuck are you doing here, Alexandra?” I asked slowly, rolling her name on my tongue, allowing my faint Italian accent to come through. Her violent blue eyes narrowed at my use of her full name.
She breathed out harshly at that and my teeth gritted together some more. I knew I had hit a nerve, but I really didn’t give a damn.
“None of your fucking business, you asshole,” she said, and her chin lifted as if to challenge me. “I can do whatever the hell I want. And whether that’s fighting the guys here or fucking them, it’s my choice.”
All I had to do was look at her—look at the damage Tegan had inflicted on her in only a matter of minutes to know she shouldn’t be here.
Ever.
I clenched my jaw, my muscles already so tense from keeping my anger to a minimum. The beast within, the beast controlling me, wanted more. It wanted out. But I couldn’t. Not with her.
But the brat still needed to be taught a fucking lesson.
“Well if you think you’re good enough to fuck, maybe I should do just that, Alexandra,” I said, and the dark, predatory smile appearing on my lips wasn’t as forced as I would’ve liked.