Ruby: Black Hawk Gems Book 3 (Black Hawk Gems MC) Page 4

  Next, we have Drax, who has short, dirty blonde hair and dark blue eyes; he has what people call a ‘fighter’s body-’ muscular and lean. He’s a little more clean-cut than the rest of us due to his upbringing.

  His dad used to be military and now runs a security company, so Drax grew up learning to protect people. It’s a big focus in his family. They even have a family motto: Protect those who can’t defend themselves. I think it’s one reason King brought them into the club, to help keep us on the right track. To protect people, not hurt them like some other clubs.

  Drax’s dad also taught him to fight from a young age, so they are in charge of training members who want to learn to fight. There’s even been talk of self-defense classes for the Old Ladies.

  If you haven’t noticed, there’s a pattern here: good looking, muscular, and awesome- that’s us.

  “Let’s go to class, man.” Hawk pulls me from my thoughts before walking away. I glance back at the doors again, wondering where she is. The petite redhead burrowed in my mind so deep that I went to Queen about it. She’s like the mother of the club; kind, understanding, and classically beautiful. She treats everyone equally, and she’s been a mother to me since I was a child.

  My parents aren’t around, so if I ever have a problem, I go to Queen.

  After years in the club, my parents just left. Left the club. Abandoned me. King and Queen pretty much took me in after that. If it weren’t for them, I’d most likely be on the streets. And I honestly don’t know what happened to my parents after they left, but I don’t care. I love the family that accepted me with no questions.

  Heading to class was more challenging than it usually is. I spend the walk trying to force my mind away from the image of Ruby with her bright red hair falling in perfect curls past her waist. Her shimmery brown eyes holding all of her emotions. Her fair skin, beautifully unblemished and perfect.

  I had to speak to her as soon as I saw her. Don’t know what it was. I’ve never needed to talk to a girl before, but it slammed into me like that itching need for sunlight after days of rain. I’ve always kept to my group and spoke to no one else. Call it close-minded or antisocial if you want. I don’t care.

  The few times I spoke to girls, I just didn’t feel it. That palpable connection that’s between the men and their Old Ladies. It wasn’t there. I’ve seen how King and Queen interact and usually could tell when I won’t get that from any high school girl I met.

  But this girl… she’s- I don’t know.

  “Dude, class,” Drax says, pulling me out of my thoughts. I didn’t even realize that we made it to the classroom. Shaking my head, I take a seat and lean back. The teacher moves to the front of the room and takes roll. Anastasia’s name is called, and again, the teacher gets no reply. It grates on my nerves, fraying them.

  Silently, I sit through class, wondering what to do about this situation. The teacher drones on and on about last night’s reading. It wasn’t until my teacher stopped by my desk to collect my work that I forgot to do it. Jeez. I was so busy thinking about Ruby that I’d completely forgotten about homework.

  “What’re you thinking?” Drax asks from beside me. I glance over to find him watching me intently, his gaze curious yet also knowing. He didn’t have to ask because he knows exactly where my mind is. I can see it in his eyes as I shrug and run a hand through my sandy brown hair.

  “Don’t know. She could’ve just gotten sick, right?” He nods and sits back in his seat while I turn back to the front and try to listen to the teacher.

  ~*~

  After school, we all make our way to Hawk’s house, one of our usual hangouts. She never came. I’ve thought about it all day and can’t figure out why I’m drawn to her. I talked to her once, and she won’t leave my mind. How does one person get so stuck in your head?

  “Boys, come inside. I made snacks,” an airy voice calls out, stealing my attention. I dismount and find Queen standing in the front doorway. She’s pulling her long brown hair up into a ponytail and smiling at each of us. For the millionth time, I wish she was my real mom as I walk toward her. Hawk reaches her first and kisses her cheek. Then she smiles as we all similarly greet her with a kiss on her cheek or hand.

  “I made sandwiches because I know you boys are always hungry,” she chuckles, gently pushing us through the door. My friends rumble in agreement, and I smile as we follow her like a row of ducks following their mama to food.

  Their house is probably the largest I’ve ever seen, with three levels and at least twenty rooms. King had it built when he and Queen got married. They’d planned to turn it into a new compound, but the members and their Old Ladies established they were comfortable enough in the compound- which used to be a small hotel.

  So now they use extra rooms here in the house for when we all stay over- almost every night- or when guests need additional rooms or if the club is full.

  Queen isn’t kidding when she says she has snacks. A whole platter of sandwiches sits on the kitchen counter with a pile of chip bags next to it and a case of cokes. Queen walks around the island and stops beside me. “Did you see your girl today?” I shake my head, which makes her frown. Her dainty hand pats my arm before she walks away. Most likely to find King.

  “You’ve only talked to her once,” Ink says, making me look up. “What’s so special about her?” I glance around and notice several sets of curious eyes trained on me.

  “I don’t know. She’s odd,” I reply. “She was quiet and timid, more shaken up than she probably should’ve been when that prick hurt her in the hall,” I growl, thinking back to when I had to help her breathe. I didn’t know if I could calm her down. My heart had been racing in my chest, seeing her hyperventilate. It was awful.

  Hawk steps forward and grabs my arm and my attention.

  “WHO?”

  “Stuart,” I answer, and he knows. We’ve had issues with him before. He’s mouthy. “I didn’t tell you, but on her first day, Stuart had her pinned against the wall, and he was about to hit her. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone so scared,” I tell them. Hawk hums as set after set of eyes harden with anger. None of my friends like when men hurt women; it’s one thing that none of us put up with.

  “Did you deal with him?” Drax asks, standing straighter. I sigh. I didn’t have a chance. I needed to help Ruby.

  “No,” I answer. “I was worried about Ruby and needed to make sure she was okay. When I looked back, he disappeared, so I left it alone.”

  Hawk turns to look at us, cracks his knuckles, and smirks. “We should pay him a visit then.”

  Just in time to catch the conversation, King and Queen enter the room. “Son, what’s this about some boy putting his hands on a girl?” He asks, his usual deep voice sounding angry. We turn. They must’ve been right outside the door, listening.

  One thing the club and King have taught me is that women are not things to use or abuse. They’re to be cared for and loved- treasured, even. He and Queen explained early on how people would look at biker traditions. We just have to prove the cynics wrong.

  “There’s a new girl in school,” I repeat. “I found a football player laying hands on her in the hallway. Had his hand around her neck when I interrupted,” I explain. “I got some punches in before I had to make sure she was okay.” King hums and crosses his arms. Queen leans against his chest, a worried expression in her pretty eyes and a sound of protest on her lips, which pulls King’s attention from us. He kisses her forehead, whispering something we don’t hear.

  Anyway, I look away because I feel as if I’m interrupting an intimate moment.

  “We’ll teach him a lesson,” Hawk speaks up. When I look up again, his parents aren’t kissing anymore, and King nods. Queen takes mine and Hawk’s hands in hers with a light squeeze.

  “You show him what happens when he hurts a woman,” she spits, venom in her tone. We both nod. Queen isn’t usually violent until you hurt one of her cubs. Then all hell breaks loose. She’s very protective of us. It’s
nice to see and again makes me wish she was my mom instead of the woman who abandoned me.

  “Come now, Isaiah,” she says, grabbing King’s hand. He chuckles and allows her to lead him out of the room. Hawk fake gags, and we all laugh. His parents are always like this, loving and soft with each other. If you separate them, though, they’re like wolves that lost their mate; vicious.

  Apparently when King first met Queen, she was alone. When we were old enough to understand, he told us the story of how he found Queen alone on the road. She’d just gotten kicked out of her house for no reason by her parents. He saw her, thought she was beautiful and sad, then went to talk to her. Queen told us King offered her a place to stay, and the rest is, as they say, history.

  King made sure we all knew that we should cherish our woman and treat her like a Queen when we met her. He also told us that when we found her, we’d know, like how he knew with Queen.

  “Let’s go,” I announce. All this is making me want to know where Ruby is even more. The guys all make sounds of agreement and follow me out of the kitchen. When we reach our bikes, we mount up. If Stuart thinks he can get away with hurting Ruby, then he’s dead wrong.

  The ride back to school is short. Stuart should be here because the football team has practice most days after school. After confirming the team is here, we hang around the parking lot, waiting for practice to be over. We don’t want to march onto the football field because I’m sure there’s at least one coach out there with them.

  It’ll be better to wait.

  “You wanna take him alone?” Wolf questions, leaning against his bike. I nod, and they send me interested and curious stares. I can’t explain it. A need to defend her swells in my chest. She looked so scared huddled against the wall the other day. It wasn’t just that time, either. During class, there was something off about her. Her eyes held emotions I didn’t want to see from her again. Sadness, exhaustion, fear, and hopelessness.

  “Here he comes,” Ink sings, rubbing his hands together. I roll my eyes and look to the left, where Stuart exits the field house with a duffle bag slung over his shoulder. He notices us and immediately stops in his tracks when I narrow my eyes and step forward.

  “We have unfinished business.”

  Stuart’s face changes from surprised to scared quickly, his face pales, he drops his bag, and his eyes widen. He goes to take a step back, but before he can move, I grab him and throw him against the wall, like he did with Ruby.

  Stuart grunts at the impact, and next I throw a punch. He doubles over, arms wrapping around his stomach as he coughs, “Wh-what?”

  “You stupid enough to think I’d let you get away with hurting her?” I demand, slamming my fist into Stuart’s face. His head snaps to the side, and I punch again and again. A loud crack sounds before I drop him to the ground. “She did nothing to you.”

  He wheezes a ragged breath and stares up at me, anger crossing his features. I don’t let him get a word in. It’s his own fault.

  “If I ever see you raise a hand to a girl again, you’ll get worse,” I threaten, kicking his side. Stuart groans and falls back to the ground. That should do it. If he doesn’t get the point, we’ll be back. I’ll be back. Every time. Until he learns his lesson. So, turning back to the guys, I nod. They all mount up, and when I’m on my bike, my mind automatically goes to Ruby.

  Will she be here tomorrow?

  Did I scare her off somehow?

  Or is she hurt?

  Is there any way I could help?

  Maybe I’m paranoid. She’s probably sitting at home watching TV or spending time with her parents.

  The guys and I make it back to Hawk’s house, and Queen is cooking again. She loves cooking. When we come home, there’s always a snack or a meal waiting. Of course, she tells us it’s because we’re growing boys, but I think she enjoys feeding us. It soothes her mothering soul.

  When we enter the kitchen, she glances over her shoulder at us. “Did you take care of it?” I nod, and she sends me a small smile. “Well, I sure hope he learned his lesson and keeps his hands to himself next time; though, I suppose if he doesn’t, you can have another… chat with him,” she muses, making me smirk as she turns back to her cooking. Like I said, she can be fiercely protective.

  “Boys, I need to speak with you,” King announces, motioning for us to follow. I didn’t even see him sitting at the table until he spoke, but when I glance curiously at Hawk, he shrugs. Usually, King tells him everything in preparation to take over the club one day, so, oddly, Hawk knows nothing about this needed conversation.

  Silently, we follow King out of the kitchen.

  “Dad, what’s going on?” Hawk asks when we reach the living room. King motions for us to sit, and we all scatter around the living room, taking a seat on various pieces of furniture. King then stands at the front and crosses his arms over his chest.

  “Iron, some of the guys, Roman, and I busted up a fighting ring last night,” he starts, and I’m surprised. Roman is the nomad of our group, a member that travels more than he stays here. However, Roman has been in and out of the hospital with his wife’s cancer. If Roman went on the run, it had to be a big deal.

  In response, I sit forward, listening intently. I knew nothing about a fight ring. If there was one around here, we would’ve known about it. Someone, especially teenagers, would’ve spilled secrets.

  “Wait, what?” Hawk throws his arms up, “Why didn’t you tell us?”

  “I didn’t want you involved yet, but we found someone, a young man, around your age. They called him Beast,” King says. “From what we can tell, they forced him into cage fights for years, and he’s got major anger issues.” King leans back against the wall, an upset look on his face. “I’ve decided that we’re going to keep him here and help him.”

  “How?” I ask. King looks over at me and sighs like he doesn’t know either. It’s unusual. He’s always had the answers or ideas; I mean, he’s in charge. The President. He’s the one we all go to if we need something, so to see King uncertain about something reminds me that we’re all just human.

  “I’m not sure yet. This young man has been trapped and used for so many years. We’ll have to take everything slow,” he informs us. I couldn’t imagine what he went through. “Beast seems to be in a constant state of anger and- well, I see the rage in his eyes.”

  “So we have to tame him?” Ink questions, all jokes aside, and King nods.

  King informs us, “All he’s ever known since he was young is fighting, so he lashes out a lot and doesn’t like people.”

  “Wait, he doesn’t like people, but you want us to help you bring him back to… to normal?” I ask. This is crazy. What if this dude lashes out? Does King know what this guy is capable of?

  “Guys,” Queen speaks up, and in an instant, all eyes fall to her. “Beast doesn’t know any better. It’s how he survived, so we’re going to have to treat him kindly, and we’re going to treat him like he’s part of the family,” she says pointedly, giving us that ‘my word is law’ tone. It’s only one of her mom tones. She’s got several. She has the angry, worried, apologetic, sad, last straw, no-nonsense- her current tone- and my favorite, the angelic tone.

  “I saw Beast, and the poor boy is scarred, damaged, and unusual. We need to help him, and being around people his age- people that aren’t trying to hurt him- might help,” she tells us. “Imagine if it were you. How would you feel?”

  She makes a good point. His life was probably hell. They didn’t say how young he was when this all started. It sounds like it was probably more than just a few years if he was just a kid. I imagine ten years of being forced to entertain others by fighting, getting hurt, and being humiliated, and my skin tightens over my bones.

  It would turn anyone angry.

  Nodding, I stand. “Someone caged most of his life is gonna be hard to get through to,” I say, rubbing my hands together.

  Queen nods and smiles. “As long as we try to help the poor boy.”

&nbs
p; “When’s this happenin’?” Wolf asks, standing up as well. Queen makes her way over to King and touches his arm. They seem to communicate slightly before King runs a hand through his dark hair.

  “We’ll get him situated downstairs and meet with him a few times to get him used to us before introducing you guys,” King answers. “Meanwhile, you can go on as usual. We’ll let you know when we need you,” he says. We nod, but Hawk steps toward his mom.

  “Just… Be careful, Ma,” he mutters, hugging her quickly. She pulls him down and kisses his forehead, telling us that she’ll be fine. It’s kind of amusing because King is right beside her with an annoyed glare, silently telling us he wouldn’t let anything happen to her. And we knew that.

  King would die before he let anyone hurt his wife.

  Our senior year is going to be more interesting than I thought. I have a missing girl to find, and now, we have a crazy cage fighter to turn tame.

  “I’m heading out,” I tell the guys while making my way to the door. I need to clear my head and the best way to do that is to ride.

  Chapter 4

  Ruby

  Burning, aching discomfort.

  It’s the first thing I feel when I open my eyes. For the past three days, I’ve been in constant pain. No medicine and little- to no- movement. I test my body to find the hurt has diminished some, even if it's only enough for me to sit up without crying out.

  The cut on my side still aches when I move too much or turn a certain way, and tender bruises cover my body. I should’ve gone to the doctor to get my cut sewed up, or my dad should’ve done it since he’s a doctor, but no. I had to crawl and claw my way to my room to clean the cut myself.

  Slowly, I push myself out of bed and stand. I took a shower last night, thankfully. The water wasn’t as good as icing the injuries, but it was the next best thing.