by KJ Dahlen
She didn’t say a thing but she tried to drag his body back toward the bushes where she’d been hiding the whole time. Damn, this man was huge. What did they put in the water around here? He weighed a ton. The biker who shot him was large too.
When Zoe couldn’t move him, she knelt and slapped his face. She didn’t slap him hard because she only wanted to wake him up enough for him to help her. “Come on mister, wake up, please wake up?” She slapped him again, harder this time. “Please wake up. We need to get you off the street before they come back.” She slapped him again, then noticed he was beginning to come around. Good, because her hand was stinging something fierce. “Please wake up. You’re too big for me to move and we gotta get out of here.”
Mammoth struggled to open his eyes. He just wanted to sleep, and he was in pain but there was a nagging voice telling him he had to wake up. He groaned and tried to open his eyes. At first glance, he didn’t see anything then he closed his eyes and opened them again. As he focused, he finally saw her. She was just a little bitty girl. Her green eyes were huge in her elfin face and her hair was tucked up under a beret cap. The clothes she was wearing were three sizes too big for her so they hid her figure but with the pain, he was in, checking her out didn’t matter right now.
All he wanted was to close his eyes and go back to sleep.
“Oh no you don’t, if you don’t wake up and hide, they’ll come back and slit your throat for you!” She urged him. “That guy might have left but I’m betting, they’ll be back to pick your bones. You have to get up!”
Mammoth groaned and tried to roll over. Her words were making sense to him. How they found him, he wasn’t sure but when the shot took out his bike from under him, he knew he was in trouble. He didn’t know where she came from but she was right. They would be back to make sure he was dead.
“Fucking hell, that bastard shot me.” Mammoth groaned as he tried to turn over and get to his knees.
“Yeah, he did but he didn’t kill you,” she grumbled. “Come on big man, let’s go. We gotta move out of here before they come back.”
“Why do you think they’re coming back?” He groaned. He was now curious as to how this small girl knew about killers and their mode of operandi.
“They always come back,” she told him. “Their leader is looking for a certain someone and while they bring their enemies down, they don’t kill them until after their leader looks at them. He just left to find the man in charge. If he would have killed you before reporting it to his boss, he would be dead before the dawn.”
So if this were true that was why he hadn’t gotten a bullet to the head, Mammoth surmised. “God damn, how do you know a thing like that?” He frowned.
“I told you, they’re looking for someone and whoever that man is, I don’t think they want to exactly hug him.”
“How do you know all this?” he repeated.
She shrugged but wouldn’t tell him anymore. Instead, she again, patted his arm hard while looking impatient as she waited for him to move.
Mammoth groaned and tried to get to his feet. He rolled to his knees and felt fresh blood spread along his chest. He sat into a kneeling position then finally, as he was out of breath, he got to his feet and swayed as if he would fall at any time.
The little elfin woman slipped her slight weight under his shoulder and steadied him. “Come on big guy. We gotta walk to the other side of the pond. My truck is parked over there. Then we have to find a place big enough to get you some help.”
“Not sure I’m going anywhere too far, baby girl.”
She turned her head to glare at him. “I’m not a baby girl. I’m a woman full grown.”
Mammoth looked at her carefully, noting there wasn’t anything about her appearance that told him she was at all, a full grown woman. “I’ll have to take your word on that honey.” Shaking his head he said, “I just don’t see it.”
She glared back at him. “Yeah well, if we don’t get uncover soon, the Venom’s Tears gang will...”
Mammoth frowned and glared at her. “What the fuck did you call them?”
“They’re called Venom’s Tears because as they claim, venom’s tears are poisonous. They are spreading their poison all over the city until it becomes as toxic as they are.”
“You seem to know a lot about this gang. Are you a member?” Mammoth grunted as he raised a brow at her.
She looked up at him stunned. “Are you out of your tiny pea picking mind?” She grumbled under her breath, “What the fuck is wrong with you? In case you don’t know it, they want me dead too, you bastard.”
“You’re right I don’t know it...Why would they want you dead?” He demanded as his breath ran out again.
“That’s none of your business now is it?” She kept glaring at him. “Now, are you coming with me or not? Cuz, I ain’t staying here any longer. That bastard has been looking for me for a year now, and I’m not about to let him catch me if I can help it. I’m not that willing to die right now. Are you?”
“Yeah, ok... let’s get the fuck out of here,” Mammoth told her with his breath coming harder as the pain made him feel like someone had put his entire body into a vice and it was tightening with every breath he took. . “I told Slammer—I’d be back before—dawn.”
She nodded. “Whoever that is. I hope we make it.” She helped him navigate the way to her hidden truck.
They were both breathing heavily as they struggled along. His huge steps and her bounding leaps to keep pace with him.
She reached up and opened the passenger door. Helping him inside, she was stuck as his weight became overwhelming. “Just please raise yourself up a bit more. Then you can rest. Come on! I can’t do this by myself.”
Mammoth chuckled then winced. “Damn, for a sprite. you sure as hell are bossy.” He hefted himself up and gasped as the pain in his chest and legs nearly made him fall back.
“Whoa there, big guy! If you fall, you are gonna crush me. So MOVE!”
He tried again and with a panting breath, he launched his huge frame up into the seat.
“Finally!” she griped in disgust as she slammed the door and went around to get behind the wheel. Starting up the truck, she was ready to pull away.
“We have to pick up my bike. I’m not leaving that behind,” Mammoth stated.
“We don’t have time for this mister.”
“Pick up my bike.” He growled at her.
“Fucking hell!” She swore under her breath but turned the truck around to get his wrecked cycle. She struggled to load it up by herself into the back bed and when she was done, she got back into the truck. Breathless from the labor, she blew out a breath and huffed a stray bit of her hair from her face. “It’s all scrap metal, so I don’t see the point. Now, where are we going?”
“To my clubhouse,” Mammoth replied with a pained wince.
Chapter Two
“Oh, sweet Jesus...” the sprite woman slowly turned her head toward Mammoth her expression full of fear and apprehension. “Are you crazy? The Venom’s will find us before we even get close to that place.”
“Not if we go in the back way,” Mammoth claimed.
She reached down under the seat and grabbed her pistol. Handing it to him she said, “I hope you know how to use this. We might need to shoot our way in.”
He shook his head at her. “Do I look like a man that doesn’t know how to use a gun? And will you just settle down?” Mammoth grumbled. “Holy fuck, I’m not going to let anything happen to you. Just get me back home and I’ll protect you.”
“Oh yeah and who protects you big guy?” She snarled.
“My brothers that’s who,” Mammoth grumbled.
As she got closer, she stopped the truck and turned to face him. “Look I have something to tell you before we get there. You might not want me to stay.”
“What?” Mammoth stared at her angel shaped face.
“Do you know why I was hanging out in the bushes tonight?”
Mammoth paused. �
�No... Are you a thief? A stalker? Hell no, woman... I don’t know.”
“Because the leader of the street gang Venom’s Tears wants me dead. I worked in one of his bars as a bartender and a year ago, I saw him murder a man in cold blood. I don’t have a lot of money, so I can’t afford to leave town. I will totally just drop you off then head for the next hiding place. “
“We can protect you,” Mammoth insisted.
“You guys got a big enough target on your backs.” She nodded. “Yeah I saw the Steel skull on your jacket, so I know what you are. You all have more trouble than world war three. If they find me there as well, they will burn the place down to the ground without mercy. I don’t want that on my soul.” She wiped an errant tear from her face and started her truck again. “I’ll take you back to your club but I can’t stay with you.”
Mammoth heard her words and smiled. She was tiny but damn, she did have grit. “My name is Mammoth, what’s your name?”
She chuckled. “Mammoth huh? Well, they got that right, didn’t they? She turned her head and held out her hand. “My name is Zoe. Nice to meet you big guy.” Then she turned her head back to the road.
Mammoth was sweating the pain was so bad, but he kept his wits. He had to or he would be toast. This girl was something else altogether though. Tough little sprite. He almost grinned at his thoughts despite the situation he was in. He figured it must be shock to be fucking grinning at a moment like this.
The back way into the compound was barely a road he told her as she navigated it and she needed to watch where she was going. There were huge potholes and every time she hit one he winced and groaned in pain.
When she couldn’t get any closer, Mammoth used his phone to call for someone to come get him.
Three men came out of the darkness with guns raised until they saw him.
“What the fuck happened to you?” Booker, the Steel’s Road Captain asked.
“Don’t ask, just get us back inside.” Mammoth growled. “This is Zoe and I need her with me.”
Booker looked in the back of her truck surveying the damage to the bike. “Holy fuck Mammoth, you were lucky you survived that crash.”
“It wasn’t a crash, it was an ambush,” the big guy growled the words out. “I got a bullet in me to prove it.”
Booker helped Mammoth out of the truck and glared at the other two. “Let’s get them behind the gate and one of you hide this fucking truck. We’ll get it inside later when it’s safe. Right now, we got to get them inside.”
“You take the big guy, I’m gotta find another place to call home for the next few days, till things settle down again,” Zoe assured them.
Booker turned his head to glare at her. “If Mammoth says you’re coming with us, then sweetheart, you are coming with us.”
Mammoth almost bared his teeth at his brother. “Booker, don’t call her that and show some respect, man.”
Booker’s eyes widened but he knew better than to say anything.
They moved Mammoth quickly behind the gate and Zoe was escorted by Blaze while the other brother backed up her truck and turned it into the bushes to hide it.
By the time everyone was inside the compound and the gate was closed, the sky was lighting up with the predawn light.
When they got close to the clubhouse, Mammoth looked up and saw Slammer and Shotgun waiting for him at the back door.
Booker and Blaze carried him inside and all the way to the main room.
Zoe followed as she stared at all the huge bikers with a bit of fear on her face.
Spider and several of the other brothers were waiting, including Texas. They helped him to sit down.
Spider did a preliminary check on his wound. “Sorry man, I got no room in the infirmary right now. You just don’t fit.”
Mammoth nodded, “Yeah, I’m told that a lot.” He winced as he grinned a bit. “But just do it man, I’m bleeding pretty bad here, Spider.”
Spider went to work on getting the clothes off him.
When he and Booker got the big guy’s cut off, Zoe noticed he laid it carefully on the table. The rest of Mammoth’s clothes didn’t fair was well. His shirt was cut from his body and someone brought a bowl of warm water to bathe the blood from his massive chest and back. The bullet wound itself looked a bit raggedy. But the bleeding had stopped.
Zoe’s eyes rounded at the wall of muscle his body was.
When Spider began cleaning the jagged bullet wound, the bleeding started up again, but it was easily controlled. “At least nothing major was hit. The bullet missed the artery,” Spider called out. “He’ll live. He’s weak from blood loss though.”
Zoe was standing back against the wall and when his shirt was cut off, she’d had to hold her breath for a moment. Oh my god, this huge man was a piece of art. At least he was to her mind. His chest was huge and well muscled and he wore his ink like a boss. The ridged hills and valleys on the muscles of his chest and arms almost made her drool. It definitely made her body heat up.
She suddenly licked her dry lips and just stared at him.
“What happened to him?”
The words brought her out of her stupor and were harshly growled in her direction. Zoe startled and ducked, throwing her hands over the top of her head.
“What the fuck?” Slammer growled as he bent to help her up. “What the fuck is wrong with you? All I asked is what happened. I’m not going to hit you.”
Zoe felt her heart pounding in her chest and it took a moment to come out of her panic. “I’m sorry,” she whispered looking down at the ground. “You took me by surprise.”
Slammer’s hands cupped her chin and lifted it to his. “Who are you kid, and how did you find our man Mammoth?” he asked her softly now.
“First off. I’m not a kid.” She slowly stood up. “And his bike was shot out from underneath him in the park. I saw him fly off and roll several times before he stopped. Then I saw the large bastard who shot him and left him for dead. He just rode away.”
Slammer’s eyes narrowed. “Someone shot his bike out from under him? Are you sure about this?”
“Yeah Prez, that’s what happened,” Mammoth called out as Spider kept cleaning the blood off his chest and back. The shot was a through and through, so there was no bullet to dig out but the wound still had to be cleaned well. The actual bullet was probably buried deep in the ground where he had fallen.
“Who was it?” Slammer demanded.
“Anaconda’s gang,” Mammoth told him. “She tells me their street name is Venom’s Tears.”
“Venom’s Tears huh? That’s a rather pussy name for this group.” Slammer raised a brow.
Zoe shook her head. “Not really, everyone knows Venom’s Tears are full of poison and when a snake cries, his tears spread a venom that poisons everything around it.”
Slammer glared at her. “How do you know all this about a gang no one talks about?”
Zoe snorted. “There’s a good reason for that. People in this city mind their own business. You somehow, get dead if you don’t. I’ve known a few who are dead now, just for asking questions.”
“What else do you know about them?” Shotgun asked.
Zoe shrank back a bit. She lowered her head and mumbled, “Nothing. I don’t know anything.”
The brim of her cap was hiding her face from him, so Slammer got pissed about her hiding, and ripped the cap off her head.
Zoe cried out and pulled her arms up to hide her hair.
Chapter Three
Her long silky hair cascaded down her back. It was a vibrant red color and certainly memorable.
“Holy shit,” Mammoth growled from the table. He watched as her hair cascaded down her back to beyond her ass. It finally stopped around midthigh. He’d never seen hair color like this before. It variated in every shade of red possible. From deep red to honey gold. Every shade of red swirled together so that it looked like a sunburst of color. You could tell it was natural too. He hadn’t known she was hiding that before.
> Without realizing it, he licked his lips. Damn, she wasn’t a little girl at all, now that he got a good look at her in the light of the infirmary.
Everyone in the room looked shocked to the core. Her hair was beautiful and very memorable.
Then Mammoth brought up what she’d told him, that she was being hunted by the leader of Venom’s Tears gang. “No wonder you wore the cap.”
Slammer turned his head toward his man. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Mammoth nodded at Zoe. “Hair that color would be very easy to find, don’t you think? She hid it, so they wouldn’t find her.”
Zoe leaned down and grabbed her cap. She wound her long silky hair into a bun and replaced her hat. “Yeah, that’s why I hide it.” She sighed. “I had to. Now, I have to leave here before they know I’m here.”
Slammer crossed his arms over his chest and glared at her. “Before who finds out you’re here?”
“She’s on the run from the gang threatening us boss,” Mammoth offered in explanation.
“What for?”
The question fell to silence in the room.
“She saw him kill a man in cold blood,” Mammoth supplied when it became apparent Zoe wasn’t going to say anything. She was still busy staring at the floor.
Slammer looked over at Mammoth then back to Zoe. “Why would that make her wanted by the group? Men die every day.”
Zoe looked up slowly. “Not men like this one.”
“Who was he?” Shotgun dared to ask.
Zoe shook her head but didn’t say anything. She backed away step or two until her back hit the wall. She had paled and her lips were tight. Fear clouded her eyes and she was shaking with fear.
Mammoth couldn’t stand it anymore, so he surged up from his chair and went to her. She didn’t shy away from his approach not that he would allow her to. He wrapped his big arms around her and held her to him. Mammoth felt her shaking and he tried to comfort her. He had to show her she was safe then finally after a moment or so, he could feel her relax. When he felt her arms wrap around his bare waist he knew she was back to a normal state.