Romance: Sports Romance: ON SIDE (Secret Baby Pregnancy Football Romance) (Contemporary New Adult Fiction)

by Raven Monet

  Chapter Fourteen

  AVA

  Elias changed so quickly, I couldn't prepare myself for the rush of the wind or the storm from his wings. Not only was there thunder, there was a flurry of electricity coursing the air that made my hair stand on end. Water fell from the ceiling in droplets, just like rain. A warm, soothing, summer rain. It fell thicker and thicker on my head, and I covered myself.

  Gunfire rang out, and there were footsteps. Many, many footsteps. And the familiar roar of a lion.

  “Holy shit,” someone called out.

  I couldn't be sure if they were more surprised by Elias or my uncle – but they were about to be in for another surprise too. Closing my eyes, my body twisted and shifted, changing shape. My clothes ripped to shreds around me as I grew in size. I had two choices in that moment – a lion or a bear. I went with bear, calling upon my father's spirit to help me win this battle.

  I lunged from around the bar with a mighty roar, just as one of the men was rounding the corner. His eyes grew wide as I went for his throat, my giant paws smashing into his head and taking him down. I tasted his blood as it rushed into my mouth as I bit down and tore through his jugular. His screams turned to gurgles as he began to choke on his own blood.

  A bullet pierced my skin, my leg, and I let out a roar as pain ripped through my body. It wasn't a killing blow, it would heal. And it would heal fast, too. I focused my energy on the wound, pressing the bullet out of my skin and listened as it clanked to the ground, the wound closing up around it.

  The man with the gun stood there, shocked, and that momentary pause was enough to get him killed.

  Not by me, this time, though. By Elias. He swooped down, his talons tearing the man's head from his shoulders. His suddenly decapitated body slumped to the ground.

  The rain continued to fall, making it hard to see. We were in the eye of the storm, all caused by Elias' mighty wings. I rushed toward three men cornered by Deacon in lion form, all of them holding their hands up in surrender, their weapons were on the ground in front of them. With one paw, I pushed the guns further away from them and waited for my uncle's decision. As much as I wanted to kill them, I didn't see a single one with the tattoo I was looking for. El Monstruo wasn't here. These were just his lackeys.

  We needed answers. And dead men wouldn't give us the answers we needed.

  Then again, we also didn't need all three of them alive.

  The wind slowly calmed down, as did the rain. Elias landed beside me, human once more. His clothing, unlike mine, didn't shred to pieces when he shifted. Then again, he wasn't like us. He was different in many ways.

  Elias walked toward them men, towering over them.

  “What the fuck are you, man?” one of them said. The smallest one. He looked to be about seventeen years old – at most.

  Elias flashed a predatory grin, looking back over his shoulder at Deacon and myself, both still in animal form.

  “What does it matter? You won't live to tell the tale anyway.”

  “Elias – ” Deacon said, shifting into his human form. “Don't.”

  “I'm not going to kill them. Yet.” Elias said, taunting them with a hand that resembled a talon, but switched back to being a hand a second later. It was like a trick of the mind, but I knew what I saw.

  “We need answers,” Deacon growled.

  I tried to not look at him, his clothing torn all around him and him standing there naked as the day he was born. I didn't need to see my uncle like that. Or rather, I didn't need to see my dad like that. Whatever he was, it didn't matter. He was a relative. And yes, the more time we spent together, the more I felt like he might actually be my father. But my heart hurt even thinking like that. My father raised me, he was a good dad and I would always love him as such.

  But let's face it, I was more like Deacon than I was like my father. Harder. More ruthless – as I'd demonstrated only moments before.

  I stayed in bear form, partly to intimidate, but also, because I didn't want both Elias and Deacon seeing me without clothes.

  Deacon grabbed the younger one by the face and held his head up to stare into his eyes. “Who sent you,” he demanded, “and how did you find us?”

  The youngster tried to look at the other guys – both older than him. Both more experienced, but still just as scared. One of them looked at me, eyes wide. The other didn't look at any of us, and I knew he was the most dangerous of the bunch. Older, wiser, and while afraid, he kept his head down. He was preparing himself. For what, I wasn't sure, but I'd keep an eye on him. He'd be my first choice to kill if things didn't work out the way they needed to.

  “Our boss,” the kid said. “He was – ”

  “Shut up, Gabriel,” the one refusing to look at us said.

  “They're going to kill us, man,” Gabriel responded.

  “You'd rather die by their hand than that of our boss's, I'm telling you. Shut up.”

  Deacon walked over to the other guy, lifted his head up to look in his eye. “What's your name?”

  The man spat in his face, which made Deacon lash out and strike him. The blow threw the guy's head back against the wall.

  “Listen, man,” Deacon growled. “We're not playing games here. You have no fucking idea who you're messing with.”

  “Oh, we know who you are,” the guy said, a smile forming on his lips. “We know all about you – all of you.”

  The way he spoke sent chills down my spine. I looked over at Elias who looked at me. I stayed in bear form as I walked over the one guy who was still not talking – the one between the asshole and Gabriel. I stared up at him, baring my teeth and he looked down at me.

  “Did you see her rip that man's throat out earlier?” Elias said, standing behind me, petting my fur. “She could do that to you too if you don't talk. But she'd do it slower this time. She'd make it really hurt.”

  The guy never took his eyes off of me. Gabriel was also staring but pressed himself against the back of the wall. Poor kid. He probably had no idea what he was doing. Who knows how he got caught up with these guys, but he didn't belong there. The fact that the Boss, as they called him, sent him there to an almost certain death pissed me off even more.

  Deacon was still working with the other guy, trying to get him to talk. It wasn't working out for him, though. The guy wasn't going to talk, not even to tell us his name.

  “What's your name?” Elias asked the guy we were with.

  “Juan,” he muttered.

  “Juan, listen up buddy,” Elias said, grinning at him. “We don't want to kill you and your friends, but since you attacked us, it's only fair to tell us why you did that. And if you do tell us, maybe we'll let you go. Some of you, at least.”

  Juan and Gabriel looked at one another as if trying to figure out what to do.

  “No, don't your fucking date,” the other guy said, lunging for the other two. He reached Juan, wrapped his hands around his neck before we saw it coming.

  Gabriel shouted out, “Arturo, don't!”

  Arturo. That was his name. And whether he knew it or not, he was about to die. I lunged and grabbed him by the leg, burying my teeth into his skin as I pulled back as hard as I could. Tendons in his leg tore, causing the man to scream out in pain as I pulled him away from Juan. Elias had to literally pry the man's hands away from Juan's neck since Arturo was trying desperately to take Juan down with him.

  As soon as Juan was free from Arturo's grasp, he started talking. “Our boss goes by the name El Monstruo,” he said, speaking quickly. “He sent us here to kill all three of you. He's been following you for some time, and he knows you're here.”

  “Where is he now?” Elias asked.

  “I don't know, he doesn't tell us everything. We're just his lackeys, man. No one important. But I can promise you one thing – he's close by.”

  “He's going to call Arturo on the burner phone in his pocket. If he doesn't answer, he said he had a backup plan,” Gabriel added. “From there, we were to get further directi
ons. If you weren't killed and were only injured and brought into him, there would be a bonus. If you were killed, he wanted your heads brought to him. He specifically said to try and not kill the girl, I don't know why.”

  My heart stopped. He wanted me alive. But why?

  “Why did he want the girl alive?” Elias asked, growling and his eyes turning full of hatred.

  “I don't know, man,” Gabriel said, licking his lips in a nervous way.

  “You're all going to die,” Arturo laughed. “All of you, including you and Juan.”

  I bit down on his leg, crunching bone with my teeth, causing him to lash out, kicking me with his good leg. Elias kicked him hard in the head, knocking him out. Maybe even killing him. I let go of my grip.

  Elias and Deacon seemed to have this under control, which meant I could change back into my human form again. But as I glanced at them, I knew it would mean I'd be without clothing. I didn't want to be naked in front of them. I walked behind the bar and looked down at the remnants of my clothing. Nothing could be salvaged.

  Elias had followed me. But before I could say anything, he lifted his t-shirt from his body, showcasing those amazing abs, and placed it on the bar.

  “Here,” he said. “I'll find you something else to wear in a bit, but in the meantime, this should be long enough to cover you.”

  He walked back toward Deacon and the other two men, both of whom were cooperating for the moment. I shifted back into my human form, screaming as my body twisted and turned, my bones breaking and reforming into an upright shape. I stayed down on all fours, though, gasping for breath. The coppery taste of blood was still in my mouth, a taste I'd never get used to. In animal form, I didn't even notice it. But now, it made me want to throw up. I held it in, however, as I reached up and pulled Elias' shirt down from the bar and slipped it over my head.

  He was right about it covering me. The good thing about being petite meant that his shirt literally covered my entire body and nearly fell down to my knees. And to think, it was nearly skin tight on him. As I stood up, I caught a glimpse of that chest once more and I was truly grateful for him loaning me his shirt. Not just because I could now be human and clothed, but because of the view.

  “So what the hell was with that bird shit, Elias?” Deacon asked him. “You have some explaining to do, boy.”

  Elias caught me staring, and from the corner of his eye, he smiled at me. I smiled back.

  “Yeah, I know, Deacon. And we'll talk, trust me, we will. Once this is all over with, I'll explain everything.”

  He wiped the corner of his mouth as if to signal me to do the same. I did so and my hand came away with fresh blood, making the vomit rise up in my throat again.

  There was no way could I throw up in front of them. No way. I kept it down, rushing to the bathroom where I cleaned off my face and clung to the porcelain throne, letting all that grossness leave my body at once.

  Chapter Fifteen

  My uncle and Elias had the three men restrained when I came out of the bathroom, my face cleaned and free from the blood and vomit. Elias looked over at me, concerned. Deacon did too. Both men were worried about me, which I thought was cute. But I was more worried about them getting hurt – especially my aging uncle. At one time, I didn't doubt he was a fearless warrior who could take anyone down. But these days, he moved a lot slower than before – even in lion form. His slow reaction time could mean death for him. I could handle myself getting hurt or dying, but Deacon? No way.

  Elias could be in danger too, though. And the idea of him getting hurt also caused a pain in my chest.

  “You okay?” Deacon asked me, wiping the sweat from his brow. He'd slipped into some pants since I'd gone into the bathroom.

  “Yeah, I'm good,” I said, reaching for another beer to get the taste of vomit out of my mouth. “You?”

  “Could be better, but I'm alive, so that's good,” he said.

  Elias had joined us, all of us keeping an eye on the three men. Arturo was still not awake. Either he was faking it or Elias knocked him out cold. His chest was still rising and falling, so I knew he wasn't actually dead. What a shame, I thought. His leg was bleeding heavily from my bite, though, and without medical attention, he'd at least lose the limb – if he didn't bleed to death first.

  Neither Elias nor Deacon seemed all that concerned about it. Hell, I wasn't. Whatever happened to him, I couldn't care less. The poor kid – Gabriel – on the other hand, him I felt sorry for. He kept looking at me, begging for help with those eyes of his.

  “What's the plan?” I asked, still looking over at Gabriel.

  “We wait until the man calls Arturo's phone, let one of those two answer and play along, and we go from there,” Deacon said calmly. “Let him think we're dead.”

  “What if one of them gives us away?” Elias asked. I had the same thought,

  “They won't,” Deacon said knowingly. “Because if they do, we eat them alive. And they know we can do it too.”

  The mere mention of actually eating another human being caused my stomach to roil, but I tried not to let it show. This was all talk, I knew it. I couldn't imagine Deacon or Elias eating another human being either. Or maybe they did and I just didn't know it. They were known to be a ruthless, blood-thirsty gang of guys. I guess I fit in nicely with them now too.

  Which made me think – maybe to these guys, maybe we were the villains. Who knows what stories these people were told about us. From afar, we were pretty damn scary and brutal. And looking at it from that perspective, it was easy to believe we were the bad guys.

  “Gabriel,” I called out, staring at the kid. “Why are you with these assholes?”

  Gabriel looked stunned at first, then looked over at Juan before answering. That look said it all.

  These two were brothers. Which could come in handy if we needed to torture one or the other for information. Hopefully, it wouldn't come to that, however.

  “Our parents were killed,” Gabriel said, “And we had nowhere else to go, no one to feed us. Our boss took us in, trained us, put us to work and paid us well.”

  Juan nodded. I realized that yes, he was older than Gabriel, but not by much.

  “Is Arturo your brother as well?”

  Elias gave me a look, I guess he hadn't pieced it together just yet. But I had.

  “No, we just met him before we came out here,” Juan said. “We were told to obey him at all costs, or else.”

  “Or else what?” Deacon asked.

  Gabriel ran a finger across his throat. No need for words. That said enough.

  “Do you think you could keep us safe?” Juan asked, eyes wide.

  The three of us – Deacon, Elias and me – all looked at each other. Keep them safe? We hardly even knew these guys. But then I felt my heartstrings being tugged – they were just kids.

  “Listen, we didn't want to do this,” Gabriel chimed in. “I'd never even held a gun before today. Arturo handed it to me and – ”

  The phone Deacon pulled from Arturo's pocket rang, silencing everyone.

  “Want us to keep you safe and alive?” I asked, grabbing the phone from the table, walking over to the two kids. “Then do exactly as we say. You tell your boss man, whoever he is, that you killed the two guys and captured the girl, who's only injured. That Arturo was killed in the fight and only you two remain alive. Got it?”

  “He won't believe it – ” Juan said.

  “What other choice do we have?” Gabriel asked.

  I handed the phone to Gabriel, putting all my trust into that scared little boy. “He's right, Juan,” I said, cooly. “What choice do you have?”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Gabriel played it off well enough. He sounded terrified, but considering he'd never been sent to kill people before, it sounded realistic enough.

  “Yeah, we killed em,” he said, looking at me as he spoke. “The guys, yes. The girl is knocked out, but she's still breathing. I don't think she's dead, but she's hurt. Really hurt.”


  Then I heard him saying, “Uh huh, got it,” a lot, without knowing what the man on the other end was saying to him. “Where is that?” he asked.

  Gabriel's eyes got big. “Yes, I think Juan and I could get their heads for you – ” His voice cracked as he spoke.

  “Got it,” Gabriel said quietly. Then he said something in Spanish, something I couldn't understand. That sent a chill down my spine. But then Gabriel turned to me and said, “He hung up.”

  I pulled the phone away from his ear and kneeled down in front of him so I could be eye-to-eye with the kid. “What did you say there? At the end? In Spanish?”

  “It was an oath of ours, it was just a way of saying we'd be loyal to the end, that's all.”

  “I don't buy it,” Elias said from behind me. “They're lying to us.”

  “No, no, I swear!” Gabriel said.

  Juan joined him. “He's right. We had to swear an oath to our boss and the group, and he made us remember it – even made us carve it into our own skins. See?”

  He lifted up his shirt and on his chest were the words his brother had said. At the end, it said, El Monstruo. It wasn't a tattoo, but scars. From a very sharp knife.

  Gabriel lifted his shirt too. Same thing.

  “You had to do this to yourself?” I asked.

  The boys nodded.

  “Do you see why we want out now?” Gabriel asked me, his eyes pleading with us. “We don't want to do this. I'm scared. I don't want to kill anyone or hurt anyone, but it's either that or – ”

  He didn't need to continue for me to get the idea. I knew in my heart what we had to do.

  We had to protect these boys.

  “Don't worry,” I said, standing back up. “We're going to kill that bastard and put his head on a spike.”

  “Good,” Gabriel said.

  Juan didn't look as convinced as his brother did, but at least they both stopped fighting us.

  “So tell us,” Deacon said, speaking up for the first time in awhile. “What did your bossman say on the phone just now?”