Animal (Royal Bastards MC)

by Ker Dukey

  "Why the fuck would I let you bump uglies in my room?" I scoff, pushing past her. Sighing, she grabs for my shoulder, but I lurch away, sending her a warning glare.

  "I'll show you my tits." She lifts a brow, folding her arms and smirking.

  She's all right looking, but nothing special. She thinks she is, though. I laugh, full-on belly laugh. "Bitch, look where you are. I've seen more titties than a milk farmer. I don't need to see your small ass titties."

  "Fuck you," she hisses.

  "No thanks," I mock.

  I get to the end of the hallway when she calls, "I got some weed."

  Now she's talking.

  I find my dad's club whore in the kitchen talking to Jimmy, my old man's VP. No doubt he's warning her to stay out of the way while the wives are around. "Jackie, will you change my sheets for me later?" I ask, scratching the back of my neck. I hate asking her for shit. She turns to me, a huge, lipsticked smile on her face.

  "Sure thing, sweetie. Anything for you," she coos, hoping being up my ass will score points with my dad giving her status that’s more than his whore.

  When you're raised in a clubhouse, you grow up real quick. Most days, I feel more put together and mature than half these bitches hopeful if they linger long enough, they'll be put on the back of a bike. No biker wants club ass as an ol' lady, no matter how good that ass is—or so Uncle Joe tells me, aka Crazy Joe.

  I steer my way through the packed club. All the families are here for my sixteenth birthday barbecue. A weird vibe always accompanies these get-togethers. Despite club sluts not being allowed on family days—bar a few who work here—there's still the off chance one will show up to cause drama. Drew and I live for those moments. I don't know why they have ol' ladies and a girl on the side too. That's just more work, but what do I know? I just turned sixteen, and the only girl in my life is Drew—and she's basically a dude.

  "Why do I have to be here? This place is like a zoo. And it smells like one," Riley moans to anyone who will listen. Her old man was her mother's dirty little fling while in college. Little did she know that weekend of rebellion would tie her to him for the rest of her life. Every weekend, Riley’s forced to leave her mansion and private school asshats to slum it with us lower beings. She’s a couple years older than me, but acts like a pre-teen diva. I hang back when I spot Drew with her in the circle of girls.

  Drew has always been a tomboy. She fucking hates those bitches.

  "That gross boy is staring at you again, Drew." Riley places a finger in her mouth, pretending to gag. When she doesn't gesture with her eyes to me, I follow her gaze with a frown.

  A prospect named Kai smirks at them, his eyes on Drew. He tips his beer at her when she turns to look, her cheeks flaming bright red. Kai’s nineteen, maybe twenty. He’s only been around a few months. From what I can tell, the brothers like him, but the prick keeps sniffing around fourteen-year-olds, they won’t for long.

  Drew doesn't even dress for attention. She's got on a white baggy tee—which I’m pretty sure is mine—under overalls. Her hair is longer these days, hanging past her shoulders, but she doesn't do anything with it. It's a mass of curls. She's not like Riley and the other girls who plaster their faces with makeup. Drew doesn't need that shit.

  "Dare you to go over there and talk to him." Riley pushes, and the other girls giggle. "No way she would. She's practically dating Alec."

  "Ewww. Alec would not date her," Heidi sneers, and Drew flips her the bird.

  Heidi's been trying to get in my pants since she was twelve. She's pretty—too pretty. Blonde hair, blue eyes, sleeps with teddy bears on her fucking bed. No thanks.

  "I'll talk to him," Drew says, shocking the hell out of everyone.

  I dodge some brothers trying to buy me a beer and move to the hall with a better view of where Kai is propped against the bar.

  Riley fluffs Drew's hair, getting her hands smacked away for her efforts.

  Placing her hands in her pockets, Drew walks toward him. A few other brothers loiter, but most people are out back with their families getting food.

  I can't hear what she says, but I can see the nervous blinking. She looks over her shoulder at Riley, who bobs her head and mouths, "Go on."

  Rolling her eyes, Drew bends down to tie her Doc. Martens that don't need tying. Kai eyeballs her ass, then his hand comes down, grabbing a handful—and I want to break it off at his wrist. She's not some bitch who comes here looking to be mauled by a big bad biker; she's a brother's kid. Kai lacks respect, and respect is everything.

  Drew's nose scrunches up. Slipping her hand into her boot, she rises, grabs his hand, and jams her little hunting knife through it, right in the center, pinning him to the bar. I bought her that knife for her fourteenth birthday some months back.

  The girls' screech, running in all directions, horrified looks on their faces.

  Kai hollers a thousand curse words in under a minute. A couple of brothers jump up and race over, moving Drew away. "What the fuck?" Crazy Joe mumbles. He's missing a few teeth and sounds like a homeless drunk you'd see holding up one of those “End of the World” signs.

  "He grabbed my butt," she defends, and I smirk from where I still stand. I learned a long time ago Drew doesn't need me running to her rescue. I've given a few black eyes to assholes on her behalf, but she doesn’t know about it.

  "What the fuck, Kai? She's a kid!" Jackie scorns, sauntering from the kitchen.

  It doesn't take long for Riley's dad to come careening through the place. "Oh shit. What happened?"

  "Kai got handsy," Uncle Joe drawls.

  "Is someone going to pull this fucking thing outta me?" Kai bellows.

  I push my way through them and pluck the handle. "It's four inches, asshole. I bet you've taken more up the ass." I yank the blade out, relishing the squelching sound it produces. His eyes flare with pain and anger, but he knows who I am. His mouth opens, then closes. Gripping his wrist, I hold his bleeding hand away from his body. He smiles tightly at me. "I didn't know her age," he mutters.

  "She ain't even got any titties, you fucking pervert," Joe tuts, taking Kai's beer off the bar and tipping it back as he walks away.

  "You better get that looked at. Best you're not around when Mitch hears about this shit. Prez will kick everyone's ass if we ruin his kid’s birthday. He's becoming a man." A few cheers ring out, and Riley's dad grabs my shoulders, squeezing.

  "Fine," Kai grunts. "Thanks for this." He flicks his wrist at Drew, painting her shirt in crimson splashes. "Now I'm gonna have an ugly scar just like you."

  Jolting forward, I launch toward him, but Riley's dad keeps a firm grip on me, only releasing me once he's escorted out. I gesture with a jerk of my head for Drew to follow me, we get outside before she asks, "You going to give that back? It was a gift."

  Grinning, I grab the hem of my band tee. I clean the blade and hand it back to her.

  "You love that shirt. Blood stains, Alec."

  "And now I'll love it more. That was awesome." I nudge her with a shoulder. She smiles, and we both break into a full out laugh.

  "Come on. I scored some weed."

  I dig in my pocket, holding it up like a prize. Her mouth pops open, and she reaches for it, giving chase when I dart off running.

  "Why is the fence cutting off the lake? It’s a waste of a view," Drew asks, sitting on the bench in front of a small lake. It’s on my old man's property line, but he doesn’t own it.

  "Could you imagine how many drunk fucks would end up floating facedown if it wasn’t preventing the dumb assholes from wandering off for a piss or a swim." I snort, taking the blunt from her. The toxic shit fills my lungs, loosening my limbs.

  "Oh, man, you're right." She dips her head, her curls bouncing.

  "The prick was wrong, you know," I tell her, looking out across the lake. It's so secluded, it feels like our own little world away from the madness of the club.

  "Wrong about what?" She blinks rapidly, like she does when she's uncomfortable o
r nervous.

  "Your scar." I tip my head to the jagged skin down her forehead. It’s faded so much, though it’s still noticeable. It isn’t ugly, though. There’s nothing ugly about Drew. She’s actually kinda beautiful. Her features are big and so animated. Huge oval eyes, thick lashes, a dusting of freckles she hates sprinkle her petite nose. I’ve always kinda liked them. It’s Drew.

  "Like I give a shit what a pervert thinks." She shrugs, getting to her feet. Picking up a stone, she skims it across the water. I taught her how to do that.

  "You have his blood on you." I gesture to her white tee.

  "Yeah, sorry. I'll get you a new shirt." I knew that was mine.

  "I don't want a new one. You'll just steal it anyway." I catch the smirk on her lips. Brat.

  "Well, I don't want this one now." She pulls one arm out, then the other, jerking the shirt this way and that, then over her head. Balling it up, she tosses it into the water.

  I follow the shirt and laugh. "Someone will find that and think a body is at the bottom of the lake."

  She scoffs and gestures behind her, making her overalls shift, drawing my eyes to her bare skin and some bra thing. "Alec, did you hear what I said?”

  “Sorry, what?”

  “I said with the life we live there probably are bodies down there.” She huffs, placing a hand on her hip. "What the hell are you looking at?" She wrinkles her nose, following my gaze. "It's a training bra. Gross, right?"

  No, it isn't gross. Crazy Joe was wrong. She does have tits, and the fact that I’m noticing them is going to change everything…

  Four

  Drew

  Fourteen years old

  One month later…

  “My dad said I’m not allowed to spend time in your room with the door shut anymore,” I groan, embarrassment burning my cheeks.

  “And you listen to your dad since when?” Alec frowns, holding a bunch of slasher movies up, waggling his brow. The club’s quiet tonight, nearly everyone out on club business. It’s eerie when nobody’s around. Noise carries. The walls creak and talk like the place is alive. The brothers who are here are all sleeping off long runs or busy getting reacquainted with the club sluts.

  Usually, I wouldn’t care what my dad says—he can’t raise me in mayhem and expect me to follow stupid rules—but being around Alec lately is almost unbearable. My stupid hormones are driving me crazy, and I don’t think I can control them. What if I tell him how I feel and ruin everything between us? I can’t risk it.

  “I’ll leave the door open. What, does he think I’m going to do, corrupt you?” He snorts.

  “More like deflower me,” I retort, immediately wanting to stuff the words back into my mouth. I did not just say that.

  My cheeks burn. My eyes widen in humiliation. I think I’ve shocked him into silence. His eyes bore into mine, making the whole situation ten times worse.

  “How does he know I haven’t already?” He grins, compelling me to release the breath trapped in my lungs. Throwing the DVDs on his dresser, he comes at me, bending at the waist swooping me up on his shoulder in a firemen’s hold. His strong hands grip the back of my thighs, my ass prone up in the air. I grab his hips to keep my face from smacking into his back, while screeching, “Alec!”

  He carries me farther inside his room and tosses me on the bed, making me bounce a couple times before he jumps on it. “We could have been doing the nasty for years.”

  “Stop,” I warn.

  “The beast with two backs,” he torments.

  “Stop.” I giggle, his bouncing relentless.

  “Knocking boots.” He thrusts his pelvis, and I bite my damn lip like a stupid girl.

  “Stop!”

  “Hiding the salami.”

  “Ewww! Enough.” I slap his legs. He picks up a pillow and hits me with it.

  “Watch a movie with me. I promise to keep my dick in my pants until you leave.”

  Oh my God.

  He grins down at me, a full, white-toothed, dimpled-cheek grin, and all I want to do is beg him to kiss me.

  His movements have stilled, the smile replaced with curiosity, his brows tugging down. “Drew? Why are you looking at me like that?”

  Thud. Thud. Thud.

  “Like what?” Why the hell am I breathless?

  Crashing sounds, and raised voices echo down the hall, drawing both our attention. Leaping off the bed, he helps me up, and we race to the main room. A few brothers have returned. Ash is laid out on one of the tables, a blood-soaked cloth at his neck, while Ice holds a bundled shirt to a wound on his own arm. “Why the fuck didn’t you drive him to the hospital?” Jimmy barks, pulling out his phone. “We need the doc,” he says into the receiver, then ends the call.

  “It’s too late for that. He wouldn’t have made it to the hospital.” Kai jerks his head, putting pressure on the wound.

  “Fuck,” Jimmy bellows, storming out of the room.

  “Drew.” Kai calls my name, and I startle. “Come hold this for me.” Alec puts his arm across my waist, stopping me from moving. I don’t think my legs can anyway. They feel like Jell-O. He’s bleeding out. Just last night, he was sitting at this very table, drinking beers, laughing, living—and now he’s dying. Alec stalks forward, replacing Kai’s hands with his. Kai is covered in crimson gore, a wild, untamed look in his eyes. He moves past me to the bar. Snatching a bottle of Jack, he swallows a couple hearty gulps. “Fucking bastards ambushed us, tried to steal our merchandise. They fucked with the wrong motherfuckers,” he mumbles, leaving the room, only to return a minute later with an automatic weapon.

  “Tell Jimmy I’m taking care of this shit.”

  “Wait!” Alec demands. “You can’t go alone. Wait for backup.”

  “Fuck that.”

  Ice stands up. “I’ll come.”

  “You can’t. You’re injured.” Alec waves his hands around pointing to the arm he’s bleeding from and Ash’s body.

  Finding my composure, I run to the kitchen and grab the first aid kit. As soon as I return, Alec moves his hands away from Ash’s neck, sighing and shaking his head in defeat. I race to put the pressure back on, but blood rushes from his wound like a tapped faucet. His skin is pale, his eyes staring into nothingness. He’s gone. I move to Ice and gently lift his hand away. There’s a nasty hole in his arm. “The bullet has to come out,” he tells me, and my eyes expand. I can’t do that.

  “We don’t have time for this,” Kai steams, pacing the floor.

  “I’ll come with you,” Alec announces, and acid races up my throat.

  “N-No,” I stutter, blood coating my shaking hands. “You can’t go. You’re just a kid.” I laugh, but there’s no humor to it. It’s a frantic, fearful plea.

  “Alec, I respect the hell out of you for offering, but your old man would take me to ground if I took you anywhere. Stay with your girl. I don’t need back up.”

  “The hell you don’t, killer,” Jimmy growls as he walks into the room holding a shotgun. “But you have it. Alec, wake the place up. And tell Jackie and Barb to get this shit cleaned up. These motherfuckers will sleep through anything.”

  It took twenty minutes for the doctor to arrive, and another fifty to dig the bullet out of Ice’s arm, stitch him up, and leave.

  As soon as my dad and the rest of the brothers arrived back, I was sent to my dad’s room, and I’ve been here ever since. Showering the blood from my skin made me feel ill. Ash is gone. He was young, and now he’s bug feed. It physically hurts my heart to think of Alec patching in, leaving one night on a run, and coming back riddled with bullets. A sob catches in my throat. Grabbing a pillow from the bed, I hold it to my face so no one can hear me cry.

  A light rap on the door sends my heart stammering. Shit. Throwing the pillow down, I swipe at my face and inhale a couple deep breaths before opening the door to see Alec freshly showered, a look of exhaustion on his beautiful face.

  “Hey,” I say, limply, lifting a shoulder and tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.r />
  “Hey.” He tries to smile, but it falls before ever finding purchase. “If I leave the door open, you want to sit with me for a bit and watch a movie? I can’t sleep.”

  I lunge at him, wrapping my arms around his waist and burrowing my face in his chest. His hands stroke through my hair for a few silent moments. “Can we not do the slasher flick?” I mumble. “I can’t handle more blood tonight.”

  “We can do whatever you want.”

  This…holding each other…I want to do this forever…

  Five

  Alec

  Seventeen years old

  My stomach feels queasy from the beers being shoved at me all night. "Cheers," another brother bellows, and a chorus rings out.

  "Another drink, kid?"

  "No thanks." I shudder, and Jimmy roars with laughter, patting his meaty hand on my chest, rattling my ribcage. How the hell do they drink all day and night? My old man pulls Jackie onto his lap, slipping his hand up her skirt, gaining him a squeal, then a moan. He’s getting married to my mother again tomorrow. This will be the third time. They break up, divorce, and then get back together more than they have hot dinners. Even though she knows he's a cheating asshole, she constantly forgives and forgets—until she doesn't. Women are crazy.

  "Smell that, boy." My old man groans, sticking his fingers under my nose. The brothers explode in amusement. Smells like I could catch something from inhaling that. She’s probably got half the brothers’ cum inside her. Whenever my dad gets back with my mom, for the first few weeks, he tells Jackie to fuck off, and she offers her pussy around his brothers to try to spark jealously. All it does is brand her less worthy of the ol' lady title.