Authors: Kim Dare
When the bike had been admired to everyone’s satisfaction, they went inside. Bayden headed behind the bar just as instinctively as Axel. “Sir?”
Axel slid his arm around Bayden’s waist. “Pup?”
“You said we could talk later.”
Axel glanced across to Evan and Griz. “We can.”
“Would it make a difference if I took Evan with me?” Bayden rushed out.
Axel nudged Bayden around to face him.
“You could ask him if I broke any of your rules while we were out. You could trust him to tell you if I did—he’s a really bad liar.”
He was offering to take a babysitter with him. For a man as proud and as inclined to be self-reliant as Bayden, it was a huge concession. “It’s that important to you?”
Bayden’s shrug was as good as a yes.
“How long?”
“Sir?”
“How long do you want permission to be out for?”
Bayden studied Axel carefully. “An hour and a half, sir.”
“And what does Evan have to say about this? That’s what you were talking about out by his bike, right?”
“He said he doesn’t need permission from Griz—their rules don’t work that way. If you’ll give me permission, he’s willing for us to go whenever it’s convenient to you.”
Axel stared down at Bayden for a long time. Doubts niggled at the back of his mind. Echoes of the terror he’d felt when Bayden disappeared on him before sent a shiver down his spine, but he’d have to show that he trusted his pup out of his sight sooner or later. “You have an hour and a half. Take your phone. If you run into any trouble, call me.”
Bayden glanced at the clock above the bar. “My shift starts in an hour, sir.”
“You have an hour and a half,” Axel repeated.
Bayden nodded. Within a few minutes, he and Evan were gone. Back inside the pub, Axel looked at his watch and wondered what the chances of him keeping his sanity for the next eighty-nine and a half minutes were.
“Do you know where they’re going?” Griz asked as he settled himself at the bar.
“No.”
“Well, don’t look at me,” Griz said. “Evan’s a pretty little sub, but I’m screwing him and helping him fix up his bike, not collaring him. Unless he’s in handcuffs, he goes where he wants.”
Axel poured them both a drink.
“Talking about collars…” Griz said.
“Yes. Soon.”
“Oh, bloody hell, man. What are you waiting for?” Griz demanded. “If you don’t get him on a collar and lead soon, he’s going to drive you insane.”
Axel chuckled. “He borrowed some money off me when his grandfather died so he could pay off the last of the funeral stuff. He wants to pay me back before I collar him. It’s a reasonable request.”
“Seven hundred pounds, right?”
Axel raised an eyebrow at him.
“The bet he took with Ford—it was for seven hundred pounds. Bikers gossip, and the kinky ones are the worst of all, you should know that by now.”
“And you should know me well enough to know that I’d cut my hand off before I accepted money he earned taking that kind of beating.”
“Fair enough.”
Axel looked at his watch again. Less than five minutes had passed. Bloody hell.
* * * * *
The door swung open three minutes before opening. That wasn’t unusual. Every one of the Dragons and half of the regulars had proven themselves incapable of telling the time at one point or another.
Evan stepped inside.
Axel looked past the boy but there was no one walking in behind him. “Where’s Bayden?”
“He’s putting his bike away around back.” Evan came up to the bar. He looked nervous. That wasn’t good. He took a deep breath and glanced from Griz to Axel. “Bayden asked me to speak to you.”
Axel frowned. Evan’s nerves didn’t improve.
“He said you’d want to ask me if he broke any of your rules when we were out. He—”
Axel held up a hand. “That’s enough.”
Just that moment, Bayden came in from the back of the pub. He paused, apparently sensing that all wasn’t well.
“Come here.”
Bayden joined Evan and Griz at the bar.
“Did you break any of the rules when you were out?”
Bayden looked toward Evan.
“I’m asking you not him.”
Bayden turned back to Axel. “No, I didn’t break any, sir.”
Axel nodded. “That’s all I need to know. You don’t need anyone else to vouch for you. Any questions?”
Bayden shook his head.
“Your shift’s about to start.” Axel nodded for him to come around to his side of the bar. As Bayden washed his hands at the sink, Axel stepped up behind him. “When you want to tell me what today was all about, I’ll listen. But, I’m not going to go around asking other men to tell me what my sub is doing.”
“I didn’t mean it as an insult, sir.”
Axel tightened his hold on him for a moment. “I know. But the only checking up I intend to do will happen tonight. I’m going to go over every inch of you to make sure there’s not a mark on you that I didn’t put there myself.”
Bayden turned and put his hand on Axel’s shoulder. It was still wet and soapy. The water quickly soaked through Axel’s T-shirt.
Axel shook his head before Bayden had a chance to protest.
“I’m talking about having you naked and tied up, completely helpless when I work my way over every inch of you. I won’t find any new marks, but I’m definitely going to enjoy the inspection. And if you’re good, you might even get a few more marks from me as a reward.”
Bayden smiled. “I’ll be good.”
“If you’re ever going to join The Black Dragons properly, it’s time you showed us what you’re made of.”
Bayden looked up. There were more members of the club in than was usual for a weeknight. They were all staring in Bayden’s direction. It didn’t feel like a coincidence that they’d all turned up together. Bayden looked down the bar toward Axel, wondering if he knew what was going on. Axel had obviously caught the words, but he didn’t seem to be ahead of that particular curve.
Hale stood up. “I’ve been thinking about all those fights you took when you started drinking here. You won, fair enough. But it’s not like that proved much. There wasn’t a single guy who was a real challenge. If you want to prove you have what it takes to join the Dragons, you’re going to have to do better.”
Hale wasn’t saying that he couldn’t join Axel’s pack. He wasn’t Axel and he didn’t have the right to say anything like that. But, all the very logical things that went through Bayden’s mind were no competition for his instinctive panic at the prospect of losing another pack before he’d even officially joined it.
“Hale.” Axel stepped up alongside Bayden. “What’s going on?”
“A simple bet. A few of us reckon Bayden doesn’t have what it takes to win a fight against a man who knows what he’s doing and we’re willing to put our money where our mouths are.” He turned to Bayden. “What do you say wolf-boy?”
Bayden swallowed. He could take down any member of the Dragons—hell, he could take down any member of the species if he needed to. If he had permission to…
Bayden looked down. His father would turn in his grave, but it wasn’t his father’s opinion that was important. “You’d win,” he said—forcing himself to say the words clearly, no matter what the cost.
Hale couldn’t have looked more shocked if Bayden had slapped him.
“I don’t have permission to take bets anymore,” Bayden said. “So, you’re right—I’m no match for you. You’d win by default, all of you would.”
“Who said you don’t have permission?”
Bayden turned to Axel.
You.
Axel had said it, except it felt like pointing that out would have meant contradicting him in front of his whole pack. Bayden bit his tongue and stayed silent.
“I said you don’t have permission to bet on the guy you’re supposed to be fighting. You don’t have permission to throw a fight and get the crap beaten out of you. A fair fight taken here—one where you actually fight back—that’s not against any rule I’ve set for you.”
Bayden stared up at Axel, trying to work it out. Axel hated it when he took fights, he’d always hated it. He had no reason to grant him permission to do that.
“There goes that excuse,” Hale chipped in. “So unless the real truth is that you don’t have the balls for it…”
Bayden never took his eyes off Axel. His scent was off but Bayden couldn’t work out why. He didn’t seem angry. There’d been no doubt in Axel’s voice when he said that Bayden had his permission.
“One hundred each says you can’t beat any one of us in a fair fight,” Hale said.
“I’ll cover your side of the bet,” Axel offered.
Bayden hesitated. He was almost afraid to hope, but if Axel was giving him permission, it was just possible. “Will you take whatever money I win, sir?”
“Money earned like this, in a fair fight when I’m there to keep an eye on things, yes.”
Bayden immediately turned to Hale. “Whenever you’re ready.”
Within minutes all the Dragons were out the back of the pub and anyone else who’d tried to tag along and watch had been banished back inside, with the exception of Evan. Bayden stripped to the waist and Axel began binding his knuckles.
“Are there any Dragons you can’t beat?” Axel asked.
“You.”
Axel chuckled. “Only because you wouldn’t let that happen.”
Bayden tried to shake his head, but Axel stroked Bayden’s cheek and stopped him short. “My ego’s not that fragile, pup.”
Axel glanced over his shoulder at where the other Dragons were congregating, before turning back to Bayden. “You fight fair. You fight to win. But you remember that these are the guys you’re going to be riding with—they’re going to be your pack. This is about finding your right place in the pack, not about anyone trying to break anyone else. They’re not out to get a wolf. They’re hazing the new guy, just like they would if you were human.”
Bayden nodded. Nervous energy pumped through him, making him desperate to fidget, but he forced himself to give Axel his whole attention.
“You knock them down, but when the fight’s over, you help them back up.” Axel thought about that for a second. “But carefully. Some of them aren’t above sneaking in a late blow.”
Bayden rubbed his covered knuckles together. “If one of them leaves a few bruises, sir…”
“You won’t get in trouble for that. Letting someone land one hit is different from letting someone keep on hitting you long after any decent man would throw in the towel himself, rather than keep on going.”
Bayden met his gaze.
“Yes, I know you always let guys think it’s a closer fight than it ever really is,” Axel chuckled. “It’s a strange brand of politeness, but I can live with it for today.”
Griz came across to them. “Any problem with me holding the money and playing referee?”
Axel took out his wallet and handed him one hundred pounds without the slightest hesitation.
Griz went back over to the other guys. Bayden saw Drac offer him a few bank notes.
“Everyone know the rules?” Griz asked.
“No one’s allowed to shape shift,” Tolmore called out. Everyone laughed.
Bayden nodded his willingness to go along with that rule. He ran his eyes over the group of Dragons. There were nine men present, not counting Axel. It was hard to distinguish one man’s scent from another when they stood so close together, but as a group they smelt nervous.
Axel brushed his lips against Bayden’s. “Go on, pup.”
Bayden stepped into the middle of the yard. Drac joined him. It was surreal, standing there, facing off against one of Axel’s friends. Adrenaline raced into Bayden’s veins, the same as before any fight, but the anger he usually felt wasn’t there.
When he looked at Drac, Bayden didn’t see hatred, or even contempt for what he was. Drac wasn’t just a human, he was one of the guys who rode with Axel. More important still, he was the guy who did Axel’s tattoos.
Bayden glanced across at Axel. He loved those tattoos. Bayden made a mental note to make sure that Drac’s hands came out of the fight completely unscathed. If that meant making sure Drac didn’t land a blow with his hands, so be it.
Win. Don’t get badly hurt. Keep Drac’s hands safe.
The thoughts scrolled lazily through Bayden’s mind as his body fell into a familiar routine.
Circle the other guy. Dodge, block, land a hit.
It wasn’t complicated.
Drac knew how to fight. He was quite good for a human. He was bigger than Bayden, but he was also more than a decade older, and Bayden guessed that he’d done most of his fighting years ago.
Drac went down hard, but he got back up. He got up the second time, too. The third time he half sat up and rubbed at his jaw, but he didn’t rush to his feet. Bayden met his gaze and held it. The fight was over. All he had to do now was wait for Drac to admit it. Then Bayden could prove his point and make sure everyone knew which species had come out on top.
Bayden glanced towards Axel. Pack. One member of a pack didn’t rub salt into another pack member’s wounds. He didn’t rub sarcasm into a loss either. Bayden stepped forward and offered Drac his hand.
* * * * *
“You’re one man short.”
Hale and Griz turned away from the fight as Axel joined them.
“Seven guys. Seven fights. Seven hundred pounds so he can pay off the money he borrowed from me. That’s the idea, isn’t it?”
Griz smiled. Hale shrugged, but the scheme had his name written all over it.
“He won’t fight Evan,” Axel pointed out, as he watched Bayden sidestep a neat attempt to sweep his legs out from under him. “He won’t fight any man who already knows he’s less dominant than him.”
“No one’s ever mistaken me for a sub,” Hale said.
“You?”
Hale nodded, just once. “Me.” He’d turned back to the fight and was studying Bayden’s technique with far more focus than any casual observer should display.
Axel looked from Hale to Bayden and back again. It probably wouldn’t help to point out that Bayden really did see Hale as less dominant than him.
“Problem?” Hale asked.
Axel watched Bayden help the fifth man he’d beat in a row onto his feet.
Tolmore turned to Axel. “Remind him he’s not allowed to turn into a damn wolf this time.”
“He won’t shift during the fight,” Axel promised.