UNTOUCHED (Midwest Alphas) (Book 1) (9 page)

Burt releases her arm and stands up straight. “I guess we’ll just settle this later tonight then,” he says, breathing into her face.

“That would be wise.”

He spins on his feet and walks back into the crowd to watch the fight. Amy nods at the crowd and brushes her hand through the air to signal that everything is fine. The onlookers turn back around.

“Amy…” I say. “Are you okay?”

She gives me a confident nod. “Nothing I can’t handle.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course.”

I take a step towards her. “Did he do that to your face?” I ask.

She looks at me with wide eyes. “I don’t think we know each other well enough to have that conversation, Claire,” she says.

I close my mouth and look back towards the fight just as one of the fighters crumbles to the floor. The remaining fighter throws up his thick hands in victory and Lillian cries out in applause.

“
Danny the Devil
from Springfield,” she addresses him. “You lucky bastard!”

The audience laughs with her and calls Danny’s name over and over again.

“Looks like the night is over, y’all!” Lillian says as she playfully wipes fake tears from her eyes. “But don’t you worry. Next week is our
final
elimination round! There’s just three fighters left! Will Pike remain our Alpha for another year? Or will someone new claim his title?”

The room trembles as their screams echo into the night.

Chapter 7

Promise Me Again

I walk up the long and dark driveway, flinching at every little sound nature makes to scare me. For some reason, wandering down a gravel road in the middle of nowhere terrifies me a lot more than the streets of Chicago in the middle of the night.

Maybe it has something to do with where I’m going and who I’ll face when I get there.

I reach the quiet farmhouse and hesitate outside on the porch. My blood still pounds in my ears, filling my head with a steady drumbeat. Every time I close my eyes, I see Tobias towering above me. I’ll admit, I’m scared to face him again. There was a subtle rage behind his eyes tonight, one that I can’t ignore. The thumping in my ears becomes louder until I realize that it’s not in my head at all.

I step over to the barn and slide the door open.

The thumping stops and Tobias immediately abandons the punching bag to turn on me. “What the hell were you thinking?” he seethes.

I slide the door closed behind me and fight my eyes from looking down at his bare torso. “I wanted to watch you fight again.”

“I told you not to.”

“No,” I say. “You told me not to steal Charlie’s truck again—”

“You know what I meant, Claire,” he says. “You’re gonna get us both caught if you keep sneaking out like this.”

“So you’re just worried about your little secret identity then?”

He pauses and turns away from me. “How did you get up there?” he asks.

“Amy gave me a ride.”

“When did you two become friends?”

I smirk. “When did you two become lovers?”

He furrows his brow. “What?”

I lean back against the door. “She said the two of you have spent time together.”

His lips twitch. “She’s exaggerating.”

“How so?” I ask.

He brings his hand to his face and he rubs a bit of sweat off his brow. “Amy is an hour of my life I’ll never get back,” he says with amusement.

“Sounds special.”

“It wasn’t.”

“What happened?” He stares back at me with tight lips. “Hey, I told you about Rick…”

Tobias chews on his lip for a moment. “It was right after my first fight. We got a few drinks, she gave me a hand-job, and then she passed out on her couch. I left right after.”

“You’re kidding,” I chuckle.

He shakes his head and grips his wrist to massage it in silence.

“So you two never…?” I let the question linger.

“No.”

“She makes it sound like you did.”

“Amy has a thing for fighters.”

“Yeah, I noticed,” I scoff and cross my arms. “Looks like she has things going with quite a few of you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Pike was flirting with her earlier,” I recall, “and Burt didn’t seem too happy about it.”

“What exactly did you see, Claire?” Tobias asks, his voice steady as a rock.

I shift on my toes. “He grabbed her arm — I don’t know, it happened pretty quickly. I did ask her if he’s the one that bruised up her face, but she wouldn’t say. She said she could handle it.” His eyes linger on the floor. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he says. “I’ll take care of it.”

I furrow my brow, wanting to question him more, but I decide against it. The fresh bruises along his abdomen draw my eyes south. “You okay?” I ask him. “That guy seemed really strong…”

“Yeah,” he says. I’m fine.”

“Got a little scary there for a second,” I say.

“I had it under control.”

“I don’t mean the fight.”

He looks at me and flexes his jaw. “I wasn’t expecting you to be there,” he mutters.

“You seemed…” I pause, “angry with me.”

“I was.”

“Like you were going to hit me—”

“I’d never hit you, Claire,” he says quickly.

“Are you still angry now?”

He takes a long, deep breath. “No,” he finally says.

I nod slowly. “Why not?”

“Do you want me to be?”

“No.”

He smiles and steps a little closer to me. “I have more important things to worry about than you.”

I blink. “Ouch?”

“It’s not meant to be an insult,” he says. “It’s just the truth.”

My body trembles against the wooden door. Feeling unwanted has become a familiar feeling to me these last few weeks. My mother didn’t want to put up with me anymore. My stepfather sure as hell wanted to see me gone and jumped at the first opportunity he had to get rid of me. Charlie’s pretty good at not showing it, but I get the feeling he’d rather not have me around either. And now, it’s Tobias’ turn to reject me. I’m not sure why I’m so surprised.

Rick really is the only one that wants me around at all.

“I should get inside,” I mutter. “Congratulations on your win.”

He reaches out and grabs my wrist. “Claire—”

I pause with my fingertips on the handle. “What?” I ask with my eyes down.

“Look at me.”

Hesitation takes hold of my chest. “I have to get some sleep—”

He reaches out and grabs my other wrist to draw me forward. “Claire, I would
never
hit you,” he says. I look up into his deep, green eyes. “I want you to know that.”

His voice sends shivers down my spine. “Okay…” I whisper. He slowly drops my wrist, but I let them linger between us.

“Goodnight,” he says.

I leave the barn and walk silently back to the house.

***

I raise the pitchfork above my head and set it back where it belongs on the wall. That’s Charlie’s number one rule, after all.
Put everything back where you found it.

The barn is hot and muggy. The sun blazes in the summer sky, so warm I can barely stand it, but I don’t want to take a break. It’s just after noon and I’m not even close to being done with my chores. Let’s just say the memory of Tobias’ eyes drilling down into mine has left me feeling rather distracted the last few days.

I turn to leave, but I catch sight of the punching bag in the corner once again.

My feet carry me over to it. I reach out and push the leather shell with my fingers. It floats back and forth slightly but quickly comes to a stop. I ball my hands into fists, stopping for a moment to make sure my thumbs aren’t on the inside. I twist into a fighting stance, just like Tobias taught me, and throw a single, solid punch into the bag.

“Protect your face.”

I drop my hands and spin around to see Tobias standing in the barn doorway. “Hey—!” I gasp.

He nods and steps over to his motorbike. “Been practicing?” he asks as he reaches into his pocket for his keys.

“Not really, no,” I answer. He grips the handlebars and starts to push the bike out of the barn. I follow slowly behind him. “Going out?” I ask. “It’s a little early in the day for you, isn’t it?”

“I have an errand to run,” he mutters as he throws a leg over the seat and sits down.

I smile and put a bad southern drawl on my voice. “Where you going? Down to the sock hop with Sally May?”

He chuckles. “Your knowledge of small town life is really outdated.”

“Enlighten me then.”

“Well, for starters,” he says, “we don’t do sock hops during the summer.”

“Uh-huh,” I nod.

“And Sally May is kind of a bitch.”

I laugh. “I stand corrected.” I bite my lip. “Where else do you run off to at night?”

“What do you mean?” he asks.

“Well, you’re gone like every night. Fights only happen once a week. You have a girlfriend or something?”

His lips curl and he leans in closer to speak at a whisper. “You know, I actually
do
work at the automobile factory across town.”

“No shit?”

“A few nights a week,” he nods. “It’s called having a cover.”

“You really do take this whole secret identity thing seriously, don’t you?” I joke.

He stares back at me and offers a quick smile. It’s strange to see him in broad daylight like this. He appears brighter and warmer, almost like an entirely different person. “Here,” he says as he reaches into his jacket pocket. He pulls out a silver device with a pair of small ear-bud headphones wrapped around it.

“What’s this?” I ask as he hands it to me.

“My old music player,” he says. “Found it stashed away in a drawer. I thought you might get some use out of it.”

I inspect the device, noticing the small scratches on its face. “
Old
being the key word,” I joke. “What is this, a generation 2?”

“Hey, if you don’t want it—”

“No, no,” I say, clutching it tight against my breast. “It’s fine.”

“It’s better than silence,” he says.

“What’s on it?”

“None of that rap or princess pop you city kids are used to,” he smiles, “but put it on shuffle and you should find something you like.”

“Tobias…” I twist my voice back into my awful southern impression. “Did you make me a mix tape?”

“I have to run,” he says, rolling his eyes. He shoves the key in and starts the motorbike. “Don’t let my dad see that.”

“Oh, Tobias! You’re so keen!” He revs the engine loudly to cover my voice. I drop the accent. “Tobias!” The engine falls back down to a dull rumble and he glances back at me. “Thank you,” I tell him.

“You’re welcome, Claire.” He slides the helmet over his head.

I take a step back and let him ride away. Gravel kicks up behind him, creating a white cloud of dust that follows him all the way down to the highway. I glance back at the house, suddenly feeling like I’m holding a nuclear bomb in my hands. I stuff the player in my jeans pocket as I quickly scan the house to make sure Charlie isn’t watching.

***

“Claire—”

I look up from my book. “What?” I ask.

Charlie stands in the kitchen doorway with the telephone against his ear. “It’s for you,” he says as he points it at me.

I set my book down on the table and stand up from my seat. “I get phone calls now?” I ask as I step closer.

“It’s your mother.”

“Oh.” I pause my stride. “Can you take a message? Tell her I’m out or something.”

Charlie furrows his brow and shoves the phone in my direction. “You don’t go out.”

I hold out my hand and reluctantly take the phone from him. As badly as I’d like to get out of this place, talking to my mother isn’t something I’ve longed to do since she abandoned me here. The long cable bounces around as I bring the old phone to my ear. “Hello?” I mutter.

“Claire, honey…” My mother speaks with a low voice, just above a whisper, almost as if she’s hiding in a closet. “How are you?”

“I’m alive,” I say, offering nothing more.

“Well…” she chuckles slightly. “I know that.”

“What do you want, Mom?” I catch Charlie watching me, so I step away, but I can’t get too far from him with a land line phone.

“I just wanted to know how my daughter is doing,” she says. “Is that so crazy?”

“I haven’t heard from you in two weeks…”