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Chapter 13 - Kiss It Better.
Aurora POV
I don’t know where we were going, but I was just following Roland, who looked happy and excited for wherever she was taking me. When we finally stopped beneath the buzzing neon sign of a local bar, I whipped my head around to stare at her, my eyebrows raised as if to ask, What the hell are we doing here? I thought she was taking me to meet Orion, but she stopped some feet away and then turned to Jasmine, who was now wide awake, clutching the new fluffy cat we won at the store.
“Jasmine, baby," Roland murmured, crouching down to her daughter’s eye level and softly caressing her rosy cheeks. “Go meet..." she said, but I didn’t catch what she said at the end but continued. " After showing Luna around, I’ll come get you,” she grinned softly.
Jasmine nodded eagerly, dropping her mom’s hand, before running off. I stared at where she ran off to with no guardian; I turned to Roland, and she smiled back at me. “She can’t get lost here. Everyone knows everyone, and we are all connected.”
I nodded my head in understanding.
As we approached the main entrance, four gigantic men who looked like human brick walls stood guard at the opening. Roland offered a sharp nod to two of them, casually handing over our shopping bags. I assumed we’d have to lug them inside, but Roland had other plans.
“Take these straight to the Alpha’s house,” she ordered, her voice dropping into a stern, authoritative register. “And make sure not a single item goes missing.”
The two bouncers who collected the bags nodded frantically, their tough exteriors cracking into immediate submission. I watched in absolute awe how Roland carried herself with such effortless, lethal elegance, commanding men twice her size without even raising her voice.
We entered the bar, and I thought it would be noisy, rowdy, body-rubbing, and loud, like the familiar human bar, but it was nothing like that. Everything was slow and peaceful, with soft music playing in the background. Some patrons were just sitting, drinking as servers went around filling their mugs.
It was shocking, since there was a bar like this, it made me remember the bar in the medieval period with how it was built, even the mug they were using and even the barrel of wine.
Roland nodded at some guys while they returned her greetings, then went to the bartender and said something in code while I blinked confusedly at what just passed between them. The bartender bowed a little and gestured to follow.
I followed Roland closely as the bartender guided me to a more secluded area of the bar, and when we reached the back door, he opened it, and a loud noise nearly knocked me over. I was not expecting that.
We walked down the stairs. It was like an underground arena until we reached the lower ground. Thick clouds of nicotine and heavy smoke swirled beneath industrial lights, making my nose scrunch automatically. To my left, a woman in striking red lingerie danced fluidly around a pole; to my right, hundreds of men were shouting, betting, and slamming fists onto wooden tables.
The smell.
The noise.
And everywhere was making me dizzy.
Then I heard chants from people across the way and looked forward, squinting my eyes when I saw a familiar frame, only to see Orion in the ring fighting a man bigger than he is. I was shocked to see someone like that... someone bigger than Orion. Well, most people here were built as fuck.
Roland grabbed my hands and pulled me amidst the bodies to the front to get a better view. As the person hit Orion, and my eyes widened in horror, a gasp caught in my throat. It must be painful, but Orion grinned, then swung his fist.
I swallowed, my knuckles turning white as I gripped the edge of my cloth. I’ve never seen anything raw and violent like this. The announcer was a short man with a pot belly, walking around at the edge of the ring with a microphone. “Who takes the purse tonight, boys? The Alpha or the Beast? Place your bets!”
People chanted as bookies scrambled through the crowd, collecting thick stacks of cash from eager gamblers. I subconsciously reached up to bite my fingernails in pure anxiety, my eyes locked on Orion’s every move. He clearly had the upper hand in speed, but his opponent’s monstrous size was a constant threat. What if he got seriously hurt? What If..
Roland glanced at my pale face and let out a soft, amused chuckle. “Calm down; Alpha is the strongest here. No one. I mean, no one has ever beaten him,” she boasted while I couldn’t calm down when I saw the opponent land another hit on Orion’s cheek. "And he isn’t even fully out,” she added casually.
He wasn’t fully out? I thought, whipping my head to the ring again to see him grinning. What if he wanted to be fully out? What would it be like/
“He was just playing, tiring out the opponent, then gave one final knockdown," she explained with a grin, her eyes shining happily, while I gulped; the punches were making me feel queasy because I didn’t like him getting punched.
“Why are they fighting?” I whispered over the roar of the crowd.
“This is the underground,” Roland explained, leaning close so her voice wouldn’t carry. “Fighting, high-stakes gambling, territory disputes... everything happens down here, whether the human laws consider it legal or illegal.” She winked at the word "illegal," making my heart skip a beat. Sensing my confusion, she took a breath. “Let me lay it out clearly for you.”
Still looking at Orion through my periphery, I listened intently as Roland leaned in.
“We are bear shifters, obviously,” she murmured. “But to the outside world, this entire operation—and the Alpha himself—runs under a different title. Welcome to the Boulderback MC.”
I tilted my head, the acronym sounding foreign. “MC?”
“Motorcycle club," she nodded, a proud gleam in her eye. “A biker gang.”
A gang. I swallowed hard, a sudden wave of panic hitting me. God, what kind of world have I stumbled into? Did I sign up for way more than my human mind can handle?
“We host high-stakes racing events out on the mountain roads,” Roland continued, unbothered by my internal crisis. “We let outsiders participate, and our own pack members join in. A lot of the racers and fighters are ordinary humans who just crave the thrill of dangerous, illegal matches. They have no idea they’re fighting apex predators. But some of the people down here...” She discreetly pointed a tattooed finger across the crowded room toward a sharp-eyed man watching the ring. “Like him. He’s a werewolf shifter from a neighboring pack.”
“Yeah,” Roland wrinkled her nose. “They smell like wet, rotting dogs."
Suddenly, a deafening explosion of cheers shattered my train of thought.
“And the Alpha takes the throne!” the announcer screamed.
I ripped my gaze back to the ring. The opponent was now splayed flat on the ground, completely knocked out cold with blood splattering the mats. Orion stood over him, his chest heaving as he effortlessly shook out his knuckles.
Orion unlatched the steel cage door and swung himself out of the ring. Liam immediately rushed forward, handing him a clean towel, while Rook slid over a bottle of water. Orion didn’t say a word. He cracked the cap, threw his head back, and chugged the entire bottle in a matter of seconds, crushing the plastic flat in his fist before tossing it aside.
He looked so raw. So dangerously manly.
A knot of desire tightened in my lower belly as I watched sweat trickle down the glistening, sculpted muscles of his bare torso. The sight immediately dragged my mind straight back to my unholy morning dream.
God! I blinked rapidly, trying desperately to gather my shameless thoughts, but it was entirely impossible. How could I when the sinful temptation was walking toward me?
As Orion moved through the crowded underground, the rowdy, dangerous bikers and shifters parted like the Red Sea. The moment he reached me, his large, calloused hands locked around my waist and he hoisted me effortlessly into the air, bringing me up to his chest level while I let out a soft, embarrassed squeak, my face flushing scarlet.
The scent from him nearly made my head murky. So manly.
And I wondered how he could lift me up effortlessly despite my size.
When Knox couldn’t, he only complained about my weight, yet he...
My heart thumped with a dangerous, intoxicating mixture of relief and intense desire as his large hands shifted slightly, gripping the crack of my ass to secure me against his warm skin.
Orion glanced over at Roland, a low rumble in his chest. “I didn’t think Roland would actually bring you down here,” he murmured, his dark eyes locking onto mine.
Roland just smirked from behind him, giving us a triumphant thumbs-up before disappearing back into the crowd.
I reached out, my fingers trembling slightly as I faintly touched his split, bleeding lower lip. The dark crimson blood smudged against my fingertip, and my brows furrowed in immediate worry. “You’re injured,” I whispered softly.
Orion’s eyes flared a bright, dangerous gold, his lips curling into a wicked, breathtaking grin. “You can kiss it better, Aurora.”
Without a single thought about where we were, who was watching, or the hundreds of people staring directly at us, I wrapped my arms securely around his neck, lowered my head, and crashed my lips against his.
***
Thank you for reading... Well, I’m thinking of removing the biker theme from it. I’m not verse in the trope or should I leave it as it is?How ass this chspter
? Suggest a nickname Orion can call Aurora.. sweetheart, Orion
If you see any thing that’s not making sense, I’m so sorry I, I’m asleep as I’m publishing it now.
Thank you for reading. Please do ckmmy