Page 17 of Rebel

I hear the growl before I get a word out and when I lift my eyes, I see Enforcer with baby Mickie on his chest in a baby sling and behind him is Taz holding a young boy’s hand, who is grasping on to a young girl’s hand. Where are these folks coming from? I hear steps so turn and, fuck, see Stefanos holding Tank’s hand, leading him upstairs, which I assume is to show the big man his room. What universe am I in right now?

“Atlas, listen to me, son. We mean no harm. Rebel is one of ours and she seems to really like your boys and you, so take this as a ‘hey, welcome to the family.’ We all heard what happened to your oldest and it pissed my husband off. The principal is being brought before the board next week for her part in it. Both the Intruders and Devil’s Handmaidens clubs donate a ton of money to the school system, so we expect the children to be safe. Now I’m going to help in the kitchen. Guess you’re going to have a party here, if you like it or not.”

She squeezes my arm then walks past me, following where Rebel and the boys went. I can hear giggling and laughter coming my way from the back of the house. When I turn, Enforcer is in front of me with, holy fuck, a bottle of Macallan whiskey. Damn, I know that shit costs a mint. When I glance up, the smirk on his face makes me chuckle.

“My ol’ lady told me your ol’ lady saw an almost empty bottle of this in your cabinet, so being the good brother that I am, thought I’d refill your stock. Word to the wise, Doc, don’t fuck with Rebel ’cause there isn’t anything I won’t do for my woman. So if you hurt Rebel that will hurt my Que. You seem like a nicedude, but I’ve seen others who appeared nice and were the scum of the earth. Not braggin’ just speaking the truth. And I’d hate to leave those three boys without any parents. You hear me, Atlas?”

After the initial shock, when I realize where he is going with this, in a way I’m pissed, but on the other hand it just goes to show how much these people care about Rebel, which she deserves. As I go to thank the man, I hear a voice that has Enforcer’s face go hard and he grimaces.

“Come on, Enforcer, move your ugly ass outta the way. Want to officially meet the man who’s brought our Rebel to her knees.”

The sight before me has me wanting to slam the door, then bolt it and put a chair in front of it to block out these people. Not trying to be a snob, but each one is scarier than the last. The woman squints her eyes my way as a huge, no monstrous, man behind her with long brown hair starts to laugh loudly.

“Shut the fuck up, Big Bird, or you can wait in the truck. Now move, Enforcer.”

The man moves, patting me on the shoulder and whispering, “Good luck.” Then he walks by. The skull face tattooed woman walks in with the brown-haired man behind her and finally bringing up the rear is a quiet standing man, his black hair braided down his back. It’s his intense green eyes that seem to be reading my soul that pulls me toward him. There is an air about him that is not only peaceful but also serene. When he puts his hand out my way, I take it and shake. He doesn’t try to overpower me, just shows me that yeah, he’s a man. In a deep, raspy soft voice he introduces himself.

“Hello. My name is “chahóólhéél naabaahii t’áá sáhi” or in English, Dark Warrior Walking Alone. Most call me Panther. Nice to meet you, Doc.”

It dawns on me I’ve seen him and the mountain of a man in town, and even in the hospital here and there.

“Hi, Panther, I’m Atlas, it’s nice to make your acquaintance. Come on in, make yourself at home.”

That’s when he hands me a soft basket and when I look inside, I see some sage—I believe—a feather, along with bread, eggs, and wine. Not sure what to do with it, he must see it because he explains.

“In my culture, the sage and feather are to cleanse your home. My woman, Zoey, sorry Shadow, told me you always bring bread and eggs to eat and wine to drink, so that’s why it’s in there.”

Shadow walks back to Panther, leaning into him. Didn’t think she could ever look soft, but at the moment she looks like a woman in love. Panther smiles, eyes sparkling, when he leans into her.

“Be careful, nizhoni, you’re showing your true colors to the doc here. He sees your soft side.”

The softness immediately is gone and replaced by, I swear, the devil reincarnated. When those arctic, icy-blue eyes look my way, a shiver goes down my spine. Then she gives me a mocking smirk.

“Atlas, right? I’ll say this once, don’t fuck with Rebel. She’s my sister and with that she has my protection from anything and everything. Treat her right or your loved ones will never find you, not even a piece of hair. Got me?”

“Stop it already, Shadow. For Christ’s sake, don’t scare the man away before I get my claws into him.”

Turning, I see Rebel, but it’s the looks on my boys’ faces that have me worried. Thanos is hanging on to Kon, whose face is white, which is hard because we are olive skinned. It’s when I look back to Rebel to see her face pasty that I follow her glance to the mountain man whose eyes are soft on her. Oh, fuck to the no. I walk over to her, pulling her tight to my side, arm around her waist, my fingers spread out—half going to her hip—the top twounder her full breast. He flinches but I don’t give a flying fuck. She’s mine. If he let her go, that’s his fault.

Panther and Shadow outright laugh. Walking past us, it leaves my two boys, Rebel, and the guy. As I try to think on how to approach him, I hear the fear in the scream from my youngest, Stefanos. Turning, he’s hiding behind Tank staring at Shadow, who’s grimacing. Taz’s young son comes running from the kitchen, jumping toward Shadow, who catches him.

“Auntie Zoey, you’re here. Wait ’til you meet Auntie Rebel’s new boyfriend, he seems nice. He’s got three sons. I might get a new friend. Olivia is helping Mom in the kitchen with Momma Diane.”

Stefanos is watching Teddy intently and, to my surprise, he pushes his little shoulders back and steps around Tank. Now for as far back as I can remember, my boy is definitely not a people person. Besides his brothers, I can’t think of anyone he calls a friend. When he walks down the stairs, I can actually see his little shoulders trembling and his hands are in his pockets. At the bottom I see Shadow slightly shift, whispering in Teddy’s ear. The boy turns and sees Stefanos. He looks to his aunt, I guess he called her, and Shadow places him down. The room goes eerily quiet as every adult watches the two boys approach each other. By the time they are facing each other, Stefanos’s bottom lip is twitching. They face off about two or so feet apart.

Not knowing what’s going on, Rebel comes barreling in and jerks to a stop when she sees what’s in front of her eyes, which shoot to me immediately. I raise my shoulders just as Teddy raises his little hand toward Stefanos.

“Uh, hi, I’m Teddy.”

When I take my eyes off my son, it hits me that Teddy isn’t looking to shake hands but has a fist ready for a bump. When Stefanos sees it, he immediately grins and bumps Teddy’s fist. Something transpires between them because, after thefist bump, they start chattering like they’ve been best friends forever. I hear Teddy talking about his new sister. To every adult’s surprise, Stefanos tells his newfound friend that if his dad doesn’t screw stuff up with Rebel, he might have a chance at a baby sister because he sure doesn’t want any more brothers ’cause they are so sloppy. Teddy agrees and we all laugh.Disaster adverted, I think as Rebel makes her way to me, until her eyes catch something behind me. I turn to see the mountain of a man right behind me, his eyes on Rebel. Well, fuck it, I might as well climb that hill now. Hand out, I figure what the hell.

“Hey, don’t remember meeting ya before, man. I’m Atlas Giannopoulos, you are?”

I see Panther step closer to him as Shadow moves to take his other side. What the fuck? Who is the guy and why do those two feel they have to take his back? When Rebel sidles up to me and entwines our hands together, that guy’s eyes watch the two of us closely, even tilting his head. When he turns to Panther, I see the very slight shake of his head. Shadow’s hand is on the guy’s forearm when she leans into him. He jerks, looking down at her shocked. Then she smiles and I hear the gasps and “holy shits” around the room and out the open door. He drops his head, takes a breath, then looks up at me, face lacking any emotions.

“My name is nitsaa yikah tsintah, which means Big Walking Trees. To make it easy, everyone calls me Avalanche.”

When he takes my hand, I assume he’ll break it, but instead he shakes it firmly and also politely. Then he lets it go as everyone lets out a breath. Well, fuck me, guess there is more to the woman at my side than I ever assumed. We are going to have a conversation because I can’t let my boys get even more attached to her if there’s no chance for me. When Rebel gives Avalanche a brief hug, both look uncomfortable.

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