Page 8 of Liv and Ripper

4

CHAPTER 4

RIPPER

My eyes ran up and down her, twice. And then when I could look her in the eyes, I saw an emptiness that didn’t and shouldn’t belong there. She was far too young to experience that type of sadness.

She took a step back, away from the men who were gawking at her. I don’t know what her father was thinking, but it was taking everything inside me not to get up and cover her. She was barely fucking dressed, and I agreed with her father—she shouldn’t be wearing that outside, or anywhere for that matter. It looked like a shredded dress!

Her father was lecturing her, but she was just staring at the wall with that emptiness in her eyes.

Something wasn’t adding up, and that bubbling feeling I was experiencing surfaced again. That pull I felt toward her. Angry with myself, I just wanted to leave.

That was when I smelt it. At first, it burnt my lungs. I had a stronger sense of smell because of my Alpha blood. I knew when I smelt the silver poison, no one else would pick up on it—it was simply too weak. My eyes locked on Liv. It had only appeared when she appeared.

So, she was one of those girls. Who liked to do fucking drugs. Typical really—she modelled and clearly looked the part to be on that side of our world.

“Business,” I snapped at Tri. “We need to get back to business.”

His icy eyes locked on mine. “Remember ya place, boy.”

Call it fucking stubbornness but I had had enough of this shit. It was hard enough being around Liv, and why I still didn’t have an answer to that. I rose to my feet. “Considering I’m taking over the mother charter, I think I do have a fucking place.” Silence crept across the room. Finally, I was staking a claim on the world I had been thrown into willing. “That’s right, Tri, ya looking at the new President. Tank was telling you this weekend.”

Why the hell had I decided at this moment to announce the news I had been keeping a secret, I don’t fucking know. What I do know is that I wanted attention off Liv so she could escape and put something that looked more like clothes on.

“Now back to the hand on the table,” I grumbled, and all eyes went off Liv—who hadn’t disappeared like I had wanted her to.

When she didn’t evaporate, I turned to her. “Leave.” And at my one word, she snapped out of her trance and disappeared up the hallway. I wanted to smirk at her reaction to my one word. The girl knew how to listen when she wanted to.

I had been blocking the cut off hand that was on the table from her view. Now that she was gone, I looked back at it. It was clearly a message. The deal with the United Gore was over—a rebelling human MC, which was trying to take over the territory we owned. The hand was still human, so whatever member’s hand it was, they hadn’t changed to defend themselves.

I patted myself down for a cigarette. “We need to do a roll call, see who is missing,” I said as my first order over Tri, who was silently glaring at me. “Pull every member in.” I looked at Tri’s glaring eyes. “I’ll leave that up to you, Tri.” Look at me, giving an order to my VP.

Walking from the room, my eyes glanced down the hallway. I could hear her sharp inhale, as if she was holding back tears. The men in the lounge started to head outside, to the BBQ that Stew was cooking. I wasn’t staying for the BBQ, thought it was best to let the members drink piss and say their heated words about me stepping up. So, I knew as I heard her try not to cry, no one would know if I went to her. The door was ajar, and I was so fucking tempted. But if she was crying, then the last person she would want to see was me, but then the smell of her blood had me storming up the hallway. Fuck it, I was going in there, whether she wanted me to or not.

---