The shocked noises of the men tells me that not all of them knew I was an Eater, or maybe who my father is. But now they do. I find the man from the bedroom and look at him. He doesn’t seem surprised. He’s staring at me with no expression on his face and it makes me wish I could read his thoughts, what he’s thinking right now.
“Talk,” the older man says, kicking my chair.
I jerk and put my hands on the arms of the chair, clenching it until my knuckles are white. “I’m running from the Eaters. And I came this way because I knew they wouldn’t come to your territory to get to me. I landed up at your clubhouse accidentally and I would have gone another way if I hadn’t run into Lisa.” I snarl the woman’s name, not forgiving her for this betrayal. Women need to stick together, yeah right.
The older man starts laughing. “You want me to believe that you, an Eater, are trying to leave the Eaters and just show up at my clubhouse? Where is your father? Where is your brother, Silver? Are they here too?”
I growl at him. “My father is dead. I left him after he took his last breath only hours ago. I had to run before my so-called brother could stop me. Before Silver could sell me and my virginity to the highest bidder.”
The older man looks at me, turning his head to the side like he’s trying to see if I’m telling the truth. I’m watching him, not blinking, and hoping that he sees the sincerity on my face.
He smirks then and I don’t like what I see in his eyes. “Fine. They want to make money off you. Fine. But they’ll have to pay to get you back. How much are you worth?”
He asks the question, but I can tell he doesn’t expect me to answer.
He turns to the men in the room. “We will keep the Eater here. We will have the Eaters pony up some serious money or give up more territory to us. One way or the other, they will pay if they want her back.”
I stand up, ready to argue, ready to fight because I know I can’t go back to the Eaters. I can’t. “My name’s Penny,” I exclaim, wanting them to have a name to the innocent woman standing in front of them. As soon as I stand, the man, the one with the big dick from earlier, pushes me back to my chair. He looks mad, ready to fight even, but he shakes his head side to side, telling me to stand down.
I start to stand back up but then another man runs into the room. “Boss, we got problems. Eaters are crossing into our territory. They’ve been seen in town.”
The old man turns to me with hatred on his face. “No doubt to collect their spy.”
I stare at him silently. Nothing I can say right now will convince him that I’m not a spy, so I don’t say anything.
“Johnny and Zeus, tie her up. Take her to the truck and wait until Bruin gets there,” the old man orders.
Two men come for me and I start to struggle, but I’m no match for the two of them. I leave then, scared for my life, but I still can’t stop myself from looking back at the man from the bedroom.
Chapter 5
Bruin
I want to follow her, but I know I can’t. Not without drawing attention to myself. Deator walks toward me. “Bruin. You are to take her to your house because you live the deepest in the wilderness. You stay there until we come for you.”
As sergeant of arms for the club, I know I should argue. I should stay here to protect my club. But the thought of sending her with another man is not even an option.
As if he expects me to disagree with him, he insists. “And consider this part of your punishment. You were so worried about getting pussy, you failed to notice an Eater hiding in your fucking closet.”
I simply nod my head and follow after her. I could’ve disagreed with him. I wasn’t worried about getting pussy, not Rita’s anyway. I knew someone was in there as soon as I stepped into the room. Her scent hit my nostrils and it’s still there. I can still smell her even though there’s a wall separating us now. I start for the door and jog out to the truck and watch as she’s struggling against Johnny and Zeus.
“Stop,” I yell, and the three of them freeze at my command, even the girl.
I force myself between Johnny and Zeus and grab Penny’s arm. “I got it from here.”
They both put their hands up and I wait for them to walk away before I turn back to her. There is fire in her eyes and I know she’s pissed. She’s jerking at her arms but can’t escape from the zip ties they used to bind her. With each pull she’s tearing at her skin and already I can see the red streaks on her creamy white wrists. “Stop,” I tell her again, grabbing her hands with both of mine.