"What happened?" Trent growled as Marly's scent wafted off Bobby's clothing. The urge to kill the blithering idiot rose up in him like a tidal wave, his wolf incensed that Bobby had gone after his mate a second time. Trent could feel his fingers shifting into claws, and he dug his nails into his palm to try stop it.
"Fuck, don't know Sarge," Bobby said, breathing heavily as he gingerly ran his hands over his face. Trent leaned down and took Bobby's nose in his hands. One quick scrunch and the nose was straight again, although Bobby's scream of pain did nothing to assuage Trent's wolf. His animal was out for blood and that need was increasing by the second.
"What happened?" Trent said again, yanking the man to his feet.
Bobby looked over at his friends, who were all slowly coming round in a chorus of groans and curses. "No idea." Trent could smell the deception on the man from a mile off. "We were just walking down here, you know. Minding our own business. This gang of men … "
So that was how Bobby was going to play it. Too embarrassed to confess he'd been bested by a pretty twink.
"Yeah, a whole gang of men, Sarge, couldn't count how many," Thompson, one of the club prospects said. "We didn't stand a chance."
Trent ignored the men's chatter as he went around checking for broken bones and serious injuries. Only two of the men would need to go to hospital, and by the time Clive had pulled up in one of the club vans, Trent was ready to head off and find Marly. Controlling his changing eyes, and raging anger was getting more difficult the longer he stayed in the alley, especially as he could smell Marly on every single one of the idiots in front of him. Seeing that the men had chains, knuckle busters and even a knife, didn't help the situation. They would all be dead if the situation had been any different.
"What happened here, Trent?" Clive said, his calm voice mollifying Trent's wolf somewhat. Although Trent had never considered Clive his Alpha, they had been friends for some time and Trent had taken enough orders from the man over the years to respect him.
"Not sure," Trent said, waving his hand at the battered group. "Morgan and Jones need the hospital – they've both got broken bones. The rest of them are just bruised and bloodied. When I arrived all of the men were unconscious in the alley."
"How did you know they were even here then, if none of them called you?" Clive asked, and Trent mentally kicked himself. None of the men's bikes were in the alley and Trent had admitted earlier he'd gotten a call about the fight.
"I've got friends," he said shortly. "Someone rang my cell and told me that Bobby and his boys were wandering around in this area looking for trouble. This is a quiet business area. Bobby and the others had no business being here, and a group of them wandering around in patch colors and no bikes in sight was suspicious enough for someone to let me know. These guys were lucky my informant rang me, and not the police."
Clive glared at Bobby who had appeared at Trent's side, looking eager, and in Trent's mind, pathetic.
"Did you recognize anyone involved in this?" Clive asked Bobby, who quickly shook his head. Bobby cast an embarrassed look at the other men, who were shuffling around, Morgan and Jones, still moaning on the ground.
"No Boss, but it had to be the Black Skulls right? No one else would have a reason to attack us like that. They're starting a turf war, that's what they're doing. They've probably been following us. We should … "
"Shut up, Bobby," Clive snapped. "You already said you didn't see who did this, you have no idea who attacked you or how many, so why the fuck would I retaliate against another gang until I have proof they were responsible. Get in the fucking van, the lot of you."
As the men shuffled about, helping Morgan and Jones, and then getting themselves in the back of the van, Clive moved closer to Trent.
"What's your take on this?" He said quietly.
Surprised at the comment, Trent kept his face in its typical snarl. "What I think, Boss, is that Bobby is a fucking trouble maker, and chances are he's been following someone who got the jump on him and the others."
"You don't think it's got anything to do with the Black Skulls?"
Trent shook his head. "No Boss. Think about it. This isn't our territory. We've had no warnings that anything like this was going to happen. My informant didn't say anything about other rival bikes around at the time and he would have said. A takedown on our territory – yeah, that could be a sign of war. But this? Look at where we are. This is Bobby's doing and he's covering something up. I'd stake my reputation on it."
Clive looked around the small alley which backed onto a number of small boutique shops, nearly all of them catering to gay men. There was a leather shop, the clothing store, and a café that was run by two men who had married in a highly publicized ceremony the year before.
"The gay community fighting back. Not surprising," Clive said quietly and Trent looked at the man's face trying to get a read on his emotions, but as per normal Clive was as inscrutable as ever. Shaking his head, Clive clapped Trent on the shoulder. "Okay. I'll drop Morgan and Jones off at the hospital, then take the others back to the club. Can't see their bikes, but they can sort that shit out later. You coming in?"
"Na, boss. Told you. Sub, chains, waiting."
"Have fun with him," Clive said as he went back to the van.
Seconds later the vehicle took off out of the alley and Trent hurried to his bike. It wasn't until he was halfway to Marly's apartment that he clicked onto what Clive had said. Him? Suddenly fearful that Clive knew more about what was going on in Trent's life, than Trent had ever imagined, he opened up the throttle on his bike. He had to get to Marly, and maybe it was seriously time to think about moving out of town. He just hoped that his little mate didn't make too much of a fuss about it.
Chapter Eleven
"Marly," Trent yelled as he let himself into the apartment.
Marly was just sliding into his leather pants when he heard Trent yell. Although his cock rose as Trent's scent intensified, Marly continued putting on his pants, and then bent down to put on his boots. His wolf was edgy, there was no chance for him to go for a run and he was heading out to let off some steam, or he was likely to attack his own mate and fuck him through the floor. Somehow he didn't think that Trent's Alpha nature would take kindly to that type of treatment and he'd done enough fighting for one day.
Slipping a tight silver top over his head, and smoothing it over his chest, Marly bent down to look in the mirror, ruffling his fingers through his hair. Yes. He'd do for a night out. Straightening up, he looked over as Trent stormed in. Trent took no prisoners, grabbing Marly up in his arms and pressing his nose to Marly's neck. Despite his anger, Marly wrapped his arms around Trent's neck and took a deep breath of his own. Musky, masculine and pure Trent. Fuck, he loved the smell of his mate.
"Thank the Fates you're alright," Marly heard Trent mutter against his skin. "What the hell happened to you?"
"Nothing happened to me, as you can see," Marly said disengaging himself from Trent's arms and looking for his keys. "Probably just as well, though, yes? Because my fucking Alpha wasn't around to do anything, as per normal."
"You're angry at me." Trent's voice didn't change, but Marly felt the hurt coming from the big man. For a split second Marly considered throwing himself into his mate's arms and letting the man have his way with him. But his wolf was too angry and so was he.
"I have a good reason to be, don't you think? Your fucking goons waylaid me at my car. How did they even know where I worked? Then they attacked me, for absolutely no reason at all, except for the way I look. But that's sweet. They're human. I handled it. But you," Marly started to pace, unable to look at his mate.
"You put the needs of your precious club before mine, again!" Marly winced as he heard his voice break and he took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself enough to go on.
Stalking up to Trent, Marly looked up, catching Trent's eyes with his own. A direct challenge to an Alpha wolf was a dumb idea at the best of times, but Marly didn't care. Trent was his mate and it was about time he started acting like it.
"You should always put me first," Marly said, quieter this time. "That's the mate's way. You know that. If I had been human, I would have been dead now and you know that too. If anything you should be protecting me, not your club. But you know what? I think you've been around humans too long, mate of mine. You've forgotten what it's like to be wolf. To be the Alpha you were born to be. I deserve better than this from you."