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Becoming Vexx
An Eve’s Fury MC Prequel
Rae B. Lake
Acknowledgments
To My Partner, babe, I see you! I just want you to know that I appreciate everything you do for me and I hope you know that I would be nowhere without you. I see you trying to be better, I see you making changes, I see you showing your love. Thank you so much for continuing to support and love me.
To my little women, you are so strong and willful, I hope that you stay like that for the rest of your life. I hope that you know that no one can take your power away from you unless you give it to them. Know that you will never be alone, no matter how far away from me you are. I love you more than life itself.
To my friends, family, and fans! Are you ready for some kickass women! I had so much fun writing this story and I can’t wait for you guys to dive into the Eve’s Fury MC. Thank you all for supporting me and for allowing me to enter your lives with my stories, it means so much to me.
1
The mirror didn’t lie. As much as I tried to cover it up, as much as I tried to say it wasn’t that bad, I knew it was. The bruises Paul left this time were dark and took up the majority of my face. I didn’t have enough concealer to cover this shit.
I didn’t know when it got so bad between me and him, but instead of being his partner and the love of his life, I was his personal punching bag. Last night was by far the worst— I made the mistake of telling him we would be better off if he made more money. That was the last thing I remember before he started to wail on me.
“Fucking hell.” I threw the blending sponge down on the counter and just let my head hang down while I cried. Everything set him off now, there was no way out for me.
The door opened and I could hear Paul’s heavy boots shuffling through the house as he made his way toward the living room. He was waiting for his lunch. I wanted to scream out and tell him to get the shit himself, but I knew that would just mean another fight and I didn’t have the strength.
“What the fuck are you doing in there? Didn’t you hear me come in?” Paul screamed from the next room.
I let my hair fall down to cover the sides of my face. Paul didn’t mind leaving the marks on me, but he didn’t like to see them. Claimed it was my way to seek attention or to make him feel guilty. The fuck should feel guilty.
I walked out of the bedroom and went to the kitchen where I had prepared a pot of beef stew and rice. I tried to steel my nerves as I felt him walk up behind me. He smelled of wood, bourbon, and cigarettes. That scent used to be so sexy to me, now it made my stomach turn.
Paul worked at a lumber mill, and he used to keep his body in great shape, but now instead of worrying about how well his body looked, he just worried about how many pints of liquor we had left. When we first met, Paul was so attentive, he complimented me at every turn. He was supportive of me quitting my job and staying home while I furthered my education. He took me out, showed me off to his friends, and the sex was out of this world. So when after only a year of dating he asked me to marry him, I couldn’t have been happier. At first, I didn’t really see or just didn’t care about all the warning signs, but now here I am, six years into a marriage I am sure will be the end of me. If I didn’t get out, he was going to kill me.
“What you up to, sexy lady?” He spoke softly in my ear as he wrapped his arms around my midsection from behind. I flinched slightly because my ribs were still sore. I brought my hand up and laid it gently on his forearm. I giggled slightly while I shifted his arm so it wouldn’t be right on top of the sore area on my side. “Making sure my sexy man has some food in his belly,” I purred in my sex kitten voice. I picked up a plate and piled his food high. He bent down and swiped my hair away from my neck, and he kissed and licked softly at the exposed area.
“Oh, that’s nice, baby,” I said softly. I played this part well. I could rehearse what he wanted to hear line for line while I did long division in my head. I only responded to keep him happy.
“Yeah, I know it. You can’t get enough of me.” His hard cock pressed against the small of my back and it took everything in me to keep the smile on my face. He was nauseating.
“You want me to put this on the table or the microwave,” I said with as much giddiness in my voice that I could muster.
My head yanked back with more ferociousness than I was ready for. “What the fuck is your problem? You don’t want me touching you now?”
The plate dropped out of my hand, and rice and thick stew sprayed across the floor as I grasped his wrist to keep it braced against my skull. The more he pulled, the more it hurt.
“Of course, Paul, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I always want you to touch me. All the time.”
He pushed my head forward, releasing his grip on my hair. “Clean this shit up and bring me my fucking food. You always know how to ruin a good time.”
I didn’t even attempt to turn around. I didn’t want him to see the disgust on my face.
* * *
“No, no, no!” I hit my palm against the steering wheel, the tears already welling in my eyes as the smoke billowed up from the front of the car. I had finally taken my chance and run away from Paul, but I didn’t get far. Here I sat near some of the old abandoned warehouses with nothing to do but hope Paul didn’t find me.
“Ma’am, is everything okay?” a voice called out from the side of me.
I jumped, turning toward the sound. I had no idea where he came from. There was nothing around here besides closed-up shops and abandoned warehouses.
“Who are you? What do you want?” I went to lock the door, but I didn’t want him to see me make any sudden moves. The man stepped into my line of vision, and it was like my worst nightmare. A large man with tattoos up and down his arm and wearing a leather vest walked closer to my car and smirked at me.
“I don’t want anything from you, but I would suggest you turn your car off. I mean, unless, of course, you want to start a fire.”
“What?” I was so confused by what he was saying. Where was I going to start a fire?
“Does your oil gauge read high?”
I looked at the car, the same one I had stolen out of my own driveway while Paul laid knocked out on the bed. “I have no idea. What is that?”
The intimidating looking man walked closer to my side of the car and reached inside my open window. “You see this right here? It is your oil gauge.” He pointed to the small arrow on the left of my dashboard and sure enough, the pointer was all the way at the top where the large H was.
“Turn off the car or you are going to burn out your engine if you haven’t done so already.”
I reached for the key and turned the car off, but I didn’t make a move to get out. I had no idea what this man was capable of or even if Paul sent him here for me.
“Where did you come from? There is nothing around here.” I looked around again just to make sure, I didn’t want to be surrounded by a bunch of gang members or criminals.
“I was just hanging out with a few friends not far from here.” He rubbed a hand through his short hair and looked around. It was obvious he didn’t want me to know where he came from. “Look, I am not trying to hurt you, but I am a mechanic and it looks like you need a little bit of help. I don’t think AAA is going to make their way over here any time soon.”
I tried to swallow the frog stuck in my throat so that I could talk. “I don’t have any money, I have nothing of value, I swear it.”
“Look, lady, I just said I didn’t want anything from you, shit. You know what? Fuck this, stay out here and rot for all the fuck I care.” He turned away from me and started walking down the road away from my car.
I was running all the way out of options. I could stay here and wait for Paul to find me or I could get help from this strange scary-looking man. I had nothing to protect myself with, but then again, he could have rea
ched in and grabbed me out of the car any time he wanted to. I opened the car and jumped down from my seat.
“Hey, wait. Please come back.” I tried to run after him, but my leg was still really sore from the last and final fight Paul and I had. He stomped me out while he still had his work boots on because I forgot to put his beer in the fridge. His anger was just getting worse and worse, and I knew that if I didn’t get out, I wouldn’t last to the end of the year.
I half limped, half jogged toward the man. “Hey, wait for a second, please. I can’t run.”
The large man turned to see me. “What, you decide I am not going to kill you now?”
I stopped in my place— was he going to kill me now?
He shook his head and began walking back toward my car. “Jeez, woman, you are more than fucked up in the head, aren’t you? I am not going to fucking hurt you. I honestly just want you away from this property. My friends ain’t as nice as I am.”
“Okay, I am sorry for trespassing, I guess.” I looked around again, but there was nothing here.
“What’s wrong with your leg,” the man asked as I limped beside him back toward my car.
“Nothing. I fell.” The lie was so ingrained it almost felt like the truth.
“Sure, just like you got the fist marks on your face from the same fucking fall?” The man grabbed my chin roughly and turned it in his direction. I pulled away and stopped walking. I wasn’t used to anyone touching me and he grabbed me like he thought he had a right to.
“What happened to me is none of your business.”
The man nodded once, then opened my car door and pulled something below the steering wheel which popped the hood. A large cloud of smoke billowed up when he raised the heavy sheet of metal. He was right, it looked like I was about to start a fire with all the smoke that was coming out from my car.
“God damn, woman. How long have you been driving?”
“What, today? I just made it out,” I said, the words surprising me. I hadn’t said that I just started driving. I said I just made it out. That was exactly how I felt, like I had only just made it out of there with my life. My diaphragm shuttered and before I knew it, big juicy tears started falling from my eyes. I was free, well, almost free before the car decided to break down. I covered my face, trying to stifle some of the sobs coming out of my mouth.
“Hey, what the fuck?” The man came over to me and tapped me unsurely on my shoulder before I just fell down to the ground and sobbed. He sat down next to me, but it was like he was unsure of where to put his hands, so he just continued to pat me softly on the shoulder.
I took a few seconds before I was able to get my tears under control. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I have just had a rough day. I shouldn’t be sobbing like a little baby.”
“It’s cool. You running away from someone?” the man asked straight forward.
“Yes, my husband.”
He nodded his head a few times and stood up to look at my car. There was no judgment and no further questions as to what happened between Paul and I. He just accepted and moved on.
“How far were you planning on going?”
I thought hard, but I had no answer. My main objective was always to just get away, never where I was going to go once I did get away. “I don’t know. I hadn’t thought that far.”
“Fucking clearly.” He shook his head again and pulled at a few wires and tubes inside the car. Most of what he pulled on either broke or came apart in his hands. “All your hoses are pretty much rotted through, your engine mounts are about to deteriorate from all the damn rust, and you need a new radiator fan and belt along with a new oil reservoir. Your car is being held together mostly by duct tape. You can’t drive this.”
I could feel the panic begin to rise. I had no money to pay for any of the repairs and I had no other means of transportation. I was stuck, and I would have to go back to Paul.
“I can’t go back. You don’t understand, this has to work.” I pointed at the car, my hands shaking.
“Yeah, well, it’s not going to.” The man shrugged his shoulders before he reached up and pulled the hood down hard. “It’s dead.”
“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” I turned away from him and paced in a small circle. I couldn’t think of anything else to do. I finally made it out, but I had no type of plan and that shit was coming to bite me in the ass.
“Listen, I may know of some people who could help you out. It’s a bit away from here and you are going to have to trust me.”
I looked back toward the man. So far he had done nothing but help me. “What is the Spawns of Chaos?” I pointed to the small patch on the leather vest he was wearing.
“It’s a motorcycle club that I belong to.” He said it proudly, but he didn’t give any other information.
“Oh, motorcycles? I used to ride ATVs and dirt bikes with my dad when I was younger. It was always fun.”
“Good to know. Where are your folks now, maybe you can get to them?”
I had to look away at that one. I would never be able to get to my folks again. “They are dead. They were killed in a home invasion.”
“Shit, that sucks, girl.” He put out his hand toward me. "I’m Maino.”
Finally, I felt a little bit at ease. “I’m Lana. Thank you for your help.”
“It’s nothing.” He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out his phone. “Look, I can’t let you stay here or at my clubhouse. My president doesn’t take kindly to visitors and single women tend to get picked on by my brothers, but I do have some friends on the other side of town who probably could help you. Last I checked, they already have a few women they are helping who are in your predicament.”
I had no right to take offense to anything he said, but the way he said ‘predicament’ had my blood boiling. “And what fucking predicament would that be?” I said, emphasizing the word.
He looked at me without a care in the world. “Based on the fucked-up leg and the bruises on your face, I would say your man is beating the bricks out of you. That predicament.”
I opened my mouth to reply, but it wasn’t like he was lying. That was exactly the predicament I was in. I let go of some of my rage. Again, there was nowhere for me to release it. “So what, it’s some kind of charity or shelter?”
“Nah, it’s another clubhouse. They are all about bettering the community though. They will hide you out for a while, help you get on your feet.”
I watched as Maino called whoever was supposed to help me and then started to walk toward one of the abandoned warehouses.
“Hey, where are you going?”
“Hold up, I’ll be right back,” he screamed over his shoulder as he disappeared behind the large building. He was out of eyesight, but moments later I heard a loud, echoing roaring engine.
A large motorcycle rolled slowly in my direction, Maino already seated comfortably on it. I couldn’t help but smile. I stopped riding dirt bikes when I made it to high school and realized the boys wanted a girly girl and not someone who raced around in the mud, but I always had a deep appreciation for these two-wheeled monsters. The power, the freedom, the fun— all of it was something I hadn’t felt in a long while.
He handed me a helmet and helped me on the back of his bike. I tucked in tight and savored the thrill as he took off.
2
The Wings of Diablo.
That is where Maino dropped me off. For the most part, this club seemed more like a big family and less like people who would shoot me in the head while I slept, but still I was on guard. They had a huge clubhouse, but since they didn’t know me, I was stuck out on the other side of the property in a large trailer. I had to share it with three other women who were stuck just like me. I was grateful. I was able to sleep, no one asked me for anything, no one woke me up to beat me because I had fucked up in some obscure way— it was peaceful. In fact, I had been there for a whole day and not even the three other women had come to say anything to me. Peace.
A knock at the front door broug
ht everyone out of their rooms. For the first time, I could see what the three other women looked like, one whose face still had not healed from the last beating she took from whomever. No one looked anyone in the eye. I could see that the two women on the far side of the trailer were holding hands and something about the way their hair hung long down their backs and the way they sort of curled toward each other made me think they were related, sisters probably.
There was another knock, this time louder, and everyone jumped, but no one made a motion toward the door. Everyone was scared stiff.
I let out a deep breath and made my way toward the door. “Who is it?” I asked. Not that I knew anyone here besides the two men Maino left me with— a big blond man named Clean and another man they called Ripper.
“Maven.”
I had no idea who that was, but as long as it wasn’t Paul, I felt like I would be okay. I opened the door and let the woman in. I had to stand back and gather my thoughts as she walked in. She was shocking. Everything about her, from her black and red duotone hair to the spiked collar she wore around her neck to the visible gun and knife she had strapped to her side, screamed ‘don’t fuck with me’. I was dying to take notes.
“Who are you and how fucked are you?” Maven stood against the now-closed door, one foot crossed over the other. She stared at the woman in the far corner of the room. Her hair was short and spiky and a severe blonde color that didn’t look like it went with her honey-brown complexion. She looked up but didn’t say a word. I could see her shaking from where she was standing, her eyes darting from Maven’s face down to the gun at Maven’s side and back up to her face again before she gave up and looked back down to the floor.
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