As a result of popular demand, another quick update. Ladies and Gentlemen, Chapter three! - Jade. xo

CHAPTER 3

HELP ME BELIEVE,
IT'S NOT THE REAL ME
SOMEBODY HELP ME TAME
THIS ANIMAL.

I was furious. No, I was beyond that. I was just about ready to kill somebody! Gemma was trying her best to calm me, running her hands up and down my bare, inked arms as she looked at my face with a sympathetic face. I didn't care about the cut on my face, I didn't even notice Gem in front of me, I was too fucking focused on looking over at that whore Ima getting escorted out of the clubhouse by her slutty pals. I even felt myself moving forwards to make an attempt to go after her without even realising I was doing it, but Gemma pushed me back against the stool, sitting me down on it.

"Calm down, baby girl." She soothed, running a hand over my hair, finally getting me to look in her direction. I was struggling to calm down, my heart pounding viciously in my chest as I tried to control my rapid breathing.

"She's right, you need to calm down." Tara chirped in. Where did she come from? Not that I minded, we were good friends. But still, I hadn't seen her come in. "That cut won't stop bleeding when you're like this." She added whilst lifting her hand to push a damp cloth against my cheek. As she pulled it away I noticed how it was stained red with my blood and it just made me even angrier when I thought I was just about to calm down.

"That fucking bitch!" I shouted, jolting forwards again but this time stronger hands restrained me. Jax. He was always there in my time of need. I had some serious anger issues and everybody with a brain knew not to fuck with me unless it was necessary. "I can't calm down." I grumbled, closing my eyes and tilting my head back against the wall with an agitated sigh through clenched teeth. Gemma's hand continued to move up and down my arm in a caressing touch and Jax reached out to put a hand on my shoulder before leaning forward to press a kiss against my head.

"It'll pass, Ria. It always does, right? Just try to calm down. There's no point in getting worked up over that bitch." Jax spoke whilst leaning his side against the wall beside me so that he could watch me.

"I'll need to put a butterfly stitch on this, Maria." Tara sighed, digging through her little first aid kit. She always came prepared.

"Fucking go for it." I mumbled, looking away from her and out at the crowded clubhouse where everybody had resumed with what they were doing before. Except from Happy, he was stood with Tig and Opie, watching me as the others spoke. Watching him only made me grow angrier and I finally pushed Gemma's hands away from me. "Let me calm down on my own, okay? I need to get some air." I sighed whilst leaning forward to press a kiss against her cheek. Jax quickly hugged me before Tara stuck two butterfly stitches on my cheek, making me grumble like a little embarrassed kid, not wanting to look stupid in front of their friends.

"Come get us if you need anything, okay?" Gemma informed me before patting my shoulder, as a sign that I could finally get away and calm the fuck down. As I made my way out of the kitchen area, I was approached by Tig as I went to pass the small group.

"Hey, Ria.. You alright?" he questioned, narrowing his eyes a little as he looked at my face. Clearly the cut was looking nasty on my cheek. That bitch would get a nice beating from me when I next got the chance.

"I'm fine, Tiggy. Some bitches need to be put on a leash. Not the kinky kind either." I laughed sharply as my sense of humour had gone down the drain from tonight's events. Tig sniggered and pulled me into his side in a one-armed hug before letting me go as he probably realised I was keen to get away.

"You beating on her ass was pretty funny." Opie contributed with a chuckle, and at that, I had to laugh too. It was pretty funny. I shot a quick glance to Happy, the only one who hadn't said a thing through the whole ordeal. Good, I hope the bastard felt fucking bad. He had this unreadable expression upon his face, and it was probably a result of me getting in his face. He didn't like anybody talking shit to him, and everybody smart enough to know what's right and wrong within the club knew that too. A lot of people were frightened of the Tacoma Killer. But not me. I dismissed myself by patting Opie's and Tig's shoulder, my hands connecting with the leather cut making a small 'pat' sound.

I left after that, turning my back on the boys to walk outside where I struggled to get through the crowds of people. But after some shoves I was out of the crowd and in my own space, sitting sideways on my beauty of a bike amongst dozens of others lined up outside. I fucking needed a smoke. And after digging through the the pocket of my leather jacket I found the small packet and lighter. After popping one into my mouth and lighting the end I felt a rush of relief course through my body. Sure, I was nineteen and that meant I wasn't of age to smoke or drink. But nobody here gave a shit. And sometimes, I wish they did.. but only sometimes, only rarely.
I pinched the cigarette between my index finger and thumb, pulling it away from my mouth after taking a long drag, whilst reaching up with my free hand to rub at the back of my neck with a cringe. I was sore, and only just realising how tired I really was. I was sobering up and that was never a good thing. "Shit." I grumbled and took another long drag from my cigarette, flicking the ash onto the ground as I exhaled the smoke into the crisp night air.

"You know, you really shouldn't have spoken to me like that." Came a deep, gruff voice from behind me and instantly I knew who it was. Happy had approached me and I hadn't even noticed. That's probably one of the reasons why he made such a good killer for the club.

"You know what? I really don't give a shit." I answered casually with a quick smile before it fell from my face like it was some massive burden to carry. I saw movement out of the corner of my eye and lifted my gaze to see that he had moved to stand in front of the bike, his arms crossed over his chest as he stared down at me with a fierce expression within his eyes.

"Watch your mouth with me, girl." He warned and I couldn't help but laugh as I exhaled some more smoke from my cigarette. Who did he think he was? The fucking president?

"Oh man.. You have the biggest ego ever. I'll speak to you however the fuck I want. And since your slutty ass woman marked my fucking face, I think I have every right to speak to you like a piece of shit on my shoe." I snapped, glaring at him from my position on the bike, steadying myself on the seat by holding onto it by my thigh. I noticed how his expression changed in a matter of seconds from unreadable to visibly angry. He stepped forwards, hands by his sides in fists. I slipped from the bike and stood up, tossing my cigarette down on the ground as I moved forward to confront him, standing up to him as best as I could. I was quite a bit smaller than him so the height difference made him seem more powerful, but I wasn't afraid to stand my ground against him. "You gonna hit me, Killer?" I teased, a small smirk pulling at my lips.

He was breathing heavily; I could hear it from my position in front of him. "I've already been hit by a man today.. I'm sure another right hook to the cheek won't do much more damage." I continued, lifting my arms out to my sides in a 'bring it on' gesture that Jax had perfected in the last few years.

"I'm not going to hit a woman of the club.." he growled in his low voice that I found strangely seductive. Mmhmm. But that was beyond the point. I'm angry and need to express this.

"But I'm not your ordinary 'woman' am I?! I'm a fucking pain in the ass, I fight men on a regular basis, in and out of the ring. Fucking hit me if that's what you're going to fucking do, you little pussy!" I yelled in his face and that was when he jumped forwards. And you know what? I shat myself. I quickly lifted my hands to shield my face and stumbled back, the handle of my bike digging into my back making me hiss in pain. Realisation hit me and I instantly regretted my reaction to his movement. I had shown weakness in front of him. I had made it known that I was scared, that I was vulnerable. And that's something I didn't want. I didn't want to be seen as a weak little girl that needed to be protected. I wanted violence! I wanted people to treat me as an equal! I opened my eyes and lowered my hands, lifting my head to look up at Happy and his look confirmed it all. He knew that he had scared me and he almost looked sad. No, please no! That's the last thing I wanted! I am not weak!

"I wasn't scared.." I instantly claimed, shaking my head a little as I looked around whilst trying to gather an excuse. FUCK! I was being my old self. Rambling and acting stupid. "I'm drunk, my reflexes are all over the place.. I wasn't.. I'm not scared." I hurried, finishing my sentence with a quick laugh to shrug it off. To make myself look like even more of a fool, I turned my back on Happy and straddled my bike, kicking back the stand. With the key already in the ignition I started my beauty of a Harley, but two tattooed hands on my grips stopped me from going anywhere. I looked up to catch him staring down at me with a confused expression upon his face.

"Ria.." he began in a low but loud volume of voice as he spoke over the sound of the growling engine.

"Happy.. Get your hands off of my bike.. Now." I ordered, lowering my gaze so that I didn't have to look at him. I avoided eye contact at all costs and instead, worked on prying away his fingers. He complied and let go, standing aside as I pushed my bike forward and then twisted the throttle, pulling out of the parking bay. I was pretty unsteady as I was probably over the limit by triple the amount. But that thought didn't really occur to me. I was more focused on getting home and into bed. I had made a complete fool of myself and my tough exterior and I needed to get to the one place where I could be myself. Home.