Chapter Ten

Bella

We finally reached Seattle about nine thirty and the truck pulled up outside what looked like an abandoned warehouse in an industrial park with broken security lighting and sagging fences with razor wire dangling dangerously at head height. The guys piled out and headed for a small door in the side of the most dilapidated warehouse. I waited for Jake to lock the truck and walked with him, threading my arm through his. He smiled and squeezed my arm,

"It's OK Bella it looks worse than it is, camouflage. The guys who organise it don't want to attract the police."

That would be good, I could see the headlines now "Police Chief's daughter arrested at illegal fight", he laughed at my expression

"You'll be fine. Just stick with me"

It seemed now I was here he was going to take care of me. As the door opened silently which was a surprise I saw a red glow and a long corridor padded with some thick sound proofing material. We walked to the far end and opened another door. The heat and noise almost knocked me from my feet and Jake grabbed me with a grin. I couldn't hear him for the shouting and foot stomping and held on tight as we found seats about half way down a slope with the arena in the center. There was a ring of sorts floodlit in the middle and two huge men were wrestling, wearing what looked like long-legged running shorts. I was relieved to see there was no blood and sat quietly watching the crowd rather than the fighters until there was a roar of approval and I looked down to see one of the men on his feet, the other laying moaning on the floor with a guy in a black tee-shirt bending over him. When he straightened up he took the winners hand and raised it to more shouts and applause which made me wince as it echoed round the cinder block walls.

New fighters came in to boos, hisses, and applause, and the fights continued for several hours, getting a little more aggressive but nothing to make me cringe. I even had a bet with Jake on one fight and I won, he was my slave for a week as the winner. I was beginning to enjoy myself when the last fight finished and the crowd started to leave a few at a time. Jake grabbed my hand tightly.

"Stay with me. I'll take you to the Motel."

"What about the others?"

"Wolf time. Plenty of rats and other vermin around here to keep them amused and there's a forest a few miles away to sleep in. See wolves have perks, no rental to pay, we just curl up on the ground to sleep."

I wasn't sure if he was teasing me but I didn't see any of the others outside. We were alone in the truck and the motel was a few blocks away in a well-lit better class area for which I was thankful. Jake got the key and let me in handing it to me.

"You're not going are you?"

"Well I didn't think you'd want me to stay but if you're asking..."

"Jake be serious. I don't want to stay here on my own."

He shrugged

"OK but there's only one bed"

"Wolves curl up on the ground remember?"

He grinned

"You got me there Bells. OK I'll take the chair."

I went to take a shower and when I came out Jake was fast asleep in the chair, long legs sprawled across the floor. I couldn't help a smile as I covered him with a blanket then, as my head hit the pillow, I was asleep.

When I woke up he was gone but there was a note on the table,

"Gone ratting, be back soon"

I washed and cleaned my teeth hearing the door shut as I turned the tap off.

"Bella I got you breakfast"

"If it's a dead rat I'll kill you Jacob"

When I walked out drying my hair he was sitting on the bed with a MacDonald's bag beside him.

"Wow, a night out and dinner. You're spoiling me"

Actually I really enjoyed the meal he'd got me and the fight had been fun. In all it was turning out to be a better weekend than I'd imagined.

"We're meeting the others in an hour for a wander round Seattle then back for the night fights. It's a little different tonight Bella. I heard rumors they've got a couple of new fighters, pretty dangerous ones. If you don't want to come I'll treat you to the cinema or we could go out for the evening."

"Good try Jake but we're not on a date remember. Anyway you said I wouldn't enjoy last night and I did."

"OK but if you change your mind just let me know and we'll leave."

We met up with the others and it was fun, they were loud and goofy and everything was a joke, not like my serious boyfriend. They spent the whole time taking the mickey out of each other except Leah who walked alone with a cold look on her face.

"Does she ever smile?"

Jake shook his head,

"Not much. Leah isn't a happy person"

"Yeah I gathered that. Why did she come then?"

"Because she's one of the guys"

"What? She's a wolf too?"

"Yeah, the Cullens caused a few extra people to transform so you'll understand why she doesn't like them much."

"Are there many female wolves?"

"She's the only one"

I felt really sorry for Leah and I could see why she hated me but when I tried to talk to her she brushed me off so I left her alone and noticed the guys did too. It must be very lonely for her as the only girl among all these guys.

We got back to the warehouse earlier and there were still a lot of people going in. Jake saw a couple of guys he knew and stopped to talk so I wandered off on my own but keeping him in sight. I heard a terrible noise coming from the back and peered round the corner. There was a huge truck backed up to the warehouse loading bay and the noise was coming from there. Something made me want to see what was making the noise so I looked round cautiously and saw no one around so I slipped round the edge of the truck and peered inside. There were two huge cages in the semi darkness and I could see something moving around inside them. Did they fight animals? That's what it sounded like, wild cats maybe. Hearing voices getting closer in the gloom I went back out and rejoined Jake who looked at me with a frown.

"Where did you go Bella? I told you to stay with me."

"Jake do they fight animals?"

"What?"

"Wild animals, mountain lions maybe. Do they fight animals here?"

"You mean like dog fights? Bear baiting? No why?"

"I just saw two cages being unloaded and it sounded like wild cats in them but I couldn't see."

He shook his head,

"No idea, just a sec"

He called to another guy walking past and they had a short discussion which ended with the other guy looking over at me with a smile before walking off.

"No wild animals Bella. You must have imagined it"

"I didn't and how does he know?"

"He's one of the promoters Bella. He organizes these events. He did say they had a special treat for us but no animals. Of course it could have been a guardian, like the wolves, they don't usually fight in animal form, just intimidate each other before hand. That might be what you heard"

It sounded a lame excuse to me but I had no way of finding out so I decided to let it go, at least for now