Chapter One

Flame

With one final dodge followed by an uppercut, my opponent hits the mat hard, blood gushing from his mouth. Okay, that hit may have been a little harder than I intended. I hold my hand out to help the guy up; it"s the right thing to do after the damage I just caused. Taking it, he pulls himself to his feet, sweeping his black, sweaty hair out of his face as he does.

"Sorry, man, I didn"t mean to hit you that hard."I apologize.

"Don"t worry about it; no harm done; it"s just a little blood."He replies genuinely as he shakes my hand.

"Go get yourself cleaned up. If you ever wanna train with me again, just ask for Flame at reception."

"I just might do that; I haven"t fought that hard in a long time; you"re fucking lethal in the cage."

"Thanks, man. Maybe next time I won"t hold back as much,"I tell him smirking before walking away.

I can hear him laughing behind me. Little does he know, I was barely even trying.

I've been training myself to fight since I was thirteen years old, in every type of fighting style I could find. From Krav Maga, which is mainly self-defense techniques designed to quickly and efficiently inflict as much pain as possible, to bare-knuckle boxing, which involves punching without any padding on the hands to cause the most damage you can to your opponent.

I started learning as much as I could after what happened to me when I was growing up. My older brother thought I was an easy target because of my smaller size and the fact that my mother didn't hide how much she hated me. He beat me for years, until one day I was so badly hurt that I confided in my best friend, Jackson. Seeing my injuries, Jackson immediately called for his father; he knew I needed more help than he could give me. His father wasn't just some random person"s father though; he was Blaze, the President of Devil's Inferno MC, and he wasn't going to stand for what was happening to me.

Back then, even though I'd been best friends with Jackson since I was four, I didn't spend a lot of time around Devil's Inferno because my mother, like most other people in town, believed that just because they were bikers, they must all be criminals and bad apples. That couldn't have been further from the truth; every member was and still is a law-abiding citizen. Well, for the most part, sometimes things need to be done to help those who need it most. What we end up doing in those situations might be against the law, but it"s always the right thing to do. Sometimes the law fails those who need it most. The multiple businesses Devil's Inferno owns are totally legit, though. We don"t make any money through anything criminal. That"s not who we are. We"re the protectors of those who need it most.

Anyway, I needed a way to take my power back after what I'd experienced in my home life up until that point, and learning everything I could about fighting was my way of doing just that. I trained myself until I couldn"t move anymore, but it paid off. I felt more confident knowing that I'd never be in that position again, and I was right; I still haven't found anyone who can beat me, and I'm fucking thirty now.

It also worked out great for me after I became a Prospect for Devil's Inferno at eighteen, then a patched member by the time I turned nineteen. Members saw how much skill I had and just how lethal I could be with just my own body. Before I knew it, I was an Enforcer whose main role within the club was to protect all patched members and the club"s reputation in any form of conflict, which certainly put my skills to good use.

After quickly showering up in the locker room, I make my way back to The Clubhouse on my customized Harley Dyna that I've had since I was a Prospect. The Clubhouse is located on The Compound, on the outskirts of Devil's Point. It's an old converted mansion near the front gates of The Compound; it contains offices for most of the club"s officers on the ground floor, the room where we hold Church, and then a massive open space known as The Common Room that contains the bar, kitchen, and main hangout space for us all. The upper floors are rooms for all the members and bunnies who choose to live in The Clubhouse. Then there"s the basement we recently converted into a games room with gaming systems, pool tables, and lots more. It's especially popular with the younger members.

Entering The Clubhouse, I see Blade's distinctive red hair through the doors to the Common Room. He's the other Enforcer for Devil's Inferno. While I'm an expert in hand-to-hand combat, he's an expert in weapons. Especially blades if his road name didn't give it away.

"Hey Blade,"I say in greeting as I approach.

"Hey Flame, what's up?"He replies, kicking out the chair next to him for me to sit down.

"Wanted to talk to you about the Prospects" training,"" I mention, taking my seat.

Both of us work with all the Prospects to make sure they're up to scratch. There's no point in them becoming patched members if they can"t hold their own; you never know when you"re going to need to defend yourself or defend someone else.

"Ah, yeah. They're all doing pretty well with me. Jake seems like he has the most determination, though. Fuck, that guy puts in 110% every session we have. He has the potential to be a great brother. Eric, on the other hand, is an overconfident little fucker. If he gets the votes to become a patched member, I"ll be seriously fucking surprised; he thinks he"s god"s gift at absolutely everything, and he really fucking isn"t."

His voice is filled with pride as he talks about Jake, which is pretty fucking telling. Blade is not an easy person to impress, but is filled with utter distaste when he mentions Eric.

"So I"m okay to start hand-to-hand training then?"

"Oh yeah, they're definitely ready, and I've got a feeling you're going to enjoy it."He says laughing, his green eyes twinkling with mirth.

"You know me so well. Gotta love knocking them down to size. They all think they're so fucking tough until they step into the ring with me."I say through laughter, which sets Blade off too. Tears are streaming down his face from laughing so hard.

I watch on as he regains his composure. I'd say his reaction is over the top, but it"s not. I think every Prospect we"ve had since I"ve been an Enforcer thought they were something special until they went up against me.

"Let me know when you're going to start; I could do with some entertainment."

He's smirking now. I know for a fact that everyone loves it when I start my training with The Prospects; they turn it into an event. No joke, they get chairs set up, and we always have a massive audience.

"I'll go speak with Wrath now and let you know when it"s happening. Wouldn"t want you to miss out."I smirk as I stand up, clapping him on the shoulder.

Walking down the corridor towards Wrath"s office, I catch sight of Ella walking towards me, and I know she"s going to be heading towards the same office as me. My blood starts to boil at the sight of her, but I'm an expert at hiding how I feel now, so nothing shows on my face. She speeds up when she sees me, beating me to the door. Looking over her shoulder, she smirks at me before entering the office and closing the door behind her. Hearing the lock click. I take a long, deep breath as I stop outside, trying not to let her affect me. It"s not that easy, though.

Ella's the chick our President, Wrath, has been sleeping with for the past few years, and I can't fucking stand her. Don't get me wrong, she"s pretty with long brunette hair that stops halfway down her back, hazel eyes, and flawless pale skin. Her personality is the part of her I can"t stand. She thinks she's something special because she's the one our President is sleeping with; she really isn"t, though. She"s just convenient. He"s told me enough times; hell, I"ve heard him tell her enough times. Part of me finds it hilarious that she believes she"s something special to him, but the other part just feels pure rage and jealousy. Wrath isn't just the President of Devil"s Inferno; he's also my best friend Jackson. Problem is, I've been hopelessly in love with him since we were kids. Yeah, didn't I mention I'm gay? It's not like it's a secret; everyone around here knows, and none of them are stupid enough to say anything to me about it. Not after what happened to the last member who thought he could get away with being a homophobic prick. He isn"t around anymore, not after what I did to him; he couldn"t leave the club fast enough.

Ella hates how close me and Wrath are; I've heard her complain about it enough. Wrath always just brushes her off, telling her we're best friends who have always been close since we were kids, and that no matter what she says, that's never going to change. Every time I hear him say it, all I want to do is scream. I know it's a lie. There's always been more between us than just friendship, but he made decisions five years ago that changed our path, but I don't want to get into that right now; it just fucking pisses me off.

Standing here, I start to hear Wrath grunting and groaning from inside his office. Closing my eyes, I lean back against the wall, and try to tune it out. I don't want to hear his moans when he's with her. He should be making those sounds for me and only me, not anyone else.

God, I fucking hate this. I should just walk away, but I must be a glutton for punishment because I'm still fucking standing here listening to what's going on in there, even though it destroys a part of me to hear it. It"s not the first time I"ve heard him in the throes of passion, unfortunately, but despite how it always makes me feel, it changes nothing in the long run. He'll always be the person I love, no matter what or who he"s doing.

Hell, it wouldn"t be hard to just bang on the door, making it known I'm out here, but I won"t. Despite the fact that what's going on in there is destroying me more and more with each passing second, I'd never do that to him. He's clearly enjoying what is happening between him and Ella. He's a lot louder now than when she first went in there. I'd never cockblock my best friend, even though I really fucking want to. Everyone deserves to have their needs taken care of, and I have to accept that Wrath made the choice he did, and his choice wasn't me.

I don't know how long I"ve been standing here, listening to them, slowly destroying more of myself, before I hear the door unlock and open. Ella steps out, looking seriously happy with herself. Spotting me, she quickly closes the door behind her, stopping Wrath from seeing me standing here. Does she honestly think that she can stop me from going in there now that she"s leaving?

"Have you seriously been standing here the whole time I've been in there?"She hisses at me, her hazel eyes flashing with hatred.

"What do you think?"I reply in a bored tone that I know will annoy the hell out of her.

"God, you're a fucking sick perv, standing out here just to listen to your President get off."

"No, Ella, I'm standing here because I was on the way to talk to him about club business, and you fucking got in there first, even though you saw me coming. You knew there was a good chance I needed to speak with him about something important, but you didn't care. Now you've done your job and got him off, so fuck off and get out of here."I snarl; she seriously tests my control sometimes.

She just huffs and stomps off, muttering something under her breath that I can't hear. I just shake my head, knock on the office door, and wait to be invited in.

"Come in." Wrath calls out from inside.

I enter, closing the door behind me, before going and sitting in front of his desk. Wrath's a fucking handsome man with his dark brown hair, which isn't too short but also isn't too long, his chocolate brown eyes that I always want to disappear into, and his natural tanned skin with tattoos covering most of his upper body. He"s seriously most people"s dream, whether they"re men or women. The number of people who check him out or hit on him is insane. Most of the time, he pays no attention to them. He honestly couldn"t care less about it. He finds it funny. Me not so much.

"What's up, Flame?"He asks, his voice overly calm.

Obviously, whatever went on in here left him feeling great, while I'm wound up tighter than a duck"s ass.

"I wanted to talk to you about hand-to-hand training. There any particular times I can"t do it?"

I"m determined to talk to him about what I need to and then get the hell out of here before I end up accidentally saying something I shouldn"t.

"Hmmm, not that I can think of; let me just check."

He starts tapping away on his computer.

"You can start Monday, if you're okay with that."

"Sounds good. Well, that's all I needed. I'll see you later."

Standing quickly, I start to leave. I need to get out of here after listening to him and Ella, and now all I can smell is the lingering scent of sex. It"s making it far too difficult to hide how I"m feeling right now. My entire body is riddled with tension; I'm surprised Wrath hasn't commented on it.

"Are you coming for a drink in The Common Room tonight?"He calls out, stopping me from leaving.

Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath before replying, trying to ensure my voice sounds as normal as it possibly can.

"Not tonight; I need a night to decompress. Have fun though."I say over my shoulder, giving him a small smile.

I carry on leaving, closing the office door behind me before leaning back on it and taking deep breaths. It's getting harder and harder to control my emotions around him. Fuck, something needs to change and soon. I can't keep this up forever. He's going to catch on soon that there's something up with me, and I can't fucking lie to him; he's the one person I've never been able to lie to. I don"t want him to know just how much what he"s been doing with Ella bothers me; it would cause him to feel guilty, and that's not what I want. What I want, I've started to accept, I'll never have.