Ch. 2: Tricked

Alice

“Please, wait!” I beg as they drag me along, my voice cracking as my feet scrape across the floor.

“I can make you way more than the amount you intend to make from my brother’s race!” I scream out, hoping my words will reach him before we get to the door.

“Yeah, well, that’s obvious… you’ll sell for more than the other girls,” Jackal responds, his tone flat and cold, as if I hadn’t said anything that mattered.

Ah, fuck. Why isn’t he listening?

I try again, my voice trembling but loud. “I’m the unknown person who’s ever beat my brother in a race!”

The words made even the guards halt without being told.

Jackal’s head tilts slightly, that smirk of his crawling back. “Hmm? Bring her back here.”

The guards drag me back and shove me to my knees in front of him. The floor is cold and wet under me. My pants soaking through immediately. I can smell blood mixed with oil and rain.

“Tell me what you were screaming,” he says lazily, looking down at me with those sharp, dark eyes that make me want to punch and run at the same time.

I take a deep breath, trying to calm my racing heart. “I can make you twice…no, three times the amount you intend to make from my brother,” I say quickly, words rushing out. “Because I taught him how to use a motorcycle. And he’s never beaten me in a race.”

Jackal studies me quietly. The silence stretches long enough for me to feel my pulse in my throat. Then, to my shock, he bursts out laughing. The other Alphas around him join in, their laughter filling the underground space.

“You?” he asks finally, amusement dripping from his tone. “A little rogue girl who thinks she can make me money by riding?”

“I’m telling you the truth”

Something flashes in his eyes, maybe curiosity. He leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “You know what, princess?” he says finally. “You’ve got balls. I like that.”

He gestures to one of his guards. “Put her in the game. Let’s see what this pretty mouth can do on the track.”

The guards grab me again, hauling me up. My heart slams against my ribs as I’m dragged toward the underground track. The noise grows louder with every step, the roar of engines, the crowd screaming, money exchanging hands.

They shove a helmet at me. It’s too big, but I strap it on anyway. One of the guards gives me a sharp grin. “If you crash, don’t bleed on the road too much. Makes it slippery.”

I glare at him, but I say nothing. My hands tighten around the bike handles. The rain outside has started pouring again, heavy enough that I can barely see the track lights.

Hah! This is not going to be easy. I look up at the night sky, then back on the track.

Jackal’s voice echoes through the speakers, announcing the new entry. “Ladies and gentlemen, looks like we have a brave little rogue joining us tonight. Let’s see if she’s worth the noise she makes.”

The crowd cheers, laughing, taunting.

I inhale sharply. The engine rumbles beneath me, trembling with power. For a second, I remember my father’s voice telling me to always control the machine before it controls me. I whisper a silent prayer and twist the throttle.

The race begins.

The tires screech, mud and rain flying up as I shoot forward. The cold air slaps my face, water hitting me like knives. My heart pounds so hard I can feel it in my teeth. The sound of engines behind me grows closer, the riders circling, trying to push me off balance.

I focus ahead. My muscles burn with every turn. The rain blurs my vision, but I keep going, shifting my weight, leaning in sharp corners. The adrenaline takes over. The fear fades. All I can hear is the engine’s roar, the wind, and my own breath.

“Faster, Alice, faster,” I whisper to myself.

One rider tries to overtake me from the left. I shift quickly, blocking his path. He curses and almost spins out. Another pushes from behind, but I keep control, gripping the throttle tighter.

Lap after lap, I can hear the crowd’s cheers growing louder. I don’t look at them.

By the end of the second round, I’m leading.

When I cross the finish line, the arena erupts. Jackal laughs through the microphone, his voice booming. “Well, well, looks like our little rogue wasn’t all talk after all.”

But the races don’t stop there. He keeps me going. One round turns to two, then three, then five. Each time, more money changes hands. Each time, the crowd gets wilder. My body aches, my muscles trembling. The rain hasn’t stopped, and the cold is seeping through my bones.

By the third hour, I’ve made him more than I can count. I can see it in his expression, he’s impressed. He doesn’t hide it. He’s standing now, watching closely, his smirk replaced by something sharper.

But in the next race, something feels off.

The bike wobbles slightly when I take a corner. My gut twists…wait, that wasn’t me. That wasn’t a mistake.

I push forward anyway. Another sharp turn, and I feel a hard hit on my back tire. My hands slip, my vision blurs, and the world spins.

The sound of the crash is deafening.

Metal screeches against concrete. Pain explodes through my side. My ribs feel like they’re splitting. My leg twists at an angle it shouldn’t. My head hits the ground hard enough to see white.

For a moment, all I can hear is ringing. The rain pours harder, drenching me completely. The crowd is screaming, some in shock, others still cheering.

Someone pushed me. I know it.

I blink through the blur, trying to move. Pain shoots through every nerve in my body. My chest feels tight, like something inside snapped.

Through the haze, I see Jackal walking toward me slowly, a drink in his hand, like he’s watching a show. The guards follow behind him.

“Well,” he says, crouching near me, voice calm as ever. “That was fun while it lasted.”

I groan, trying to sit up, but I can’t. My leg is throbbing badly. “You saw that,” I managed to whisper. “Someone tampered with my tire.”

He smiles faintly, his eyes cold. “Oh, I saw.” He straightens, his boots splashing in the puddle beside me. “Doesn’t change the fact that you lost.”

“I made you more than the agreed amount,” I snapped weakly, my voice shaking. “Three times more. You know that.”

Jackal chuckles, but there’s no humor in it. “You did. But then you crashed, which means you failed to finish the deal.”

“What? That’s bullshit!” I yell, but the pain cuts through my words.

He leans down again, close enough that I can feel the warmth of his breath on my face. “You see, sweetheart,” he says quietly, “I don’t like failures. You and your brother now belong to me.”

My stomach drops. “What?”

“You heard me.” He signals to his men without looking back. “Take her. And bring the boy too. They’re mine now.”

I try to reach for him, for anything, but my arm gives out. The guards grab me roughly, lifting me like I weigh nothing.

“Let me go!” I scream, thrashing, but the pain makes me weak. I catch sight of my bike, the one our father gave me before he died. It’s lying in the mud, broken in half. The sight of it tears something inside me.

Jackal turns his back on me, already laughing with the others again. “Welcome to BloodRain, Princess,” he says over his shoulder. “You’ll learn to serve soon enough.”

The guards drag me away, my boots leaving trails in the mud. Every step sends fire through my leg. The rain keeps falling, the crowd already forgetting me, moving on to the next bet, the next thrill.

As they haul me through the corridor, I see Gabe being dragged too, my heart fell...that conniving bastard, I knew he would never let us go easily. Damn it! My ribs hurt.