Predator l 22

Time flew by and the hours stretched into the evening. It was already dark when April left Nikolaj's small cottage. She enjoyed her time with Nikolaj and their small conversations they had.

Until now, she didn't even think about her brother. He must have been worrying about her, seeing as she had a few missed calls from him. She decided to text him a quick message and letting him know that she's on her way home.

Once in the hallways of the apartment, she saw Shawn lingering in the hallway, in front of his door. His attention was on his phone as he was tipping on the display, but he looked up when he heard her approaching him.

A smile flickered on his face, but when he scrunched his nose it quickly slipped from his mouth. „Were you with Rozanov?"

"Uh, yeah," she answered surprised. "How do you know?"

"His smell is all over you," he grunted disapprovingly. "What were you doing with him?" There was an accusing undertone in his voice.

"Nothing," she was quick to answer. "We just talked. Nothing else."

He nodded but it was clear to see that he doubted her words. He didn't believe her, but quite frankly, she didn't even care. What she did or did not do was none of this business.

"Are you free for the rest of the day?" He asked unexpectedly just as she was about to rummage through her bag for the keys.

She turned around to face him. "Uh, sure." She sounded very confused with the sudden question he threw at her. "What else could keep me busy in Rosewood?" She asked sarcastically and rolled her eyes.

"Nikolaj, it seems," was his dry answer.

April rolled her eyes. "Very funny," she answered. "Why do you ask?"

"I need a helpful hand tonight."

* * * * *

"I can't believe you dragged me here, out of all places!" she said hysterically as Shawn pulled over the bar. No wonder why he kept silent when she asked where they were driving. She wouldn't have come otherwise. „Why are we here anyway?"

"I need someone to help me with the drinks tonight."

"Why?" She asked but then remembered. Nikolaj told her that they were fighting every weekend. Her head fell back against the headrest. "They are fighting today," she answered her own question seconds after. "Couldn't you have asked someone else? I'm not exactly thrilled about the fights."

He glanced at her and smiled. "I don't care about your human opinion about this. Or about us," he answered. "And to answer your question, no one was willing to help me out. They all want to enjoy their night."

They got off the car and walked towards the entrance. "Just calm your nerves and enjoy the night."

April scoffed. "Not sure if I can do it with you by my side." Shawn pulled out the keys and entered the bar, with April following behind him. "When will the fight even start?"

"In an hour. You can leave before it starts, if you're uncomfortable with it." He nodded to the counter with his head, motioning her to follow him. "There are still a few glasses you need to clean. Did you ever work in you life?"

April stilled momentarily but then glared at him. "Yes, I did," she answered coldly.

Shawn mocked surrendered and smirked. "Sorry," he apologized half-heartedly. "It's just that I know about your family background and all," he explained and picked up a few dirty glasses, handing them to her.

"Well, then you also know now that I actually earned my own money."

"Is that so?" He asked. "Where did you work? Any bartending skills I should know of?"

"I worked at a bar once, actually," April told him. "It was before I started studying at the university, but I quit a few months after starting uni. Too much pressure and all," she explained as she

Shawn nodded, understanding. He placed another couple of glasses next to her as she began to clean the dirty glasses. April carefully smelled the glasses and scrunched her nose together.

"Ew. They smell disgusting."

Shawn shot an awkward look her way. "Well, nobody told you to smell them. Just stop whining and do your work."

She rolled her eyes. "Who helped you the last time?"

"No one."

"Really?" She asked and arched her eyebrows. "It seemed you handled everything quite well on your own."

"I did. But I always welcome a helping hand."

"Clearly," she muttered under her breath. "And what will you do, besides doing nothing, of course?"

"I will dry the glasses."

"Well, then grab a towel and make yourself useful."

Shawn snorted at her words. "Keep doing your work. The glasses don't wash themselves on their own."

She rolled her eyes. Shawn stepped next to her and began to dry the glasses, before placing them somewhere under the counter.

"How long do you even work here?" She asked as she watched his fast movements.

"Around five or six years," he answered with a lift of his eyebrows, surprised at her curiosity. "What about you?"

"A bit over a year," she said. "Who had the whole idea with the fighting thing?"

"Viktor." Sure. Who else? "He had this whole idea sometime during the late 18th century, I believe. Over the time, it became quite popular. Back then, the poor had nothing to entertain themselves. Plus, you could win a lot of money if you bet on the right Lycan. Just as horse racing became popular among humans, cage fighting became popular amongst us."

* * * * *

It was half an hour later when the bar slowly started to fill with people. It has been a long time since she worked at a bar so she was a bit rusty when it came to her bartending skills, but she did quite well nonetheless.

"Hey, I know you," a guy spoke up as he sat in front of the counter, placing his beer in front of him and grinning at her.

"I doubt that."

"No, I really do," he replied. "I remember you from not too long ago. You're the human girl that witnessed our little disagreement. I knew it was you."

Disagreement. That was a nice to describe the fight they had. To her, it clearly looked as if they were trying to kïll each other.

"Oh? That was you?"

"Ashamed, but hundred percent guilty." He casually leaned against the counter and took small sips of his beer. "Sorry for scaring the shit out of you."

"No worries," she answered with a simple shrug of her shoulders, like that night didn't scare her at all. "Wasn't the first time I witnessed a bar fight." Though it never was as brutal as their fight, she thought to herself.

His eyes twinkled. "You're Eric's little sister, right?" She nodded. "What's your name?"

"April."

"I'm Andrew," he introduced himself with a handshake.

"Nice to meet you," April replied and shook his hand. Unlike last time, when beating the other man, he didn't look aggressive or dangerous anymore. He looked fairly normal. "What was the cause of the fight?" She asked. "If you don't mind me asking, of course."

"I don't mind at all," he replied. "He was saying naughty things about my girlfriend. Caught him a few times flirting with her, too." His features darkened and he clenched his jaw tightly. It was clear to see that he still did not forgive him for hitting on his girlfriend.

"Did she cheat on you?"

"No. She would never do that," was his instant answer. "She broke his nose. Almost ripped his head off, when he tried to touch her. She can defend herself. Such a turn on," he whispered the last part to himself and drank from his beer.

Well then.

"You see the two women?" He spoke up and pointed back to a table.

She searched the crowd, until she spotted someone familiar. "Lorena?" She asked when her eyes fell on her. "She's your girlfriend?" Wasn't hard to imagine. She really would rip someones head off.

"You know Lorena?" He lifted his eyebrows in surprise. "But no, that's not her. I mean the woman next to her. That's her. That's Viola, my girl," he proudly said.

April found her sitting at Lorena's table. She almost didn't notice her. His girlfriend had black, shoulder long hair. She was dressed in black clothes only and had her lips painted in a vibrant red. As if sensing their gazes, she crooked her head and smiled at her boyfriend. He winked at her and threw her a kiss. Wow. She looked far too innocent to be able to inflict pain onto someone.

* * * * *

Another thirty minutes had passed and April was left all alone, as everyone disappeared into the backroom to watch the fight.

Every now and then she could hear the soft sounds of cheering erupting from the room. Somehow, it made her feeling slightly uneasy knowing that they were beating the shit out of each other in the very same moment.

She tried to busy herself with the unclean tables. Some of these men were truly pigs. They clearly didn't care that they spilled beer and god knows what else on the tables and on the grounds, lets not forget on the chairs and stools also.

Shawn was right, she would have also wanted a helping hand if she would have worked here alone. She quickly grabbed the cloth and began to clean the counter. The tables and everything else she let untouched, leaving them for Shawn. He didn't do much tonight, besides drying some glasses, and even left her alone to watch the fight.

Once finishing cleaning the counter, she threw the cloth away and took a seat on a stool, with a beer in her hand. April realized that she still didn't hear anything from her brother, after she had sent him the short text message and telling him she was on her way home. She figured he was busy and didn't think further about it.

The door of the bar swung open with a soft creak following after. Glancing over her shoulders, she met Nikolaj's gaze.

"Hey," she muttered in a quiet voice as he sat next to her. "You don't want to watch the fight?" She asked with a slight smile on her lips.

"No." He shook his head.

That surprised her. "Really? Why are you here then, if not for the fight?"

"Beer," he answered, his lips lightly curling upwards into a smile.

April grinned. She jumped off the stool, trudging behind the counter. Quickly grabbing a glass, she filled it with beer. He took it from her hands and sipped at it, his eyes not wavering away from her.

"Why are you not watching the fight?"

"Not really my things," she admitted and shrugged. "I'm only here because of Shawn. He said needed some help here, but it seems like he only wanted to dump everything on me."

Nikolaj chuckled. "He's lazy."

April snorted. As another loud cheer erupted, Nikolaj's eyes briefly fell to the backroom, before flying back to meet her eyes. "The first round is over," he murmured and drank from his drink.

"Really? You can hear that?"

He nodded.

This shouldn't surprise her, but it did.

"Andrew is winning," he spoke.

Her eyes widened slightly.

"Hey, why don't you come over on monday? I can cook something, if you are free and if you want, of course."

Nikolaj smiled warmly at her and pushed his glass away. "Very gladly."

- -
sorry for the long wait. i wasn't motivated enough to continue writing this story. all i want is to finish this story as soon as possible and start rewriting it. also, thanks for over 80 votes on the last chapter.