Chapter 12: Probie!*
1667 Words
Generally, there would be a celebration if The Nine-Tailed Foxes won a full house. But, not this time because their sister was not there to celebrate with them. Alannah was the glue that held them all together and it was times like these where it became noticeable.
They all went to bed gloomy when order by Tao and in the morning they were desperate for news.
“Alannah is stable, but still on a ventilator. The ribs did not pierce the heart, which is something!” Maya reported with a sympathetic look.
“Yes! She is a fighter! Right, let us get down to training!” Tao said and the other men had nodded. Tao knew he would have to keep them all busy for a while.
“Fighting men suffer if they are left to dwell.” Tao thought.
The men were starting to warm up in the fighting area when Tao felt a vibration in his pocket. Taking out his phone he quickly answered it when he saw that it was his Boss.
“Chairman Lang?” Tao said politely.
“Hi Tao, could you come to the office please ASAP. I have sent a car and should be arriving any minute now.” Xan said.
“A car, Boss?” Tao said surprised, Xan did not normally send cars for staff!
“Yes, a car Tao. Now hurry up, I am unaccustomed to waiting!” Xan said as he hung up the phone. Ethan and Aiden ran over.
“Is there any news on Alannah?” They asked in unison.
“No, it was the Boss. Plus, stop with the twin thing, it freaks me out!” Tao shouted as he walked out of the warehouse.
As predicted, a large black Mercedes was waiting for him. With a sigh he got in, he had a bad feeling about this.
Fifteen minutes later Tao was standing in Xan’s office waiting. Xan came in with two people, one he was very shocked to see.
“Kurt?” Tao said stunned and Kurt nodded his head.
“Good morning Tao, I have some exciting news for you!” Xan said as he indicated everyone to sit down.
“Yes, Boss?” Tao asked suspiciously. There was rarely any good exciting news in his line of work!
“Yes! I have a friend who wants to understand more about what we do here. I owe him a favour and so he is going to stay and train with the Nine-Tails for a few weeks.” Xan said casually.
“Can I ask who this friend is?” Tao said dreading the answer.
“Absolutely, you met him already, it is Kurt!” Xan said with a smile.
“Boss, I have to protest! The group is going through a rough patch as it is, and a new person would cause ..” Tao started to say and Xan held up his hand.
“This is not a discussion Tao, but an order. You will take Kurt and show him the ropes! Understand?” Xan said in a tone that Tao knew from bitter experience, was final. Tao folded his arms defensively glaring at Kurt.
“Now Tao, enough of that! I do offer you a little peace offering.” Xan said.
“Oh?” Tao said.
“Yes, I offer you the services of Theo Evans to help you train the Nine-Tails,” Xan said.
“With all due respect, I don’t need help! They are top of the table and have been for months!” Tao said grumpily.
“No one is questioning your ability, Tao. Theo Evans is the leader of the Mad Dogs.” Xan said.
“I know Boss!” Tao said.
“Then you know it would be foolish to turn down someone of his skill. After last night’s match, it is clear that they all need work on their Andromeda's Chains!” Xan said pointedly and Tao sighed.
Tao knew something was going on, but he also knew that there was no point in asking.
“It would be foolish and I appreciate the help,” Tao said politely.
“Good, well that is settled then. Oh, one last thing Tao about last night..” Xan said.
“Don’t worry, I will talk to her when she is better.r” Tao said.
“Good, we can’t have one of our best fighters been so reckless! She is worth more to us than three points or a double winnings pot. Even if the match last night increase her market value.” Xan said.
“Who has put in offers now?” Tao asked interested.
“Oh, the normal; The Silver Wolves, Blood Moons and Tiger Claws. Not that I would even consider selling her, especially to those barbarians!” Xan growled.
Not every gang treated their fighters well, some were treated no better than slaves. This disgusted Xan deeply and he made dam sure that his fighters were treated well. They had returned the kindness 10 fold, by winning matches and making The Triads an extremely wealthy gang.
“We need to keep an eye on the Tiger Claws, they are far too interested in Alannah!” Tao said stroking his chin.
“Yes, if they lay one finger on her we will retaliate in force!” Xan said.
“I wouldn’t worry Boss, the boys would kill anyone who dares touches her!” Tao said looking at Kurt.
“Good to hear! Now if you excuse me, I have a meeting to attend. Tao will show you out.” Xan said nodding to Kurt and Theo.
Once they were all in the car, Tao spoke: “Now you listen to me, I don’t know what the f**k is going on and I don’t care. What I care about are my Nine Tails. I have trained them and Goddam nearly raised half of them. I won’t have you two little fuckers messing it up! Understand?” Tao growled at Theo and Kurt.
“Yes, of course!” Kurt said, whilst Theo just rolled his eyes.
“And you! You leave Alannah the f**k alone or I will castrate you with a wooden f*****g spoon!” Tao said glaring at Kurt with murderous intent.
“You have my word, I will not touch her unless she wants it!” Kurt said glaring back.
There was a staring contest for the rest of the car ride home. The only reason it stopped was that the Driver told them to get out.
“Well let’s meet the boys, hope you are f*****g ready!” Tao said with a smirk. He led them into the warehouse.
“What is Probie doing here?” Aiden asked confused.
“And who is he?” Ethan said looking at Theo.
Matt, Bruce and Adam or stopped training and walked over in front of Tao. Aiden and Ethan quickly joined them all.
“Boss says we got to show Kurt the ropes for the next few weeks. Bruce, do you mind if he bunks with you?” Tao asked.
“Sure!” Bruce said with a smile.
“I don’t understand! He should not be here, not after what he did to Alannah!” Adam pointed out grumpily.
“That is none of our concern Adam!” Tao snapped.
“Well, I am not training his weak arse!” Adam retorted.
“Well, I'm sure Alannah will be more than happy to do one to one sessions with Kurt!” Ethan said with a smirk. Bruce slapped him on the back of the head.
“Enough! The other person is Theo Evans, he will be helping me get you lardy arses into shape!” Tao said.
“No freaking way! Theo Evans of The Mad Dogs?” Aiden said, almost jumping up and down with excitement. The Mad Dogs had been his heroes since he was a boy.
“Yes! But don’t expect me to go soft on you kid!” Theo said with a wink, clearly seeing Aiden’s excitement.
“Oh no Sir, I would expect nothing less!” Aiden said whilst Ethan rolled his eyes.
“Good, now all of you drop and give me 50 push-ups. That includes you, Kurt!” Theo said as everyone dropped.
2 weeks later
Kurt inwardly moaned as he was sat down at the dinner table. For the last two weeks, he had been pushed to his limit of physical and mental endurance. It did not help that the Nine-Tails made his life more difficult where they could! Whether it was putting hair remover in his shampoo or punching him a little too hard in practice, they were always up to something. All accept Bruce and Matt who seemed not to mind his presence.
Theo on the other hand was getting along with them like a house on fire. Kurt complained about it one day and Theo shrugged saying “You messed with their sister, they are going to make you pay!”
Kurt hardly thought that was fair, it was a misunderstanding. One he wanted to clear up desperately. He was eating his rice when he heard a voice he had been waiting for.
“Is there room for a small one?” Alannah asked.
Everyone turned and saw Alannah who had an arm in a sling and a bruised face.
“Alannah!” The twins said in unison as they jumped up and ran to her.
Alannah was suddenly the filling of a twin sandwich, making Kurt jealous. The rest of the family followed and Alannah was guided to the table. It was only when she sat down in between the twins did she notice Kurt.
“Can someone please explain what he is doing here?” Alannah said, her eyes as hard as stone.
- Writer
