Chapter2
I think I might kill them.
Zayden said that every time before every show, but this time he felt sure he was going to go through with it.
The four of them— him, Felix, Kai, and Jude— were all crammed into a box office room with their instruments, outfits, and stage management. Everyone was running around acting like they had never done this before. Even Maddox, their manager since they debuted, had a crease on his face and a sour sneer. He had been making that expression for the past few months, always expecting the worst from their band, and Zayden couldn’t blame him.
Their boy band and pack were falling apart, and it was all Zayden’s fault.
“Dammit!” Zayden flinched as Kai threw a fit, snarling at one of Maddox’s assistants. “This should have been done days ago. Why is it always my shit that gets left until the last minute? Now I’ve got an airhead trying to sew my pants and stabbing me with the needle.”
And so, it has truly begun.
Zayden flexed his tattooed hands and waited until Kai did something stupid enough that would force him to intervene. Lately, Kai has been the king of making bad decisions. He used to be the most ambitious out of them all and was so confident that if he said he’d own the sun and moon, he would. Now, the only thing Kai commanded was his own damnation.
Felix looked at Zayden, rolling his turquoise blue eyes, and returned to tuning his guitar. It was Jude who took the lead, always ready to catch bullets. As the tallest one in the band, it made sense, but his personality was completely opposite from his size and strength.
“I’m kind of digging the hole in the pants, actually. It’s a vibe.”
Kai growled, unamused.
When was the last time Kai had a good laugh, or even smiled?
A year ago,Zayden’s alpha growled. Before we fucked everything up.
Ah, right.
Zayden squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose. Memories from a year ago flashed through his mind. The omega he brought home, the chaos it caused, the manipulation he fell for, and the scandal that ruined everything. It was his job as the head of the pack and lead alpha to give them an omega to bind them together. Instead, he set off a bomb and hurt the very men he cared about. Men he was about to lose.
You can fix this.
How?
His alpha hummed softly but didn’t answer. The bastard never answered.
“Can I fix your hair, Zayden?”
He looked up at one of the stylists and nodded. The female beta hid behind him from the drama Kai was creating and fixed his long, black hair into a messy bun with two small braids.
Felix used to always get on to Zayden about cutting his hair. Now, everyone was in desperate need of a haircut. His might have been the longest, but Felix and Kai weren’t far behind.
Maddox looked him up and down. “Recent trends show long hair is out of date. The fans might rev up more attention with a new style.”
“Ha!” Kai sneered. “This old man will never change.”
“Since when is twenty-seven old?” Jude mumbled to Felix.
“Not sure. But if I’m twenty-six, I’m not liking my odds.”
All eyes were on Zayden, waiting for him to react, to put Kai in his place like a lead alpha should, but his bark was fried and had been since the night everything came to a head. That night he made Kai cry.
Zayden thanked the stylist and stood up, towering over Kai by three inches, but they were enough to intimidate him without the use of his bark. His scent burned in the air, and he noticed how Kai’s dark eyes twitched, and he struggled to maintain eye contact.
“We’re on in ten minutes,” Zayden growled. “I expect you to get your shit together so we can perform. Those people out there deserve a good performance.”
“What do you care about what people deserve?” He snapped back.
Jude approached, resting a hand on Kai’s forearm. “Don’t be like that,” he pleaded. “Come on. We only have a few more performances before—”
