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“What’s going on Silas, and where is Ol—” The blonde woman’s words cut off as her eyes landed on me and Silas stepped aside. Her frown vanished, her brows smoothed out into a look of shock as understanding lit in her hazel eyes. I stared back at her, witnessing the myriad of emotions that washed through her as she broke before me. An anguished cry split through the otherwise silent room, full of fury and sorrow, but before I could even register the movement, she was barreling towards me, her partner and Silas’ shouts of warning had no effect. I stood my ground though, ready to be this woman’s punching bag if that’s what she needed. Pain and grief affects us all differently, and if she blamed me, I couldn’t fault her, I was his Alpha, and I should have—
My thoughts cut off instantly as her slender arms wrapped around my waist and the air fled my lungs from the impact. I struggled to suck in a breath as I hesitantly returned her embrace, my brows knitting in confusion at the sudden turn of events.
“You promise me you’ll find them, that you’ll get revenge,” the woman sobbed, her face still pushed against my chest and her eyes squinted shut as though she could escape the truth for a few moments longer if they remained slammed shut. I relaxed at her words. The pain and vengeance in her tone and the muffled sobs racking her chest were something I could understand wholeheartedly, like an echo of the ones still slicing through my chest.
The brunette woman stepped closer to her back, her slender hand wrapping tenderly around her shoulder with unshed tears pooling in her eyes. But I cut off her words before she was able to speak, knowing she’d seek to calm her partner, to apologize.
“I will,” I answered, my voice calm and sure and I steeled myself for what that would entail, what I knew would need to be done as soon as that meeting shifted last night. Just like that, another life debt was placed on my shoulders, but I’m happy to bear it. I’ll gladly exact the vengeance burning through my veins, like a twin to her own and bear that burden for her. Aldric is at the center of this, and he needs to be taken down.
I hadn’t run into Monte, much to my relief, I couldn’t handle his more than friendly advances along with all of my other jumbled thoughts just yet. I’d felt wild and free during my fun with Zeke, and had felt one with my wolf for the first time in ages. But that overwhelming joy that had washed over me dissipated as soon as he drove me back to the manor. The final groups were arriving back from the Whitlock pack just as we arrived, reminding me of the death and destruction of last night.
We will be holding a joint memorial for the two wolves lost during the attack and Silas and Elise are already working on organizing the ceremony. But the moment we arrived, the moment Zeke pulled his G-Wagon up the courtyard, my betas surrounded the vehicle, guarding me each step of the way. I couldn’t even say goodbye to Zeke, not even thank him for that afternoon.
If one thing was made clear from last night, I need as many people on my side as possible that I can trust. This fight with the Langleys can’t be avoided. We’d tried to solve everything civilly, but it’s clear now that there is too much bad blood between them and our packs. Despite my sympathy for the hardships they’ve had to endure, I have to do what’s best for my pack, and it seems their price for peace is far too high to pay. They want their claws covered in the blood of our people, to destroy and decimate our packs until they are the only ones left. Any survivors, they would undoubtedly force into subservience, just as they had been for all these years.
I glance up the sidewalk, my heels clicking against the cement path as I approach. Patrons line the entrance waiting to get into the Opal Moon, their conversations turning to hushed whispers as I approach, as though I can’t hear them with my heightened senses.
“That’s Skylar Draven.”
“She’s the new alpha.”
“It’s so unfortunate what happened to her parents.”
I block out the conversations after hearing that last statement, tuning out the gossip. Thankfully, the thumping beat of the music vibrates through my chest as the door opens for a patron, the familiar feeling opening me up, my lungs filling completely for the first time in hours. Neon lights cast a purple hue over the sidewalk, the opal stone in it that makes up the ‘O’ taking on the color of the light, casting it onto the road like a spotlight. The bouncer moves to the side as I approach, unclipping the velvet rope as he inclines his head in a sign of respect. I slip past him, giving him a tight nod. The familiar movement makes my heart pang for our Opal Moon in New York, remembering how many times I did the same thing, how many times I stared up at that identical sign.
But this isn’t my Opal Moon, this isn’t the one I spent the past few years running. No, this was my father’s club, the one he made for my mother. It may not hold the same memories as my club does, but it still feels like home. My chest warms as I pass through the thick paneled door. The reinforced door ensures we’re able to lock the club down and keep our staff and patrons safe, because with the business we partake in, we have quite a few enemies in rival packs along the coast.
I can’t help but smile at the sight of patrons dancing just beyond the front door, groups of guys and girls mixing and mingling, moving from the bar to the dance floor. Despite our pack owning and running the Opal Moon, the club is filled with shifters of all kinds. My nostrils flare as I attempt to detect those near me—most are wolves, not only from my pack but all those around. There are also a number of fox and mountain lion shifters in attendance tonight. Wolf shifters from my pack incline their heads in respect as I pass, and I nod in acknowledgement, my gaze narrowing as it sweeps across the room searching out the reason for my visit tonight.
The familiar face I was searching for stands behind the bar. I slip into a spot just as a couple leaves with their drinks in hand. My old friend moves over to the next person down the bar, moving along the patrons in the order they got there. I grin gleefully as she makes the next drink, so focused on the customers she still hasn’t realized who is leaning against her bar.
“I’ll be right with you,” she shouts to me as she moves down the line, making drink after drink and collecting money.
“Take all the time you need,” I shout back, knowing she’ll hear me over the beat of the bass. She freezes for a moment, almost dropping the drink as she hands it to the next customer. The red-head patron huffs out an exasperated sigh and slams her money down on the bar before stalking off. Apparently she’s upset about my friend's momentary lapse.
“I can wait a few minutes, I mean it’s not like I haven’t seen you for ten years or anything,” I tease, leaning almost completely over the top of the bar now.
Her black curls sway around her as her head slowly turns in my direction, as though afraid that I might disappear if she turns too quickly. My grin widens as her dark hazel eyes light up at the sight of me.
“Skylar,” she says. “I mean Alpha,” she adds hesitantly, wincing at the oversight as she eases back.
“Please don’t you start with that too,” I choke out on an amused groan. I know she has to address me as such, especially in public, but it still seems so strange coming from my friend’s lips. Monte and I may have dated, but Seline and I were best friends, we shared everything with each other since we were children right up until I left.
She chuckles, but her gaze roves over the patrons quickly filling in down the bar. My lips quirk at that, wondering how she’s the only person behind the bar. Silas had told me his daughter was the manager, so she really shouldn’t have to serve the drinks.
“You don’t have any back-up?” I ask, slipping back into business mode. For a bar this size there should definitely be at least two bartenders.
“One of my bartenders called in sick tonight, the other is just on break right now. I have someone else coming in but she’s running a bit behind, do you mind if—”
I don’t bother waiting for her to finish her sentence, instead I slip around the side of the bar and hang my new leather jacket on a hook around the other side of the bar. A shiver runs up my spine at its absence and I push down thoughts of the man that gave it to me. Although I hadn’t seen him this morning, I was told that Everett got it when Zeke presented it to me. And now all I can think about whenever I slide it on and off is the teasing caress of his hands running over my skin in place of the smooth material.
“I’ll help,” I say simply, straightening the straps on my black cocktail dress before moving to the sink to wash my hands.
“That wasn’t what I was about to say at all,” she says, staring for a moment in shock before she moves into action taking the next customer's order.
“It’s all good, I filled in a few times in the city,” I tell her, moving to the other station and starting with the first person in that section. We both work through the crowd of patrons, getting their drinks for them and collecting money. Thankfully there aren’t many complicated drink orders. There are different cocktails on the menu here, so Seline does have to make a few I’m not sure on. But for the most part we work together like a well oiled machine.
I get a few sheepish looks from wolves in my pack and a few stare on with blank faces, apparently never having seen an alpha tend bar before. Or perhaps it’s the gun holstered at my hip that they’re wary of. But I just give them a friendly smile, pretending this is my Opal Moon, and that none of these patrons know I’m a wolf—let alone the Alpha—while the few shifters that frequented the place kept it to themselves. Alphas are usually either leaders of packs or forced to live mostly in the human world on their own so they don’t disrupt the balance of leadership in a pack. That or they’re killed in their youth. Typically they take up leadership positions there too, such as managers and executives, but these wolves must not get out of town often to have seen something like that.
