I snorted. “It doesn’t, at least not if you aren’t doing illegal shit.”
All of the faces in the room turned to me and I realized that I had spoken much louder than I’d meant to.
I cleared my throat, avoiding the disapproving looks of the other pack members. “Sorry, no we don’t make money that way,” I hurried to say, my face warming.
I needed to stop putting my foot in my mouth when it came to Juneau Wilde. Ever since she’d appeared I’d been perpetually tongue tied and I wasn’t used to it. I had never been the suavest member of the pack, that was usually Doc, but I could generally hold my own when it came to someone I thought was attractive.
Podcast must’ve felt my embarrassment through the bond, because I felt him brush up against me mentally like a cat, soothing my frazzled emotions easily. I glanced over at him, finding an understanding expression on his face.
“We have jobs,” Doc explained. “I work at a veterinary office part time, Podcast is a freelance video editor, Rex runs and manages the bar, and Storm is an artist,” he pointed to each of us in turn as he spoke.
Juneau nodded slowly, but it was easy to tell that half of the words that Doc had just said went right over her head. “And what about him?” she asked, turning to point at Bat.
Bat is the one who does all the illegal shit, I thought to myself, biting my tongue so as not to say it out loud.
His dad, Tug, had been the same way, doing whatever seedy shit Apollo needed him to do and usually bringing Bat right along with him. Looking between Bat’s mom and dad it was a wonder they ever managed to procreate at all. Bat’s mom was a free-loving hippie who currently lived in a commune in New Orleans, whereas Tug was a scary as shit alpha who was covered head-to-toe with tattoos. I used to imagine that if the boogeyman was real, he’d look something like Tug. I’d never met two less suited people in my life, which was probably why they were divorced and didn’t speak to one another.
When we were in school Bat used to go to his mom’s for the summer and come back with a light on inside of him, and then his dad would beat that light right out again.
Bat was strange, but he was ours, even if his leaving had royally pissed his dad off. He had expected Bat to take his place as Orpheus’s right hand, but Bat had no interest in being anywhere near that asshole.
“Bat is currently between jobs,” Doc finally said, clearly wanting to skirt around Bat’s ability to slice up a man a hundred different ways while still keeping him alive. Juneau didn’t need to know about that.
“Hey! I breed and sell pigeons, thank you very much,” Bat defended himself, clearly offended by being called unemployed.
Rex scoffed. “I haven’t seen you sell even one of those damned pigeons. I swear every time I go out there they’ve multiplied.”
“Yeah, well, they’re pigeons. They kind of do that,” Bat replied indignantly.
Doc, ever the peacekeeper of the pack, cut into their squabble. “Enough you two, we’re getting off topic. Again.”
Juneau didn’t seem put off by my packmates arguing. Her blue eyes were sparkling with quiet laughter and she had pressed a hand delicately to her mouth like she was trying to keep a giggle from leaking out.
Juneau cleared her throat and all of the attention in the room returned to her. “So Doc, Storm, Podcast, Bat, and Rex… those aren’t your real names, right?”
“No,” I said, stepping in and hoping that I could manage an entire sentence without saying something stupid. “We all have legal names too but we prefer our nicknames. Mine’s Tayen, but everyone calls me Storm because, if you haven’t noticed, I like storms.” I gestured to my still dripping hair.
Doc was next. “I’m Daniel, but I got the name Doc when I was a combat medic in the Marines. It carried over into MC life,” Doc said and continued introducing everyone else. “Podcast is Oliver, but I don’t think anyone has ever really referred to him by that name. He listens to a lot of podcasts which are like radio stations… were radios invented by 1915?” Doc asked, frowning over his lack of knowledge.
I had a feeling we would all need to brush up on our history as soon as possible. Not that any of us were that great in high school, well, except for Rex.
“Not in a way that would have been accessible. Though, I’m assuming that the Wilde house had a phonograph. Lord knows you were rich enough for it,” Rex’s voice was snarky as shit and I glared at him. He had been making a real ass of himself when it came to Juneau and it was wearing on my nerves.
Juneau’s spine straightened as she frowned at the alpha who was doing his best to bait her into another fight. “We did have that, yes,” she said with a feminine sniff before she turned her face away from Rex, ignoring his presence entirely.
Rex hissed as Doc’s elbow connected with his side. “Be nice or I’ll make you leave,” he warned before continuing his introductions.
“Bat’s name is Jasper but no one ever calls him that either.”
“They call me Bat because everyone thinks I’m crazy, get it?” Bat pushed away from the wall and leaned over Juneau, forcing her to tilt her chin up in order to look at him. She didn’t seem put off by his sudden closeness, but Batwasaffected as he inhaled her scent. “You smell like cake,” he said to her, his eyes widening as he licked his lips.
“...thank you?” Juneau’s lips tilted up and she smiled up at him hesitantly.
“Down, Bat,” Doc ordered as if he was talking to a dog rather than a human man. Bat wasn’t put off by it though, and just chuckled before stepping back with his hands up in surrender.
“Lastly, we have Rex, his mama named him Luke because she was obsessed with Star Wars… which I guess we’ll have to show you so you get the reference,” Doc finished sheepishly with a shake of his head.
Juneau nodded, looking overwhelmed by all of the information that she’d just received. “Why is he called Rex?” she asked, frowning.
