ONE
MONSTER
“Stare any harder at your Captain and Coke, and he might get demoted to deckhand.” Kansas chuckled at his own joke.
Monster glared at the club’s secretary. It wasn’t Kansas’s fault Monster was in a foul mood. His eyes drifted to the silver cuff that circled his wrist as he raised his glass. Despite his abject lack of seasonal cheer or humor, he shouldn’t take it out on Kansas just because he had enough Christmas cheer for the both of them.
Monster opted for humor instead.
“Ah, I see Santa came early and left you a big box of dad jokes under your tree.”
Kansas lifted his mug of beer before tapping it on the bar and then taking a drink. Monster did the same, downing the rest of his in a few hearty gulps, before motioning to their latest prospect for a refill.
Zach had been with them for about a year and wasn’t too bad at basic bartending. But the fancier shit he didn’t get much practice for at the clubhouse. That’s why he was working the bar at King’s Ransom during the busy holiday season instead of the clubhouse. He needed to learn.
Plus, Prowler thought it’d be a good idea to have more of a presence on property after what happened last year with Taylor’s brother. Since it was looking like Zach would come into his patch soon, it was good he was getting a feel for the place.
Zach placed his drink down in front of him and waited to be dismissed. Monster took a swig. The balance was spot on. Of course, it’s hard to fuck up a rum and Coke. Monster would still give him shit though; it was a rite of passage.
“Improving, but you forgot my lime.”
Monster never took a drink with a lime, and he could see the protest perched on the prospect’s lips. He was set to scold him for talking back when Zach muttered an apology, speared a wedge with a skewer and placed it in Monster’s drink.
“Dismissed,” Monster said with a hint of satisfaction, before plucking the offending citrus from his drink and flinging it at the prospect’s back.
To his credit, Zach simply turned around and picked it up. No snarky comeback, no death glare. The kid and his control of his wolf had come a long way since they’d brought him in to protect their secret.
“Not the same kid we met way back when at all, is he?” Ghoul said with pride as he took the stool on the other side of Monster. Of course he would be proud. He was his official sponsor after all.
“Not even close.”
“His wolf has even calmed down considerably.” Kansas added.
“Thank, fuck.”
The few times Monster’s defective wolf had run with Zach’s out-of-control wolf, it had become apparent the two were oil and water.
Prowler had stopped their wolves from running together when Ulf had almost ripped Zach’s wolf’s throat out. The dark gray fucker kept nipping his tail, wanting him to play or run through daisies or some shit. Monster wasn’t sure exactly what had happened.
When Ulf was out, Monster was blissfully unaware for the most part. His eyes drifted to the silver cuff once again. To anyone else, it simply looked like a hammered piece of jewelry of questionable taste, but it was all that stood between the life he had and one spent entirely in fur.
Ghoul’s voice cut through his internal musings.
“It’s being around us. We’re a good influence.”
Deep, booming laughter floated through the air from every club member within earshot.
“Never, in the history of ever, has anyone called men like us a good influence,” Bulldog quipped as he walked up to the bar for a refill.
“That’s not true,” an inebriated Taylor said from somewhere behind them. “You guys are all a bunch of sweethearts. Cuddly-wuddly softies.”
Collectively, they groaned. Drunk Taylor was a rare occurrence, but when it happened, she was annoying as fuck. Of course, not a damn one of them had the balls to say that out loud about Prez’s ol’ lady.
“I’m afraid my ol’ lady has had too much Christmas cheer,” Prowler declared to the room at large.
Monster turned in time to see Prowler throw her over his shoulder and swat her ass. “That’s it. You’re cut off.” Lower, but still audible to the shifters in the room, he said, “And you’re gonna pay for that, love.”
They watched their president leave with a mixture of expressions on their faces.
