My kin indulged in their vices. Claiming with eager hands and wet tongues. Shadows could only conceal so much—especially when most of us saw and heard everything—so there was no reason for the desperate to hide.
None of us were searching for love.
We were searching forthe right now.
Darnell looked up from where he stood behind the bar. EDM thumped around us, but his voice threaded right through the music. “Ready for another one, my man?”
I held up the almost empty glass, pretending I didn’t need to concentrate to keep it still. “If you promise to make it stronger than this shit.”
Darnell smiled, his teeth bright against his signature full beard. “Your gamma will have my ass, Alpha. Promise to protect me, and you’ll have yourself a deal.”
I chuckled, knocked back the last of my drink, and slid the glass across the bar. It cut through a strobe light beam before stopping where Darnell’s open hand lay waiting.
Maya was furious with me—as much as her reverence for me would allow—but I understood her concern. In fact, I respected it. So, when taking care of the rogues failed to satisfy me, I did the responsible thing and told my gamma where she’d be able to find me.
Then, she’d called the club and threatened the bartender.
Darnell placed the drink within my reach. “You already owe me, you know…? Respectfully.” He jerked his head to the left. “I had to explain that.”
I didn’t need to look. The first thing I noticed when I walked into the club was the chemical tang of fresh mortar tainting the aroma of pheromones.
Plus, the last time I was there I’d thrown a werewolf through the wall.
I bobbed my head to the music as I brought the glass to my lips.
Darnell’s gaze still lingered like hives. “Where… is she?” His body tensed. “The human you claimed that night?”
I brought the glass down hard on the bar, the dark liquor splashing onto the granite. My wolf growled beneath the surface, confusing my irritation for possessiveness.
Darnell cleared his throat, smart enough to inch away.
Despite the way the room swayed, I shut my eyes, fighting the tightness in my chest.
What in the moonless hell was wrong with me if even a memory could cause my blood to boil? Remembering how that alpha touched her… wanted her…
I should’ve killed him. And if Darnell knew who he was, I still had a chance. All I had to do was convince the bartender to give up the information… or beat it out of him.
I forced a deep breath and waited until my wolf calmed before opening my eyes, but a woman’s sharp gaze halted my plan.
“So, you’re the reason this place got a makeover?” She leaned against the bar, one elbow propped on the granite while she twirled a strand of her blonde hair around her finger.
A sheer black lace top clung to her curves, the deep plunge of her neckline almost as teasing as the dusty pink circles surrounding the buds hidden by flower motifs.
“Was it really over a girl?” she teased with a sultry grin.
I finally brought my gaze up from traveling along her body.
Her plump lips rose into a smile. “Because if it is, I might be the unluckiest wolf I know.” Her orange eyes sparkled through the low light and atmospheric smoke.
I smirked, nodding to the stool she stood beside. “I don’t see a girl in that seat, do you?”
Her smile widened. She hopped onto the stool, her black miniskirt hugging her hips like a second skin. She held out a hand. “I’m Amber.”
We shook. “Marcus.”
She raised a brow. “Alpha, huh?”
I nodded.
