Chapter Five
Cesar stepped back into the main room, body tense after the encounter in the alley. He pushed through the crowd, searching for Matias. Those hyenas showing up at their doorstep wasn’t just a challenge—it was a declaration. Every wolf in the tavern needed to know they had a new threat—one with calculating eyes and an aura of power that made Cesar’s wolf pace anxiously.
Music pounded through the speakers as he scanned the room, looking for his alpha. Smoke and sweat mingled with the scent of fried food and spilled beer. Matias stood near the pool tables, deep in conversation with Santiago. Weaving between bodies, Cesar tried to locate Jamie’s bouncing energy in the crowd. No sign of him or Noel.
“Where’s Jamie?”
he asked Chopper, who was leaning against the wall nursing a beer.
Chopper shrugged.
“Last I saw, he and Noel were throwing darts. Nearly took Diablo’s eye out.”
His lips quirked.
“Your little hummingbird’s drunk off his ass.”
Great. Just what Cesar needed—a drunk human with no filter wandering around a bar full of predators. Especially with hyenas prowling nearby.
“Matias needs to know we’ve got company,”
Cesar said, voice low. There were still plenty of humans in the bar.
“New alpha. Three hyenas were in the alley.”
Chopper straightened immediately, beer forgotten.
“I’ll find him. Go get your boy.”
Cesar nodded, making his way toward the front door. A quick check of the men’s room turned up nothing but some human fixing his hair in the mirror.
The night air hit him as he pushed through the door, cool and crisp compared to the heat of bodies inside. A couple of wolves smoked near the entrance, nodding as he passed. The parking lot was half full, bikes lined up like chrome soldiers under the yellow glow of security lights. A quick scan revealed no sign of Jamie.
Then he spotted him. Relief hit Cesar so hard he almost laughed. Almost.
Jamie was perched on Cesar’s Harley, stretched forward across the gas tank, hands gripping the handlebars. His legs dangled, his toes barely able to touch the foot pegs as he made engine noises with his mouth.
“Vrooom! Beep beep! Out of my way, losers!”
Something warm unfurled in Cesar’s chest. His wolf rumbled with satisfaction at the sight of their mate claiming their bike.
“What are you doing, colibrí?”
he asked, approaching slowly to avoid startling him.
Jamie’s head whipped around, eyes wide and unfocused.
“Jellybean! Gotta find Cesar,”
he announced with drunken seriousness.
“Very ‘mportant mission.”
“Find Cesar, huh?”
He fought back a smile, coming to stand beside the bike. His mate was adorably ridiculous, perched on a bike too large for him, looking determined, despite being clearly wasted.
“Yep.”
Jamie nodded emphatically.
“I need to find you! You disappeared, and I got worried, and Noel drank all my drink. Or I drank his. I can’t remember.”
He scrunched his nose.
“So I’m gonna ride this bike and find Cesar.”
Dios mío. The alcohol had clearly hit Jamie harder than expected. His gray eyes were glassy, cheeks flushed pink, hair sticking up at odd angles like he’d been running his hands through it.
“What’s so important?”
Jamie leaned forward, nearly toppling off the seat.
“I need to tell him I think he’s beautiful. And that I want to kiss his face.”
He frowned, squinting at Cesar.
“You look just like him. Are you twins?”
“No twins,”
Cesar said. “Just me.”
“Well, you’re very pretty too.”
Jamie patted the seat behind him.
“Wanna help me find him? I need to go now. It’s a ‘mergency.”
Sliding onto the motorcycle behind his mate, Cesar circled his arms around Jamie naturally, palms resting over the human’s on the handlebars. Jamie felt small against him, warm and vibrating with energy even when still. Heat radiated from his mate’s body, his scent mingling with alcohol and the lingering aroma of garlic from their dinner.
“I’ll help you find this Cesar guy. You know how to ride?”
Jamie looked offended.
“Of course! You just...”
He twisted one of the handgrips, making more engine noises.
“And then you...”
His brow furrowed.
“Where’s the on button?”
“Ah, well, that’s a very good question.”
Cesar rested his chin on Jamie’s shoulder, breathing in his scent. His wolf settled, content to have their mate safely tucked against them. Good thing Jamie had wandered out front instead of down the alley. If those hyenas had found him...
Jamie twisted his head to look up at Cesar, eyes narrowing.
“Hey, you look a lot like my jellybean. Are you related?”
God, this man was going to be the death of him. Adorable and chaotic and completely unfiltered.
“How about I help you look for me?”
Cesar suggested, lips close to Jamie’s ear.
His mate frowned at the motorcycle controls.
“How do you start this thing? I push this? Or this?”
His fingers fumbled over switches and buttons.
“Let me worry about that,”
Cesar said, gently redirecting Jamie’s hands away from the ignition.
“You just focus on navigating.”
Jamie went quiet then, his body sagging slightly against Cesar’s. When he spoke again, his voice was smaller, all the manic energy suddenly drained away.
“I don’t wanna go home,”
he confessed, eyes fixed on the handlebars.
The fear in those words hit Cesar like a punch to the gut. His protective instincts flared, wolf snarling at the thought of Jamie being afraid to return to his own home.
“Why not, cari?o?”
He kept his voice gentle, even as rage simmered beneath the surface.
“Grant will be there.”
Jamie’s voice dropped to a whisper.
“He’s mad at me. And when he’s mad...”
He trailed off, eyes darting away.
Anger simmered low in Cesar’s gut. The brother again. The one who’d hit Jamie at the store, who’d caused those head injuries. Who apparently was waiting to do more damage.
Not happening. Not while Cesar breathed.
“Sometimes Rowan stays over too. He looks at me funny.”
Rowan. The creep from the grocery store with dead eyes and a predator’s smile. The thought of that man being anywhere near Jamie made Cesar’s wolf want to hunt.
“Hey,”
he said softly, turning Jamie slightly to face him.
“What if you stayed at my place tonight?”
Jamie’s eyes widened.
“At your house?”
“Sí.”
He brushed a thumb across Jamie’s flushed cheek.
“My bed is big, my fridge is full, and no one will bother you there.”
“I don’t want to be a burden.”
Jamie’s words slurred slightly, his eyes earnest despite the alcohol.
“You’ve already been so nice, making me food and letting me play with knives. And everyone always says I’m too much.”
He tilted his elegido’s chin up with a gentle finger.
“Listen to me, colibrí. You could never be too much for me.”
The raw honesty in his own words surprised him.
“I like everything about you—the talking, the bouncing, all of it.”
Jamie stared at him, blinking slowly. “Really?”
“Really.”
Cesar pressed a soft kiss to Jamie’s forehead.
“So what do you say? Want to come home with me?”
A slow smile spread across Jamie’s face. “Okay.”
He twisted back around, hands returning to the handlebars.
“Let’s go find Cesar first though.”
“Of course.”
Cesar chuckled. He slipped the key from his pocket, inserted it into the ignition, and kicked the starter. The engine roared to life beneath them, and Jamie let out a delighted squeal.
“It’s so loud!”
he shouted, hands gripping the tank.
Cesar smiled, wrapping one arm securely around Jamie’s waist while the other controlled the throttle.
“Just like you, colibrí.”
With a smooth motion, he backed the bike out of its spot and rolled toward the exit. As they turned onto the main road, Cesar accelerated, Jamie’s delighted laughter carrying on the wind, head tipped back against Cesar’s shoulder. His wolf hummed with satisfaction.
Cesar allowed himself to imagine more nights like this—Jamie in his arms, their bodies pressed together, heading home. His home becoming their home.
Whatever came next—hyenas, angry brothers, or just the complicated dance of getting to know each other—he knew with bone-deep certainty that Jamie was worth every risk.
The bike ate up the pavement as they headed toward his house, Jamie’s warmth seeping into him, chasing away the chill of the night air.
* * * *
Chopper gave Matias a head nod across the crowded bar, catching his alpha's eye through the haze of cigarette smoke and dim lighting. Matias returned the gesture with barely a flick of his chin, but that slight movement was all Chopper needed.
Moving through the crush of bodies, he ignored the way his beer sloshed over his knuckles as some drunk asshole bumped into him. Music thumped against his eardrums, bass vibrating up through the floorboards.
Down the hallway, behind the main room, where the private rooms waited in shadow, Chopper leaned against the wall. Cool plaster pressed against his shoulder blades as he wiped beer from his fingers onto his jeans.
Footsteps approached—measured, unhurried. Matias never rushed for anyone. His presence filled the narrow hallway before he physically appeared, that unmistakable aura of controlled power preceding him like an invisible force.
“What is it?”
No preamble, no small talk. Classic Matias.
But years of serving under him had taught Chopper to read the subtle signs—the slight tension around his eyes, the way his fingers rested too casually at his sides.
“Cesar had visitors out back.”
Chopper kept his voice low, aware of the thin walls.
“Three hyenas. One of them’s their new alpha.”
Matias’s face remained perfectly still. Not a muscle twitched. Only his eyes betrayed him—darkening almost imperceptibly, pupils contracting to pinpoints. He was royally pissed off.
Silence stretched between them, heavy with unspoken tension. Matias didn’t move, didn’t blink, just stood there processing. His stillness was somehow more intimidating than if he’d thrown a punch through the wall.
“And Cesar didn’t think to tell me himself?”
“I volunteered,”
he replied with a half-shrug.
“He’d been looking for his little human.”
“When was the confrontation?”
“Just now. Few minutes ago.”
Chopper shifted his weight, already calculating his exit strategy. Bad news delivered. Mission accomplished. Time to make himself scarce before Matias decided to shoot the messenger.
“Take Lucio and Raphael.”
Matias’s command stopped him mid-step.
“Check the alley. Look for anything they might have left behind. Scents, cigarette butts. Anything.”
Fuck. So much for that quick exit.
“Sure thing, jefe.”
Matias was already turning away.
“Cesar owes me big time for this shit,”
Chopper muttered, heading back toward the bar to round up the others for their little scavenger hunt in a nasty-ass alley.