Chapter Two
Aries
“Aries, I need you to sign off on some things before you make your rounds, please.”
My assistant, Benji, stopped me before I left my office. I loathed this part of owning a club. The paperwork, sitting at a desk answering emails, deliberating over issues, approving expenses. I had people who could do most of those things for me, but only the boss could sign off on a few things.
I chuckled to myself. If I had become the next alpha of my pack, then I would be buried in my office for twelve or more hours every day. My father had been. I couldn’t remember a day when he wasn’t in his office. Taking meetings. Solving pack disputes.
All that had come to an end the day I refused to kill my challenger, but this life was far better.
No pack laws. No statuses or hierarchy. Just me and my pack brothers being ourselves.
I couldn’t kill someone I grew up with just for a job—even if my family didn’t see it that way.
“What is it?” I said, remaining standing. My ass had gone numb a few minutes before and it wasn’t a nice feeling.
“Here.” He handed over a folder, heavy enough for me to hold in my hands and take the pressure of my pen against the paper.
I signed over ten documents, skimming the contents of each as I did, and handed it all back to him. Good thing I trusted him. “Anything else? I need to move my legs.”
“That’s it. And we’re packed tonight. We had to turn some away at the door just to have room to move.”
“Not a bad thing. Ever.”
We made our money on cover charges and alcohol mostly, but there was also a witch and fae bartender who raked in the tips for their fancy drinks. They had a glamour on them, since our club was a mix of humans and shifters, but people paid big money for Elise and Tara’s specialties.
“Not at all, boss. Have fun out there.”
I wore all black to the club. It was easier to blend into the shadows and move like one if I did.
Everyone knew Carver, Diesel, and I were the owners, and sometimes that gave females the idea that we were eligible.
Technically, we were but we’d decided as a pack, when we first formed one, that we would wait for our omega to come into our lives.
No other female would do.
The music changed as I exited the hallway and walked the perimeter of the largest room. We had five rooms to our club, each one playing different music. Different types of people tended to claim the rooms as theirs, but we didn’t put up with any bullying of any kind here.
Fae might all gather in the pink room, but I’d be damned if they harassed a human or a shifter for walking in.
We were neutral ground for all paranormals and humans alike.
“Good night tonight,” I said, nudging Carver, my packmate with my shoulder against his.
“I can tell. Are we at capacity?” he asked, scanning the room as though he could actually get a good count while everyone was dancing and moving around. He couldn’t. I’d tried once and failed.
The lights faded in and out, playing tricks on my eyes. Vamos came in, too. They weren’t allowed to feed on the premises but that didn’t stop some from trying.
That was what Diesel was for. He was our strongman. Our muscle. Also, our best friend. He had a heart of gold and the meanness of a teddy bear, but if someone fucked around at the Astral, they found out by way of Diesel.
“Just under. They are keeping us fifty below, in case the fire marshal stops by.”
The city we lived in was mostly human, but the police and other first responders knew we weren’t the average club. As long as we stayed under the radar of the human laws and kept our permits up to date, they mostly left us alone.
Some other clubs had tried to open up after ours, but they didn’t last because they didn’t play by human rules. We did.
Our club included a laundromat out front, which kept the uninvited from coming in. If humans knew about us, it was because a paranormal friend or mate told them about it and brought them in. We accepted humans here but they weren’t openly invited. Again, balance.
Carver nodded and crossed his arms over his chest. At the same time we were talking, we were watching the crowd. Assessing situations. Monitoring the shadows we were also in. “That’s good. That’s good. Motel is booked up too.”
“I keep thinking that anytime now, the bubble will burst and we’ll hit a snag.”
Carver turned to look at me. “We will. Believe it. Because that’s life. But we’ll get through it as a pack. We save our money. We’re careful. And we own this land outright.”
“Yeah,” I chuckled. “Thanks to your grandfather.”
“It’s pack property now. You know that. Hey, who is Diesel talking to?”
I looked at where Carver ticked his chin and saw Diesel talking to a young woman. I didn’t recognize her, but my wolf howled, demanding I move in that direction.
“Let’s see what’s going on.”