A True Actor
thirty-six
*MARTIN*
Ihave spent the last days working relentlessly under Leonard’s tutelage, and with Dr. Francis joining in to help me further, I find myself making some progress. Real fucking progress!
“Hey, my man!” I feel someone slap my back, making me almost spit out my drink. Behind me, some guys holler their hellos.
It makes me want to disappear. They are loud and obnoxious, but I have work to do here, and I am not going to disappoint my alpha and luna. Those two and Griffin are my only friends, and I will make sure to protect them.
“Hey, you jerk,” I go for an equally loud voice, turn around with a bright grin, and nudge the man with my elbow.
“It’s good to see you warm to us,” one of the guys grins. “I didn’t know you would be so fun to hang out with.”
“You know how it is,” I say. “Sticking around the pack isn’t always fun.”
“I can imagine,” one of the guys, Luis, sneers. “Forest has to be such a loser. My alpha hates him.”
“So does Alpha Jordan,” another adds.
Luis is the one who brought me into this group. The beta I am friends with, and whose ass I saved, set us up with a promise from Alpha Leonard to be protected and able to get out of this whole ordeal, without facing any charges or any punishment.
It was a good deal for him because the man had been involved in Jordan’s bullshit.
Guess he realized it’s better to jump ship.
Officially, he is on a month-long beta training course now so that his alpha won’t get suspicious that he isn’t around much.
Leonard set it up for him, mainly so that he could keep an eye on him as well.
The last thing we want is for the guy to blab.
But Luis… Luis is a true gem. A disgusting, ugly and pretentious gem, but a gem, at least to me. And I have spent the last two weeks kissing up to him.
“Luis,” I grin. “Shut up and order us new drinks. I don’t want to talk about my alpha now.”
Luis laughs. “You need to join us more if you want some more fun.”
I rub my face. “I don’t want him to get suspicious, you know? Forest, I mean.”
“Isn’t he too dumb to notice anything?”
“Yeah, he is,” I say, flinching inwardly at badmouthing Forest. I don’t like doing it, even if it is to keep up the pretense. “But his luna is pretty sharp.”
Luis grimaces. “She is a menace. That’s why Jordan wanted to get rid of her.”
“Is that true?” I ask, pretending to be curious. “She is so weird. I don’t know what to think of her at all.”
“My alpha is best friends with Jordan,” Luis says. “They know stories about her shenanigans. You know, a typical spoiled princess, whose daddy spoiled her rotten. All she has is thanks to Jordan, and she constantly tried to sabotage him.”
I grimace. “I don’t need that to happen to my pack.”
“She is your alpha’s mate, man,” one of the other guys says. “Not much you can do about that.”
“If only I could get out of this shitshow,” I groan. “I would do anything. Seriously, it’s easy for you guys. You are serving strong alphas, but as for me… I am stuck in that shithole.”
“Well,” Luis throws his arm around my shoulder. “How about you make some good choices then?”
“Like what?” I let out a desperate groan. “You know, when Alpha Harry picked me to become beta, I had such high hopes.”
“Yeah, Forest is nothing like Alpha Harry was,” one of the other men agrees. “Harry was a real man. He had everything under control. Meanwhile, Forest,” he makes a face of disgust, “is just Forest. He is weak and focuses on the wrong things.”
“Exactly,” I exclaim. “I sometimes try to reason with him. I even play along to get him to trust me.“
“So, does he?” Luis asks curiously. “Trust you?”
“Yep,” I say confidently. “Took me a while. I played along with all his little games to embarrass the old alpha and luna, to make sure I would be in his good graces.”
Luis and another guy exchange a look. “You know,“—Luis slips closer again, his face very close to mine now. I have to battle not to recoil at his touch. What a disgusting prick—“maybe, just maybe, Jordan would be interested to know that.”
“Know what?” I ask, pretending to be dumbfounded.
“Forest trusts you. That might become beneficial to you now.” A new round of drinks arrives, and we cheer at each other. “Truth is, the man asked me to keep an eye on you and see if you would be useful.”
I frown. “Useful, huh?”
Luis laughs and elbows me. “Don’t act all prissy now, Martin. He just wanted us to test you, but we all agree: you would be a great addition.”
I pretend to be all curious now. “An addition to what?”
Leonard and I have been wondering how Jordan keeps all these people in line.
We both had various suspicions, but we can’t know for sure what’s truly going on.
I am certain there are some guys who wanted to get out of Jordan’s grasp after a while, but they couldn’t.
Probably because either they lost too much money or they know they are fucked.
I see one guy, who I know is from Jordan’s pack, constantly typing something on his phone. He either has Jordan on the line, keeps him updated, or is even recording me. I badmouthed Forest here. If an alpha found out that his beta did what I just did, it would be my end.
So that’s how it works, huh? I make sure to go for a devilish smile. “Anything to get away from that loser,” I say.
“Down with Forest,” Luis exclaims.
Out of the corner of my eye, I notice the warrior from Jordan’s pack staring at me curiously. I make sure to raise my glass towards Luis now. “Down with Forest!”
As the night goes on, more of the guys leave, most of them hooking up with girls from the bar. By the end, only Luis and the warrior from Jordan’s pack are left. By now, I know the warrior’s name is Jonah.
“Seems like we were the only unlucky ones,” Luis jokes.
“It’s fine,” Jonah says. “We can hop to another place instead.”
“Awesome that you are sticking around for so long tonight,” Luis grins.
I can see the annoyance on Jonah’s face and have to hold back a grin. The guy is obviously staying so long to check on me. I’d also bet that Luis was supposed to know that, but he is already pretty wasted.
“Clemmens will join us, too,” Jonah explains. “When the beta comes, I definitely want to hang out for a bit longer.”
Clemmens. At that name, my ears are immediately on alert. “The beta? Oh, you mean Beta Clemmens!” I slap my forehead, pretending to be slightly ditzy as well. “Awesome. Good thing I am not too drunk yet.”
Jonah looks content with my answer. “Beta Clemmens is a great guy,” he explains. “Good beta, too.”
“He has to be to serve Alpha Jordan.”
Jonah nods. “Exactly.”
Luis throws his arms around Jonah and me. “Don’t worry, Martin, we’ll get you out of this shitshow. Who knows, maybe Jordan will recruit you for his own pack.”
I pretend to find his words equal parts funny and pleasing. “A guy can dream,” I joke.
Jonah smiles. “We’ll see.”
He pulls free of Luis and forces us to get up. Ten minutes later, he leads both of us further down the road to a smaller bar. “This one only just opened an hour ago, meaning it’s not as crowded as the other one yet.”
“Hopefully there will be hot chicks,” Luis grumbles.
Jonah smirks. “There will be,” he says.
The tone he uses alerts me instantly. “You know the place well, huh?”
“Yes,” Jonah says. “You could say it’s my favorite bar.”
“Cool.”
I make a mental note to have the place checked later before following Jonah inside the bar. From outside, it looks small and shady, but inside, I am greeted by a vast area; a pretty elegant interior, with scantily dressed women serving the drinks.
They are also all shifters.
I don’t even need to pretend to be surprised. “I didn’t know such a place existed,” I whisper.
“Now you know,” Jonah says. “It’s Alpha Jordan’s bar.”
No fucking way!
Seems like in my last life, I had to be some sort of really awesome performer or actor to have played my cards so well tonight. I deserve a shiny medal for this night alone.
Jonah puts a hand on my arm and then waves at a guy who sits at one of the tables furthest away from the entrance.
That’s Clemmens.
Apparently, my night is not over, but has only just begun.