by Jade Royal
“Too much noise. My wolf was going berserk.”
“Mine too,” Brandy added. “I know I have control of her, but I was beginning to doubt it.”
“I don’t understand how you all have control of your wolves, but I don’t! I mean, I’m the one that’s 18!”
“Every wolf is different Gemma. Plus we all shifted before you did. So we had longer times with our wolves. And we’ll be 18 soon too you know,” Maya said.
“Look, don’t even think about your control right now. We’re out, and we should have fun. You look cute, and I know you wanna have a good time.”
“Well if I can’t go into clubs then-”
“There’s a lounge,” Amber perked up. “Right down the street. They play music, but it’s not club-thumping music. And they sell drinks. We can have fun there that way. Come.” She grabbed hold of Gemma so they could keep walking. Secretly Gemma just wanted to go back to the cave, but she knew she should at least try to make the best of the night. Gemma was thankful she gave the place a chance. The lights were low and on one setting instead of strobe lights that flashed different colors and annoyed her wolf. The music was at the perfect volume, that was better for both her human and wolf parts. Not only that, but there was a woman on the stage in the middle of the place singing a soft tune that hit Gemma to the core.
“This is perfect!” Amber squealed.
“There’s a free booth over there,” Niles said. He led the way this time to the booth. Gemma followed, but her eyes were on the woman singing about someone’s halo.
“You know her?” Maya asked as they sat down.
“No, I don’t know humans,” Gemma replied. “Her voice is nice though, hitting those notes almost perfectly.”
“So you know about music?” Niles asked. Gemma shrugged instead of answering him.
“Show us what you got Gem,” Maya dared her.
“Don’t be ridiculous. They probably have to set up a whole shit before someone just hops up on stage to start singing. Hell, that woman probably owns the lounge.”
“I don’t think so. Check out the karaoke machine behind her,” Brandy said. She got out of the booth and grabbed onto Gemma’s wrist.
“Something tells me you’re a songbird,” Brandy said. “And I wanna see what you got.” As soon as the woman sand the final note, she bowed at the applause. Stepping down from the stage she gave Gemma the microphone.
“I don’t know about this,” Gemma said shaking her head. She wanted to give the microphone to anyone else, but no one would take it.
“Even if you can’t sing Gemma, it’s still fun. Or at least to humans it is. But I mean, you sing in the shower don’t you?”
“Yeah but-”
“How ‘bout we all sing together then? Loosen you up a bit.” Brandy, Maya, and Amber stormed the stage. The three of them studied the karaoke machine trying to find a song to choose. Gemma was temporarily spaced out until she heard the music start. Even though Gemma didn’t personally know anyone who was human, she still listened to their music. So when the ‘No Scrubs’ song came on, she recognized it easily. Looking at the stage, Gemma couldn’t help but giggle as she watched her three friends sing and dance to the song like they were the main event at some concert. Niles stood in front of the stage, cheering and clapping even though the girls were calling him the scrub. Brandy took Gemma’s hand and pulled her onto the stage. They let the beat go unaccompanied by vocals, waiting for Gemma to start singing. Letting go of her inhibitions, Gemma just shrugged and began singing. She always loved to listen to music and before Maverick took over their pack, Gemma used to sneak into town and watch a local music class that took place every Tuesday. She didn’t understand her interest in it, but it was a time where she and her wolf were one entity. They both loved the sound of music.
She only sang out loud to herself before and never to an audience. So the moment she opened her mouth and began singing, the reaction of everyone around her made her nervous. But then she was receiving applause and cheers to keep singing. The girls were staring at her with their mouths open until she sang the last note.
“Really?!” Amber gasped.
“What?” Gemma asked.
“Imma need you to go choose another song and sing to these people and stop playing around,” Brandy snapped.
“I can’t believe you been holding out on a talent like that!” Maya shook her head. Gemma giggled unable to say anything to her friends. But all of them blocked her from leaving the stage. Deciding she wanted to have fun that night in the first place; Gemma went to the karaoke machine where she chose another song.
****
“Is that who I think it is?” Bryce grumbled under his breath as he looked from his office window down into the dark lounge that he owned.
“The young wolf from Kameron’s pack,” Hera said looking on as well.
“She’s in Kellan’s pack now.”
“What’s her name?” Bryce questioned.
“The hell if I know. Something with a G. Gabrielle? Gabby? Something like that. Never really paid her enough attention to remember,” Hera shrugged.
“I wonder what she’s doing here?”
“Obviously singing,” Hera said pointing at her.
“Well yeah. And she sounds real good. But I meant what in the hell possessed her to come to the lounge.” He took a deep breath.
“I don’t smell her pack. Do you?” Even though Bryce had enhanced abilities, it was nowhere as strong as a shifter. Having Hera allowed him to confirm his senses in areas where he doubted them.
“Nope. She’s aloneexcept for her friends. Going into the human world without your pack, especially one with enemies. Stupid. Let’s go snatch her ass and kill her,” Hera cackled her claws already drawn.
“Cool it,” Bryce said. He shook his head at Hera and looked at the young wolf. She was a beautiful sight. Her short leather skirt made Bryce’s dick harden in his pants. Since he’d been turned or whatever it was that happened to him, he hadn’t had the pleasure of being with the opposite sex.
“Really Bryce? You’re gonna be aroused by the next bitch right in front of me?” Hera snapped at him. Bryce waved her off.
“Just because we’re partners now don’t mean we’re fuck buddies. You ain’t gave it up yet, so I can sniff around another wolf if I want to.”
“Man whatever. What the hell you plan on doing with her if you ain’t just gonna kill her.”
“Well, maybe she can be useful. I want to destroy Kellan’s pack. I obviously can’t kidnap her. That didn’t go well for Maverick when he kidnapped a she-wolf. Until I figure out what I wanna do with her, I’d like to attempt to keep her around. She can benefit me not only sexually but strategically.”
“There’s no way she’s gonna let you fuck her. Sorry to admit that to ya,” Hera said. Bryce laughed.
“Who the fuck said I cared what she was gonna ‘let’ me do?” Hera sighed hard and rolled her eyes.
“Alright fine, you’ll fuck her. And then what?”
“You’re gonna continue to teach me about being a shifter. I’m going to operate my business like I was operating it with Maverick. And that young shifter is going to get me access to the rest of her fucking pack, including, my bitch of a daughter.”
“You know, I could just follow her out of here and find the place where the Phoenix Pack is hiding out,” Hera said.
“That could work. Or she could scent that someone is following her,” Bryce rolled his eyes. “But at the end of it all, I want that pack to suffer. Simply killing them ain’t gonna be enough.”
“Let’s just hope you’re more successful than Maverick,” Hera mumbled. At the mention of his name, Bryce just sighed. All Bryce wanted from the beginning was the power of a shifter. Now he was resorted to living a life with mangled bodily features.
When Bryce met Maverick, it was because Maverick followed Bliss home. He wanted Bliss and had followed her everywhere. At first, Bryce didn’t agree to the relationship. He wasn’t sure what it was that
he was unsure about but he saw his daughter with someone else. But then Maverick told him about the power. He informed Bryce about shifters and their enhanced abilities. He even showed Bryce he wasn’t full of shit by shifting. Then he promised to give Bryce power as long as Bliss had become his. Once Bryce had convinced his daughter to enlist in a relationship with Maverick, the work started between them. They opened the lounge Bryce owned now, for both shifters and humans along with a club. Bryce had a warehouse at the edge of town just before the woods where he kept his stash of weapons and grew wolfsbane. He and Maverick were supposed to be the two most powerful wolves known. But then there was Kellan and Bliss. What Bryce didn’t count on was first Bliss being given the power he wanted badly and secondly; Maverick betraying him by leaving him to die after the attack on Kellan’s pack. But that was old news. Maverick was dead. Now it was time for Bryce to rise up like he was always meant to do.
“Stay here,” Bryce said to Hera. She rolled her eyes and went to sit on the large couch in the office of the lounge. Bryce left her there, making sure his baseball cap hid his features. Instead of going up to the young wolf immediately, Bryce observed from afar. She was singing ‘Girl on Fire’ by Alicia Keys. The magnitude of her talent had brought the patrons of the lounge onto the dancefloor in front of the stage to dance and cheer her on. Bryce’s lounge did good on certain days, but he’d never seen it do well when it was karaoke night. People only came to drink; dance occasionally and hook up. But her performance was making something new of his place. He moved through the crowd effortlessly; a shadow amongst the hot bodies. He didn’t want to stand directly in front of the stage, so he veered off towards the side.. There he hung out in the shadows, watching her intently. Even from the stage, her scent wafted down to his nose. The lavender and honey scent triggered his arousal even further. She was indeed a cute little thing. Her mane of curly hair was puffy and sprouted from her head like a lion’s mane. He could already see himself yanking on her thick tresses as he fucked her from behind.
“Easy,” he mumbled to himself. Leaning against the wall closest to the stage he continued to watch the young wolf. She sang two more songs before she finally bowed to the crowd and hurried off the stage. They were calling her back for more, but she modestly shook her head and thanked them for the applause. Bryce was standing right near the stage where she exited. But she didn’t even look twice in his direction. He waited to see what she would do next. Her and her friends went straight to the bar ready to order drinks. Bryce thought it then that he could approach her. Fixing the cap on his head, he walked over to the young wolf. Because he owned the place, he was in charge of many things. Being as scared as he was, he made sure the club was always dark. There were carefully placed lights and spotlights, but for the most part, Bryce knew she wouldn’t see his face well, especially with his cap over his eyes. Even so, he was chancing the fact that she could see him because of her shifter abilities. That was just a chance he was going to have to take.
“I hope you ladies are old enough to drink,” Bryce said. All four of them yelped and turned around. They wore guilty looks on their faces. Clue that they were not the legal drinking age. Or at least in the human world.
“So, are ya’ll old enough or not?” Bryce asked.
“Depends on who wants to know,” one of them answered. But it wasn’t the wolf Bryce had his eyes on. She was struggling to see him beneath his cap but stopped looking once Bryce cleared his throat.
“The owner wants to know,” he replied. The four females and the one male all looked at each other. The male inhaled deeply then looked to the girls and shrugged. Bryce cracked a smile. He was well aware of the fact that for some reason he didn’t carry a scent that was discernable to shifters. It worked great in his favor.
“We can take care of ourselves. No need to worry about us,” the same female spoke up. Bryce ignored her.
“I’m not here to get you into any trouble. I just wanted to talk to the songbird here.”
“Me?” Gemma asked quietly.
“Yes, you. You were amazing up there.”
“Thank you,” she smiled.
“So, are you a singer professionally?”
“No,” she chuckled as if he couldn’t believe he asked her that kind of question.
“My lounge is a pretty chill environment. I haven’t seen the crowd react to anyone singing like that in here. I was thinking maybe you wanted a gig?”
“Gig? What does that mean?” she asked. Bryce remembered that certain terms wouldn’t resonate with shifter culture.
“I want you to come here on certain nights and sing. Be the live entertainment. I’ll pay you a solid rate each night you come out.”
“How much you talking?” one of her friends asked speaking up for her.
“1250 for two to three hours of entertainment. And it’s off the books I’ll pay you cash.” She gasped surprised at the amount.
“Wait a minute. How do we even know you’re not full of shit?” the male wolf asked. Bryce went into his pocket for his wallet. He pulled out 500 dollars and pushed it in her hands.
“That’s for tonight,” he said. Gemma couldn’t believe what the stranger was telling her. Even though her senses allowed her to see the man, his face was covered by his cap. She wasn’t worried about that because from what she could see he was horribly injured. She figured anyone would want to hide their face if they had scars like the ones he was sporting. Through his heartbeat, she could not hear any lies. What he spoke was the truth. He was the owner, and he wanted her to sing for his lounge. Gemma never had a job before and relied on both her parents and the alpha to take care of her, but now this was her chance to have her own money to take care of her parents instead. To her, 500 dollars was a lot. But still, she was unsure.
“I don’t know,” Gemma replied honestly.
“What’s your name?” he asked her.
“Gemma.”
“How about this Gemma? You take that money, and when you’re ready to come back and take my offer, I’ll be here. If you decide you don’t wanna do it, then you don’t even have to come back and tell me. But I’ll always keep the offer open. How’s that?”
“It’s okay,” Gemma replied. “So what’s your name?” she asked.
“Bryson,” he answered giving her the fake name he’d used for his businesses.
“Okay, Bryson. I’ll um be thinking about your offer.”
“Take your time.” He nodded his head at her before he looked at the bartender.
“Geno, all their drinks are on the house tonight,” he said. The bartender made a thumbs up sign and nodded. All of them looked at him up and down convinced that he was truly the owner now.
“Have a good night,” he said to them. With a last nod, he turned and walked away from them.
Back in his office he only smiled at Hera; satisfied that he had at least gotten Gemma to think about coming back to the lounge.
“Her name is Gemma by the way,” Bryce said to Hera.
“What the fuck ever,” Hera scoffed.
“What don’t you know about shifters?” Hera asked going straight to the topic of him being alive in the first place.
“I researched plenty, and under Maverick I learned a lot. What I just don’t know is why my body is mangled the way it is and why I didn’t die.”
“I don’t know that,” Hera said. “But if a shifter scratches someone deeply they can turn them into a shifter.”
“That’s what I’m assuming. But I haven’t shifted yet.”
“Well, you would only be able to shift during the first full moon since the time you were scratched. And that full moon hasn’t happened yet. You’ve got about another week and some change. But do you hear or feel another conscience within you?”
“Nope,” Bryce replied. Hera hummed and looked at him curiously.
“No urges that come to you? Do you see a vision of a wolf in your mind?”
“Nope.” Hera hummed again.
“What’s that
supposed to mean? What am I?” Bryce asked. Hera stood and walked over to him. She circled him completely before stopping in front of him.
“I have theories about what you are, but I gotta do some more tests. But what I do know is that you most definitely ain’t a shifter.” Bryce only glared at her as she laughed with a flickering fear inside him as to what the hell he had truly become.
Chapter Four
“You were amazing tonight,” Niles said to Gemma as he walked her to her room in the cave. Gemma smiled and pushed her hair from her face.
“Thanks, Niles. I appreciate it.”
“Your pack must be proud of you.”
“My pack doesn’t know about this,” Gemma said giving him a warning with her eyes.
“Secret’s safe with me,” Niles chuckled. They stood outside her bedroom door. Gemma didn’t know if he was waiting for an invite inside. That wasn’t going to happen.
“So Niles, you don’t think Brandy, Maya, or Amber is cute?” Gemma asked him.
“Of course they’re cute, but I have my eyes on you already Gemma. I thought that was pretty obvious.”
“What’s pretty obvious is that I have a mate,” she said softly.
“A mate who refuses you,” Niles countered. Gemma crossed her arms. Her eyes were beginning to glow.
“I take that back!” He said promptly. “I don’t mean to upset you, Gemma. Seriously, let’s talk about something else. Like how you were amazing tonight.” Her eyes returned back to human at his sincerity of not wanting to upset her.
“Amazing tonight how?” Tristan’s voice vibrated from behind Gemma. Niles stepped back completely making sure to give Gemma her space before her mate wanted to strangle him. Niles cleared his throat.
“Um, she’s just amazing that’s all,” he mumbled. Tristan sensed his lie immediately. He looked at Gemma who was wearing a revealing outfit with hair that was frizzed out from the temperature in the lounge. He could smell that she was sweating, but even her sweat smelled like lavender and honey.
“What were you two doing?” Tristan asked.
“Nothing!” Niles squeaked. Tristan glared at him. He pushed his dominant energy at him. his wolf immediately bowed to Tristan and further backed up. Gemma turned to Tristan to give him a mouthful, but all she ran into when she turned around was Tristan’s hard chest and a nose at the apex of her neck.
