by Noah Harris
Nothing But Trouble
Noah Harris
Nothing But Trouble
Published by BUP LLC, 2018.
Copyright © 2018 by Noah Harris
All registered trademarks in this book are the property of their respective owners.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. All resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.
This book contains sexually explicit scenes and adult language and may be considered offensive to some readers. Please don't read if you are under eighteen.
All rights reserved.
Contents
FREE GIFT
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Epilogue
Invitation
FREE GIFT
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Chapter 1
Adrian kept his attention on the man walking from one side of the bar to a nearby booth. Adrian had been watching him for well over an hour and was positive that he was his intended target. He hadn’t been given much to identify the man, but Davis certainly stood out in a crowd. Aside from his monstrous size, the tacky tattoo of a naked woman writhing on his neck was a dead giveaway.
While watching him, Adrian discovered that the man was waiting for someone. Davis had worked his way around the entire bar in slow, gradual laps. The huge man had been careful to seem casual, but Adrian had seen his eyes shifting over every person he passed. He was looking for someone, and Adrian was content to slowly nurse his beer and pretend to watch the old TV that hung in the nearest corner.
The doors to the bar opened, and Adrian straightened as a familiar scent wafted over him. Instinctively, he took a deep breath, inhaling the familiar scent of one of his friends and pack mates. For a moment, he was confused as to why the smell was comforting and familiar as his conscious mind couldn’t immediately recognize the owner of the scent. Then Max rounded the corner, his head swiveling as he looked around.
Adrian sighed, raising a hand to catch Max’s attention. “Over here.”
Max turned at the sound, grinning wide when he caught sight of Adrian. “There you are.”
Adrian watched the younger man all but skip over to him. “Do you always have to look like you’re having the greatest time of your life?”
“And who says I’m not?” Max asked as he slipped into the seat opposite Adrian.
“Were you always this happy or did your mother just really enjoy drugs when she was pregnant with you?”
Max raised a brow. “Aren’t you in a mood tonight. Something wrong?”
Adrian wanted to reply with something snappy and witty, but the genuine concern in Max’s voice stopped him. “I’m fine, just working.”
“Something for Eli?”
Adrian shook his head. “No, this one’s a side job.”
“Ohh, so, should I leave you be then?”
Adrian frowned. “What, you hunted me down just to spend time with me?”
Max shrugged. “And why not?”
“Don’t you have your hands full taking care of delinquents and future criminals?” Adrian asked wryly.
Max frowned in obvious disapproval. “Adrian, be nice. The kids at the community center deserve a second chance and a place to relax without having to worry if they’re going to get jumped, or whatever.”
Adrian snorted. “Or whatever. You’re really showing your former rich kid roots there, bud.”
“It’s not my fault that my parents come from money.”
Adrian nodded. “Yeah, I know.”
“I’m not used to you being this cranky,” Max noted.
Adrian sighed, shrugging to buy himself time to think of an acceptable excuse for his behavior. “I’ve just been working a lot lately. If there’s not one person wanting me to do something, it’s someone else. I’m being a shithead, I know, but gimme a break, I’ve got all of…three hours of sleep in the past two days? I’m allowed to be a little cranky.”
Max watched him carefully and Adrian didn’t like the scrutiny.
“You sure that’s it?” Max asked.
“What else would it be?” Adrian asked in return, knowing he sounded defensive.
Max nodded. “Alright, so we won’t talk about it.”
“There’s nothing to not talk about,” Adrian shot back.
Max grinned. “Look, I might be new to the pack, but even I know when you’re more full of shit than usual.”
Adrian said nothing, choosing to watch Davis begin another rotation around the bar. Max had only been with the pack for a couple of years, but Adrian had to admit that the man had good instincts. Max had been little more than a confused young adult, wandering through life not knowing what he was, torn up from within. It wasn’t until Adrian found him, and brought him to Eli, that Max had found some measure of peace. As pack leader, Eli had decided to add Max to their eclectic collection of werewolves, giving him a place to stay, and a new family to grow into.
“I’m going to guess that you didn’t come find me just to hang out,” Adrian finally said.
“And why wouldn’t I want to hang out with you?”
Adrian smirked. “Not saying that you wouldn’t want to, but for you to know where I might be, you would have had to ask someone else. You haven’t been around us long enough to know all my spots.”
Max sighed, slumping back in his seat. “Yeah, Eli told me where you’d be.”
“And since he decided to blab my location, I now get to use you as a cover while I watch the guy,” Adrian said, tipping his beer in a light salute to Max.
Max tensed. “Who are you watching?”
“You’re trying not to turn around and look, aren’t you?”
Max winced. “Maybe?”
Adrian snorted. “Don’t worry about it, you’ll see him soon enough. Big dude, like Eli’s size, but with a really ugly tattoo on the side of his neck.”
Max chuckled. “And you have room to talk about tattoos?”
Adrian’s hand instinctively went to cover one of the many tattoos that dotted his body. His fingers brushed over the image of a winged snake wound around a blade rather than a staff. It had been an ironic tattoo on his part, meant to emphasize that he would never be a healer, but he sure did know how to fix things. There were the other tattoos, a black circled ringed with light to symbolize a new moon, a pair of bent and bruised angel wings, and another of an owl and a raven, caught in mid-flight as they circled one another. Adrian had even more, and he had long since lost count of just how many there were.
Adrian pointed to the small line of hearts Max had tattooed on his wrist. “Don’t go pointing fingers at me either.”
Max covered the tattoo as if protecting it. “It’s only one.
”
Adrian gestured to Davis as he passed. “And none of mine are a tacky, poorly drawn, naked woman on my throat either.”
Max finally risked a glance toward Davis, face falling when he caught sight of the mentioned tattoo. “God, that really is just—”
“The absolute worst thing you’ve ever seen, yeah. Upside is, made it really easy to figure out who I was looking for,” Adrian said brightly.
Max shifted uncomfortably. “Are you sure he can’t hear us?”
Adrian shook his head. “Don’t worry, he’s human. The only thing he can hear is the god-awful excuse for music that they play in here.”
“It’s not that bad,” Max said, with a wince that said otherwise.
“Yeah, yeah. Now, tell me why you’re here and why Eli couldn’t be bothered to call and tell me himself.”
“Well, as far as the second part goes, because he’s spending his night with Hunter.”
Adrian grinned at the mention of Eli’s friend turned lover. “The two of them are shacked up again? God, that’s got to be, what, the third time this month? Hunter’s really done a lot for making sure our boy Eli isn’t all work and no play.”
“I think it’s cute,” Max told him.
“Yeah, it’s so sweet that I get a new cavity whenever I’m around them.” Adrian snorted.
“Sounds like you’re a little jealous,” Max said with a sly grin.
Adrian scoffed. “Me? I’m quite happy with my life the way it is. I don’t need someone tagging along, slowing me down, or worse, trying to make me stay put with them. I’ve got better things to do than play lapdog.”
Max rolled his eyes. “I know, I know, you’re a strong independent werewolf and you don’t need no man.”
Adrian stuck out his tongue. “I don’t, but I certainly won’t say no to what’s attached to a man.”
“Or more than one,” Max teased.
“I like to have fun, what of it?” Adrian asked.
“I just think it would be nice to see some of us settle down like Eli’s doing,” Max said with a wistful sigh.
Adrian wrinkled his nose. “Then maybe you should be looking at Liam or Marcus for that, though I don’t know who the hell would settle down with either one of them. Probably somebody boring.”
Max frowned. “They’re not that bad, Adrian.”
“Says you,” Adrian shot back without much feeling.
In truth, he didn’t mind the other two members of their pack too much, though sometimes he wondered about Liam. Marcus, despite being a cop, was a decent man. For all of Marcus’ love of law and order, he mostly seemed to tolerate other approaches to life with some ease. Liam, however, tended to frown on anything that didn’t fall within his expectations. Adrian still wasn’t sure if he liked Liam, but he hoped he could count on the man as much as he could anyone else in the pack if it came down to it.
“Maybe one day, someone will come along and make you stop being such a playboy. He’ll just…sweep you off your feet and you’ll fall head over heels in love,” Max said airily.
Adrian grunted with disgust. “I think you’ve been watching too many romance movies, my friend. That’s not how that works. And for the record, outside of the world of rich folk, people like me are called ‘sluts,’ not ‘playboys.’ Word from the wise.”
“I don’t like that word, it’s ugly,” Max complained.
Adrian chuckled. “Not liking the word doesn’t make it magically less true. I know what I am and I embrace it. You don’t have to defend my honor. There’s not much left to defend.”
Max shook his head. “Nothing I say is going to make you stop insulting yourself, is it?”
Adrian grinned. “It’s not insulting if you stop letting it be insulting. You might figure that out one day.”
“If it means being okay with putting myself down, I don’t think I want to figure it out,” Max said, quietly enough that if it wasn’t for their advanced hearing, Adrian wouldn’t have heard him.
Adrian sighed, feeling a stab of guilt for dimmimming Max’s good mood. Adrian liked to think of his approach to life as ‘brutally realistic.’ He knew that his outlook wasn’t always appreciated, and he was a little touched that Max felt the urge to defend him, even if it was from himself.
“Alright, I’ll be nice to…myself. Just tell me what you came here for, so we can get the business out of the way and you can drink in peace,” Adrian said hurriedly.
“I’m not drinking,” Max protested.
Adrian shook his nearly empty bottle at the passing server and held up two fingers. “Yes you are.”
Max sighed. “Eli sent me here to tell you that he needs you to play representative and diplomat. Those were his words by the way, not mine.”
“Who the hell in their right mind would send me to be a diplomat?” Adrian asked, belatedly realizing who Eli was probably sending him to see.
Max smiled. “Michael.”
Adrian would have groaned, but he knew that it would give Max too much satisfaction. Of all the pack leaders in the city, Michael was the last one Adrian wanted Eli to send him to. The alpha was one of the only ones in the city that Adrian had hadn’t managed to charm. If anything, Michael was proving to be as difficult to deal with as Liam could be. The last few times Adrian had been around the pack leader, he had found himself wanting to pull his hair out.
Max laughed. “You look like you just ate a lemon.”
“Beer’s getting warm,” Adrian said sourly.
“Or maybe it’s the fact that a certain alpha is still getting under your skin,” Max teased.
Adrian rolled his eyes. “Anyone who can keep their cool around me for that long isn’t normal.”
Max leaned from the table as the waitress set the beer before them, murmuring his thanks. “And I know that it’s because you can’t stand the idea that someone could possibly resist your…charms.”
“Was it necessary to say it with that much difficulty?” Adrian asked flatly.
Max took a sip. “If it helps, I find you charming.”
Adrian simpered at him. “Sorry Max, my friend, but you’re not really my type. Plus, you’re like family to me, and even I have standards about how far I’m willing to go in my general sluttiness.”
Max looked like he was going to reply before smirking. “You almost got me there. You can’t deflect that easily, you know.”
Adrian rolled his eyes. “Did Eli tell you why he decided I need to go see Michael?”
Max shrugged. “All he said was that Michael specifically asked for you.”
“The guy has my number, why ask Eli?”
“I was kind of hoping you would be able to tell me, because I was wondering the same thing,” Max said with an apologetic wince.
Adrian sighed, “Well, there’s only one reason a pack leader would talk directly to another about a pack member. I’m guessing Michael wants to use my…talents, and he had to ask Eli for permission to borrow me first.”
“Since you didn’t say that with your normal dirty smirk, I’m guessing that this means actual work.”
Adrian sighed wistfully. “Yeah, probably, but what? I couldn’t tell you.”
“You could always say no if you wanted. Eli wouldn’t force you if you didn’t want to,” Max pointed out.
Adrian nodded. “I could, but Eli knows that I won’t. We’re a small pack and we don’t exactly hold a lot of territory. We need all the friends and allies we can get if we want to survive.”
“Things sound pretty calm,” Max said uneasily.
“Yeah, now they’re calm, but if there’s anything I’ve learned about werewolves, it’s that we don’t like to stay calm for long. Someone is bound to come along and try to start some shit, and it doesn’t hurt to have someone outside of the pack who might have our back. Michael has a stick lodged up his ass, but at least he seems to like Eli and he’s willing to help us. If he needs help from us, then I’ll do it.”
“Don’t sound so happy about it,” Max teased.
Adrian took a long pull from the bottle. “Yeah, well, I’m used to doing the real dirty work in this pack, so I’m not really upset.”
Max frowned at him. “You sure you’re alright? I don’t think I’ve heard you talk so— Well, you’re usually pretty grim, but you’re being down right fatalistic tonight.”
Adrian laughed. “Big words, I see college is paying off.”
Max groaned. “Don’t remind me, freaking finals are in a few weeks and I’m so not ready.”
“You said that last year and you nearly aced them all,” Adrian said, hoping he was reassuring.
“Yeah, but that was last year. These classes are just the worst,” Max complained.
Movement caught Adrian’s eyes and he watched Davis walk toward someone near the bar, purpose in his every step. “And I’m sure you’ll soldier right through. You’re a good kid, better than most of us in the pack anyway.”
Max tried to follow Adrian’s attention, but only managed to look confused. “Do I want to know what you’re supposed to be doing with this guy?”
Adrian watched who Davis spoke quietly to. “Ask me no questions and I’ll tell you no lies.”
“Just…be careful, okay?” Max cautioned quietly.
Adrian smiled, ready to follow Davis and his partner as soon as they moved. “Careful is practically my middle name.”
Chapter 2
Adrian had to give Michael credit, the man did have good taste. He knew that Michael’s connections ran deep and the alpha werewolf wasn’t lacking for cash. Yet his private office at his main real estate business was surprisingly tactful and subdued in its décor. While the rest of the building was decorated in a way that Adrian could only call unnecessary, with gold trim, gleaming white walls, expensive looking paintings, and a plush carpet that probably cost as much as Adrian’s rent for the rest of his life, the office was calming, soothing even. Adrian had never seen this particular office before, having only visited Michael at one of the many restaurants Michael owned, and once, a coffee shop that Michael had stopped in.
