Crash! Shhhit, Greyson had been distracted all damn night and dropped another glass. Second one since his shift started.
“What’s going on, man?” Jessie asked. The young bar owner had his dark eyebrows arched up in judgement. “Those glasses ain’t free, and I thought you shifters were supposed to have magical reflexes. Where’s your head at tonight, Grey?”
On Gen’s wet little sex, on the taste of her, on watching her finger herself, on how she kissed, on how she’d bitten his neck almost hard enough for a claiming mark. On how she’d felt under his hands as he’d cleaned her in the shower. On his big plans to sleep with her in 1010 tonight just to wake up with her in his arms.
Gen took up every inch of his headspace right now. He needed to get it together. “I gotta girl,” he admitted to Jessie.
“The girl? Because I have to tell you, the smile on your face is super stupid and mushy-looking right now.”
Grey scratched the back of his head and ducked his gaze so he could hide the heat in his cheeks. “Yeah, the girl. I found her. It’s new, so I’m kinda messed up about it.”
“Damn,” Jessie murmured, leaning on the bar. “Well, get it together, McCarty. We’ll be busy tonight. Have you thought about my offer anymore? I need help. Jean’s due with the baby any day now, and I can’t be working as many shifts as I am. I need someone I can depend on. Preferably someone who stops breaking all my damn glasses.”
Grey chuckled from where he was picking up the biggest shards and dropping them in the glass bucket. “I’m your guy. I need the money.”
“Seriously? Yes?”
“Answer is hell yes. I appreciate the opportunity, Jessie.” Because not that many people, human or shifter, gave chances to black-marked shifters like Grey. Jessie was young, three years younger than Grey was, but he was a fair boss.
“Great. Fuck yes to all of this. Jean is gonna be so happy. You start this week.”
Grey nodded and swept the little glass shards into a dustpan. Spending nights away from Gen was going to suck balls, but he needed to man up for her. She wanted to hear, and he was going to bust his ass to make sure that happened for her.
“Whiskey and coke,” a familiar voice growled out. Fucking Seth. Grey barely resisted the urge to take one of the big, jagged pieces of glass and jam it into the alpha of Cold Mountain’s neck.
“What do you want?” Grey asked, standing up slowly.
“Trouble.”
Seth’s pride was standing behind him, chests puffed out, eyes gold like they were already halfway to a fight. He’d seen this game before, though. They didn’t know the monster inside of him, didn’t understand what his panther was, and they kept pushing him. They were lucky Grey had trained himself to be patient. There was no way in hell he was gonna end up in shifter prison like his dad. That’s what everyone waited for, right? For him to be exactly like Dad. It’s why he’d forced himself to be a quiet man, a patient hunter, to not react when assholes like these lions pushed too hard.
“No trouble here, sorry boys. We’re out of whiskey and coke, too. You’ll have to look elsewhere.”
Seth leaned forward, the silver claw-mark scars on his face shining in the dim bar lighting. “You have until tomorrow to give us an answer.”
“I can give you the answer now,” Grey said, locking his arms against the bar top. “Fuck you. Your deal puts my crew at risk. I’m not doing it. I would rather cut my own leg off than go into business with a fucking lion pride.” He jerked his chin toward the door. “Piss off.”
Seth’s face twisted up in fury, and he curled his lips back from teeth too long. He slammed his hand against the counter and gritted out, “You’re gonna regret that decision, panther.”
Probably, but he was in between a rock and a hard place, and he had to choose one. He chose Red Havoc, and Gen. And if the lions tried to retaliate, well, Grey would finally let his panther out. Nobody around here had really seen him, not even Ben. They’d seen the tamed-down, tightly-controlled version of Grey’s animal.
Seth should let this go if he wanted to live.
“That guy’s a dingleberry,” Whiskey Barney slurred from the barstool he sat in. He was twisted around, watching the four lion shifters leave. “You should use that taser I got you for your birthday on them.”
“Barney, you never gave me a taser,” Grey said, shaking his head as he went back to washing the beer glasses.
“Yes, I did. I disting…dick-stinky…”
“Distinctly.”
“Distinctly remember giving you a camo taser.”
“That was me, Barney,” Jessie said helpfully as he made drinks for a bachelorette party at the end of the bar. “You gave me a camo taser for Christmas, not my birthday.”
“Oh.” Whiskey Barney frowned and swung his unsteady gaze to Grey. “I’ll get you one too, so you don’t feel left out.”
“You toting a taser here is a terrifying thought, WB.”
“Plus, he’s a panther,” Jessie called helpfully. “He doesn’t need weapons. He’s got claws.”
“You’re a shifter?” Whiskey Barney asked in a high-pitched voice.
Grey snorted. “We’ve literally talked about this fourteen dozen times.”
The door swung open, letting natural light in, and a familiar scent hit his nose—Gen’s shampoo, body spray, her skin, and his sex on her. His dick throbbed immediately.
She offered him a beaming grin the second she saw him. She wore her short hair straight, bangs swept to the side, a red sparkly headband to match her red sequined tank top. Her black skinny jeans were shredded on the thighs, and she wore black high heels, also sparkly. She looked utterly beautiful and fuckable. Mine, mine, mine. Thank God, those lions had already left. If Gen was here to let loose, he wanted her to have fun, not worry about their glares on her.
Behind her, Jenny, Annalise, Kaylee, and Eden poured in the front door. Panther, panther, lioness, falcon, and his sexy gorilla was leading the girls’ night charge. Good. Jenny had listened to him. He’d asked her to take Gen out and show her a good time. Get to know her. Because if Jenny fell for Gen, which was easy to do because his lady was incredible, she could change Ben’s mind. So, Grey was being a dick by using Ben’s mate to manipulate the alpha. He would go to insane lengths to keep Gen. This was kiddy-play.
Plus, bonus, Jenny had brought her here. He didn’t have to spend the entire night imagining her. He could look at her.
Geez, this boner was ridiculous. Good thing the bar blocked his nethers from the customers because it was probably going to be a frequent occurrence tonight. Gen looked sexy as hell.
She strode up to the bar, eighty percent confidence, twenty percent flushed cheeks and ducking gaze. Not giving two shits what anyone thought about it, Grey leaned over the bar and pulled her into a kiss. A rough one that told her he was gonna fuck the shit out of her later. Mine, mine, my sexy gorilla girl. His chest was rattling with his panther’s possessive growl, but he didn’t care. Everyone here knew he was a shifter. Except Whiskey Barney, apparently, who sometimes forgot his own name and address.
When Gen bit his bottom lip gently, he just about lost it. It was a huge feat of self-control not to pull her over the bar, take her in the back, flip her around, splay her hands on the wall, smack that perfect ass, and drive into her from behind until his dick was throbbing inside of her. He wanted her to make more noises like she had earlier when they’d lost control with each other.
She did let off a little sigh that made his knees go to shit.
The girls were clapping and whistling, all but Jenny, who watched them through narrowed eyes. Screw hiding, though. The alpha’s mate should know he was sinking his claws deep into his mate, and he wasn’t letting Gen go. Not unless she wanted to be let go, which, from the way she swayed drunkenly against the bar when he told her how sexy she looked tonight, Gen didn’t feel like going anywhere.
When her lightened, silver eyes went to his lips, he smiled and asked, “Girls’ night?”
She nodded and signed something fast. Something long. Her hands were graceful as she worked. He shook his head. “I don’t understand. Not yet.” But he would, because he was going to learn how to speak her language as fast as possible.
Gen looked stunned, and then embarrassed, as if she’d forgotten they couldn’t communicate like that. Grey was feeling pa-retty fuckin’ cocky about his kiss now. He’d shorted out her circuits, like she did to him.
Gen pulled her phone out and typed away while Grey nodded to the girls gathering at the bar. “What are you all drinking tonight?”
“Everything!” Annalise said excitedly.
“She started pre-drinking at home,” Kaylee explained through a giggle.
Grey laughed and said, “How about I start you off with some panty droppers. Girl shots? I can make them pink and sweet. Unlike you little cretins.”
The girls looked eerily similar with the strange grins they all wore.
“What?” he asked as his phone chirped with Gen’s message.
“You’re different tonight, Ghost Cat,” Jenny murmured.
Grey made a tick sound and checked his phone. That nickname didn’t bother him. He liked being invisible. Gen had said, Jenny and the girls invited me out. I haven’t been to a bar in years. I don’t even know what I like to drink, but I’m so excited they want to hang out with me! I already knew Eden, but the other girls are way nicer than the females in the family group. I like you and your butt. There were three flame emojis that followed and then a 8---D.
Grey laughed at her hand-made dick emoji and typed back, You look sexy as hell and this is happening the second we’re alone 8---D (0)
“See!” Kaylee said as he began making their shots. “You’re smiling. It looks weird on you.”
“Thanks a lot,” Grey muttered.
“You feel different, too,” Jenny said, eyes narrowed to suspicious little slits. “You feel…not like a grumpy demon.”
“Her fault,” Grey said, jerking his chin at Gen.
She looked confused, but after Eden signed something to her, she nodded and smiled, her cheeks going all pink again. Mine.
He lined up their shots and made them pink and sweet like Gen’s little p-word, and when she reached for hers, he caught her attention. “Have fun tonight, okay? Cut loose, forget about everything, dance, laugh out loud. Just don’t dance with Whiskey Barney,” he said, pointing to the man grinning at them. “He’s a handsy pervert on the dance floor.” He gave her a wink as Whiskey Barney complained about Grey being a clock-blocker, which he probably meant to say cock-blocker, but it was eleven o’clock and WB was five shots in.
Gen grinned so big, so pretty, and then she turned and raised her little shot glass with the other girls. Eden did the toast, but time and time again, Gen’s big blue eyes landed on Grey. Fuck it. It was too soon, but he loved her. He loved her with a scary intensity. His cat had known she was his from early on. Every smile she gave made his heart stop. It made him desperate to make her smile again, and that’s what love was…right? It was someone else’s happiness coming before all else.
And for the next few hours, he watched his favorite girl smile, laugh, and bond with the females of the Red Havoc Crew. Oh, the girls were tough. They were strong, dominant, and not afraid to fight for the people they loved, and Gen, even as a submissive, not able to hear, was hanging with them. He was so damn proud. And if he was honest, he had really wanted the girls’ approval for her. He wanted Gen to fit in, and he wanted the girls to like her. They danced together, cut up, drank…
Gen figured out she liked pickle-back shots—shots of vodka with pickle juice chasers. He bought all the drinks so the girls didn’t have to worry about anything, just have fun. And when Jenny started drinking water to sober up, he told her he would take them all home, so Jenny could just cut loose with the others.
“Really?”
“Yep, really. I’ll get your truck in the morning. Go have fun with the girls.”
Jenny looked all emotional. “It’s just…I’m a mom and a wife and mate to the alpha, and I’m supposed to be perfect—”
“Fuck that. You don’t have to be perfect. No one else in Red Havoc is. Be you. You’re a great mom, an awesome mate for Ben. You can have fun, and it won’t make us look differently at you.”
Jenny was crying now. Woman tears were terrifying, but Grey stood his ground and handed her a bar napkin. With a loud sniff, she dabbed her done-up eyes and gave him a trembling smile. “In that case, I’ll have another one of those panty-droppers.”
“Thata girl,” he said, pulling the vanilla vodka and watermelon schnapps. The bachelorette party at the end of the bar was tossing these things back like water, so he was a pro at making them now.
Whiskey Barney leaned forward and pointed to it. “Can I have one of—”
“No, you’re cut off.”
“Asstroll.” He probably meant asshole.
Jenny snorted, but finally she’d stopped crying, thank God. He handed her the drink, but Jenny shocked him to his core when she grabbed his wrist and looked him dead in the eyes. She twitched her shoulder-length brunette hair away from her face and murmured, “You know Ben banishing Gen isn’t about her, right?”
Grey shook his head slowly. “What’s it about then?”
Her delicate little throat moved as she swallowed hard. “It’s about you, Grey. About what you’re fighting. About what you’re supposed to be.”
Maybe Jenny was drunker than he’d thought. “I don’t understand.”
“He knows what you are.” Jenny cocked one dark eyebrow, slammed her shot, set down the glass, and walked to the dancefloor to join the girls without looking back at him.
Grey sighed. Well, shit. If Ben knew what he’d been hiding all this time…it complicated things.
Now it would be even harder to get Gen into Red Havoc.