Austin pressed his lips together tightly and lowered his eyes to the ground. “That I don’t doubt. We might come up with another plan though, so before you walk, let me reach out to Fox.”
I nodded and made my way down the dark hall. There were fewer people than the previous night; most were huddled in private booths, engaged in intimate conversations. Some looked to be business, while a few were couples. An employee crossed the empty dance floor to my right, holding a mop and bucket. Gilly’s shift must have ended—the new bartender was much younger and had azure hair. His eyes were glued to a blond waitress who was gathering up dirty dishes from the bar and putting them on a tray.
“Coming up the rear,” Denver said from behind.
“What are you doing out?”
He snatched an uneaten cookie from an empty table and popped it in his mouth. “Changing of the guard. Trevor!” he shouted, curling his fingers to call him over.
Poor Trevor. Without a word, he trudged toward our private room to catch up on sleep.
Denver narrowed his eyes at Ben, who was relaxing at the bar with a drink in his hand. “How many is that?” He pointed his index finger in the air. “No more than one. I’m dead serious, Ben.”
Denver signaled the bartender and pointed at Ben, then sliced his hand across his neck as if to say to cut him off.
When we passed the blond waitress, Denver winked at her. “How’s it going, honeypie?”
She kicked up her heel and leaned against the bar, looking over her shoulder at him. She definitely wasn’t a Shifter, so I guessed maybe a Mage or Relic. Some of them thought it was funny to turn their back or bend over in front of a Shifter, but it wasn’t a classy move and sometimes started fights. Denver made a comical growl as he walked by her and then turned his attention to William.
“You need a nap?” he asked.
William sat back in his chair and ruffled his brown curls. “Nope. Swapped out my shift with Wheeler last night to get a couple of hours in, so I’m good to go. I’m a light sleeper.”
William had dark eyebrows that were pleasing to many women. While he had thick hair on his head, it grew sparsely on his face—mostly above his lip and on his chin.
“Anything I should know?” Denver asked, hiking up his jeans in the back. They were baggy and too long, frayed at the ends with a few small holes in the thigh.
“Indeed there is.” William leaned forward on his elbows. “See the two lovers in the booth behind me at three o’clock? The ones with two days’ worth of scruff on their faces? Lorenzo spotted them coming in. Muddy boots, wore their coats for three hours while they didn’t speak a word to each other. They haven’t danced with a pretty girl, or an ugly girl at that. Might want to keep an eye on them. They’re ordering virgin drinks, so my blinkers are going off right there. They don’t know who I am, but they’ve been watching Reno. Don’t make as many trips to the back room. I warned the pack to only go back there when the men are distracted.”
Denver put his hands on his lower back and arched his spine until it cracked. “Should I go introduce myself? Maybe ask them to boogie down?”
William tucked his fist against his cheek and leaned on the table. “Only if you save the last dance for me.”
“You’re a bag of nuts. I’ll set up camp at one of the tables behind them. Do me a favor and signal Reno to take a piss. I don’t want those a-holes to see me tagging him out of the ring. I’m sure they’ve figured out we’re in here, but maybe they don’t know we’re all here.”
“I don’t think they’re all there,” William said, tapping his head.
“True that. I’m outta here.” Denver stalked off toward one of the tables behind the men and grabbed a plate of half-eaten french fries on his way.
I sat down for a moment in front of William. Fox’s men were out of earshot since the half walls gave us privacy.
“The pack seems to like you,” I said. “That’s a compliment.”
He tipped his glass and swallowed half his soda. “That’s a good pack you got. Sometimes there’s too much emphasis on numbers when it’s really about picking the right people who get along. I grew up in a pack similar to this one, only a little bigger. Yours will grow in time. Lorenzo picked out some good packmates, but we also have a few loose cannons who really need to go. He’s a strong Packmaster, but he has his weaknesses, one of them being he doesn’t know how to trim the fat.”
“So why doesn’t he put his foot down?”
William laughed brightly and sighed. “That’s a good one. Unless he’s disrespected or someone breaks a rule, Enzo turns a blind eye to some of the behavior that goes on in the house. I try to keep ’em in line since I’m the second-in-command, but sometimes it’s more like babysitting, and not in a good way. He has too many headstrong men fighting for rank within the house.”