Page 27 of Butterfly Assassin
“So you decided to tag along?” Sam offered.
“Yeah.” Aaron coughed. “But I didn’t tell Harry I was going.”
“Ahh.” Sam rolled his eyes as if they were the stupidest pack members he’d had the misfortune to deal with. And maybe they were. It sounded so much worse now he was telling someone about it.
“He’d been all cagey about it, and I didn’t want him to think I was checking up on him.”
“Which you totally were,” Harry mumbled.
“I followed his scent all the way to this vacant building, but Harry had left out a few minor details.”
“Such as?”
“The whole thing is like some exclusive club. With members. And unless you’re invited by a member, there’s a 750-pound membership fee before they’ll let you in.”
“And I take it you didn’t have that kind of money?”
“Nope. I hadn’t planned on betting anything, so I had about fifteen quid in my pocket. But I didn’t like the look of the two guys on the door, and I was pretty sure they were armed. I needed to get in there, but neither of them was having it. They said the only way for me to gain entrance was to stump up the 750 quid or fight.”
The choice had been so easy, he hadn’t given it a second thought. “They said I was in luck as they were down a fighter. I was in the second fight of the night. The crowd booed because I was a newcomer and I’d almost beaten one of the sure winners. Took him two more rounds than predicted. People lost money. But I liked it far more than I was expecting. And that was the last fight I lost.”
Aaron glanced down at his hands. “Harry was a bit pissed off with me for following him, but we made a deal after that night. He’d only go there when I was fighting, and he’d never bet on my fights. If I ever did get found out, I didn’t want anything connecting me back to Harry.” Although now he thought about it, stopping Harry from betting on his fights probably made him stand out more. Who wouldn’t bet on a sure thing?
Sam pinched the bridge of his nose. “I can see the appeal, but you must have known what you were doing was against the law? And that Smith was involved in criminal activities, despite having many legitimate businesses already?”
“In the back of my mind, yeah. But I never saw him, except fleetingly. It didn’t seem like we were hurting anyone. I took great care to pull my punches.”
“But the fight itself was illegal, Aaron—” He stopped and took a deep breath. “I’m not going to rehash all of this again. I’ve already given you your punishment, but I feel the need to reiterate. If you ever go to another of these things—either of you—then I will be calling the alpha council and asking them to relocate you. Separately.”
Aaron shuddered. He couldn’t help it. “Yes, Alpha.”
“Yes, Alpha,” Harry echoed.
“So,” Sam said after a few moments had passed. “I hope after all this you at least made a profit?”
“Um… not exactly.” Aaron bit his lip.
“What does that mean? I thought you won nearly all the time. Or am I mistaken?”
“Oh no, he wins all his fights now,” Harry piped up, seemingly pleased to no longer be the focus of Sam’s attention. “They even gave him a nickna—”
Aaron elbowed him hard in the side. “I give it all away,” he said. Hoping to put an end to this line of questioning.
Sam raised his eyebrows. “To whom?”
Aaron grinned. This was something he loved to talk about. “There’s an animal rescue shelter about a mile from our building.”
A smile curved Sam’s mouth, softening his expression. “Holly Hedge?”
“You know it?” Aaron asked, surprised.
Isaac snorted from the driver’s seat. “How do you think they got that new outdoor run for the dogs last year?”
Aaron’s mouth fell open a little. “That was you?” When Aaron had mentioned how wonderful it was the dogs had so much space to run around, they’d merely said an anonymous donor had paid for it. “Wow. It’s really great.”
“You’re not the only animal lover out there, Aaron.”
“I guess not.”
