Page 14 of Butterfly Assassin
The food he’d just eaten sat heavily in Aaron’s stomach. “Bollocks.”
“WHAT THE fuck were you thinking?” Alpha Sam Thomas paced in front of his TV, glaring at Aaron, then Harry, in turn, until his gaze finally landed on Aaron and stayed there. “Fighting?” He ran a hand through his silver-flecked hair, gripping it so tight Aaron fully expected to see clumps of it in his hands. “Am I right to assume it wasn’t a licenced event?”
“Yes.” Aaron tried to appear smaller than his six-foot frame, hoping to somehow hide from the anger and disappointment rolling off his alpha. “It was an illegal bare-knuckle fight.”
Throwing his hands in the air, Sam stared at him. “Why, Aaron? Why would you do something that’s not only against the law but could have such catastrophic consequences? You could’ve killed someone—a human—for fuck’s sake. Why would you risk that?”
Aaron shrank further into the sofa, the reality of what they’d done hitting him hard. “I—” He didn’t want to say he’d done it to keep an eye on Harry. That he didn’t trust his friend not to get himself into trouble.
“Do they know what you are?” Sam asked. “The people running these fights?”
Aaron shook his head. “Shifters aren’t allowed to fight.”
“And with good reason! It’s not exactly a fair fight, is it?”
“I held back on my strength and speed, and I didn’t let myself heal.”
Sam stared at him, his expression incredulous. “Again, why? Why go to all that effort?” He dropped to a crouch in front of Aaron, meeting and holding his gaze. “What do you think would’ve happened if you’d seriously hurt a human? Your opponents had no idea who, or should I saywhatthey were facing. The police could put you in Krillick Hall for that alone, and there’d be nothing I could do to stop them. The alpha council would be on their side.”
Shame filled Aaron, and he had to look away. “I’m sorry.”
“Bloody hell.” Sam resumed his pacing.
After a few moments of silence, Harry spoke. “It’s my fault.” All eyes turned to him. “Aaron only started fighting there because of me.” He glanced at Aaron and offered him a small smile. “I know you liked to fight, but you started going there because you were worried about me.”
Sam focused on Harry. “Yes, Mr Nash. Let’s talk about your reason for being there.”
Harry shuffled in position next to him, and Aaron reached out to grab his wrist, giving it a reassuring squeeze. Taking a deep breath, Harry said, “I went there to watch and bet on the fights.”
“You know my thoughts on gambling, Harry.”
Harry nodded. “I do, Alpha.”
Sam made no attempt to hide his dislike of any type of gambling. It wasn’t forbidden, he wasn’t a dictator, but he strongly advised against it.
“Illegal activities aside. Do you know why I dislike it?” He didn’t wait for Harry to answer. “Because we walk a fine line with the human population in this city. We can’t afford to become indebted to anyone, and gambling is addictive.” His voice softened. “As I’m sure you well know.”
Harry sighed. “Yes, Alpha.” He bit his lip. “I should’ve stopped. I should never have let Aaron fight there—”
“It was my choice,” Aaron insisted. Harry hadn’t coerced him. And if he was honest, it was more like Harry going to the fights to keep an eye on Aaron these past few times. “But for what it’s worth, we’d already decided to stop going there after Friday night.”
Sam looked between them again, narrowing his eyes. “Why? What happened Friday night?”
“I had a meeting with Mr Smith.”
Eyebrows raised, Sam asked, “And that is…?”
“The guy who runs the fights, among other things. The big boss, so to speak.”
“Not the sameSmithwho also owns a couple of nightclubs?”
“Yeah.”
“Bollocks.” Sam shook his head. “He’s not someone you want to get involved with, Aaron.”
“I know that. That’s why we decided to quit.” Aaron sighed. “Smith told me my opponent was supposed to throw the fight on Friday—go down in the second round. Only he didn’t do it. Apparently, Smith’sfriendslost money on the fight.” More like fellow criminals. No wonder Smith had been pissed off. “The calculating way he looked at me told me that it wouldn’t be long before he was asking me to do shit like that, and I realised we were in way over our heads.”
“You should’ve come to me sooner,” Sam said.
