Page 5 of Pack Owned
“Let’s go to Nocturne.” Jess punches the gas like it’s the start button on our night and pulls out into traffic.
I stare out the window, willing my last night out with my friends to be amazing.
Soon, we’re parked and stepping out near the club, the music a heartbeat pulling at ours. The tension that’s been my shadow starts to dissolve. At the club entrance, we slip on the masks they hand us. Jess covers our entry, and thanks to Casey’s crafty fingers, our fake Beta IDs get us nothing more than a bored glance from the bouncer.
Inside, the world shifts. Colors splash against the dark, painting us and everything they touch in blues, purples, and reds. Canvases line the walls, showing a bird’s eye view of the city, and for a second, it’s like I’m not on the ground at all but flying. Even the darkness of the club’s floor adds to the effect.
I nudge Danica in the side. “It feels like we’re suspended in the air. Oh my God, this is amazing.”
Her smile is radiant as she pushes through the crowd as the bass throbs against my chest.
Jess hauls Danica by the arm while Casey and I follow behind them up the steps to the platform while dancers get down with the music to the bar and black couches that line the edges.
The song switches to a power ballad, and Danica twists on the stairs. “We have to dance,” she shouts over the music. “I love this song.”
We rush back down and squeeze onto the dance floor, all of us dancing and singing at the top of our lungs, not caring that the only one of us who can belt it out is Danica.
As the beat builds, so does something in me—a wildness, a refusal to be caged. Maybe, just maybe, tonight’s the night I figure out how to keep that feeling alive in the daylight.
My throat’s parched, as though I swallowed the whole Sahara after our karaoke massacre. I nudge Casey, pantomiming the universal ‘I-need-a-drink’ gesture with my fist lifting to my lips. She gets it, nodding, and I weave through the thumping bodies toward the bar.
Thankfully, with us being twenty-one and they don’t allow minors in here, I don’t have to worry about being carded and a smart bartender spotting my fake ID.
“Four fireball shots,” I shout at the bartender when he glances my way.
He gives me an odd look, but I flash him a smirk. Then I turn back and see Danica dancing with some model-worthy guy, but she’s cool, all smiles and sass I can read from here. Jess is still near enough that she can grab her if she needs help. Still, I watch him for a long minute to make sure my friend is safe. No way am I gonna let some sleazebag hurt her.
“Hey, beautiful,” some dude slurs, sidling into my space. I huff out my annoyance, trying to peer past him. “What’s a girl like you do for fun?”
“Not interested,” I snap. I’m not here to play ‘tame the Beta.’ Nope, I’m holding out for that Alpha spark, something fierce and electric, not this... mediocrity. I needed an Alpha to claim me or the Facility to match me up with my pack. Anything has to be better than home and what waited for me there.
“Come on now,” his hand grasped my knee. “Don’t be like that.”
Every part of my body recoils from his touch, recalling every unwanted memory of the hell I’ve lived with for months. I can’t move, can’t breathe. It’s like I’m frozen with a scream stuck in my chest.
He leans forward, his fingers gliding up my leg. “Out for a good time? I can help you.”
A whiff of his beer-soaked breath and the scent of moldy underwear washes over me, and I push him back. “Get off me, creep.” But my heart’s slamming in my chest.
“You’re gonna regret that,” he growls at me, then tips his chin to someone behind me, but I’m fixed on him, unwilling to look away, to show any more weakness.
He snatches a beer from the bar, throwing me a smug wink before sauntering off to two women sitting on a couch across from the bar. Only then do I suck in a ragged breath.
I twist on the stool, and the four shots I ordered are lined up in a row, waiting. I throw one back, the fireball searing a path down my throat, a liquid forget-you to the nasty encounter. I snag another, the trembling in my hands quieting with the second burn.
When the bartender glances over at me, I hold up my fingers for two more shots. Gotta replace our refreshments for our nightly toast.
My gaze flickers back to the dance floor. Jess is a whirlwind of limbs, lost in the beat. But where’s Danica? Or Casey? I don’t see either of them anywhere. My stomach knots, and I hop off the stool, the room taking a nauseating tilt.
It’s too much—the warmth in this place, the crowd, the noise. Or maybe it’s the aftertaste of Mr. Sleazebag that’s making me choke. I just need some fresh air.
Except I can’t ghost my friends even for a heartbeat until I know they’re okay.
I take a step forward, and the floor rushes up to meet me. Suddenly, arms grab me before I pitch all the way and smack my face, hauling me back against a male’s chest. I crane my neck to thank whoever saved me and recoil inside.
It’s the drunk asshat from earlier.
“Told you that you’d pay for snubbing me.”
