Page 197 of Psycho Beasts

“What does it say?” Ascher asked impatiently, as Jax stayed silent.

Cobra leaned over Jax’s shoulder and paled.

Slowly, Jax smoothed out the paper. “The Ortega pack are wolf shifters and are suspected to have ties to the Black Wolves.”

Xerxes’s silverware clattered against his fine china plate.

Alpha scents thickened with warning.

Cobra hissed and looked over at the omega, who was sitting still as a statue. Ascher banged his tattooed fists against the table, and glasses sloshed.

Clarissa’s warning rang through my head.

Xerxes must have told the men about the Black Wolves, or maybe they’d figured it out because of the bond.

None of the girls said anything, but they sank lower in their chairs like they could feel the shift in the energy and knew something bad was happening.

“He knew,” Jax said. “The Ortega pack is a front that will allow us to handle the wolves.”

“Why not just tell us to bring them in for our third trial?” I asked.

“Because you have to bring the captures to the ball alive,” Cobra said, “and we won’t be leaving them alive.”

Jax nodded in agreement. “There’s more. It says the Ortega brothers run something called a black ribbon club and that we will have to blend in to infiltrate it.”

Xerxes swore at the name.

Everyone turned to him expectantly; he was the only one familiar with the realm.

He blew out air and glanced at the girls. “It’s a—” He sputtered like he couldn’t find the right words. “—dark club.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

Xerxes’s cheeks tinged pink. He rubbed at the bite marks I’d left across his neck, and he whispered, “I believe you’d know it as a BDSM club.”

Ascher choked on his wine.

Xerxes didn’t look anyone in the eyes as he spoke. “They’re very popular in Serpentine City. Most are Mafia controlled, but there are a few seedier, illegal establishments.”

Jax glanced at his sisters and tried to deflect. “Well, the letter says it’s believed to be a front for the real underground club where the Ortega brothers can be found. We should check it out tomorrow.”

“We’ll need to go shopping first for appropriate clothes. The club will only be open at night, and we have to pull all this off tomorrow night.” Xerxes didn’t look at anyone.

“What does BDSM stand for?” Lucinda asked.

Ascher choked again and sputtered wine everywhere.

I debated crawling under the table, and my face burned as I said, “Well, it’s hard to explain. But when two people are in a trusting relationship, and love each other very muc—”

“Bondage, discipline, dominance, submission, sadism, and masochism,” Jinx said. “Technically, the proper acronym is BDDSSM.”

“What are you binding?” Jala asked as Lucinda scrunched her face in confusion.

“Jinx,” Jax growled threateningly.

Cobra put his fist in his mouth as his shoulders shook with silent laughter.

“Another person, usually a naked one, during rough penetrative sex,” Jinx said casually as she cut her steak into tiny pieces.

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