Page 89 of Fight

The warehouse is empty as we walk through, a testament to how much he trusts us. There’s a large wooden table in the center of the room, and Shaw grabs beers from the fridge as we sit down.

“We really just want to know why you called to meet. We’re curious, and not at all here in an official capacity,” Everest says with a grin, sitting backward in his chair.

“Yep, not even going to bother pretending otherwise, Bluey,” Shaw says, his lips twitching. Wren has really helped this pack relax. They used to be such grumpy assholes.

“Alright then, get it out of your system,” I tell them with a good natured grin as I take a pull from my beer.

Twenty minutes of roasting me has us all laughing, until Corbin finally rolls his eyes and puts up his hand.

“We all want to know why you’re really here, so out with it,” he says.

Nodding I explain. “Jasper and I have met our scent match, and her life is here. Her name is Cerenity Quinn. You all know her. We’d like to petition to move from Chicago to Minneapolis to build a life with her.”

“Holy shit,” Corbin mutters, clearly not expecting that.

“We found out she was their scent match, but the last we knew, he was holding her hostage,” Ambrose says, effectively throwing us under the bus.

“We followed her home, like the mutts in the doghouse that we are,” Jasper says wryly. “Personally, I don’t want to commute six hours each way to court Cerenity, and it makes sense to move.”

“She doesn’t know this, but we’re moving in next door to her apartment tomorrow,” I tell them proudly. “I had the tenants evicted today. The leasing manager is an asshole.”

Everest shakes his head, rolling in his lips. “Damn, talk about a really good stalking game. I’m kind of proud of you right now.”

“She’s working through some things, and so are we,” I say. “I’m considering giving the drug business to David so he can run it in Chicago. This way, we don’t have anything that overlaps.”

“Yeah, so what will you do in Minneapolis?” Corbin asks. “Bored alphas aren’t a good thing.”

“Nah, we’d move the underground fights here, train new people up as well. There’s a fight we’re hosting in a few days, which means we’d debut the change then,” I say. “We’d appreciate a lead on somewhere to rent or buy for this event, but after that I’d like to be able to find a permanent place.”

“I figure it could be used as a place for the rougher side of town to come drink, kick back, and let loose,” Jasper says. “It would be more than just fights, unless Minneapolis has something like that already?”

“No we don’t, and as I said, bored alphas don’t do well here. It would be a good outlet for some of the bullshit I keep having to clean up,” Corbin grunts. “Anything else you’re proposing?”

“My fighters would move here so there wouldn’t be a commute, and I’d open a gym the way I had in Chicago to work out of. Gabriel, one of our fighters, is considering retiring. I like the kid’s idea,” I say.

Gabe will always be a kid to me, due to Jasper pulling him off the streets and giving him a purpose. Explaining Gabriel’s vision takes a little time, and I notice Shaw nodding as I talk.

“So you’re coming with a proposal to move, a business plan, and the possibility of volunteer work for The Omega’s Haven,” Corbin says, eyes wide. “Damn, I don’t think I can say ‘no’ to that, and I won’t. You said you wanted to expand north, what would you want to do?”

“Sell guns,” I rumble. “I don’t think that’s in your wheelhouse, right?”

“Nah, my brother made things too hot with his idiocy,” he says with a sigh. “With all the shit he brought to my door, I decided I want a quieter life. My scent blockers help people, keeping the more dangerous items off the streets. We have other ways of income, but nothing you need to worry about.”

Corbin protects businesses for a fee, and he’s right, that’s not something I’m interested in.

“Great, so can I call the movers and sell my house?” I joke. I’m not ready to do either quite yet, but it is one of my end goals.

“Welcome to the neighborhood,” Corbin says, sticking out his hand to shake on it. “Don’t fuck things up with Cerenity. I’m quite fond of the girl.”

Shaw growls under his breath in warning, and I nod in agreement. I fucked up in how I went about things when I met her. I’m pretty positive Bluebell is going to put up a hell of a fight for her heart, but that’s one argument I intend to win.

I can be quite persistent when I want to be.

Chapter Twenty

CERENITY

It’s almost nine-thirty at night by the time I get home with Auggie, but I’m now the proud owner of a cute blue CR-V. It’s far from the sports car I used to drive, however, Auggie is right that it’s much safer. I also found that I don’t have any problems driving, either, so that’s a plus.

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