Page 7 of Beast
Chapter Three
Pixie wiped down thebar top, the damp rag dragging across the stained wood as she tried to ignore the rowdy laughter echoing through the clubhouse.
It had been a week since she started working for the Iron Sentinels, and while she was grateful for food and a warm bed, she never let herself forget she was in a den of wolves.
These men were dangerous, powerful, and every one of them carried an air of barely contained violence.Some of them were decent enough.Others made her skin crawl.
Beast, though—he was something else entirely.
He was always watching her.Always close, even when he wasn’t speaking.She could feel the weight of his gaze no matter where she was in the room.It made her pulse quicken, and she hated that she didn’t know if it was from fear or something else.He was too intense, too sharp.If she wasn’t careful, he’d see past the mask she wore and start asking questions.And she couldn’t afford that.
She pushed away the thought and focused on the beer bottles littering the counter.It was a typical night at the clubhouse.Loud music, the smell of cigarette smoke and whiskey thick in the air.The Sentinels were celebrating something—probably just an excuse to drink more—and the energy in the room had taken on an unpredictable edge.
She kept her head down, avoiding eye contact as she moved through the room, collecting empty glasses and dodging hands that reached too close.
Most of the guys treated her with some level of respect, but that didn’t mean they weren’t looking.She knew how men were.How they saw a girl like her—a stray with nowhere to go.
“Hey, sweetheart.”
Pixie tensed before she even turned around.
A prospect named Shane leaned against the bar, his smirk lazy, his eyes lingering in a way that made her stomach twist.He wasn’t one of the worst, but he was persistent.Too damn persistent.
“You work too hard,” he drawled, reaching out as if to brush a lock of hair from her face.
She flinched back instinctively, gripping the tray in her hands tighter.“I’m busy, Shane.”
“Come on, I’m just being friendly,” he pressed, curling his fingers around her wrist before she could move away.“You don’t gotta act so skittish.”
Pixie’s heart pounded, a cold rush of adrenaline hitting her veins.The touch wasn’t violent, not yet, but she knew where things like this could lead.Her past had taught her that much.
“I’m not interested.”She forced the words out, keeping her voice steady.
Shane just grinned.“You sure about that?”
Her pulse jumped when he tugged her forward, just a little, testing.The music pulsed around them, the crowd too loud, too preoccupied to notice.
But one person did.
The air shifted before she even saw him.
A shadow loomed behind Shane, and suddenly the warmth of his grip vanished as a large hand clamped around his wrist.
Beast.
He wrenched Shane’s arm away from Pixie with a force that sent the prospect stumbling back.The laughter and conversation around them dimmed as the room caught onto the sudden tension.
“Did she look interested?”Beast’s voice was low, calm, but there was an unmistakable warning beneath it.
Shane, trying to save face, let out a forced chuckle and lifted his hands.“Relax, boss.I was just messing around.”
Beast didn’t look amused.
He stepped forward, crowding into Shane’s space.The difference in size was almost comical.Beast was built like a damn wall, all muscle and barely contained power.The patch on his cut read “President,” a reminder of exactly who he was in this place.
“Mess around with someone else.”His voice was still steady, but there was something lethal in it.Something final.
