Page 2 of Stron & Lyra
Nothing much surprises me as the VP of the only motorcycle club in this town. The town we run and police because the enforcers are fecking shite at their jobs.
We took over doing their jobs for them years ago when we first set up the MC.
That’s not to say we don’t keep them well compensated for looking the other way, because we do. I don’t care how much it cost us. As long as our residents are safe, that’s all that matters to me, and I know all my brothers feel the same. It’s the reason we started the club. To keep people safe. Not just anyone became a member, either. We kept our club small and vetted every member that prospected for us. That’s not to say that our brothers couldn’t be dickheads because they could. The one rule we all adhered to was that all females and children were to be treated with respect and care, no matter their species.
We took anyone who crossed the line to the back of the property and made them spend time in the cage with my closest brothers. We’re the ones who started the club, although it had been Rix’s idea. He brought it up after Vex had gone berserker on a gobshite who was attacking a female while her young watched and an enforcer stood by and did nothing.
Rix has a fascination with humans and earth, more specifically motorcycle clubs. Once he explained how it would work, we were all in. We’ve been friends since childhood and have always beena unit, so starting a brotherhood wasn’t something we even had to think about. The club started with Vex, Vorn, Brak, Rix, and me.
We worked hard and have grown over the years, investing in various businesses, and now, years later, we’re comfortable. Comfortable, but still very aware of what’s happening in our club investments, which brings us to today and church.
It has come to our attention that the Laughing Crow Tavern is bringing in more Intergalactic Crowns than ever before, and we want to know why. Not that it’s a bad thing, and Kragor’s one of our most trusted brothers. Still, it has to be investigated.
That Kragor’s less than forthcoming is raising many flags and has the hair on the back of my neck standing on end. It isn’t like him to be so secretive. Unfortunately, his silence is warranted. What he knows could put the entire club in jeopardy. Vex is right in calling this meeting.
The look on Kragor’s face when Vex tells him we’ll be seeing him and his girls tonight has me biting back a laugh. He isn’t happy but knows there’s nothing he can do about it. Not when it’s a direct order from his President.
That one visit would change and shake up our lives in a way that none of us had seen coming.
***
It’s late when we ride up. I hadn’t expected tonight to be any different to any other night at the Laughing Crow. We should have, considering how many credits it’s making us.
We’re all taken by surprise when we see how busy it is, especially as it’s nearing closing time. Parking our bikes in our designated parking area, I wait a minute, monitoring everything as Vex dismounts and approaches the female at the door. Not that I’m worried about anything happening. Not with all five of us here.
Getting off my bike, I follow behind Vex, who’s speaking to the female bouncer. Rix veers off and approaches the other one.
After Vex assures Vena of our peaceful intentions, we each introduce ourselves to her before we enter the tavern and join Kragor at the bar where he has mugs of local ale ready.
Joining my brothers for a drink, I turn around and rest my elbows on the bar and look around the room. There are piles of empty plates on the tables that Kragor hasn’t got to yet, and I make a mental note to see if we should get him more help. I can understand why he’s not wanted just anyone working here now that he’s got Suki in the kitchen, but we can send over one prospect that’s about to be patched in.
Vex disappears behind the bar and into the kitchen. Rix is still outside. Turning my back to the main room, I drain the last of my brew and put the mug back on the top.
“What do you think?” I ask Vorn.
He’s assessing everything, and I can see he’s mentally calculating how many credits and silver coins we’re bringing in.
“It’s busy; I’ll need to see the books, but I’d say we’re clearing in an evening what we would usually take in three. I’ll need to speak to Kragor’s office manager because his books are easy to follow now that she’s working for him. We may have to get her to work with the other managers.”
“She’s that good?” Brak raises an eyebrow, as if in disbelief.
Vorn nods, “She is. Some of what she’s changed is so simple that I’m kicking myself for not thinking of it. She’s cut my time in half when it comes to the tavern’s books.”
Vex comes out of the kitchen with a female following him. Not that I’m surprised as we’d all known he’d want to have a conversation with the human.
No, what surprises me is the look on his face. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a look like that. It’s part stunned, part feral, and it’s all focused on the female speaking to Kragor. He doesn’t even check in with us before he’s out the door with her.
“Well, feck,” I mumble with surprise. Looks like we’re two brothers down because Rix hasn’t come back in either.
Vena approaches Kragor and whispers in his ear. He nods and reaches for a pipe behind the bar, turning he hits a metal disk we have hanging at the back of the bar and shouts out, “Last call. Get it now or leave.”
Vorn and Brak chuckle. “Fecking ray of light, isn’t he,” Brak remarks drily. “Makes me look positively friendly.”
A snorted chuckle escapes me. Brak wasn’t the friendliest of our brothers. What most don’t realise is that he’s painfully shy. He had a stutter as a kid, and his father had been a gobshite of note. Which is why he spent so much time with us. He cultivated the persona of being unapproachable because he preferred it that way. He’s a very different male today than what he’d been growing up. Having spent most of his teens bulking up to stand up to his father, he’s the biggest of us all.
His childhood made him the perfect Sergeant at Arms. He’s slow to anger, with a naturally protective nature, and always assesses a situation before making decisions. Those decisions are never based on emotions. He learned long ago to compartmentalise them.
With Vex gone and Rix nowhere to be found, we wait as the tavern empties of the last of the patrons. Vena comes back in, closing and locking the doors behind her. She immediately goes and starts stacking plates and mugs into a basin.
