Scorned Alpha - Burgov Series IV

3. Maddox

"So how many have you counted inside?" - I asked, watching the entrance to yet another cover-up bar. I have no idea how they do it, but for each one we ride and close, two new appears. It's like fighting with roaches. You can't win unless you annihilate them all.

"Ten usual patrons, who I don't think know the first thing about the fights, and about sixty spectators downstairs." - my best friend and future Beta, Banks, said.

"Seventy plus those who fight and organizers."

"It seems so." - Banks nodded, glancing at the rundown entrance. - "We should probably get into position. The fights are about to end."

I nodded, agreeing with him.

That was it, another show time. Another time I will prove to my Father I'm responsible and ready for whatever. That he doesn't have to worry about the Night Walkers. That the Pack would continue to thrive under my lead. And who knows, maybe I would even become Maddox Huxley - the youngest and the most successful Alpha in the region.

We climbed down from the truck and I sent a quick mind-link to my men, making sure everything would go according to the plan.

"Is the back entrance covered?" - I asked Banks.

"Of course, it's not my first time." - he smirked, and his brown eyes shone with determination, most likely just like mine.

"Remember the plan? We pretend to be patrons…"

"And link the teams when the fights end. I know, Ox." - Banks said with exasperation.

I chuckled and went inside the bar. It looked straight out of the '90s, and I think all the decor and furniture were also from that decade. A perfect cover.

To be honest, I wouldn't have suspected this place at all if it wasn't for my Gamma who somehow weasel his way onto the guest list and was notified where the next show would take place. It's a bit further away from our lands, but if I want to prove myself I need to think outside the box.

Banks and I sat by the far end of the bar and ordered two gins, not because it was my drink of choice, but because it seemed to be the only fresh bottle on the shelf. I have no idea how long others stood there, but I wasn't risking it. After all, a drink is only just an excuse to be here.

With every passing minute, the bartender was more and more frequently glancing towards the bathrooms. From my intel I knew that's where the downstairs entrance was, so it seemed he was expecting people to start coming out from there soon.

And sure enough, not even five minutes had passed and I started noticing a pattern. One patron went to the bathroom, but two returned. Then two guys came into the bar from the street, went straight to the back and suddenly four of them came back. And finally, five people laughing and clearly pretending to have fun took place in the back corridor, when out of nowhere a group of almost ten people appeared. They were perfectly organized, I'll give them that. If I hadn't been looking for any anomalies I would have missed it.

My eyes lingered a bit longer on the large group, of which at least half seemed too young to even be here. Two girls and one, two, three…. seven guys. They weren't looking like your usual regulars at those events. They were too well dressed, and wore themselves with the certain confidence of werewolves used to admiration and, with that, sometimes unaware of who was watching.

But then my eyes focused on the shorter of two girls, the one with lighter hair and way heavier makeup, and it hit me.

"s**t…" - I cussed under my nose.

"What's wrong, Ox? Everyone's in their positions." - Banks assured me once again.

"No. Abort the mission." - I said quietly, but loud enough for my best friend to hear me.

"What?" - he frowned and looked at me intensely. - "You're f*****g serious, aren't you?"

I nodded.

"What the f**k, man? You're gonna throw away weeks of preparations without explanation?"

I sighed and looked down the bar where Her group anchored, laughing and talking all the time. Complete clueless, they might have stumbled upon quite a massive s**t.

"See the girl with that dark lipstick?" - I pointed with my chin towards her.

"Yeah, what about her?" - Banks asked.

"That's my Mate. And I can't put my future Luna in jail on the first night we met…" - just then one of the guys from her group joined in with a try full of flaming shots and raised a toast to her. - "... And on her birthday at that."

"f**k, Lana will be pissed." - he chuckled, but I sent him the look that said I didn't want to talk about it right now. - "Okay. I'll let the guy know. - his eyes became blurred for a moment and I turned back to watch Her, just in time, one of the youngest guys among her group shouted To Ellie! The best big sister, who never ratted me out!

Ellie. A beautiful name, very appropriate for a beautiful girl like her. And man, she is the most gorgeous creature I've ever seen. It's true what they say about your destined mates, they are everything you ever wanted and more, a true personification of your every wish and desire.

I watched her drinking shot after shot, smiling and grimacing in turn, and I couldn't decide which one was making her more adorable. I listened to every single toast her friends raised and just from that I knew Ellie was definitely a firecracker. Good, I like challenges.

"Are you going to talk with her, or wait for her to make the first move?" - Banks asked.

One of her friends shouted to the entire bar that he was buying the round in her honor, and while she was ogling the ruckus that statement caused, she looked straight at me. She felt the connection, and I knew that because her eyes widened. She raised her head slightly up, inhaled and closed her eyes with a tiny smile, as if she liked what she was sensing. When her eyes opened again and set on me, I smirked and raised my glass towards her and in response she bit on her lip in the most seductive way that made my d**k immediately twitch for this girl.

I downed my drink and set an empty glass on the counter before standing up.

"I'm going in."

"Need a wingman?" - Banks asked with a smirk.

"Na, I think I'm good."

She knew I was coming her way, but she played hard to get, pretending she was engrossed in a conversation with her friends. Oh, she's definitely going to be my greatest achievement.

"Excuse me" - I said, when I reached her group and I enjoyed every second of her entire body going tense in anticipation. But when she turned my way she feigned nonchalance, minus a small secretive smile under her nose. - "I believe you have something that belongs to me."

"Oh, really? And what could that be?" - she asked teasingly and just now, standing in front of her, I noticed how amazing her eyes were. The deep gray shade made her look as if an entire hurricane of emotions was hidden behind them.

"I don't know, my heart, my future…"

"Your balls." - one of the youngest of her friends, or maybe that was her brother, chimed in, making all the others chuckle.

Hmm, my pick up line was kind of lame, I'll admit that. Especially since Ellie was watching expectedly how I would recover.

"Your friend is rather interested in male genitals." - I told Ellie, tilting my head towards the boy.

"He's just going through that stage, I think." - she snickered, joining me in turning this joke around. We were already working as a team. That's promising.

"Hey, you fuckers, I'm right here." - the joker whined with his brows knitted tightly together in an angry frown.

But that served him just not too hard slap on the back of his head from one of the oldest guys.

"Watch your mouth, Mickey." - the guy said in a stoic tone and then turned his attention back to me and he crossed his arms. - "So, are you two Mates, or have you just seen her drinking eighteen shots in a row and thought you might get lucky here?" - the guy asked suspiciously, and in that moment two things became obvious. One, he was definitely a big brother figure to all of them, and from the looks of it, Ellie really respects him. And two, he was an Alpha wolf, and he started releasing his aura to intimidate me. But unfortunate for him, that wouldn't work on me.

"Why won't you ask a birthday girl?" - I said, unfazed by the show of strength, and the guy turned questioning eyes towards my Mate, to which she just nodded.

"Well, f**k me. That's what I call Ellie's luck." - the second oldest said with a chuckle, slapping my back in a friendly way. - "That requires a bruderschaft. Bartender! Ten shots of vodka!"

"Make it eight. The rugrats shouldn't drink." - Ellie said sternly.

"You mean other than those two six-packs they have already stacked in Sean's trunk?" - the same guy asked with a grin, as if he was all for underaged drinking.

Ellie turned her unamused face towards who I thought were her brothers, and two boys, who were visibly younger than she was, even though each one was at least seven inches taller, started squirming under her glare.

"It's an all-night party, we just came prepared." - the slightly taller said.

"Yeah, and besides, you aren't banning Dean or Boris, and as far as I know, they aren't old enough either." - the other one said.

Fuck. Were they all minors?

"Oh, come on Ellie, it's not like you haven't been having a shot here and there at their age." - the one ordering shots, backed the two boys up, gaining happy smiles in return.

She sighed and shook her head as a sign of giving in to their pleas, just in time the bartender laid out the glasses and started filling them up with a transparent liquid. The guy who placed an order started happily distributing it to everyone in the group and he was actually the first one to bang his against mine.

"Orson VanWoert." - he introduced himself and, not even waiting for my reply, drank his shot.

"Nicky, his brother." - said the younger and strangely more mature looking copy of Orson.

"And their sister, Uliana." the other girl in the group said with a broad, inviting smile. So she's probably Ellie's best friend.

"Dean Burgov. Ellie's Cousin." - said the guy who, up until now, was silently watching the exchange, while raising his glass.

"Boris Razin." - introduced himself another one.

"We're David and Mike Burgov, and you would want to remember us, because it looks like we'll be your brothers-in-law." - one of the youngest said, confirming they were Ellie's brothers. So she's a Burgov. I think I heard about Alpha Ivan from my Dad, and if he mentioned another leader, that means he's someone important. And a daughter of such a leader is a big win for Night Walkers' position.

"Sean Maslow." - said the most serious one of the group introduced himself, and I didn't miss how he hadn't smiled or nodded, just kept on watching me with scrutinizing eyes.

Then it came to the star of the evening and she slowly clicked her glass with mine, all the time keeping eye contact and that tiny, promising all the mischief in the world, smile.

"Ellie Burgov."

"Nice to meet you, Ellie Burgov, I'm Maddox Huxley."

She nodded once, before downing the vodka like a champ without grimacing or anything at all. Impressive and sexy as f**k. I never knew holding in the liquor could be such a turn on.

I drank my shot, slightly wincing at the bitter burning taste, and Orson laughed, clapping my back once again.

"It's clear as day he doesn't have even a drop of Slavic blood in him."

"Neither do I." - pointed out this Sean guy, who I have a feeling hates me for some unknown reason.

"Well, technically you don't, but you grew up with us." - Orson said with a grin, and a much smaller, more lopsided smile stretched on Sean's face, before he turned towards me and his facial expression became guarded and passive once again.

"So what brings you here, Maddox?" - he asked, but before I could come up with a convincing explanation, Orson came to the rescue.

"No, no. No interrogations tonight, bro." - he said to Sean before turning towards the bar - "Bartender, put some jam on."

"It's not a club, kid." - the grumpy bartender barked back.

"I'll give you a thousand dollars even for the damn radio." - Orson said with the confidence of a man who wasn't used to hearing the word no. And he got lucky this time around too, when, not even a minute later, the bar filled with the sound of some old classics from the - 80s coming out of the old stereo at a flat tune. - "Alright, let's get this party started." - Orson sauntered away in a dance steps towards the group of women that was probably at least ten years his senior. Okay, so that was a party animal of the group.

"Dancing? That's new for him. It must be for your benefit, Ellie." - the girl named Uliana grumbled, watching her brother swirling around two women he had already picked up.

"Really? What is he usually doing?" - I asked with interest.

"Fighting, property damage, or drinking his way under the table. Take your pick." - she answered, watching her brother.

Ellie giggled as if, contrary to her friend, she saw nothing wrong with that, and the sound was so melodic that I stared at her a good few moments, until her eyes settled on me.

"Dance with me." - I asked her, outstretching my hand.

"Seriously?! To that?" - she pointed up, meaning the outdated tunes.

"It's not like we're about to be the only ones on the dance floor." - I said with a smile. Although the term dance floor was used very loosely, dancing here would be squeezing between the tables, but I needed a reason to touch her with all of her friends and family watching us.

She bit on her lip, making my c**k go half-chub in my pants and she placed her hand in mine. I wanted to groan from the pleasurable sparks that shot through my body. Ellie's eyes grew wide too, and she smiled so gorgeously that for the moment I forgot what we were about to do. But when my brain started working again, I led her towards the least cramped part of the room and brought her smaller frame flushed against mine. She giggled, feeling my half mast through the layers of the clothing separating us, and just to tease me even more, she rubbed her core against me. f**k, that woman is… perfect for me.

Our dance was more of an upright writhing than enjoying the beat. It felt as if our bodies were learning each other's moves and curves, as our hands hadn't stayed for too long in one spot. Mine explored her hips, back, waist, and at some point even her boob side, but I liked the most how her eyes never left mine and only became more and more heated. And I'm not sure if it was the shitty lighting in the room or the amount of alcohol she consumed, but the shade of gray of her orbs went from bright and almost silver to the color of the sky before the storm.

"So, you come here a lot?" - I spoke for the first time. I should get to know her, not just stare like a creep.

Ellie smirked and shook her head.

"It's my first time." - she admitted.

Well, that's a relief she isn't a frequent spectator of illegal fights.

"Mine too." - I admitted.

"And look where it got us." - she pointed out with a broad, toothy grin.

She looked like a smiling Goddess. Naturally beautiful, but with a hint of a strong energy roaming somewhere under the surface. Everything about her felt like it was designed to tempt me. The way she bit her lip, the way her heated eyes were intensely staring at me, the way her nice round t**s were pressing themselves on my chest, the way she was seductively rubbing herself all over me, marking me with her sweet fruity scent.

I couldn't take it any longer. Having her close and not doing anything was killing me. So I brushed her rosy cheek with my thumb, and brought her closer, locking our lips together for the first time.

I'm not sure if there was something like a perfect kiss, but if there was, that must've been it. It was the kind of passion you can't learn, it's on the instinctive, more spiritual level, where you know exactly what she likes and she knows what drives you mad. With every stroke of her tongue, I felt like Ellie had known me my entire life, not just appeared out of nowhere a couple of minutes ago. This kiss was like… destiny and I was a goner for this girl.

"Holy fuck." - I cussed when we came back for air, resting my forehead on hers. Ellie giggled, lazily brushing hair on the back of my head, panting hard as if she had just run a marathon.

"Maddox is too long. I need something shorter." - she whispered with her eyes still closed.

"For what?" - I frowned.

"For when I'm going to moan your name in a few minutes." - she said in a sultry tone, piercing me with a very suggestive stare.

"Ox, my friends call me Ox." - I said immediately, hoping it would get us faster to where, obviously, we both want to be tight now, which is naked and with my c**k inside her.

"That will do." - she smirked and leaned closer to my ear. - "So are you game, Mate?"

"f**k, yes. My car is just outside."

"If you live further than a three-minute drive, it's too far." - she said, and I had to admit it was a valid point. I didn't want to wait that long, but what other option did we have?

Ellie must've noticed my expression, because she sent me a dangerous smile and intertwined our hands together, giving me a little tug to go with her.

"I have an idea. Come on." - she said, and I followed her like an obedient puppy.

She started walking to the back toward the bathrooms and I grimaced hoping that wasn't her grand idea, because no matter how much I wanted her right now, I don't think f*****g like animals in a dirty stall is my favorite idea for the first time with my future Luna.

But thankfully, Ellie passed the bathrooms and reached for the curtain on the wall, revealing a heavy metal door. When she pushed them open, I noticed a dark staircase and a strong smell of sweat and blood hit me. The ring. Was she really about to have us mate in a place where just a while ago a bunch of guys beat the s**t out of themselves?!

But when she turned to me with a challenging smile, I knew that was exactly what she had in mind.

"You still want it?" - she asked, biting her lip.

At that moment, I knew Ellie Burgov was my absolute kryptonite and she had the power to either make me or end me. But the thrill she was promising was something I couldn't say no to. She was the one I couldn't say no to.

"Hell yes." - I said, shoving her inside and closing the heavy door behind us.