Chapter 15
Chapter 15
Ch 15 Meetings and Plans
Early morning training resumed, but it was just a makeout session in the field.
“You don’t need any more practice,” Conri said between kisses.
“We can train with everyone else after school,” Alaric said from between her legs.
“Goddess, what are you guys doing to me?” Thea said.
“Making you come,” Kai said into her neck.
Their shower went the same way.
Thea didn’t make her tea that morning. She figured if the group of boys attacked her while she was using the tea, what was the point?
Once they were at school, the triplets continued. Thea managed to break away from them before third hour and find Misty.
“Hey, are you busy this Saturday?” Thea said.
“No,” Misty said.
“Want to hang out with me?”
“Yeah.” Misty smiled big and crossed her arms behind her back.
“Okay. Let me get your phone number, and I’ll let you know the details later.” They exchanged phone numbers and parted ways.
“You’re hanging out with the she-devil that’s responsible for a gang of boys jumping you?” Lizzy said once Misty was out of earshot.
“She apologized,” Thea said.
“Um, that’s all it takes? If Xavier apologizes, you’ll hang out with him?” Lizzy said.
“No. He’ll have to prove he won’t use his Alpha tone to try to rape other she-wolves first.”
“HE DID WHAT?! ?”
“Shh. It didn’t work on me, and he’s being punished by his dad. Alpha Ulric called Alpha Knight, told him what happened, and Xavier’s been locked in their dungeons since that day. I just hope he hasn’t already done it to someone else who doesn’t have Alpha blood. Stay away from him, just in case, Lizzy.”
“I will. Thea, are you okay? For real. Please know you can talk to me.”
Thea gave her the details of that day. “I’m okay. I just can’t wait to shift. I need to be stronger. I hate feeling weak.”
After school, as Thea and the triplets led training, one of the pack members who worked in the pack house came up to Thea.
“The Alpha is summoning you to his office, Thea.”
“Right now?”
“Vas,” Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.
The triplets looked at each other and shrugged. They each kissed her goodbye, and she hustled to the Alpha’s office in her training clothes— yoga tights and a loose racerback tank over a crop top sports
bra. She knocked on the door.
“Come in,” Alpha Ulric called. She opened the door, and he motioned for her to sit down. Aman with well-kempt tawny hair was already sitting. He wore business slacks and a button-down shirt. “ Davie, meet Thea. Thea, Davie.”
The man stood up and shook Thea’s hand.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Davie,” he said. people being able to find their mates. Even with it being open to all, I want to keep our pack’s standards for it. No matter what pack the patrons come from, they have to abide by our standards. Employees and patrons are treated with respect. We’ll probably need security to enforce that.” Davie nodded.
“I know it can’t bea charity,” Thea said. “It’1] need to be profitable. We can start by making it a hot spot, have theme nights, see what draws people in, and maybe expand into making our own beer or liquor down the road. I’ll probably need to consider how to make it human- friendly too.”
“Youve given this a lot of thought. What do you need me for?” Davie said.
“I don’t know what I don’t know. I want to make sure I don’t miss anything. This is important to me, and J want to make sure it succeeds. I also don’t know anything about how to get vendors for the liquor and everything else we’ll need. I should probably hire someone to design the place for the right ambiance, but I don’t know who to hire for that or what ambiance will be best. Should we serve food too? That’s a whole other set of licenses and things I don’t know. I’ll have to hire a manager because I won’t have the time to run the place, but who do I trust to keep my vision? That’s the tip of the iceberg.”
“Alpha Ulric and others have not exaggerated. You have a good head on your shoulders,” Davie said. “I can put you in touch with vendors, interior designers, that type of thing. I suggest you go to a lot of gay bars, see what you like and dislike about them, see which ones are successful, what kind of clientele they attract, find out what events work well for them, maybe talk to the people who frequent the bars
you like. Do your market research. Then you’!] have a better idea exactly how you want to set yours up.”
“Definitely,” Thea said, nodding.
“You haven’t shifted yet?”
“No. In a few months.”
“We’ll have to communicate via phone then until you can mind link. What’s your number?”
Thea rattled it off. She heard a ping a few seconds later.
“I just sent you all my contact info. If you wouldn’t mind sending me yours. Start doing your market research, and we’ll be in touch.”
“Thank you.”
“lm looking forward to working with you.” He got up and walked out of the office.
Thea blew out a breath. At least now she knew what she was going to do with Misty on Saturday. She pulled out her phone and searched for gay bars. She searched the Alpha’s desk for paper and pen. She found a map titled ‘Confirmed Annihilated Packs’ with several X’s on the east coast. That didn’t look good. One thing at a time, though.
Thea located the blank paper and made a list of every gay bar in a six-hour drive. She figured Misty would want to be far away from anyone who would recognize her. She wrote down the number of reviews, the rating, how long they’ve been in business, hours open, busy hours, the type of ambiance it seemed to have, all the information she could about each one.
She favorited the ones with the most and best reviews on her phone and mapped out a route to hit as many as possible. Most of them served a small selection of food items, but Thea looked up proper restaurants if they wanted to get a full meal while they were out. She also looked up other random places on the route in case Misty got tired of going from bar to bar.
She went back to the training field as everyone finished.
“How’d it go?” Alpha Ulric said.
“Really good. Thank you for setting that up,” Thea said.
“I look forward to hearing about the progress.” He walked toward the pack house. The triplets approached her.
“Missed you,” Conri said. They all kissed her.
“Mmm. Missed you too,” she said.
“What did Dad want?” Alaric said.
“He’s helping me with that project we’re not telling anyone about yet. I’ll tell you more about it later. I need to talk to Lizzy real quick. See you at dinner?”
They nodded. She kissed them all again.
“Lizzy!” Thea called out. Lizzy turned, and they met in the middle. “Can I borrow your fake ID this
weekend?”
“Sure, but you’re not blonde,” Lizzy said.
“i still have mine. I need one for a friend.”
“Misty.”
“Yeah. Don’t say anything to anyone, though, okay?” Thea said.
Lizzy sighed. “I know the fake ID code. I don’t know if P’ll ever understand your ability to forgive and forget.”
“Also. Do you have something I could wear that would be appropriate for a bar or club setting? That I would still feel comfortable in?”
Lizzy laughed. “Let’s go see Doris. I bet she could make something for you that will be better than anything I have.”
They made their way through the pack lands to Doris’s little cottage. It was filled with bolts of fabric, cutting tables, mannequin forms. She loved making clothes.
While Lizzy described what they were looking for i nan outfit, Thea took an inventory of Doris’s equipment. She noticed the pieces that were a little worse for wear and took notes on what could use updating. Doris held some fabrics up to
Thea’s face, took her measurements.
“Okay, it’ll be ready tomorrow if you want to come by in the afternoon.”
“So quick?” Thea said.
“Simple dress. It’ll take no time at all.”
“Thank you. I’1l come over after school.”
On her way back to the pack house, she researched the items that needed replacing. When she found the highest quality replacements, she ordered them and went into the dining hall to pack dinner.