Werewolf CEO 2, page 5
“Manhattan is split between nine wolf families,” Emily began. “The biggest are the Russos and the Drakes. The Russos control most of the north, so Washington and Harlem. Drake had reign of Greenwich, Soho, Tribeca, and the Lower East Side.”
“That’s a lot of territory,” I said as I realized just how powerful Drake could have been if I’d never gotten involved. “Who else is there?”
“The Whitlocks have the Upper West Side, Upper East Side, and the Financial District.” My eyes widened as she mentioned where Lunar Corp. was located, and Emily chuckled. “Don’t worry, it’s not like they don’t allow you to have businesses in those places, Josh. Manhattan’s way too small to be worried about things like that.”
“So, they don’t care when shit like Drake jumping out of a top-story window and running through the streets happen?” I scoffed. “I’m surprised I didn’t get killed on my lunch break.”
“It’s not like that,” Mia chimed in as she shook her head. “The territories are more like a sign of power. Sure, they operate different businesses out of them retrospectively, but they can’t stop other wolves from working.”
“Plus, there was a treaty signed years ago to stop things like that from happening,” the redhead added. “I don’t know the specifics, but I remember hearing Drake mention it when he was planning on attacking your warehouses.”
“I see,” I said. “So, the Lunar Corp. building is still my territory, despite it being in the Financial District owned by the…”
“The Whitlocks,” Emily finished for me. “And yes. There are exceptions to werewolf-owned properties. As long as you’re not outright threatening their space by wanting to expand or whatever, it’s yours. And you can do whatever the hell you want.”
“Got it,” I said as I was finally starting to understand it. “Who else is running around New York?”
“Hell’s Kitchen and the Theatre District are owned by Lady Dame,” Emily explained. “She’s a piece of work, but as long as you stay out of her way, she won’t cause you any trouble. Then you’ve got the Bonettis who own Morningside Heights and Chelsea, the Garcias who own East Village, Angel Pack in Gramercy, and the Black Tooth Bears who have all of Central Park.”
“Hang on… bears?” I asked to make sure I was hearing her right.
“Yeah, werebears,” she said with a casual shrug, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
I almost forgot about the conversation Mia had with me when I first shifted. We weren’t the only kind of were-beings to exist, and it was crazy to think about how wide and expansive this world was.
“And then there’s your territory, Josh,” Emily said with a soft smile. “Midtown East.”
“All of Midtown East is mine?” I asked in genuine surprise.
I knew I had my own power that I’d inherited from my father, but I didn’t think it would come with a whole chunk of Manhattan. My parents didn’t have an official pack since they were more focused on the company, so I had thought their territory would have been much smaller.
“Sure is,” Mia said as she reached over to squeeze my arm. “Your father never wanted to ruffle any feathers, so he didn’t try to branch out.”
“But now you might have a chance to, if you wanted to,” Emily said pointedly. “If this is Leon who’s after you, I say go and track him down and take his territory for yourself.”
She had a point. If Leon put a hit out on me, surely it would be better to nip it in the bud before Carter caught us off guard again. If he was still alive, that is. But if he’d died in that crash, and if Leon really wanted me dead, a guy with that much territory would surely find someone else to send out and do his dirty work.
“This is… a lot worse than I thought,” I said as the realization hit me like a truck.
I had thought this was just a rogue Beta wanting to get revenge for his precious Alpha. But now… now I’d got myself thrown into some sort of territory war with Drake’s father, who appeared to be a pretty powerful wolf. If that amount of territory mattered so little to him-- enough for him to just give it to his son if he proved himself worthy-- then I was gonna have my work cut out for me.
I’d have to be careful about this. And I definitely couldn’t rush into anything without coming up with a proper plan of action.
“We’ll figure it out, Josh,” Mia whispered to me with a reassuring squeeze to my arm. “We always do.”
“I’m sure you will,” Emily said as she stood up. “Best of luck.”
“Hey, wait,” I called out before she could walk off. “What if he comes after you?”
“He won’t,” Emily dismissed and started to walk away again, but I shot up and lightly grabbed her arm.
The redhead turned to me and looked down at my hand on her before her light blue eyes trailed up my body and to my face. I felt the breath leave my lungs for a second as she stared up at me, and I watched as her eyes sparkled in the dim light of the grungy coffee shop.
“You should stay with my pack once I find a place for them,” I said quietly. “I want you to be safe. And being with them will be the safest place for you.”
“I appreciate the offer, Josh,” she said with a surprising softness in her tone. “But I can handle myself.”
The cherry-haired Beta tapped my chest with one hand before she slipped out of my grasp and put her apron back over her head. I let out a long puff of air as I watched her go, and then I turned around to Mia, who had a smirk on her face.
“What?” I asked.
“Oh, nothing,” she cooed as she stood up. “We should leave her to it. I doubt we’ll get anything else out of her, and I doubt there’s anything else she could actually tell us.”
“Yeah, she’s given us more than enough,” I said as I started to head toward the entrance.
I waved to the redhead as we passed by the counter, and she half-heartedly waved back before turning to the customer she was serving. I couldn’t help but laugh as we left the store. Emily never failed to amuse me with how uncaring she appeared to be. She couldn’t give two shits if she came across as rude and brazen, and that’s what I liked about her.
“Hey, do you wanna go to Josie’s?” I asked my mate as we stepped out into the busy street.
“Day drinking?” Mia teased. “Is it that bad already, Josh?”
“Hey, I need to take a load off,” I defended with a smile. “That was a lot to swallow.”
“Yeah, I’ll give you that,” my girlfriend agreed with a sigh. “Sure. But only if you’re buying.”
“Always.” I grinned and grabbed her hand before leading her back to the car.
We arrived at Josie’s, a small bar in Hell’s Kitchen that I used to frequent a lot, and I wasn’t surprised to see it mostly empty. There were a few regulars drinking in dark corners, and I could see Dean, an old friend of mine and the usual bartender, cleaning some glasses behind the bar.
The smell of alcohol, sweat, and cheap cologne filled my nose as we entered, and there was some old rock and roll music playing through a half-busted speaker nailed to the wall.
It was a dimly-lit bar, and the windows were closed, so no natural light got inside, but it was nostalgic every time I came here.
“Josh!” Dean called out as we walked to the bar. “Good to see you, kid.”
Dean was a scruffy-looking guy, but god, did I love him. He was kind and funny, and he had been there for me and Matt over the years. He was wearing his usual flannel, but this time it was black and blue and looked like it had seen the war.
“Hey, Dean,” I said as I sat on one of the shoddy stools at the bar. “How have you been?”
“Eh, same old, same old,” the bartender said as he put the clean cup down and leaned his hands on the surprisingly unsticky surface. “What can I get for you?”
“A beer for me, please,” I said and turned to Mia so she could order what she wanted.
“Oh, I’ll have a beer, too, please,” she said with a sweet smile.
“No sugar rim for this one?” Dean teased, and I almost spluttered on my own saliva.
“This one?” Mia asked, and amusement glinted in her green eyes. “Does he bring a lot of girls here?”
“Girls who like sugar-rimmed cocktails,” he said to my girlfriend with a wink.
“Huh,” Mia hummed as she crossed her arms and pretended like she didn’t know that I’d taken Emily here. “Is that so?”
“Hey, just to clarify, she was fine with me bringing her here,” I said as I pointed at Dean. “And it’s not like I bring every girl I like here.”
“I beg to differ,” the bartender sang. “Remember that girl from Philly?”
“Dean--”
“Or that florist you met who flew out from Michigan?”
“Okayyy, that’s enough of that,” I said as I slapped a ten-dollar bill on the counter. “Thank you, Dean, for your wonderful customer service.”
“Ahhh, I’m just pulling your leg.” The barman let out a wheezy laugh and put the two opened beers on the table for us. “Enjoy your very nice and simple beer, miss.”
“No sugar rim,” she said with a wink.
“No sugar rim.” Dean grinned before he shuffled off to the other end of the bar to fill a regular’s whiskey glass.
“He’s charming,” my girlfriend said before she swigged from the bottle.
“And a pain in the ass,” I grumbled as I dragged my hand across my face.
“So… Philly, huh?”
“Enough,” I playfully warned her before I took a swig of my beer. “What do you think about Leon? Should we do what Emily said and try to root him out before he causes any more trouble?”
“That’s if it’s really him,” Mia pointed out. “We still don’t know for sure. And I don’t know if it’s a good idea to kick the hornet’s nest before we know what’s in there.”
“Good point,” I agreed. “In the meantime, I need your help finding a good real estate agent. I wanna put the pack up somewhere more permanent than a hotel room.”
“Yeah, I think it would be easier to make sure Leon or Carter don’t try and pull something on them when we’re at work,” Mia said with a nod. “I’ll look when we’re home. I don’t know what’s on the market at the minute, but I’m sure we can find something.”
“Hey, not that I was eavesdropping or anything, Joshy, but did I hear you say you were looking for a real estate agent?” Dean asked as he walked back over to us with a bowl of peanuts he placed in front of us.
Back in the day, I’d probably wolf down the whole bowl because I never had much money to eat, but I was thankful that when I looked at the bowl that was probably older than me, I didn’t even feel a pang of hunger.
How times change.
“Uhhh, yeah,” I said as I shared a look with Mia.
You don’t think he heard me talking about the pack, do you? I asked her.
If he did, I doubt he’d mention it, she said. Plus, he’ll probably think it’s a slang word or something, right? He seems old.
Yeah, he is, I said and fought back my smile.
“What kinda thing are you looking for?” the bartender asked as he leaned on the bar again. “I might be able to help.”
“Seriously?” I asked as I perked up a little.
“I get a lot of folk coming in here, Josh,” Dean said like it was obvious. “And a lot of ‘em talk.”
“Well, we were looking for a group space,” I said. “Big enough for five people, and possibly more.”
“Like a recreation space?” the bartender asked and cocked an eyebrow.
“Yeah, I suppose you could call it that.” I nodded. “It’s a, uhhh, personal project.”
“Hey, I don’t blame you, kid, if I had all that money, I’d be doing a few personal projects too,” he joked. “But… as luck would have it, I think I know a guy who might be able to help you.”
Dean suddenly spun away and started walking down to the other end of the bar, where an old man had his head resting against his arms.
“Ron! Ron, wake up!” Dean shouted and shook his shoulder. “I think I’ve got a potential buyer for you.”
“Huh?” Ron shot up with drool dripping down his chin, and he looked around the bar frantically before he realized where he was. “Jesus, Dean, can’t a man sleep?”
“Sounds like you this morning,” I mumbled to Mia, who playfully pinched my side.
“You know Joshua St. James, don’t ya?” the old bartender asked in a loud voice. “He’s wanting a space for a personal project, and I think that gym you’ve been wanting to get rid of will be perfect.”
“St. James…” Ron trailed off as he looked over at me, and then his eyes widened in realization.
The old man jumped off his barstool and hurried over to us, or at least as fast as his legs could take him. He had an evident limp, and judging by the wrinkles on his face and his dark gray hair, I’d say he was getting on in years.
“A pleasure, son,” he said as he reached for my hand and shook it firmly. “I knew your parents. Good people. Real good people. I’m so sorry about what happened to them--”
“Ronald, he’s here for real estate, not for a pity party,” Dean reminded him.
“Thank you,” I said to the sleepy old man. “You said you had a gym?”
“Yeah, it’s not the fanciest place in Manhattan, and it’ll need some work, but a place is a place.” Ron shrugged nonchalantly.
“Ron, you’re supposed to be selling this place to the kid, not making it sound like hard work,” Dean joked.
“Hey, we don’t mind a bit of hard work,” I chuckled. “But we need it as soon as possible. And something… off the radar.”
“Oh, trust me, I don’t think you could get any more ‘off the radar’ than that place,” Ron cackled. “Here, take the keys and go have a look for yourself. If you like the place, you’re welcome to take it today.”
“I’ll take you down there,” Dean offered and snatched the keys from Ron’s hand across the bar. “Ron can’t walk for shit.”
“Eh, it’s true, it’s why I spend all my time sitting at the bar,” Ron rasped out and grinned, which revealed about eight yellow teeth. “Go ahead! I’ll take a grand for it.”
“A grand?” I asked in surprise. “To rent or buy?”
“If you like it, you can keep it,” Ron said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “It’s causing me far too much trouble than what it’s worth, kid. I’d rather someone like you take it and do something good with it rather than it just sitting there like an eyesore.”
“Yeah, but a grand?” I asked with a laugh of disbelief. “You do know we’re in New York, right?”
“Like I said, it’s not worth the trouble,” he said with a shrug. “As long as I’ve got money for a few bottles of whiskey to get me through the day, I’ll be happy as Larry.”
“Alright,” I said with an enthusiastic smile. “A grand, and if I like the place, I’ll pay your tab for the rest of the year.”
“J-Jesus!” Ron spluttered, and his mouth fell open in surprise.
“You’re gonna regret that,” Dean mumbled under his breath as he made his way toward the bar flap. “Ron, try and stay awake long enough to watch the bar.”
“You got it.” Ron saluted and stumbled back into the bar.
Dean paused with his hand on the edge of the wooden bar flap and watched as he did so, and then he slowly turned his head to me like an owl, and I fought to keep in my laughter.
“Okay, that’s not gonna work, Davey, can you keep an eye on the register?” Dean called out to another patron as he lifted the bar flap up so he could step through and let it slam closed behind him.
“Sure thing, boss,” another gruff-looking patron said from a far corner.
“Alright, you guys ready?” the barman asked as he turned to us.
“Sure am,” I said and took Mia’s hand in mine.
I didn’t know why, but as Dean led us out of the bar and back into the street toward Ron’s gym, I felt extremely giddy. Like a kid sneaking down in the middle of the night to see his Christmas presents.
I had a feeling that whatever this place was, it was gonna work out. Sure, we needed a place as soon as possible, and this was the first offer we’d got, but I had a feeling.
Maybe it was my wolf instincts, or maybe it was just my natural intuition. Either way, I knew this was gonna be good.
And I couldn’t wait to see what we could do with the place.
Chapter Four
“How far is this place, Dean-O?” I asked as we started to walk down the road.
“Couple of blocks,” the bartender said over his shoulder, and it was super weird to see him outside of his natural habitat. “Ron wouldn’t have made it one foot out of the door, even if he wasn’t completely hammered.”
“Yeah, that sounds about right,” I joked as we let him lead the way.
True enough, we walked a couple of blocks over from the bar until Dean took us down a random side road until we stood in front of a sign that just about read ‘Rickman’s Gym.’
The letters were faded, but I think they used to be bright red with a fuzzy white outline to make them look like neon lights. The weather had made it almost incomprehensible, and if I didn’t have my werewolf eyes, I wouldn’t have been able to read it as clearly as I could from this distance.
The sign was randomly in the middle of the wall, and the size of it compared to the rest of the large red-brick building was comically tiny.
“Rickman?” I asked as we came to a halt outside two huge brown doors that had a small stained-glass window on each side.
“Ron’s last name,” Dean explained. “His son took over the building from him, turned it from a meat market to a gymnasium, but as you can see… it didn’t work out all that well.”
“A meat market, huh?” I asked in surprise. “It doesn’t still smell like that, right?”
“Well, let’s find out,” Dean joked, and he shoved the large rusty key into one of the doors and twisted it. “Besides, I think it’d add to the ‘charm.’”
The door opened with a click, and my old friend pushed open the door with a grunt. It creaked open and revealed a huge dark room with a fighting ring in the center. The ripe smell of mildew and stagnant air slammed into my nose, and Mia and I both recoiled a little as it hit us.
