“I… I uh…” Payton stammered, looking a little spooked.

“He does, yes,” Kent hurried to say, and pushed Payton to the very large, very intimidating alpha mafioso.

“Don’t worry, little one,” the black guy said, his smile turning genuine. “Just one drink, and your friends are welcome to join us as well.”

Payton gave me a timid look, so I stepped next to him and smiled.

“I am a bit thirsty,” I said encouragingly.

“You can have anything you want. It’s on the house,” the black man said.

His friends went to pull more armchairs for us. Five of them, to be exact. The alphas in our group had to go get seats for themselves while us omegas sat down. Payton tried to act brave when he sat next to the obvious leader of this particular group, and even managed to give the big alpha a smile.

“What is your name, little one?” the man asked him.

“Payton. I’m Payton…” my best friend answered timidly.

“Payton…” the man said and smiled wider, his eyes never leaving Payton’s face. “I’m Atticus.”

“Atticus…” Payton repeated quietly.

“What would you like to drink, Payton?” Atticus asked while waving down a waitress.

“Oh, uh… Soda is fine,” he mumbled.

He was so out of his element… I cursed Kent for making us do this, but at the same time… This Atticus really was growing interested in Payton. If he was a good man… Maybe he could take my friend away from this shitty, homeless life.

Because I couldn’t see another way out of this life.

And Atticus here did seem unable to take his eyes off my best friend. Of course. Payton was drop-dead gorgeous with his wavy brown hair and golden highlights, his heart-shaped face and delicate features, his big brown eyes and his curvy, but athletic body. I knew for a fact that if Payton gave this alpha his brightest smile, the alpha would ask him to marry him right then and there.

I was rooting for them, because this alpha was not bad to look at. Not at all. He was tall and strong, and his short, curly hair was carefully styled with stripes on the sides, and he was wearing a white dress shirt with sleeves rolled up to show his muscular arms, and a waistcoat that hugged his strong physique perfectly. And that calm confidence of his did something even to me.

While the alphas in our clan took their seats at the far end of the set of two tables, the rest of us ordered our drinks. Payton and I settled with sodas – I didn’t feel comfortable getting drunk around these strangers – while Yvon, Clara, and Mickey ordered more expensive drinks. The mafiosos didn’t seem to mind, and even tried to make us feel more comfortable by making small talk.

And I couldn’t help noticing that I was quickly the only one without a partner to chat with. I didn’t mind, especially since my omega found these big, strong men intimidating, but it once again reminded me that I wasn’t desirable enough. I was too big. Omegas were supposed to be cute and cuddly, like the others in my clan.

I turned my attention back to the bar to keep my mind occupied, and I soon started noticing things… There were at least two dozen mafiosos in the bar, and more kept coming in as the night went on. I turned back to take a better look at the mafiosos at our table.

“Together, our four clans are bigger and stronger than what is left of the old mafiosos!”

That’s what Kent said before our raid on Clover Hill.

I glanced at Atticus. Twenty-five at most. None of his friends looked much older than him. So… Kent was a fucking idiot. This mafia was still going strong in the shadows, and all four largest looter clans had pissed them off. And these young mafiosos weren’t idiots. Our clan was going to get such a beating our future generations would feel it too.

My thoughts were interrupted when another chair was suddenly planted right next to mine, and someone practically fell on it so hard it almost tipped over. Everyone in the table fell silent and turned to look at this short, sloppy-looking young alpha male who had appeared out of nowhere.

And he was looking at me. I felt really uncomfortable under his eyes. Actually, everything about him made me uncomfortable. For one, he was clearly wasted out of his mind. He just leaned sideways in his seat, breathing heavily as he stared at me. He looked young, but his features were partly hidden by his thin, patchy beard and messy mustache. He was already going bald, he didn’t really have a neck, he was chubby, and he was really short for an alpha. And he was wearing an old, faded black T-shirt with a picture printed on it, but it was so old most of the pieces had fallen off. His jeans didn’t look any better.

I shivered in disgust when I noticed the suspicious wet spots on his shirt, and something that looked like vomit on his beard.

“Hi,” he said to me. “You’re pretty. And tall.”

“Yes, thanks,” I said, faked a smile, and turned away from him.

The mafiosos gave the man disapproving glances, but Kent was smirking at me. He wasn’t showing his mean amusement to the mafiosos, but he was very openly showing that to me. I straightened my posture, conjured a smile on my face, and turned back to the sloppy alpha just to show Kent that I’d much rather talk to anyone else but him, no matter if they just spent an hour vomiting in the restrooms.

“So… Are you having fun?” I asked the short alpha.

He breathed even louder, and leaned closer to me. “You are really, really pretty.”

“Thanks,” I said again, trying not to show how uncomfortable I was under his creepy gaze. He wasn’t even blinking.

I probably shouldn’t have entertained this guy at all.

“You know…” the drunk man continued, leaned closer to me, and took a strong hold on the armrest so he wouldn’t fall. “I want to buy you a drink,” he spoke, but he was so drunk I could barely understand him.

“I already have one, thanks,” I said, and showed my glass to him.

“Right,” he said. “Right, right, right… But I can buy you one.”

He still hadn’t blinked at all… I turned away just to get a break from it. The mafiosos were keeping an eye on the guy, which made me feel a lot better. And Kent was getting seemingly annoyed, so I turned back to talk to the short alpha.

“So? What’s your na–”

He suddenly bent over the armrest, and he vomited almost violently all over the floor. I jumped back in my seat and froze in disgust, while the mafiosos hurried up on their feet to drag the drunk guy away from me.

“It’s on my shoes, isn’t it?” I asked. I didn’t dare to look down.

“Uh…” Clara uttered, retreating as well as she stared at my feet. “Yeah…”

“No,” I breathed out, smiled, and stood up. “No. I’m done. I’m going home.”

“I’m terribly sorry,” Atticus said and hurried to give me napkins. “We can take care of your shoes.”

“No, no, no. It’s fine,” I said while trying to get past the large mess on the floor. “Goodnight.”

“Joni! Wait!” Payton shouted after me.

I heard Kent snickering at me when I stormed past him. He was smart enough not to follow me to make fun of me. I probably would’ve made him eat my shoes if he had.

I didn’t look down at my shoes until I was standing outside the bar. I had to take a few deep breaths to brace myself before I carefully peered down. I let out a short sigh. It wasn’t as bad as I’d feared, but there were splotches.

“You all right?” Payton asked me when he joined me on the sidewalk.

“I’m just great…” I mumbled and sighed. “You should go back. That Atticus guy really seems interested in you.”

“He’s terrifying,” Payton said, put his arm around my elbow, and started walking. “I just want to go home and sleep…”

“Same, to be honest,” I muttered. “And to get these fucking shoes off…”

“We can try to wash them,” Payton said.

“I think I want to burn them.”

“But you love them!” he exclaimed.

“Let’s just get back home,” I said. “I’ll worry about the shoes later.”

“Sure…” Payton said, and stayed silent for a brief moment, before he mumbled, “Atticus was hot, though…”

“Right?” I asked, and laughed lightly. “He really seemed interested in you.”

Payton smiled shyly, then shook his head. “I don’t know… My omega was scared of him.”

“Oh… Well that’s not a good sign,” I said.

“No… But my omega is scared of everyone, so…” Payton muttered.

“Right… Oh well, let’s just get home and get some sleep, yeah?”

“Yes, please,” he said, and yawned. “I really want to sleep.”

“Me too,” I said. “This has been such a shitty day…”

And I had the feeling tomorrow was going to be just as shitty, too.