He didn't expect to run into anyone on his way toward the shadows of the speakeasy.
"Out for a stroll?" Fin's voice was casual as he stepped from a side alley, arms crossed over his chest, dark cloak hanging open in the warm autumn air.
Jax blinked, slowing. "Alpha," he said coolly, then added, "You following them too?"
Fin gave a slow shrug. "I'm curious where they're going. Aren't you?"
Jax raised a brow. "Are you off duty tonight, Alpha?"
Fin's smirk widened.
Jax's voice darkened a little. "Does Princess Meredith know about this? She might write another letter."
Fin groaned dramatically. "Not another letter! Oh no. The horror."
They both chuckled — sharp and low. The kind of laugh only two old friends could share when they were both doing something they knew damn well they shouldn't be doing.
Ahead, they caught sight of the group again. Nova and Elle, weaving through the crowd near the edge of the quarter square.
And there they were.
Those three again.
"There they are again with those three," Jax muttered, mostly to himself.
Fin didn't miss a beat. "Milo Briant. Ash Greyborne. Rael Kaelith."
Jax glanced at him sideways. "Related to those three elders on our council?"
"You're correct." Then Fin added, deadpan, "Though according to Aeron, they're not bright enough for political ulterior motives."
Jax snorted. "Still trouble."
"Undeniably." Fin's tone suggested he had already imagined all three boys' funerals and found them satisfactory.
The boys led the girls toward a narrow building wedged between a tavern and a pawnshop. One boy knocked three times. A slit opened. Whisper. Hand covering the lips.
Password.
Jax's eyes narrowed. "Cute."
The door opened, and the whole group slipped inside.
Jax shifted on his feet, fingers flexing with pent-up instinct.
Fin exhaled through his nose. "I need to get out more. Apparently my pack has a nightlife I'm not supervising."
"We used to go out all the time," Jax said. "Before you started playing King of Everything."
"A tragic career decision," Fin murmured.
They looped around the back, moonlight slicing silver across the stone. Fin found the cellar doors almost immediately.
He looked at Jax.
Jax looked at him.
Not a word exchanged.
Jax yanked open the doors, and they both dropped in silently, hoods sliding up in one smooth motion.
They moved in silence, stalking the dim corridors lined with private rooms. The smell of liquor, sweat, magic, and gods-knew-what else hung heavy in the air. Gambling. Smuggling. Definitely sex. They walked by an orgy and that usually indicated a brothel tucked somewhere deeper.
They passed a second open doorway where at least six wolves were tangled in a pile that could only be described as a structural miracle.
Finric's stomach dropped. "Those idiot boys," he muttered. "Probably didn't realize what kind of place this was."
Jax didn't answer.
Couldn't.
His jaw was clenched so tightly it looked like his teeth might crack.
The hallway ended in a dead-end. Just a bookshelf.
They didn't even exchange a glance.
They both dropped instantly into old habits — the kind they used before Fin became Alpha and Jax became respectable… ish.
Finric scanned the shelf. Tilted a book. Nothing.
Jax tapped a brick. Nothing.
Fin swept a finger behind a leather binding — paused.
"There," Jax murmured.
Fin pulled the iron latch hidden behind the book.
Click.
A low grumble of gears shifted beneath the floor. The door swung inward. They stepped through. And the world changed.
Smoke curled in lavender swirls overhead. Music pulsed — dark, slow, bass thrumming deep in the bones. Magic hummed through the stone, vibrating with the energy of too many young wolves packed too close together. At least a hundred and fifty bodies swayed under dim spell-lights.
A full underground speakeasy.
Beneath the southern ward.
Finric exhaled once, long and annoyed. "We'll be having a conversation with our patrol leaders on how this exists without my knowledge."
"Please schedule that meeting," Jax said dryly. "I'd like to watch."
Finric nodded toward a half-moon couch in a shadowed upper corner. They slipped into the booth like ghosts — cloaks up, hoods low.
Jax mindlinked the bartender, tone clipped.
Gamma Thorne:We're taking the back booth. No trouble. You didn't see us.
The bartender — a sharp-eyed woman with a rune tattoo on her throat — glanced once, recognized the authority under the command, and nodded without question.
A cocktail waitress approached — more skin than fabric — and slid two drinks onto the table. Finric and Jax didn't touch them.
Not yet.
Jax scanned the crowd. Then—
His heart stilled.
Across the large room at least 50 feet long, descending the upper stairs leading into the pit of wolves, Nova descended.
Her hair was bright, silver gleaming even through the dim. Her black dress was elegant, but still short. It was understated in a way that somehow made her stand out more.
She didn't notice the attention.
Everyone noticed her.
Elle clung to her arm, teetering a bit in too-high heels, whispering something. Nova caught her with practiced ease, steadying her friend before continuing down like nothing happened.
Jax's throat dried. His heart pounded. His wolf growled.
Finric's eyes narrowed beside him.
"Who's that redhead always with her?" he asked.
"Elle Varrin," Jax said tightly. "Her roommate. And I'm fairly certain the mastermind behind this."
"And the actual owner of the dress and shoes Nova's wearing." Finric commented darkly.
"It would appear so." Jax muttered.
They made it to the bar. Jax fought the urge to stand up and run to her.
The three boys clustered close. Milo shot a glare at a man who'd taken a step toward Nova. The stranger immediately backed off.
Ash leaned over, hugged the bartender, and whispered something.
The bartender eyed Nova, then began mixing five drinks — each one letting off a swirling smoke.
They drank.
Nova didn't flinch.
She turned her back to the room, facing the bar. The bartender said something, and Nova replied. The woman smiled and began making another drink — this one billowing red smoke.
Jax nodded toward the bar and mindlinked the waitress.
Gamma Thorne: We'll try those
She nodded once and disappeared.
Finric's fingers twitched.
Jax kept his face blank, but the storm inside him was rising.
They didn't say it. But both of them were thinking the same thing.
This wasn't just a night out. Something was happening here.
Something that had the two most powerful wolves in the pack, cloaked in shadows, drinking smoke-laced cocktails in silence.
Watching.
Waiting.