After

"Hiyah, Ronan. How's your week?"

How come you convinced me to run with your pack even though you knew I might lose control over my body and end up in a werewolf gangbang?

Kit smiled his best malevolent smile and put their drinks down in front of them with a loud clatter. The whole pack was crammed into a booth at Marvin's, loud and rancorous families and groups of college students all around them.

Ronan smiled back, closed-lipped, cautious. He looked very handsome in a dark leather jacket and his cropped black hair, oozing that effortlessly commanding air.

He was totally Kit's type - yet the omega's eyes kept straying over to the broad-shouldered man in an ugly checkered flannel shirt sitting next to the Alpha.

Stupid Dan.

"Hi Charlie," Morgan said. He sat cuddled against Justin's chest and they were both decidedly avoiding Kit's gaze.

So I guess they didn't forget about yesterday, then.

"Did you find out about your break?"

"Not yet - Let me go check with Marvin."

"That Ronan over there?" Marvin asked. His grizzled face looked more approving than Kit had ever yet seen it.

"Yeah, why? They asked if I could come sit with them, by the way. Said it was unlikely, but I'd ask."

"Well if it's Ronan asking, you can have an hour - including your break. He's a good man - marrying my daughter come May."

"What, Maddy?" Kit had worked with Marvin's oldest daughter, who ran the diner next door together with his wife.

"No, my youngest, Maeve."

"He marrying...Dan's cousin? Morgan's aunt?"

"Yeah, that's right. Seems 'bout half the people in this little town are related somehow. You know, Maddy's got those two little boys. Good kids, my grandkids. You heard that story yet, Charlie?"

Kit shook his head, no.

"Only a matter of time 'fore you do, in a place like this. Those boys got no father. Bastard ran out on her. Well for a while there I was worried Maeve was heading the same way, dating good-for-nothings.

"But Ronan's a solid, responsible sort. So you can take an hour with them, if he's the one asking. But in return you'll have to stay behind here and clean up alone after closing, how's that?"

"Sounds good, Marvin."

Kit wasn't sure what to expect from the pack after what had happened a week ago at the full moon. But he wasn't about to let them take the lead - he wanted answers.

"So, what the fuck was that about, then?" he opened the conversation with. Morgan winced.

"What happened at the full moon?" he pressed on. "I'm an Omega? And you want one, I take it?"

"That's about right," Ronan conceded.

"Why?"

"I've never actually met an omega wolf before, but from what I've heard they bind packs together. An alpha paired with an omega - whether they are mated or not - gains strength, and his pack does too. Omegas are so rare that they become valuable."

"Like a vampire with a werewolf is stronger?"

"What?"

"Nothing. Look, I get it, you want a rare pet to show how strong you are. But I'm not interested."

"What? That's - No. That's not it at all." Ronan actually looked offended.

"You would never be a - a pet." He took a deep breath an continued, more composed. "You would be one of us... Important. Respected. Treasured. Your rank would be high - probably just below Dan and I."

Darren scoffed, and Kit got the distinct feeling that he was the one with that spot in the hierarchy currently.

Ronan was still looking straight at him, as if no one else was around the table, speaking deliberately.

"Charlie. It you were part of my pack, I would always have your back. And you would have my ear. I'm no despot."

"What's an omega's role, anyway? Why do you want me so bad?"

"Well, they keep the peace within a pack..."

"As far as I can see, your Beta does that. And I'm not the peaceful type, anyway."

He took a deep breath.

"Fine. Just answer me one thing, then. Honestly." Kit looked the Alpha square in the eye.

"What?" Ronan looked guarded.

"Why did you move here? Why did you follow Dan to this town and leave behind whatever life you had before?"

Ronan stared back at him, weighing his words.

"I wasn't born a werewolf...I was bitten, in my teens," he said.

"My parents were both immigrants and they always worked hard, flew straight. My older brother and sister are the same.

"But I got dragged into a pack of nothing but young male werewolves looking to see who was toughest. More like a gang than a pack, most of them kicked out of their birth packs, expelled from their families, rootless.

"I cut school, stayed out late, disrespected my parents. Barely graduated, didn't want to go to college. Finally my little brother confronted me, said it wasn't right. I was drunk and got so mad that I beat him up... And have never felt more ashamed. The next day, I enlisted. Swore I wouldn't go back until I got my act together."

"Did you ever get in touch?"

"Yes. Just this fall, as a matter of fact. To invite them to my wedding. But I still had to tell them that I'm just a soldier, settled in a small town."

"Bet they were glad to hear from you, all the same."

He smiled, the corners of his eyes turning up. "Yes, they were. I hope you will get to meet them this spring, Charlie. I would like to see you at the wedding."

"Uhm, yeah. If I haven't moved on by then, sure. If I'm here."

"I hope you will be."

Kit narrowed his eyes. "But there's more, right? You followed Dan here because he was your best friend, but why'd you stay? Why'd you settle here instead of closer to your family?"

Ronan looked at him levelly. "Dan and I were dating at the time."

Darren coughed, spitting beer. Justin and Morgan looked surprised and Dan had the grace to blush when Kit quirked an eyebrow at him.

"We realised pretty quickly that we were better off as friends. It was something we tried after we left the army, since we had been close for so long and had no-one else. But it wasn't right. And after that I had responsibilities here, a pack, a job - and I met Maeve, my fiancée."

He looked at Kit, eyes roaming over his face, down his neck, lingering on his cotton-clad shoulders in a knowing way that Kit didn't like one bit.

"And I have run into the odd vampire, too. The kind that are always looking to make a lone wolf into a meal...or a trophy."

Justin shuddered. Kit narrowed his eyes, glancing between them.

"They're ruthless, and the only way to fight them, is to be more ruthless."

It was odd how much that sentence echoed the words Kosta had said to him all those months ago. Kit chewed his bottom lip.

"You don't like vampires, I take it? But you're cool with everyone else? Alphas, betas, general misfits..."

"Not everyone," said Ronan.

"Not rouges," followed Darren.

"Not criminals," continued Dan.

"Not vampires," Justin interjected.

"Or the creatures that serve them," finished Morgan.

"O-kay... So no rouges, criminals, or vampires' servants... Good to know." Awesome. I'm screwed.

Kit mused over Ronan's words before meeting his eyes again.

"I already told you I don't want a pack. However...I could use a place to spend the winter. So if you could use an Omega until spring, I might be your man. Whaddaya say?"

Ronan and Dan exchanged a glance.

"Until spring?" Ronan shrugged. "It's better than nothing. But, you should know," he exchanged a glance with Dan, "It would mean letting me...bite you."

"Bite me?"

"There is also a submissive element."

"I'm not exactly the submissive type."

"An element of trust, then."

"Equally bad at that, sorry."

"A physical surrender."

"Sex, you mean? I thought you had a fiancée?"

"I do. But this is pack business. I would never keep it from her, but I wouldn't let her stop me either. As Alpha, I do what needs to be done."

"Me, for example." You jerk.

Ronan's eyes glinted, as if he could tell what Kit was thinking. "Yes."

"You're a cold bastard, Ronan. I like it."

He extended his hand and the omega shook it, his grin feral.

Kit laughed. The tension had eased around the table the minute he and Ronan had come to an agreement, and now he was having fun teasing a tipsy Darren.

"No, I mean it," he said, "Who would ever date you? You look like a cowboy, and not the movie kind. The unwashed kind."

It wasn't really true - in a dark, open flannel shirt over a washed-out band tee, tall and with just a hint of stubble, Darren was plenty attractive.

"Oh yeah?" Darren slurred. "Think you can do better, pretty boy?"

"Sure, easy. Why... You wanna bet?"

"Bet?"

"Yeah," Kit said, a game already taking shape in his mind.

"Bet... who can get more numbers from girls. 20 bucks says I can - I still have half an hour left on my break." He quirked an eyebrow. "You in?"

Darren downed his beer. "You're on."

Kit laughed and the others - even Ronan - groaned. Darren left the table and Kit went over to speak to the DJ coordinating the karaoke before slipping back into the booth, sipping his soda without making any move to go and talk to the girls around them.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Justin asked skeptically and Kit just grinned at him.

"Don't you worry," he said. "I'm up next."

Justin didn't look convinced.

Dan was floored. Charlie...could sing.

Actually, that was an understatement. He sang beautifully, effortlessly commanding the rapt attention of the entire packed restaurant.

On the stage, the young man was magnetic. There was nothing there - no lighting or effects, no live music - but he sang as if he was the only one in the room. He moved with complete confidence, body swaying, legs placed squarely apart, hands caressing the microphone.

His voice was good...really good, but more than that he sang with such expression and raw emotion, raspy around the edges in a sexy way as he sang an old Bruce Springsteen song that had even the older crown mouthing the words.

'Cause we made a promise

We swore we'd always remember,

No retreat, baby,

No surrender...

He crooned the words more like a 1940's singer, almost sensually, more an interpretation than an imitation of the Boss.

Charlie closed his eyes, and when he opened them they burned into Dan's. His hoodie had slipped off one shoulder, dragging his T-shirt to the side and exposing his collarbone, and he shook his head so that his dark curls fell in a cascade around his face.

Blood brothers in the stormy night

With a wow to defend -

No retreat, baby

No surrender!

Dan felt his chest contract the way it had that first day he'd met Charlie - he couldn't take his eyes off him.

And he wasn't the only one. All around the room people's heads were turning, and women's heads were staying turned. Darren cussed under his breath, incredulous look on his face.

Charlie had his apron off, hoodie thrown over his black staff T-shirt, large eyes smouldering at the crowd as he swayed, alone on the stage but completely self-assured, as if he belonged there. It was breathtaking.

Dan remembered the time he had seen the guy stride into a room full of strange werewolves with that same confident swagger and he felt heat rising to his cheeks.

Apparently most of the girls in the room felt the same way - the cheers as he bowed off were deafening. He plonked down in the booth seconds later, sweating and grinning.

"Well, that was fun."

Soon enough, a cute redhead in a babydoll dress came over.

"You were really good up there," she said to Charlie, blushing. "Why don't you come over and have a drink with me and my friends?"

"Why, I would love to," Charlie replied, grinning at Darren before giving the girl a bright, sunny smile. "See you later, guys."

Ten minutes later he returned.

"Who's got more game now, huh, Darren?" he said, fanning himself with napkins - all of them with numbers scrawled on them - and smirking at the older wolf.

"Because me - I'm drowning in pussy. Unlike some people at this table." He winked at Morgan. "It's the face."

Justin snorted. Dan could clearly hear Darren grinding his teeth and tried to give him a warning glance. His brother's hand made a fist on top of the table. He tried to smirk back, but it came off more as a menacing grimace.

"Yeah, you got a pretty face. So what? Too bad about your personality. Oh, and that you have the body of a twelve-year-old girl."

Charlie laughed under his breath, leaning over the table towards Darren and extending his hand.

"I know, right? Pay up, Darren."

Darren ground his teeth loud enough that it could be heard over the off-tune drunken singing in the background, but he handed over the money. Charlie pocketed it with a smirk.

"Well, since you won, give us another song. Let me pick one," Darren growled.

"No way. Do I look that stupid to you?"

"Go on. I'll buy you a drink. A bottle."

"I got a bad feeling about this...but what the hell. Fire away, Darren. I got 10 minutes."

Dan wondered what to expect when he watched him get back up on stage. He was good but - what would Darren have picked for him?

Charlie's eyes widened in surprise as the music started playing.

"I'm gonna kill you, Darren," he said into the microphone. "You are so dead."

Laughter erupted around the room. A song that Dan recognized as sugar pop from the nineties, but couldn't place, was growing louder, uppity beat increasing through the first verse. The lyrics flashed unsung over Charlie's head.

"You chickening out, Charlie?!" Darren yelled over his beer, eliciting whoops from the crowd.

"Hell no." Charlie spun on the spot, pulling down the zipper of his hoodie and pouting his lips in a mock-serious fashion, and launching into the chorus.

If you're ready for me boy,

You'd better push the button and let me know!

Before I get the wrong idea and go,

You're gonna miss the freak that I control...

"What is that?" Morgan asked Darren, giggling.

"It's a pop song by a girl group, came out when Dan and I were teenagers. Had a very - erm, suggestive - video," Darren replied, smirking.

"Ah-ha."

Charlie's voice was lighter now, teasing and flirty, batting his eyelashes and wiggling his hips where the lyrics allowed, and getting the crowd to laugh along with him instead of at him.

The pop-song sounded surprisingly good with his slightly raspy voice, and the crowd was almost as rapt as before.

Dan noticed his brother's smirk disappear and then turn into a scowl when Charlie bowed off to applause, whistles, and laughter.

"Well then, my break's up guys - lovely hanging out with you," he said, heading back to the bar with a dramatic swish of his hips, and one last wink.

Kit was tired. After a long night, the bar was finally empty. Marvin had gone home and left him alone to clean up and close, and he was busy mopping the sticky floor, candles still lit on the tables, when someone pushed open the door.

"We're closed!" Kit called out.

"Oh, come on," Darren said, smirking and radiating barely concealed hostility. "I never got to buy you that drink."

They were alone. No-one was there to diffuse the tension this time.

Damn it.

(No Surrender - Bruce Springsteen

Push The Button - Sugababes)