CHAPTER ONE

"G et your ass back on the floor. I don't pay you to sit back here with your thumb up your ass." The man, Micky, wasn't really angry. He was just an asshole and liked belittling people beneath him. He wasn't in a much better position than Joel, but he had a little power and used it often.

"You don't pay me," Joel responded curtly. Micky grabbed a glass from the table and whipped it at him, and it bounced off Joel's shoulder and broke, cutting him deeply. Micky started to laugh when blood poured down his arm.

"Get out there the ghouls will love the blood." Joel ignored him, grabbed napkins, and held them to the wound. He walked away and headed for the bathroom, but the bouncer, who had a toothless, creepy smile, stopped him.

“He said out on the floor.” He barked, his tone gruff and cold. The bouncer had a thing going with Micky and allowed him to boss around the dancers when the real boss wasn't present.

The little bit of control that it gave Micky didn't seem worth the self-degradation he had to go through. Having to suck the guy off after every shift seemed above and beyond what he got in return. But maybe Micky enjoyed that skin-crawling smile.

“I need to take care of this first.” He pointed to the deep gash in his shoulder. The bouncer grabbed him roughly by the back of the neck and started hauling him out to the main room.

"Like Micky said, the ghouls will love it. He told you to take the stage, and you better be entertaining." Joel had been working the midnight shift for the past three months, and it was exhausting. But there was no complaining and no asking for changes because everyone did as they were told.

If you wanted special treatment like Micky, then you had to offer up your ass or other parts to the powers that be, and Joel would never do that. The Club was shady and dirty and one of the worst places to work in the entire city, and his time there had marked the darkest days of his life so far.

It all started with a tiger shifter who promised him the world but only delivered pain and suffering. The decision to go home with that guy after an exciting night at the Blood Rose Bar marked the beginning of the end, and all he could see coming his way now was death.

“The strip joint on Ravine, the one owned by the bear clan, is stirring up trouble. I think it would be wise to put them out of business before they bring the cops down on the entire neighborhood." Drakon commented during a meeting with Master Rose and his second, Victor Raum. Drakon, as lead enforcer, kept a close eye on their businesses and other enterprises, and he found that the bears were becoming a problem.

"I'll go and check out the business and speak to Cassius to see what he has to say about it," Conall stated. "I want to get a feel for what he is doing down there."

"My men have reported gruesome acts against humans and other more vulnerable shifters. Their lives and how they handle themselves is their own business, just as we don’t want them poking around our lives, but I do believe they are crossing a line.” Drakon clarified. “Their treatment of humans will eventually bring scrutiny down on all of us.”

"We have no time or tolerance for scrutiny brought down on us through stupidity. If they are stepping outside the lines, then I will make it clear they need to restructure their methods." Conall made his plans very clear, but both Victor and Drakon knew he had an alternative reason for his insistence on handling this particular issue himself.

Conall and Cassius had a long-standing feud that spanned nearly a decade. They both moved into the lower south side of the business district. The area was rough but not as seedy and revolting as it is now. Cassius seemed to make it his life's work to develop the area into the worst of what the city had to offer.

"I will go with you." Drakon offered, and Conall shook his head.

"Just give me a couple soldiers. I want it to appear casual." Conall countered offhandedly.

“Very well, but the bears have never been ones to regard talking as a means to problem-solving. Cassius and his men are vulgar and violent, period. You and I have dealt with these fuckers before." Victor wanted to go with Conall or at least have him take Drakon, but Conall waved them both off.

"We're going to have a nice chat about the future of business on the lower side. No need to go in with guns a blazing.” He gave a smile that was more calculated than comforting.

"You're going to start a war, aren't you." Victor joined.

"Of course not; we will have a civilized discussion, that's all," Conall emphasized. Conall, with two of Drakon's men, Fane and Samuel, were soon off to have a discussion with the bear shifters. Drakon and Victor watched them leave.

“He’s going to start a war, isn't he?" Drakon asked.

"Yep," Victor responded, and both laughed.

It took several days for his shoulder to heal, especially after the clients had finished pawing at him. The levels of depravity of some of the patrons of this joint really boggled the mind. Joel was twenty-two and not unaware of the ways of the world, but this place was beyond anything he ever wanted to see. He'd been on his own for a couple of years now with no family. He thought he had a few friends, but no one came looking for him.

It was his own fault he should have taken better care of himself. A few unfortunate decisions had put Joel in a position of vulnerability, which led to hooking up with Murphy. Murphy was a shifter and a psychopath, but he came off as a handsome businessman with kind eyes. Joel had gone home with him and had agreed to stay for a while, thinking this was the beginning of a true relationship, only to be sold off to a monster from one of the worse parts of town.

Joel wasn't sure if that was Murphy's intent from the jump or if he simply found it entertaining to see Joel panic and even cry when the deed was done. Cassius Brown owned his contract, and he wouldn't be released until it was paid, which would never happen. It was just a game to make people think they had a chance to get away, but no one got released. The only way to escape as far as Joel could see was to run far and fast and never stop running.

The Browns were bear shifters and they were ruthless. In their world, every problem was solved by killing someone, so Joel tried his best to do what he was told and not make a spectacle or draw attention to himself. People who drew attention to themselves often disappeared, and Joel didn't want to disappear. As unlikely as it may be, Joel held out hope that his chance to run far and fast would come.

"You two strip to your briefs, make sure they look good, and get out on the floor. We have a special guest coming, and he's probably bringing friends." Braum, one of the bouncers and Casius' eldest, shouted at them, and Joel quickly stripped to his briefs. They were black and shiny, so Braum seemed satisfied. The other dancer, Mason, leaned over close and told Joel what was expected and for him to be very careful.

"The Vampire Master Conall Rose is on his way, and the bears are going to want an exceptional show, so do whatever you have to in order to entertain the guy."

"Have you met him? Is he as bloodthirsty as the other vamps we dealt with?"

"I've never met him, but I know who he is, and he's the leader of the fiercest and most feared coven in the city, and you don't get to where he is by being kind and gentle," Mason stated the facts, and Joel felt his heart sinking.

"Okay," Joel responded stiffly. He really wasn't in the mood to entertain an evil master vampire. He was barely healed from the last vampire who had used him as a worthless blood bag. The night he'd walked out on stage gushing blood had been a night of horror. A vampire in the crowd rushed the stage and began licking his arm and grabbing at his cock, and when the bouncer arrived to remove him, the guy gave the bouncer a hundred-dollar bill to let him continue. Everything was for sale at the Club, including Joel.

He was thankful just to have survived, and the thought of going through that again but with a vampire even more cruel and vicious was heartbreaking. He had no open wounds this time, so that was a positive, but that didn't mean he wouldn't ultimately be fed upon.

Vampires tended to be wealthy, and they simply bought whatever they wanted. Being a Master vampire, this man was probably in a position to get everything he wanted. The bears would not deny him as long as he was carrying enough cash. If he didn't perform and provide them with satisfaction and entertainment, the bears would make him pay for embarrassing them.

Mason had nothing to worry about. He was in a relationship with one of the bears, so regardless of how this went down, he'd be safe. If there was trouble, he would pay for it, and considering it was with a high-profile customer like a coven master, he would probably pay with his life. As much as he didn't want to attract the man's attention, he had to give the Master a good performance.

The Club was busy, but the moment the Master walked in, the energy shifted, and there was a wave of tension and fear that washed through the place. The bears were powerful and terrible people who did terrible things without pause, and yet they stepped back when this vampire and his guards entered the Club. Joel wasn't sure what to make of it as Cassius, the great leader of the bears, looked worried. This Master scares him, which makes the Master someone worse than Cassius.

Joel wanted to run away or disappear because anyone who put worry on Casius' evil face was someone to avoid at all costs. He had no recourse. The bears owned him, and there was no getting out of this. Panic took him over, and he saw his hands shaking, so he swallowed his fear and focused on staying alive.

He and Mason walked out onto the floor, and the other dancers gave them room by moving back and allowing them to begin the sensuous choreography. They had worked together before, so they went with a set that they both knew would provide a hot and arousing spectacle for their guests.

Joel stole several glances at the Master as he made his way through the room and toward Cassius. Master Rose was a handsome fucker and walked like he owned everything and everyone. The power and confidence were thick, and the bears were feeling it, too. They stood around the room clearly agitated and waiting . . . for something.

Joel and Mason kept the act going, rubbing, stretching, and gyrating in sync. Joel's black briefs accentuated his package, and he used that to his benefit by rolling his hips and jutting forward while running his fingertips sensuously down the center of his chest. He kept his eyes on the Master, desperate to be entertaining enough but not wanting to be singled out. It was a thin line; he was walking or dancing, but then the Master noticed him, and Joel felt his heart stop in his chest.

Master Rose stopped suddenly and looked around the room. His brow was dark and drawn tight, and his dark eyes ate up the room with a glance. His expression was cold and exacting. Joel was suddenly scared to death that the man was going to train that lethal gaze on him. He wouldn't survive an encounter with a man like Master Rose, but the bears didn't care because, in their minds, everyone was expendable, especially a slave like him.

He was dressed classy but casually in black leather and gave an ultra-sophisticated impression, whereas the bears were dressed in business suits, and still, they all looked cheap and classless. Cassius stood when Master Rose approached his table and motioned for him to take a seat, but Master Rose still had his dark eye surveying the room. His guards looked ready to strike, and everyone who didn't need to be in the area left. The mood was turning decidedly dangerous.

Then it happened, and his eyes captured Joel. Joel desperately tried to pull his eyes away, but the power of that stare held him frozen to the spot. He couldn't move, he couldn't breathe, and he felt like he was dying. He started to tremble full body tremors. This was bad, this was really bad. He was embarrassing the bears and showing fear to people who ate fear for lunch.

He noticed Cassius signaled one of the bouncers to get him off the floor. The other dancers and servers ran for their lives, knowing that things were going south rapidly. Joel tried to run, but the Master held him in thrall and steadily approached him with a look of dark determination. The minute the bouncer grabbed Joel and started roughing him up and dragging him away, the room suddenly exploded into chaos.