Chapter 44

Chapter 44
Roman

I’m furious at Jaxon for making it seem like I’m some sort of voyeur. Not that there is anything wrong with that sort of thing, but it isn’t something I have ever been interested in. From how quiet Aria has gotten, I’m not sure how she feels about it either, and I don’t want her to misunderstand things and think that’s the kind of thing I like. 

This might be a practical arrangement, but I want to be a good bond mate. I never want Aria to question my place in the pack. But now I’m not exactly sure what my place will be in the new pack. 

The hospital finally comes into view. I turn into the parking lot and stop in front of the building. 

“I’ll go grab a wheelchair,” Aria says, opening the door and jogging inside. 

Once we are alone, I whirl around and glare at Jaxon. 

“What?” He asks, playing innocent. 

“Why would you say that? Now Aria is going to think of me as some sort of deviant.” I growl at him. 

He laughs. “Oh come on, she doesn’t care about that.”

“You don’t know that!” I say, but he waves me off.

The door on his side opens before I can say anything else, and Aria helps him into the wheelchair. 

“I’ll park and be right in,” I call out to them. 

Aria’s eyes meet mine, and I catch her face turn a little pink before she nods and closes the door. What was that about?

I make a lap around the parking lot until I finally find a parking spot. When I climb out of the car, I scan the parking lot and spot the two men sent with us parked closer to the front of the building. I walk over to them, and they both nod their heads in greeting.

“Will you guys be staying outside?” I ask them. 

“Yes. We’ll keep an eye out for any trouble.” The older one says. 

“Thank you,” I say, shaking each of their hands. 

I head inside and find Jaxon sitting in the waiting room, and Aria at the admittance window. 

Jaxon pats the chair next to him and gives me a cheeky smile. I roll my eyes but sit down. 

“How’s your foot?” I ask him. 

He shrugs. “Hurts like a bitch but I’m a bit too distracted to focus on it.” 

When I look at his face, I realize that his eyes are fixed on Aria. Heat floods my face, and I quickly look away. 

Jaxon chuckles. “You're going to have to relax. You can’t freak out any time she gets naked around you. Eventually you will have to look at her.”

I give him an unimpressed look. “We don’t have to have sex to bond.” I remind him.

He shrugs. “Maybe not, but it does make it a lot more fun.”

Aria starts to walk toward us and drops into the seat next to me and passes a clipboard and pen to Jaxon. “Okay, fill out what you can, and then I’ll take it back up to the window.” 

Jaxon starts filling out the paperwork, and I glance over to see Aria typing furiously on her phone. She runs her fingers through her hair and blows out a breath. 

“Everything okay?” I ask her without thinking.

She glances up at me and sighs. “Not really, no.”

Shit, that was stupid. Of course everything is not okay. Why did I say that?

“I’m sorry. I-“ 

She waves me off. “It’s fine. Thank god we got here without anything happening to us. I half expected someone to be waiting for us. Buck says the compound is still secure, so that’s good news.” 

“Can I ask you something?” I ask.

“Sure.” She says. 

“Has this other gang been an issue for you guys like this before?” I ask. 

She sighs. “They’re a bunch of assholes who like to start fights, but Buck tries to keep the peace. Their President and Buck used to be pals. Buck used to belong to their club, but when Axel took over, Buck didn’t like what he was getting into and decided to leave. A few of the guys from the old club left with him, and they started the Iron Horsemen. There have been some territory issues and fights between the clubs over the years, but nothing like this. His members will come by the bar sometimes and get rowdy and start fights, but what they did to Noah. They’ve never done anything like that before.”

“Are they all Alphas?” I ask her. 

She shakes her head. “The Patch Bunnies are always Omegas, but the club members are all Alphas.”

“Patch Bunnies?” Jaxon asks with a laugh. “What the hell is that?”

Aria smiles a little. “They’re the women who hang around so the club members don’t get lonely. They service the men however they like, and help around the club. Some of them become club members’ old ladies, but most of the time they don’t get tied down to one member.”

“Old ladies?” I ask. 

“The club members’ girlfriends or wives.” She explains.

It doesn’t sound like women are considered members. “Are women not part of the club?” 

“There are clubs that allow women to be members, and I’ve heard of all-women clubs, but there aren’t many of those.” She explains. 

“What do people have to do to become part of the club?” Jaxon asks as he continues to fill out his paperwork. 

“Well, you have to have a bike. Then someone has to vouch for you, and the president checks you out to be sure you match the kind of person he wants in his club. Then you become a prospect. You work to prove your loyalty to the club. Then the club votes you in or not. Some clubs will have a prospect perform a certain task to prove their loyalty. Most of the time it’s something illegal, but with Buck it’s more than that. And he hasn’t let anyone in the club for a while unless they were useful to him in some way. Like Daniel, he’s a lawyer. Which makes him very useful.” 

“So you aren’t considered a club member?” I finally ask her. 

She doesn’t answer me right away.

“Buck and Beth took me in when I had nothing. In a way, they adopted me. So even though I don’t have a bike and I didn’t belong to any of the men, I'm considered family. So that puts me in a different position. The club members see me as one of them, and can be very protective of me because of it. They know if anything happened to me that Buck would go mental.” She laughs a little at that. 

“Where had you been before meeting the club?” She turns her head to look at me, and my heart rate picks up a little. 

The way she’s looking at me…it’s as if she’s trying to read me…

“Done!” Jaxon says, pulling her attention to him. 

She stands and takes the clipboard to the front desk. It doesn’t take long before the door next to it opens, and Jaxon’s name is called.