Chasing My Queen

Chapter3FightNight

This world stinks! Literally the worst smelling of all the realms I've been to. I remember sneaking here as a young dragon with my brothers to party and pick up girls. My club back home was inspired by all the partying I did here. Before I opened The Dragons Den, I bought clubs here in the human realm. I spent almost ten years here establishing myself as a club owner and am pretty well known. After a while, my father was ready to retire, and I needed to take over the throne, so I moved back home. I did, however, keep all my businesses and property here and ran them from afar for the last few years.

"This place stinks," Bryx says. I knew she would feel that way. A dragon's nose is too strong not to feel that way in this realm. She's never been here before, or at least we never brought her, and her dad was a lot stricter than ours. "You better make this quick; I'm not spending three full months here." She adds dramatically.

"I'm hoping it doesn't take that long either," I tell her. I mean it; I really hope that when my mate sees me, our mate bond will click into place and she'll want to go straight home. But because the Elder Council think she may need a little more convincing, we will be staying in the penthouse that I bought when I was living here. As we pull up to the building, my brother looks nervous. It's a bit of a sore spot between him and Bryx, as he came here a lot when I was living here before they were officially mates, but not before she was head over heels in love with him.

"I've had the place completely redone," I announce. "You will barely recognize it, Max. Every bed has been replaced and all the walls painted, as well as new furniture in each room. I think you guys will like your room." I smile at Bryx and Max, hoping to ease the tension I can see between them.

"Sure can't wait to see." Bryx gives me a tense smile while we all stand outside the building looking up.

"I'm sure we'll all love it. Now, can we go inside out of this stench?" Tank grunts.

"Hello, Mr. Firewing, welcome back." The doorman says. "Anything you need today?"

"No Kenny, I'm good." I smile at the kid. He's barely nineteen. I found him going through the dumpsters in the basement one time, and he told me he was looking for bottles. Was trying to get enough money to buy new shoes for school. His foster family didn't seem to be interested in paying for anything for him. I told him to go home, take a shower and come back, and I'd find him a job. We had never had a doorman here before, so I hired him and paid him as if he were one of my club employees. Since he was too young to work in one of my clubs, this was a way I could help him and keep an eye on him.

"Just so you know, Mr. Firewing, I finally got my GED. I know that was one of your requirements for continuing to work here." He says in a hushed tone as I walk past him.

"That's great, Kenny. Let's set up a meeting while I'm here to go over a few details, and we can bump your salary now that you have that."

"Thank you, Mr. Firewing. Also, I hope this isn't too bold, but I have a friend, well, sort of sister. We were in the same foster home for a year before she aged out. Do you have any job openings at any of your clubs? "

"You have to be twenty-one to work at my clubs," I tell him.

"She is! She just turned twenty-one, and she could really use the money. Oh, and she has server experience. Her story is like mine, and she could use the help. But she would never ask. She's too tough for that. But she's the closest thing I have to real family. And I just wanted to at least ask because you've done so much for me and... " Kenny's voice is getting louder and more rushed with each sentence. I can tell this girl means a lot to him.

"Ok ok," I motion for him to calm down with my hands. "When we meet to talk about your salary, we can discuss your friend." That seemed to placate him.

"Thank you!" He smiles. "Thank you so much, sir. You won't be disappointed, I swear."

As we got to the elevator, Bryx was side-eyeing me.

"What?" I ask

"You really are a nice guy." She coos at me.

"Shut up before I roast you!" I spit back.

"Hey, don't threaten to roast my mate!" Max steps in between us.

"Tell her I'm not a nice guy," I glare over his shoulder. She smirks and winks at me. "I've spent years perfecting my dark, mysterious bad boy persona, and I don't need her announcing to the world there is any good in me."

Max throws his arm around his mate. "Don't worry, she won't tell anyone else; she knows how to keep a secret."

Walking onto the elevator, I put my code in, and we headed up to the top floor. The elevator opens directly into my condo, and in some small way it feels good to be back. When I lived here, life was simpler: less pressure, less responsibility, more wild fun. I didn't have an entire realm counting on me for survival.

"Ahhh, good to be back!" Max said as he flopped himself onto the massive couch in the middle of my open-concept great room. "Something about this place is so freeing." I stiffen. I know that's going to start a fight.

"Freeing?" Bryx questions. "Like sleep with all the girls I can before I commit, kind of freeing?" Her voice is tight, and her eyes are glowing; her dragon is clearly close to the surface.

"I didn't m..." Max starts.

"Oh, don't act like that's not what you guys used to come here to do. Do you think I'm stupid?" Bryx cut Max off with venom on her tongue.

"Well, it's been a long day, and we still have a fight to go to. Let's all take a nap. Bryx, I'll show you to your room." I gestured for her to follow me and take her down the hall to the room Max used to use when he was staying here. I've had it completely redone to Bryx's taste. She gives me a small smile when she sees it. All of the furniture is dark wood, and the bedding is deep emeralds and purples. There is a huge round chair with bookshelves, full of all her favourite books and crystals, in the corner.

"Thank you, Luke." She whispers as she takes in every inch of the room. I knew coming here would be hard for her, so I wanted her to have a sanctuary she could hide away in. She turns and hugs me tightly. "I won't tell anyone, but you really are the most thoughtful person."

"Yeah, make sure you keep that to yourself." I smile and wink at her. Gesturing to the wall to the right of us, I say. "The door to the right is the bathroom, and to the left is your walk-in closet." I turn and walk out, leaving her as she walks toward the bathroom.

"Is she pissed?" Max asks

"She'll be fine; just be nice, you know this is hard for her." I look at him pointedly. Sometimes my brother really acted his young age, and I needed to remind him how to behave. "Meet you back out here in two hours?"

"Thanks, brother. I'll make it up to her, I swear," Max said. He slapped me on the back as he walked past. "See you in a bit. And Luke, I'm really excited you are finally going to see your mate."

"Yeah, me too." I sigh and rub my hands over my face. Realizing Tank has already gone to his room, I head to my room to shower and mentally prepare myself for tonight. I'm starting to feel a little anxious about finally meeting my mate.

Once I'm dressed and ready, I meet everyone else in the great room. Jace has already set up for us to attend the fight as VIP and has a car waiting out front. Bryx and Max walk out looking fabulous. Bryx is in a dark maroon jumpsuit with wide legs and a tight tanktop style top. Her long black hair is pulled up into a slick back high ponytail and she has gold jewelry on all the usual places women wear jewelry. She looks stunning. My brother is matching with a dark maroon dress shirt and black slacks. His chestnut brown hair is messy on top and shaved short on the sides. His shirt sleeves are rolled up, showing the gold Rolex watch he's wearing, and the top button of his shirt is undone, letting the tattoos on his chest peek out, the same as mine. I'm dressed almost the same but with a black top. Our Rolexes were a gift from our mother; she bought us each one after our first shift. They are engraved with our shift date and the names of our dragons. We also have matching gold chains our father got us on the same day. Dragons love treasures, and our parents have blessed us with the best treasures over the years. Tank comes out last, wearing black cargo pants with a tight black long-sleeve Henley and black boots. Ever the soldier. It works perfectly, as he is listed as our bodyguard on the VIP.

"You look handsome," Bryx tells me. "There is no way your mate will be able to resist you." Smiling she kisses my cheek lightly while squeezing my biceps.

"Well, with the way you are looking, Max and I will be fighting the men off before we even get a chance to see my mate." I tell her. Max lets out a low growl and pulls Bryx into his chest. I know it's his dragon's possessiveness showing, and I can't wait to feel that way for my mate.

As we exit the car at the fight venue, I realize this really is an underground event. We are led into an alley with a door leading to stairs. As we go down the stairs, the air feels muggy, and my dragon starts to get restless. The bottom of the stairs opens onto a concrete balcony that goes all the way around with two small staircases leading down into a pit of sorts. In the middle of the pit is a fighting ring. There is already a crowd around the ring, and around the balcony leaning over it to get a better view. We are led down one of the smaller staircases to a section of seats right next to the ring.

"These will be your seats. Tatiana will come take your drink orders shortly. You can also place all your bets through her." The guy who led us down here gestures to a tall redhead in f**k me heels and a tight red bodycon dress. She's currently talking to a guy wearing a suit that he clearly got at a bargain shop. He slaps her ass when he's done talking to her, and she rolls her eyes. How did this loser end up in VIP?

The lights in the place dim, and an announcer announces the first fight between two young boys. We take our seats and order some drinks while looking at the schedule for the night. There are four fights before the main event, and my heart is already racing.