Part 3: Chapter 19

“A street punk showed up at the warehouse a couple weeks back,” Ryehyun started slowly, still sounding breathless.  “Tall, black hair, black jacket, earrings.  Black duffle bag.  He had a tattoo on the back of his hand.”

Kai recognized the description of the newcomer he’d gotten news of on New Year’s Eve.  Luhan shifted in his seat, catching Kai’s attention and reminding him that the new guy supposedly arrived in the city the same time Luhan had.  But he didn’t call his friend out on it.  Not yet.

“He made a bet with - Jinwook,” Ryehyun said, remembering at the last minute not to refer to him as Boss.  “Capture…” He trailed off and dragged his gaze up to meet Luhan’s, then up over his dark hair.  “We called you Blondie but I guess that doesn’t really fit anymore.”

“I don’t care what you call him, get on with it,” Kai said, a growl chasing his words. 

“If we could capture Blondie within a week then the newbie would bow to him.  Fail and the newbie would challenge Jinwook for leadership.  Then he threatened to do just that if he didn’t accept the bet.  But he didn’t need to threaten.  Jinwook has been bored.  Not even his rivalry with you really interests him anymore.”

“So he took the bet.”

“Yeah.”

“What did the newcomer want with Luhan?”

“No idea.  That didn’t interest Jinwook.”

“So that’s what the fight was about when you guys came and called Luhan out that night,” Kyungsoo guessed, though it didn’t sound like a question. 

“It wasn’t just that.  A group of guys were at the warehouse when Luhan stumbled in.  He fell right into their laps and then managed to not only allude them, but made them look like idiots in the process.”

Kai frowned.  “How come I didn’t know about that?”

“That was before I met you guys,” Luhan admitted.  “And a lot of other stuff has been going on since then.” He gave Kai a knowing look and he nodded back.  Luhan’s wolf had sure kept them busy.

“Not really sure what happened that night.  The first fight.  But after that, no one wanted to go after Blondie.  Rumor was he was possessed.”

Kai snorted at that.  Kyungsoo turned back to the stove to hide a smile.  Luhan scowled at them but understood the dark humor in just how close that assumption was.

“As incentive he offered a shift in rank for anyone who could bring news about Blondie or did anything that led to winning the bet.”  Ryehyun drifted off again and seemed to shrink even further in his seat. 

“Out with it, Ryehyun,” Xiumin coaxed gently.  “They need to know.”

Looking out the ground.  Ryehyun spoke, barely loud enough for them to hear.  “I followed Kai here one night and spotted the two of you with Sohee out by the gate.  I took a picture to show – Jinwook.”

Kyungsoo’s brows rose.  “Sohee was here?”

“Not now, Kyungsoo,” Kai said.  If possible, Kyungsoo’s brow rose higher.

“I showed it to Jinwook thinking I had figured out where Blondie lived,” Ryehyun continued.  “But he got the crazy idea that the girl was the way to get Luhan alone.  I tried to tell him it was a bad idea.  Tried to remind him that Sohee has always been off limits for a reason.  But he was so caught up in the bet that he didn’t listen.”

“So he took Sohee and lured Luhan off alone.”  Now Kai’s voice was rumbling.

“Yeah, can’t say I was surprised when you all turned up though.”

“Then we beat your sorry