“You know… it wasn’t always like thi-“
“Shut up!” Gary grabbed Olivia’s mouth, before she could say anything else. “I don’t care what your reason for joining a gang was. I don’t want to know what possible justification you might have come up with. At the end of the day, you’re involved in this sh*tty business!
“You hurt this poor girl behind you, as well as countless others! Because of your scummy ways, Stacy ended up here, died and someone I truly care about is devastated at her loss! So don’t you dare to make any excuses for yourself! If I hear so much as a peep from you without my permission, I’ll rip out your tongue and check if it regrows!!!”
Hearing him lash out at her, Olivia nodded. She wasn’t going to say anything else. At first, she had believed that the teenage boy might be naive based on his actions. The woman had taken him for someone who just didn’t know how the gang world worked, but he surely was acting like a gangster right now. Worst of all, she was convinced that his threat wasn’t empty.
Heading down the stairs, Gary saw that at least Marie had to have been safe, her Mark was still fully visible, yet when he came down he was surprised at the scene below. Everyone was knocked out… including the rest of the Howlers.
“Guys!” Gary shouted, nearly jumping down, yet, as if answering his call, the four of them shot up from the water.
“Ah, Gary!” Kai waved at him. “We were just taking a break. The water is nice and cool.”
The boys had sustained a few injuries here and there, but apart from some cuts, all of them seemed to be in a good enough condition. None of them had been seriously hurt and seeing this, Gary couldn’t help but smile.
“Hey, weren't you meant to defeat the leader? Why have you brought two pretty girls down with you?” Innu complained, as he pointed to Olivia and the girl behind her.
“What do you mean? She IS the leader.” Gary stated with a grin.
The four shared a look of confusion on their faces until Olivia went to the closed door and ordered the men behind it to stand down for the time being. Still confused, the Howlers were led to a different office that was placed on the second floor, away from the unconscious men who might wake up.
Gary didn’t explain a lot to Kai and the others, just that Olivia and the gang known as the Pincers were no longer. She would now be part of the Howlers instead. Of course the question came up about how they could trust her and so on, but Kai already had an idea.
Like a devout servant the former Lady Boss, simply led them to another office, one that was hidden behind a contraption. Located in a small room, the gang leader pulled out a few books from a shelf, making a safe appear.
“Open it.” Gary ordered, and of course Olivia did as she had been told without any resistance. The others couldn’t believe it. Just what could their leader have done in such a short amount of time, to make Olivia obey his every word? Still, it was the best result that they could hope for out of this whole event.
When opening the safe, Innu and Austin were expecting a bunch of cash, but instead it was just a bunch of papers, and by the look on their faces they were clearly disappointed.
“O ye of little faith, this is a lot better than cash. This here is everything that the Pincer owned! We will be taking all of this, and Olivia here will sign it all over to the new company known as the Howlers LTD.” Kai explained with a giant grin on his face.
“You see, gangs have to operate between the fine line of being legal and illegal, and with several signatures… we will legally gain ownership of all the restaurants in Burnham food street!”
Hearing these words, dollar signs were shining on each of the members’ eyes. This wasn’t just protection money for small businesses like the Wolf’s Pool Club. Based on what they could see, the actual shop space was owned by the Pincers. Not only would they make a hefty profit through a percentage of the restaurant's earnings, but also from the real estate and rent!
The process would take a few days, but Olivia had agreed to hand everything over.
“The place will still be run by Olivia.” Gary pointed out, which shocked a lot of them, but he wasn’t finished there. “However, we're going to make a few things clear. After today, the Pincers will no longer exist. This entire street belongs to the Howlers, and we are at the top of the gang. The members from before can decide to stay or not, but Olivia will make it clear she is no longer the leader.”
The others gulped when Gary said this.
“If anyone asks who owns this street, it's now the Howlers. If someone attacks this place, then it’s them making an attack on us! However, we are going to change a few things here. The red-light district can continue running, but I have conditions.
“Anyone who wants to leave is free to leave, they will not be forced to work here. That includes all those whose parents you have tricked into debt! Under no conditions is anyone underage allowed to work here, even if they want to, and we will be breaking all contact with anyone that is looking to traffic girls to this place! I don’t want to be involved with them.”
“Are you crazy?!” Olivia finally spoke up for the first time. “If you do all that, then we’re lucky if we can retain even half our current earnings!!! Are you really a gangster? Don’t you understand any of this?! What about paying all the guards? Half of them will leave if you pay them peanuts!”
Giving her a look, Olivia soon sat back down in the seat by the chair.
“People like you really make me sick. So what if profits drop? Doesn’t that mean, we’ll still end up with gain? You know what, just hand everything over to Kai, so he can deal with the paperwork. If I contact you or Kai does, you have to answer. You better start making the changes to the place, and make sure everyone knows about it!”
Alas, there was nothing she could do, Olivia had to listen since it was an order from the Alpha Werewolf. By now, she knew she couldn't fight against it, her body was already rushing her to do the job.
——
The news that the Pincers gang was no longer quickly spread throughout Slough. Naturally, it had reached all the gangs that there was a new group in town known as the Howlers.
Now, everyone was looking forward to how the big-time gangs would react to that…