A Rebel Without Claws (Southern Charm #1)

7. ~Ronan~

Chapter 7

~Ronan~

Zack and Bowie walked slightly ahead of me as we strolled through the parking lot to this place called Howler’s. There was a live band playing tonight. The marquee above the door read Tonight—Silver Bane .

“You’ll love this band,” Zack was saying as we paid the cover fee at the door. “The singer and the drummer are werewolves. The bass guitarist is a vampire.”

I nodded, paying the cover and following them inside. Howler’s was on the Westbank where a lot of werewolves lived. That was because there were actually some woodlands close to the area and wolves, even in between their full-moon shifts, often liked to run in wolf form.

The place was already pretty packed, though the band didn’t start for another half hour. The crowd ranged from twenties to forties. I sensed a lot of wolves in the crowd, but other super- natural signatures as well. Some humans thrown in the mix too .

“Come on,” Zack called back to me, grinning, “I’ll introduce you to the band.”

He zigzagged through the crowd toward the stage where the guitarist stood, plucking at some strings, checking the sound as he adjusted them. There were two guys sitting on the edge of the stage, one had drumsticks in his hands and was twirling them and mock-playing a set in his head while the other guy was laughing with a couple of girls.

“Hey, Diego,” said Zack as he maneuvered up into their small circle, the girls stepping back to make room for us. “I’d like you to meet a new friend of ours. This is Ronan Reed.” Zack gestured toward the one I knew was the singer, but then my gut tightened when Zack said, “This is Diego Cruz.”

Ignoring the devilish grins Zack and Bowie shared at my expense, knowing full fucking well this surprise introduction might throw me off, I reached out a hand to shake Diego’s, calm as ever.

“Hey, man. Welcome.” His tone was cool and casual, but I noticed the way his eyes flashed gold when his hand met mine.

This wasn’t uncommon when two werewolves met for the first time, especially two dominant ones. The interesting thing was that my wolf never showed himself, and yet, this had happened to me more times than I could count when I met other alphas. They saw me initially as a threat. And in the ring, they learned that I was one.

“Nice to meet you,” I said, withdrawing my hand and sizing up Celine’s brother.

He was sitting, but I could tell he was as tall as me, maybe taller. His longish hair that fell almost to his shoulders softened his hard edges. He was packed with muscle, and the wolf I detected laying beneath his skin was a fierce animal.

“He’s Shane Reed’s nephew. Just moved here from Austin.”

“No shit,” said Diego, still observing me keenly. “My uncle Nico lived in Austin for a while.”

I nodded, having nothing to add to that. Quite frankly, I was reeling slightly from meeting some of her family so abruptly. I was going to kick Zack’s ass when we left this place because I was sure it was his idea.

“This is Boomer,” Diego introduced the drummer who’d been mock-drumming a set the whole time, barely noticing us.

He gave me a head nod, and that was his greeting, I supposed.

“Don’t mind him.” Diego grinned. “He’s in the zone right now.” Then he called back to the guitarist, “Hey, Morgan! Come meet Shane’s nephew.”

The vampire stopped what he was doing and walked to the edge of the stage, but he didn’t sit.

“This is my cousin, Morgan.” Diego gestured over his shoulder.

“Your cousin?” I asked, wanting clarification because he was definitely a fucking vampire, not a werewolf.

“His mom is my aunt Jules. She’s the Enforcer in New Orleans if you hadn’t heard.” Diego watched me for any reaction, but I wasn’t going to give him any.

“Cool,” was all I said.

Again, I was taken aback. Ty had mentioned that Celine had grims and vampires as uncles as well as werewolves, but I suppose it hadn’t really sunk in. They were truly a melting pot of supernaturals in this family. That wasn’t all that common. At least, not where I was from. But it also was highly encouraging for my chances with Celine.

As if I’d conjured her, I smelled her on the air. I had to bite back the instinctual growl at the jolt of sensation when she waltzed right in front of the other girls still standing near Diego and gave him a hug.

“Hey, sis,” he said, giving her a one-armed embrace. “Glad you made it. Hey, Lauren.”

He smiled at the pretty brunette who trailed behind Celine. “Hey, hot stuff.”

They started chatting, but I couldn’t focus on anything, my entire being wholeheartedly fixated on the red-haired witch standing only feet away.

I did not acknowledge Zack off to the side, shaking his head at me, giving me all the no signals he could manage. That was when I realized I hadn’t stifled my wolf as well as I’d thought. There was a steady low rumble vibrating in my chest.

When Diego heard it and turned in my direction, so did Celine. I coughed quickly to try to cover it up.

“You okay, man?” Zack patted me hard on the back.

“All good.” The rumbling warning of my wolf had stopped.

Apparently, he didn’t like her among all these other wolves.

The vampire Morgan was plucking at some strings, but his silvery gaze was on me. Fucking vampires. They noticed everything.

“Hi, Ronan,” said Celine casually, though I noticed her suck in a deep breath. Her friend grinned like a fiend next to her, which told me she’d been telling her buddy about me. I liked that .

“Hey, Celine.” That sounded good, casual, not obsessive or aggressive at all. By some miracle.

Still, Diego frowned, sitting up a little straighter. “How do you two know each other?”

“The body shop,” I said quickly.

“Yeah. I dropped some designs to Rhett,” she chimed in quickly.

Then it was awkward and quiet except for the bar music playing “I Like the Way You Kiss Me” overhead. And then I was irrationally drawn to Celine’s mouth.

Diego’s frown deepened, but then some guy, who must’ve been a bar manager, came up between us. “Five minutes. Let’s go.”

Diego and Boomer hopped up onto the stage to get ready to start. Zack and Bowie cackled to themselves like schoolgirls while I stepped closer to Celine and her friend.

“Buy you ladies a drink?”

Celine glanced at her friend, then turned back to me. “Sure.”

I couldn’t help but gently guide her in front of me, my hand at the small of her back. She was wearing jeans and a dark green top that was silky to the touch. I bet her skin was softer.

As we made our way to the bar, most of the crowd was push- ing forward toward the stage. I turned to look at her, really drink her in. She and her friend took seats on stools at the bar. I leaned in close to her ear.

“Fucking hell, you’re beautiful,” I murmured low.

Her mouth dropped open partly, her gaze wide and jewel-green. After a few seconds of the two of us being lost in each other, she leaned back slightly on her stool. “This is my friend Lauren. ”

“Hi, Lauren.” I shook her hand. “What would you two like to drink?”

“Lemon drop martini,” said Lauren, twisting backward on her stool and facing the stage as Diego stepped up to the mic and welcomed everyone out tonight.

A chorus of cheers erupted as Morgan twanged his guitar. “And you?” I turned to Celine, stretching my forearm along

the bar behind her since she’d twisted to face the stage too. She placed her phone in her lap. “Double old-fashioned.” My brows shot up.

She laughed. “Does that surprise you?”

“Yeah. I kind of thought you’d be a lemon drop martini kind of girl too.”

“Nope. I’m a whiskey girl. Bourbon, preferably.”

“You’ve got surprises.” Leaning closer, I said, “I like that.”

She simply smiled, then I hailed the bartender and ordered our drinks. The band lit into the first one, which instantly caught my attention. It was a song by one of my favorite bands, Bad Omens. Diego sang “Just Pretend” with raspy emotion. I liked the band’s vibe.

Once we had our drinks, her friend sipped hers and then hopped off her stool. “Thank you, Tex. I think I’ll give you two some privacy.” Then she winked at Celine and maneuvered through the crowd to talk to someone she apparently knew.

Leaning close to Celine, my arm now draped along the bar behind her, I said, “Alone at last.”

She laughed. “Hardly alone.” Then we were both caught, staring inappropriately too long. I simply didn’t care who noticed. I was well and truly hooked .

In an attempt to act normal, I sipped my beer and turned to face the stage with her. We watched them play. Well, she watched them play, but my attention was riveted to the sweet-smelling witch next to me.

With her head focused straight ahead, she said, “You’re staring.”

“I am,” I admitted. “Can’t help it.”

“Well, you need to stop.”

“Why’s that?”

“My brother might actually notice.”

“Nah. He seems pretty cool.”

“That’s because he doesn’t know your intentions.” She was smiling now.

“And what are my intentions?”

She turned her head, our faces intimately close as she answered, “Me.”

“Well, you’ve got that right, angel. My intentions are you.”

She held her phone in her lap with one hand, and I glanced down obviously at it, faking concern. “Damn, did you drop your phone in the parking lot? It’s cracked.”

“Shit.” She instantly examined her phone. “Where?”

I took it from her hands and quickly input my digits, then sent the call to my phone, which vibrated in my pocket.

“Ronan,” she said in an almost scornful tone, like she was trying to mean it, “that was pushy.”

“A wolf’s gotta do what a wolf’s gotta do.”

“Just like an alpha.” She paused, then added, “I would’ve given it to you.”

That surprised me. “You didn’t the last time I asked. ”

She shrugged. “I changed my mind since then.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because you painted me a teacup,” she said, biting her lower lip to keep from smiling too wide.

“If that’s all it took to get your number, I would’ve painted a dozen teacups. See what that might get me.”

She arched a reddish brow at me. “And what are you expecting?”

“Not expecting. But hoping.”

She pressed her lips together, trying to suppress her smile. “What are you hoping for then?”

“A date.”

The song ended and everyone erupted into applause. Celine turned to clap and ignored my request.

“Okay, fine.” I exhaled a sigh. “I’ll paint you the perfect porcelain teacup with pink flowers all over it. I owe you one anyway.”

She burst out laughing, but the roar of cheers drowned her out as they started playing the next song.

“Pink flowers?” She shook her head in mock surprise. “That’s awfully tempting.”

“And butterflies,” I promised. “That’s my final offer.”

She stared at me, smiling that scintillating smile that made my heart pound wildly and my knees go weak. The hold this woman had on me was ridiculous.

“What if I’m more of a dragon kind of girl?”

“Are you?” I loved the way she surprised me.

“Yeah. But I like pink flowers too,” she teased. “What about wolves? Do you like them?”

A blush spread into her cheeks. Rather than answer, she asked, “Are you leaving town this weekend with your uncle? ”

“Why would I?”

“It’s the full moon,” she explained on a little laugh. “My dad and brothers usually leave town together. They have a cabin in north Louisiana. My mom goes, too, since she likes to go with Dad.”

Of course. I didn’t watch the calendar like my fellow wolf family and friends. There was no need.

“I won’t be leaving town,” I told her honestly.

Her expression shifted to concern. “Isn’t that sort of dangerous? Uncle Shane lives close to residential areas, even though there are some woods around his place.”

“Yeah, that’s true. But I won’t need to leave town.”

“Why not?”

“Go on a date with me, and I’ll tell you.”

She held my gaze, that tightening in my chest increasing tenfold while I waited for her answer. Then the softest “okay” left her lips, and I suddenly felt like I could conquer the world.

“This Saturday?”

She nodded, then sipped her drink. I’d left my beer on the counter the whole time, but I took a moment and downed half of it in a few gulps.

While we faced the stage, watching the throng of fans sing along and cheer the band on, she said, “It might be a good idea to circulate the bar and not keep so close to me.”

“Because of your brother?” I asked.

“Mm-hmm.”

“Celine, it is very hard for me to walk away from you.”

She exhaled a breath. “The things you say.” Then she took a deeper gulp of her drink .

Zack and Bowie made their way through the crowd toward me. I’d expected them to be gloating over the fact that they’d blindsided me with an introduction to Celine’s brother, but they weren’t smiling at all. Bowie actually had that scowl he often wore when he was annoyed.

“What’s up?” I asked Zack as they drew close.

“Remember that guy Baron you were trying to contact? The head of the Iron Claws team?”

“Yeah.”

“He’s here.”

I’d shown Zack and Bowie the Instagram of the team I wanted to compete against, the champion team we’d have to beat.

“Where at?” I asked, standing straight and peering around the room.

“Right over there.” Bowie gestured to the far left of the room where there were some booths and a couple of pool tables set away from the stage area.

Sure enough, that was definitely him, laughing with another teammate as he set up a shot at the pool table.

Turning to Celine, who now wore a puzzled expression, I told her, “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

When I stepped in their direction, Bowie grabbed my shoulder and leaned in. “Be careful. I’ve had words with that big fucker before.”

I paused to find who he gestured to. It wasn’t Baron. “The one leaning against the wall with his arms crossed?” The same guy who was now glaring at us from across the room.

“Yeah. We’ve almost come to blows before. He tries to start fights all the fucking time with me. ”

“Y’all have some history?”

Bowie scoffed. “Not really. They’re not from the Westbank. They just like to hang over here. It was over some girl he was manhandling in another bar once. He’s a big, dumb fucker.”

Shit, I hadn’t planned on there being built-in animosity with the team I intended to climb over to the top.

“Just let me do the talking,” I told him and Zack, who was on my other side.

Then I made my way behind the roaring crowd to the pool tables. Baron noticed me first since I approached him directly. His brows pinched when I finally came to a stop. His whole team of four was here. I recognized the guy Nate sitting in a booth with a girl on his lap as the one who used his claws most often in his past fights. I’d done my due diligence on what kind of fighters they were.

Baron gave me an arrogant look. “Can I help you?”

He wasn’t quite as tall as me, but he was well-muscled. We’d be a good match.

“Yeah, I was hoping you could,” I said coolly but as friendly as I could fake. “My name is Ronan Reed. I recently reached out to you about the NOWFC.”

Baron stared another few seconds before he smiled, but it wasn’t a nice one. “Yeah, that’s right. I got your message. But you said you don’t even have a team.”

The big one on the wall shoved off and stepped closer, obviously shooting a death glare at Bowie.

“I’m getting one together.” I nodded to Bowie and Zack.

“Three isn’t enough,” he said, that cocky grin still spread wide.

“You need four minimum on a team. ”

“We’ll fight you out back right now, three on three,” added the big one.

Bowie was right. He was a dumb fucker. But I suppose my still-healing bruises targeted me as the kind who’d fight in a back alley. Of course, I had done that in Austin, but most of the time it was because we had to fight an underground ring. And people liked to mess with me outside of it.

“I’ve got nothing against you, man,” I told the idiot, then turned my attention back to Baron. “I want to compete legitimately. Who’s on the circuit against your team next?”

Baron smiled, his dark eyes glittering. It didn’t go unnoticed that every stitch of his clothes was high-end, including the Nike Jordans he was wearing that I knew cost in the two- grand range.

“No one at the moment. We’ve beat every regional team. Unless another one steps forward, it’ll be us going to the state tournament in the fall.”

I nodded. “Give me a month, and I’ll have my team ready.”

I heard Zack make a disgruntled sound beside me, but I didn’t look at him to acknowledge it. Baron and the rest of his team on the Iron Claws snickered.

“Let’s do it, Baron,” said Nate, glaring at us from his seat in the booth.

Fucking hell, these wolves were filled with some nasty, pent-up aggression.

“Okay then. What was your name again?” asked Baron, reaching one hand out to shake mine.

“Ronan Reed,” I repeated, knowing full fucking well he’d heard my name the first time .

We shook hands, and I definitely felt like we were having a pissing contest over strongest handshake before we both let go. “When can you bring in your full team to register? Everyone has to sign for themselves. Death waivers and all.”

“You’re in charge of registry?” I would’ve assumed it would be someone unaffiliated with a team.

“My father’s company sponsors the events.”

“And owns the stadium ring,” added Zack with a bit of snark.

Baron’s smile slipped, but he didn’t admit there might be some favoritism toward his own team winning since Daddy owned and ran the events.

“How about Monday?” I suggested, trying to defuse the tension. I knew who I was going to convince to be my fourth team member.

“Monday’s no good,” he said.

“Why not? Your father’s office isn’t open on business days?”

Okay, that might’ve been a bit out of line, but this douchebag was rubbing me wrong.

He scoffed. “The full moon is Saturday.” He might as well have added “you fucking idiot” at the end of that sentence with the amount of disdain he injected. “Nobody will be in my father’s office until at least Tuesday.”

“Yeah, right.” I nodded, wanting to kick myself for forgetting. “Next Wednesday then.”

“I’ll message you the address.” He turned his back on me as if I were a nobody and bent to take his shot. “You can go now.”

Any other night and any other place, I would’ve pounded this fucker’s face into the pool table. I didn’t get in bar fights near as often as my uncle Shane thought, but yeah, I had been in a few .

Strangely, it was never because someone had pissed me off. It was always simply because someone I’d beaten in the underground ring in Texas had sought me out to prove he could beat me. And I always obliged to prove that they couldn’t.

But this asshole. The burning sensation that crawled up my chest stirred me to anger. My gaze drifted back to the bar where Celine was watching us. Perhaps that was why this guy had gotten to me. She was close by, near these lesser wolves.

I didn’t like them. They smelled wrong. And they were near her. For the second time in a week, my wolf made himself known.

A deep, feral growl rumbled up my throat. It wasn’t made by me, but definitely by my wolf.

Baron took his shot with a crack of the ball, then swung around to face me, puffing himself up as he held his pool stick.

“You wanna fucking go right now, Reed?”

I clenched my fists, while Bowie stepped forward and planted a palm to my chest and eased me back.

“No, we’re not going to fight here,” said Bowie calmly.

But I wasn’t moving. The very idea that these assholes were in any vicinity near Celine had dug a feral claw into my gut and was ripping upward, climbing through my body like the growl that wouldn’t stop growing louder.

I hadn’t realized it, but the band had stopped for a break. That was the only reason Diego Cruz was suddenly shoving me and Baron apart. His eyes were bright, wolf-gold, and his voice was dangerous and low.

“No fucking fighting in Howler’s,” he warned. Then he said to Zack, “Get your friend the fuck out of here now. ”

“No one needs to hold my hand,” I said, taking a step back.

Without another word, I turned and stormed through the crowd, not looking over at Celine once as I exited the bar, Bowie and Zack right behind me.

“What a goddamn idiot,” I muttered.

“Yeah, he totally is,” agreed Zack.

“Not Baron,” I said, spinning around to stare at the door I’d just exited. “Me. I let that asshole bait me. And now Celine’s brother thinks I’m an asshole.”

Zack heaved a sigh. “If it makes you feel any better, you didn’t have much of a chance with Celine regardless.”

“So you said.”

I knew I had an uphill climb with her, but my first, or rather second, impression with her obviously alpha brother was that I was a shit-stirring bar fighter. And I wasn’t.

“Goddamn it.” I turned to head to the curb, pulling up the Uber app. “Y’all can go back in. I’ll Uber home.”

“Hell no.” Bowie grabbed me by the shoulder and turned me toward his SUV. “Ain’t no damn way we’re going back in there. Those guys are itching for a fight.”

We piled into Bowie’s SUV. I took the back seat.

“Well, we’re going to give him a fucking fight, I can tell you that,” I swore.

“But we need a fourth team member. And apparently by Wednesday since that’s when you said we’d register the team.”

“I’m going to convince Ty to do it,” I told them. “Ty at the shop? You think he’d do it?”

“He’d be a good match for that Nate asshole. He’s fast.”

“He fights? ”

“Taekwondo actually. And Krav Maga. I kind of secretly interrogated him while we were working on that Camaro last week.”

Zack laughed. “Does he know you’ve been interviewing him for the position on his team? He may not want to do cage fighting. Not as sophisticated as his style of fighting.”

“We’ll see. But I have a good feeling. I looked him up on some of the video posted from his competitions. He’s pretty fierce. Very competitive.”

“That would be fucking awesome,” said Bowie. “We’d have a solid team.”

I leaned back and wondered how a night that had started so great had ended so horribly. Pulling out my phone, I quickly shot off a text to Celine, apologizing that I had to leave suddenly.

A minute later, the dots popped up, then a text from her.

Celine: Who were those guys? Are you okay?

My heart beat faster knowing that she was worried about me.

Me: I’ll explain on Saturday. On our date. If you still want to go.

Celine: Of course I still want to go. Text me the details, and I’ll give you my address.

Me: I’ll text you tomorrow.

I paused a minute, then added:

Me: It was such a good surprise seeing you tonight .

That was an understatement. Sitting next to her at the bar, drowning in her intoxicating scent, and listening to her laugh, her voice, was the happiest I’d felt in ages. But if I told her all that, she’d think I was crazy.

A few dots popped up, then a text.

Celine: For me too. Talk to you tomorrow. :)