Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Werewolf
The second she wrapped her arms around me on the bike, I knew I was fucked.
Her body pressed tight against mine, legs snug on either side, and her breath feathered against the back of my neck. It all burned hotter than anything I’d ever felt.
This was supposed to be about control. About keeping her alive long enough to send her packing. But when she slid onto my bike like she belonged there, I lost a piece of that control I wasn’t sure I’d ever get back.
The road stretched ahead. I pushed the throttle and let the engine snarl loud enough to drown out the thoughts clawing through my head.
She wanted answers. She wanted justice.
What I wanted was harder to name.
All I knew was that with her arms tight around me, the idea of letting her go felt like carving out a piece of myself.
I just drove until I couldn’t handle her being so close to me anymore.
I dropped her in front of her apartment.
She slid off the bike slowly while her hand brushed my shoulder as she steadied herself. That one touch seared straight through my leather cut, down to the bone.
“Thanks,” she muttered, like the word tasted foreign.
I nodded once and waited until she disappeared inside her building before I kicked the bike into gear.
But I didn’t leave.
I circled the block and parked in the shadows across from her street. Killed the engine, lit a cigarette, and settled in.
Because something in my gut wouldn’t let me walk away.
I’d been in this life long enough to trust my instincts. And right now, every instinct screamed that she wasn’t safe.
It didn’t take long.
Half an hour later, I saw movement at the corner. Two men. Not brothers.
Not Sons. Worse.
Independent scum sniffing around like the kind that picked at scraps on the edges of MC territory looking for leverage and weakness.
And Demi Cross was the juiciest weakness they could’ve stumbled onto.
I ground my cigarette under my boot and moved before I had time to think.
They followed her shadow when she went to the window with the glow of her phone lighting her face. She was probably texting someone, unaware of the predators circling below.
I caught the taller one’s voice first. “That her? Wolf’s girl?”
My blood iced. I didn’t know how it had gotten out that Demi was mine, but it had. I now had to protect her even more than I thought I needed to before.
“Looks like it,” the other said. “Bet she squeals easy. Might fetch a price, too.”
They didn’t see me until it was too late.
I came out of the dark like the devil himself. My fist crashed into the taller one’s jaw. His bones cracked under my knuckles, and teeth sprayed the pavement. He dropped with a howl and clutched his face.
The second lunged, and a knife flashed. I caught his wrist, twisted until the blade clattered to the ground, and drove my knee into his gut. He wheezed with spit flying, but I didn’t stop.
This wasn’t about stopping. This was about sending a message.
I slammed him against the brick wall, and my forearm dug into his throat. His eyes bulged, and his hands clawed at me.
“Stay the fuck away from her,” I growled.
He gurgled something, and I pressed harder as I watched panic bleed into his face.
The other one staggered up with blood dripping from his mouth. “She’s… she’s just a girl.”
I snapped my gaze to him, ice-cold. “She’s mine.”
The words were out before I could stop them. Raw. Brutal. True in a way that made my chest ache.
I let the second man crumple to the ground as he gasped for air. I stepped back just enough to let them see the rage in my eyes.
“You even breathe near her again and I’ll bury you both so deep nobody will ever find you.”
They scrambled away while dragging each other down the alley, leaving a trail of blood and curses.
I stood there with my chest heaving, and my fists itched for more. The night was quiet again, broken only by the faint hum of the city.
Upstairs, Demi shifted, tucked her phone away, and stepped away from the window. She hadn’t seen or heard a thing.
Good.
She didn’t need to.
I stayed another hour. I lurked in the shadows and watched her light flicker through the curtains, making sure no one else tried their luck.
By the time I finally swung back onto my bike, dawn was creeping over the rooftops. My knuckles throbbed, skin split and raw, but I didn’t care.
All I cared about was the truth I’d spoken in that alley. The truth I couldn’t take back.
She was mine.
Even if she never knew it.
Even if claiming her meant burning my world to the ground.