Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Demi
Werewolf showed up at my door without warning.
No call. Just the rumble of his bike downstairs, then a heavy fist against the wood until I opened it.
He stood there in his cut, black jeans, and an expression carved from stone.
“You’re coming with me,” he said.
I blinked. “Excuse me?”
“Don’t make me say it twice, Demi.”
Heat curled in my chest with equal parts irritation and something hotter. “What if I say no?”
His eyes narrowed, dark and steady. “Then I’ll throw you over my shoulder, and you’ll come anyway.”
My breath caught. Not because I doubted him, no. I knew he would, but because of the way he said it. Like it wasn’t just a threat. Like it was a promise I wasn’t sure I wanted to resist.
I crossed my arms. “Why? What’s so important about tonight?”
His jaw flexed. “It’s time you see the wolves in their den rather than keep guessing at shadows. But you stay glued to me. You don’t talk to anyone. You don’t look at anyone. Got it?”
I should’ve said no. Should’ve slammed the door and locked it behind me.
Instead, I grabbed my jacket.
The clubhouse was already alive when we rolled in.
Bikes lined the lot like gleaming beasts of chrome flashing under the orange glow of string lights strung across the building. Music pounded from inside, with bass vibrating through the ground, mixing classic rock and laughter.
Men in cuts moved everywhere. Women leaned against them, clung to them, draped across bikes in outfits that glittered and bared skin. It was the weekend before Halloween, giving everyone an excuse to be bolder, wilder, and hungrier.
Well, except me. I had stuck to my jeans and typical crewneck sweatshirt.
And in the middle of it all, Werewolf’s hand found the small of my back. Firm and commanding, he guided me through the crowd like I was something fragile.
Eyes followed us. Curious. Suspicious. Some openly hostile.
I felt the weight of their stares like knives, but I kept my head high.
If I showed fear, they’d eat me alive.
I wasn’t sure if they knew who I was or if they just didn’t like someone they hadn’t met before.
Inside, the bar was chaos. Spiderweb decorations tangled with neon signs. Jack-o’-lanterns grinned from every surface, with their flickering candles competing with the dim red bulbs overhead. The air reeked of beer, smoke, sweat, and something electric.
A man in a skull mask raised his drink at Werewolf. “Brought a date, Wolf? Thought hell froze over.”
The words rippled through the room, laughter following like a wave.
Werewolf’s body shifted closer to mine, and his voice was a low growl. “Eyes off.”
The man chuckled but looked away.
The tension in my chest eased only slightly.
I leaned toward him, my mouth near his ear. “What the hell am I doing here?”
His gaze swept the room. “Learning.”
I snorted. “Feels more like being fed to the lions.”
“Wolves,” he corrected, and the word sent another shiver down my spine.
The night blurred into fragments of memories.
A woman in a blood-red corset danced on the bar. Guys in cuts like Werewolf’s slammed shots like they were water. Two women were on the pool table, making out with each other while everyone else just milled around them. At one point, I swore I saw a giraffe walk through the clubhouse.
Through it all, Werewolf never left my side. His hand at my back. His shoulder brushing mine. His voice low in my ear whenever someone got too close.
“You don’t look at Tremor.”
“Don’t talk to Chains.”
“Don’t drink anything you didn’t see poured.”
It should’ve been suffocating.
Instead, it felt like being tethered to the only steady thing in a storm.
And maybe that was the most dangerous part.
At one point, I slipped toward the bar to get a drink, but the second I stepped away, a man in a half-mask blocked my path.
“Don’t think I’ve seen you around,” he said with a sharp grin. “You new blood?”
I opened my mouth, but before I could speak, Werewolf was there.
He shoved the man back with one hand and snarled, “She’s not for you.”
The man raised his hands in mock surrender. “Easy, Wolf. Didn’t know she was claimed.”
Heat flared in my face. Claimed. Like I was property.
But the way Werewolf’s hand slid possessively to my hip dared anyone else to look.
I hated how much I didn’t hate it.
When the man finally slunk away, Werewolf leaned close, his breath hot at my ear. “Stay where I put you, Demi.”
“Last I checked, I’m not a dog.”
His lips curved—dangerous and amused. “Far from it, babe.”
“I just wanted a drink,” I said.
Werewolf moved to the bar with my hand in his and shouted to the bartender for two beers. I wanted to tell him I wasn’t a fan of beer, but I didn’t think they had much else.
Later, I found myself outside with him. The cool air was a relief after the press of bodies inside.
Bikes thundered up and down the street, with even more people just milling around outside.
I leaned against a railing, my heart still racing. “So this is it. A Halloween party.”
Werewolf lit a cigarette, and the flame cast a sharp shadow across his face. “This is it.”
I studied him in the glow. His jaw hard, his eyes shadowed. A man carved from violence and silence.
And yet…
When he turned his head and found me staring, something softer flickered there. Something that made my chest ache.
“You don’t belong here,” he said quietly.
I swallowed. “Maybe not. But neither do you.”
His brows lifted slightly. “You think you know me now?”
“I think you’re more than this,” I said, surprising myself with the conviction in my voice. “And I think that scares you more than anything.”
His hand lifted, slow and deliberate, then his fingers brushed a strand of hair from my face. The touch was light, but it burned like fire. “You don’t know what scares me, sweetheart,” he murmured.
My breath caught. The world narrowed to just him and me. His hand lingered near my jaw, and his gaze dropped to my mouth.
Every nerve screamed kiss him.
But just as the air was about to break, voices shouted from inside. The moment shattered like glass.
Werewolf pulled back, and his face closed down again. “Time to go.”
I exhaled shakily and followed as he guided me back inside, his hand once again firm at my back.
I’d come here looking for answers about Tyler.
But what terrified me most was the answer I was finding about myself.
That maybe the danger didn’t just come from the Sons.
Maybe it came from the way I was falling for the monster who held me too close, whispered too sharp, and looked at me like I was the one thing he couldn’t afford to want.