Chapter Four
After Ash hand-fed him the last onion ring, Danny ducked into the bathroom again. It was becoming habit whenever Ash overwhelmed him. He splashed some cool water on his face then braced his hands on the porcelain sink, exhaling slowly.
Sixty seconds. That’s all he needed.
Just sixty seconds where his chest didn’t tighten every time the man smiled at him.
Just sixty seconds for his pulse to steady without Ash’s gravity pulling at him, making his carefully constructed walls crumble like wet sand.
Danny twisted his hair spikes back to attention then fished the eyeliner from his pocket. The black lines he redrew were perfect, everything his emotions weren’t. He smoothed his eyebrows with his thumb, avoiding the hollow gaze that stared back at him from the mirror.
“What’re you doing?” he whispered, hand sliding under his shirt, fingertips tracing over the raised scars on his back.
“Why are you trusting someone you barely know? It’s going to end badly.
It always does.” He made a noise of disgust. “Stop sabotaging yourself. You took a step forward. Don’t backslide, damn it. ”
His attention was pulled away from the mirror when his phone vibrated in his front pocket. Isaac had said he would check up on Danny, making sure he hadn’t chickened out.
But it wasn’t from Isaac. The text was from his mom.
Lunch Saturday? Haven’t seen you in weeks. Laura will be there.
Danny inhaled deeply and blew his breath out slowly. She was complicated on good days. He didn’t want to go, but his sister would be there, and Danny wanted to spend time with Laura.
Noon? he texted back.
Perfect, she shot back with a smiling emoji.
“Get out of your headspace and go back to Ash.” Danny tucked away his phone and exited the bathroom.
Then froze. How long had he been in there?
The crowd had doubled since his bathroom retreat.
And there was Ash, behind the bar now, not just mixing drinks but performing.
A bottle spun end over end above his head then was caught in a fluid backward grip.
Three shot glasses filled in perfect succession from a single pour.
A beer mug slid down the polished wood, stopping precisely at a waiting hand.
Danny's mouth fell open when Ash threw his head back, laughing, eyes crinkling at the corners. His whole face was transformed by joy as his hands never missed a beat, never fumbled a single move.
Ash was beautiful like this, loose and laughing, surrounded by people who clearly adored him. Every movement spoke of someone utterly comfortable in their own skin, and Danny’s stomach twisted with want and that familiar ache of not belonging.
“Can I buy you a drink?”
The voice came from Danny’s left, smooth as aged whiskey but somehow wrong. Like hearing a familiar song played in the wrong key. Danny turned, finding a man with sandy hair and pale eyes that reminded him of winter mornings. Beautiful but cold.
“I’m good.”
“Come on now.” The way the man’s eyes tracked over him made Danny’s skin prickle. “One drink. I’m Glen, by the way.”
He moved closer, closing the distance Danny had tried to create. His fingers brushed Danny’s wrist. Just a touch, light as moth wings, but Danny’s skin crawled. “Come on. One drink. You’re too pretty to be standing here alone.”
Pretty. The word hit like ice water. Brad used to call him pretty, usually right before—
“He said he’s good.” Ash appeared at Danny’s elbow, and the air felt heavier somehow, like the moment before a thunderstorm when everything seemed charged with an invisible energy.
Taking another step back, Danny felt the solid wall of Ash’s chest against his back.
“Ash.” Glen’s smile tilted, one corner lifting higher than the other. “Always good to see you.”
“Out.” That one word carried raw authority distilled into a single command, making it clear the two didn’t like each other.
Danny watched Glen walk out of the bar, only able to take a breath once the door swung shut.
* * * *
As soon as Isaac strode into Frothy Pine, he froze. His nose twitched, overcome with an urge to haul ass out of there. So many predators in one location. His red panda was going nuts, begging him to run.
He’d started to leave, until he heard a booming voice proclaim to the entire room, “My mate!”
Slowly, Isaac turned, convinced that claim had been placed on him. He wasn’t ready to be a mate, at least not until his third martini. But the claim hadn’t been directed at him, thank god.
It was aimed at Danny.
That massive guy standing behind his bestie was letting the entire bar know Danny belonged to him.
Oh. Oh no. His best friend was clueless about the preternatural world. And after Brad, Danny was gonna flip when he discovered he now “belonged” to a behemoth. That he belonged to anyone, period. His cinnamon roll bestie wasn’t ready for a lifetime commitment.
Isaac knew what that felt like. Only his situation had been so much worse. Still would be if he was ever caught.
He worked his way through the crowd, ignoring the curious sniffs and the way wolves leaned closer like they were inspecting their next meal.
The only reason Isaac had come here was to make sure Danny hadn’t chickened out on going to see Ash. He’d told Isaac what happened last night, the kiss then the freak out, and Isaac just wanted to check on him, not become someone’s next meal.
“Hey.” Isaac tapped his bestie’s shoulder.
Danny yelped, spun around, then slapped his hand on his chest. “Why’re you trying to give me a heart attack?”
“Why’re you so jumpy?” Isaac countered with an arched brow. Examining Danny closely, he noticed the sheen of sweat on his face, the blown pupils, and the way his hand shook. “What the fuck is going on?”
Isaac’s gaze slid to the behemoth who was sharply eyeing him, as if trying to decide if Isaac was a threat or simply annoying. He’d seen Ash in the grocery store yesterday morning but hadn’t caught the guy’s scent.
He had now, and there was no mistaking it.
Grizzly bear.
“Will you stop be so loud?” Danny hissed, glancing around like the noise-level police in a tavern with music loud enough to pierce eardrums would arrest them.
“If you don’t start talking, I’ll do more than get loud.” Isaac slapped a hand onto his hip. “I know that look, Danny. Who fucked with you? Was it that mountain standing behind you?”
Ash snarled.
“Stow your pissy attitude, bear. He’s my best friend. Danny is safe with me.”
Isaac wasn’t as strong as most of the men in the room, and he wasn’t a fighter. But when it came to Danny, he would throw hands with anyone who tried to hurt the human.
“Bear?” Danny frowned, but Isaac noticed he’d taken a step closer to Ash, unconsciously protecting his mate, even though Danny probably hadn’t realized he’d even done it. Or what a mate even was.
Ash eyed Isaac, silently warning him to keep his mouth shut. As if that was remotely possible. Bigger and better men than Ash had tried. But Isaac played it off for Danny’s sake.
“Look at his size.” Isaac gestured toward Ash with an exaggerated flourish of his hand. “Tell me he’s not built like one.”
Isaac was broken on several different levels, but he wasn’t suicidal.
No way he was tussling with a bear shifter.
Ash would snap his skinny ass in half. Or suffocate him by sitting on him.
Besides, if Ash had been the threat, Danny wouldn’t have moved closer.
He would’ve run out the door. But it was obvious someone had upset him.
“You still haven’t told me why you’re so jumpy,” Isaac reminded him, ignoring the eyes of so many predators watching him. “Who do I have to kill, hmm?”
Danny stared incredulously at him. “Dude, you’re like the smallest person in here.” Then he leaned in, whispering, “It was just some creep who couldn’t take a hint. Ash handled it. I’m okay, so you can calm down.”
Isaac really wasn’t trying to be an asshole, but ever since he’d nearly lost his best friend, he didn’t know how to stop being so overprotective.
Isaac hadn’t witnessed the violence. Not the actual abuse, or he would’ve whacked Brad upside the head with his shovel.
But the aftermath, when he’d come home and found Danny on the floor, bleeding out and clinging to life.
His back had been shredded, and not until later had Isaac found the wounds were caused by a knife, as if Brad had tried to carve Danny out of existence.
If Isaac hadn’t volunteered to work extra hours, he would’ve been there to stop Brad from attacking Danny. But he hadn’t been there when it mattered most. That night he’d vowed he would never fail Danny again. Any threat, big or small, Isaac would end it, permanently if necessary.
One person popped into his head, causing his chest to ache. Let it go. You ran for a good reason, so stop thinking about him. Isaac forced the thought away, focusing on Danny instead.