Chapter 17
Karey Justice
I push past my nervousness and pull open the foggy glass door.
“Mr. Carter, I have someone I’d like you to meet,” I announce over the ringing of the bell. The smells of rubber mats, sweat, and disinfectant settle my nerves.
I’ve spent years covering my depression with essential oils on my wrists, not realizing how soothing the old gym smell could be.
Mr. Carter, a man with a perpetual scowl and deeply aware eyes, steps out from the front office and crosses his arms over his chest.
The introduction goes as well as can be expected with the gym being so busy. Declan seems more reserved around so many strangers, but I can’t blame him, especially with all the members’ husbands crowding the space.
The ladies envelop me into the fold the moment I walk into the class area.
I brush off Hilary’s apology, truly forgetting any wrongdoings she may have done, before she does the same to me when I apologize for ducking out of her husband’s surprise proposal early the last time I saw her.
Millie, who joined about a month after I did when the class first started gathering, emerges from the women’s locker room.
Her serene smile as she notices me fills me with peace.
I give her her preferred half-hug. She asks how my half sister is handling her new medication.
I answer honestly before asking if she accepted the last nanny position she told me about.
When sadness tightens her expression, my gut clenches.
“I did. The little girl was a warrior until the end,” she says.
“Oh hell, I’m sorry, Millie,” I sniffle and wrap her in a full hug.
I forgot she only takes medically complex cases, so sometimes her job requires end-of-life care for the tragically young.
The other ladies, having heard the exchange, join the hug until the number of bodies is stifling.
Hilary is the last to wrap her arms around the group, her towering height a beautiful contrast to Penelope’s tiny stature.
The differences in our little group fill me with pride.
They accepted me despite my weight issues, and now with several members pregnant, I can live vicariously through them.
Once we’re all together, Destiny, Hilary’s newly adopted daughter, stage whispers, “So, who’s the new guy?”
I giggle and lift my hand to show off my engagement ring.
“He’s mine. Ladies, meet Declan Buchanan, my fiancé.”
They all welcome him from afar, either because their husbands stand nearby or because they joined the self-defense class because they learned firsthand how untrustworthy men can be.
We begin class a few minutes later than normal and elect to not use any of the husbands as target practice tonight. As I wait for my turn to demonstrate a technique, Declan sidles up next to me.
“You have a half sister?” he asks.
I gnaw on my bottom lip and wipe the sweat from my brow before I answer.
“Sometimes I forget real life exists outside of the happiness I feel when I’m with you.”
“Don’t flatter me, cupcake. I’m sorry I let you go back to your father’s alone. I should have known.”
I press a finger to his lips.
“My mom died in a car crash the summer before I met you. My dad fell apart. He was my first successful matchmaking attempt. They’re happy together, and I’m happy for them.”
“But they keep pulling you back to help even though they don’t help you,” he summarizes.
I nod.
“You’re never going back alone. Ever.”
His declaration lifts a weight off my shoulders and heals my heart. I kiss his beard before I push him away.
“Stop interrupting class,” I mock scold.
He smirks and strides to the far side of the room.
I lose myself in the lesson until I look up and realize everyone is staring at the sparring mats. I follow their gazes and freeze.
Declan dodges Mr. Carter with impressive speed, but the wizened old man lands a few dirty strikes. I wince and start forward, ready to break the rules of the mat if it means saving Declan.
He told me last night sparring or grappling was a hard limit for him. All the years he’s trained at the gym, he’s never allowed himself to practice against a living partner. With his past, he isn’t comfortable with the idea and worries it would be putting the other person at too much risk.
I don’t know how Mr. Carter got him on the mat—or what the man hopes to prove—but Declan’s reluctance is painfully obvious to me. No matter how many times Mr. Carter hits him, he never swings back.
“Mr. Car—”
My toes catch on the edge of the mat, and I fall forward with an embarrassing oomph. I roll onto my side.
Connor Pen, Hilary’s husband, squats beside me and offers to help me up.
Declan’s massive frame streaks across my vision and tackles him.
My shout merges with everyone’s surprise.
My stomach drops at the feral rage in Declan’s eyes.
Mr. Carter strides with calm purpose toward Declan even though he sits on Connor’s chest and chokes him with both hands.
The moment Mr. Carter touches Declan, he disappears under my fiancé’s demonic fury. I scramble to my feet and rush forward.
Declan defies all logic with his brute strength as he holds both men down by their throats.
Neither of his captives are weak fighters. They twist and buck, searching for an escape, but Declan doesn’t budge.
He’s not attacking them. He’s protecting me.
I dart around Mr. Carter’s head, slide to a stop on my knees in front of my beast, and grab his ears.
“Declan, stop. I’m okay. I’m not hurt. Let them go.”
Awareness flickers in his glazed eyes. He releases his prey, wraps his arms around me, and buries his face in my chest. I pull him tighter to me, my heart shattering as his entire body trembles, and I turn to glare at Mr. Carter.
“What were you thinking? What was the point? Why would you—”
“He was right, cupcake,” Declan mumbles into my cleavage.
I grind my teeth together and take several deep breaths, but my fury doesn’t fade.
“Right about what? That you have trauma?”
“That I’m not a monster. I’m not cursed.”
Confusion dulls my rage. I grab his head and lift his face. Despite the glaze of shock in his eyes, fresh hope grows in his soul.
“My beast serves a purpose, Karey. That purpose is you,” he whispers.
I blow out an exasperated breath and tuck him back against my chest.
“I already knew that. You didn’t have to trigger yourself when you could’ve just asked me, you numbskull.”
He chuckles and tries to burrow under my skin.
I meet first Mr. Carter’s then Connor’s eyes. They planned this, albeit hastily, and by the rings on their necks, their egos aren’t the only things bruised, but both accept their wrongdoings and won’t bait Declan again anytime soon. I glance at Hilary. She stands with her fists on her hips.
Connor won’t find any sympathy from his warrior goddess, and that alone soothes my rage.
“You’re okay, my big savage beast. I’ve got you. We’re going home now,” I murmur into his hair.
He nods and shakes, but unlike how I coaxed him with smiles and treats in middle school, this time I lead him to the car in silence.
I’ve never been so angry in my entire life. Not because of the betrayal or gross overstepping of Mr. Carter and Connor, but because Declan dared put himself in such a dangerous situation for no fucking reason.
I can’t believe he risked so much for something so stupid. He’s already proven himself countless times. I’ve known the truth ever since he tripped my bully in middle school. Even when he almost killed Brad, it was obvious he did it to protect and avenge me.
I need him too much for him to throw it all away on a useless experiment.
I need him as my husband, my lover, my knight in shining armor, and my feral beast.
Declan Buchanan is mine.
Only mine.