Chapter 22 #2
“What’s the matter with you, honey? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Jack’s sour breath invaded my nose.
My wolf snarled at Jack, warning him to stay the fuck back.
Jack chuckled and looked around at his friends. They laughed, too, which only encouraged him.
“You’re such a sweet, fair little thing. If I was your mate, I wouldn’t let you around us bad boys.” He reached for my face, but I leaned away.
I’d never been one to really show aggression, but my wolf was pissed. She growled again to show Jack that I wasn’t fucking around.
Any sober man would’ve backed away, not willing to risk getting caught in the crosshairs of a shifter. Not this asshole, though. He had whiskey judgment going on, which led many a man to act foolish. And here he was—living proof. He stepped closer, ignoring my warning.
“I’ll make you a deal.” Jack smirked. “If you come back to my place, I’ll let your friend go first while you watch. That should get you in the mood to join in, don’t you think?” Obviously, this tool had no idea how women worked. Probably why he was coming off as such an asshole.
I shifted in my seat, trying to ignore the rage building inside me.
He must’ve taken my movement as an open invitation to molest me because within seconds, the fucker reached for my left breast.
That was enough. My wolf roared, and I jumped to my feet.
Jack tried to step back out of my grasp, but he was too slow. Within seconds, I had him face-down against the bar, his arm twisted behind his back. Petite as I was, I was a shifter, which meant I was stronger than most human men. Especially the drunk-off-their-ass variety.
“First of all, you jackass, no woman likes sloppy drunk boys. Second, sloppy drunk boys can’t keep it up long enough to satisfy one woman, definitely not two. And you never had a chance with either of us, so keep your hands to yourself, you piece of shit.”
“You fucking bitch!” Jack howled and tried to twist and writhe out from under my grip.
I leaned down and calmly spoke into Jack’s ear. “If you ever try to touch me without my consent, I will rip your fucking arm off your body and beat you to death with it. Do you understand me?”
Jack whimpered and nodded.
I should’ve let him go, but I didn’t. My whole body burned like fire, just as it had when I was in heat. This time, though, it was something different. It was aggression.
I frowned down at Jack as he stopped struggling. I had never been this out of control before. Sure, I’d been frustrated or mad, but this was a whole other level of anger.
Sabrina shook her head, suddenly as sober as if we’d only just arrived. She stood, clutching her beer, eyes wide and mouth gaping. Her gaze shifted quickly between Jack and me. “What’s your next move, Liza?”
Hell if I knew.
The bouncers would come soon, and if not the bouncers, certainly Jack’s friends who were gathered around, shouting and threatening to pull me off him, would jump into the fray.
They wanted to stir up trouble, but they were keeping a safe distance from me.
None of them seemed eager to partake in this kind of humiliation.
My wolf readied for an attack just as a familiar aura filled the air. My wolf immediately calmed, craved, and yearned.
I didn’t ease my grip on Jack’s arm, though.
I breathed a sigh of relief when I caught sight of Ty walking toward us. His aura was so strong that even the humans could feel it. They parted like the Red Sea as he came through, creating a path that led straight to me.
Beside me, Sabrina shrugged. “Did I forget to mention that I might have texted Bryce and asked him to grab Ty and meet us at the bar?” She shot me a toothy smile.
It was her I’m sorry smile, and it meant she didn’t want me to be mad.
Like I would be mad that she had Ty come out with us.
“I told him you didn’t seem like you were having fun and that I thought you might enjoy having Ty by your side. ” Sabrina fake grimaced. “Was I wrong?”
I shook my head, smiled, and kept my eyes on Ty.
His voice was gruff as he surveyed the scene. “What’s going on here?”
Sabrina was happy to replay the last few moments for Ty. “This guy was hitting on us and asking us to come back to his place. He tried to grab Liza’s boob, and this is how she responded.”
Ty’s eyes narrowed on Jack, then they slowly met mine. “You can let go of him now, baby.”
The endearment unleashed a swarm of butterflies in my stomach. My heart fluttered, but it usually did when I was around Ty. He would take care of it now. I released Jack and took a step back to stand next to Sabrina. It wasn’t my burden to carry anymore.
Jack stumbled to his feet, sweat dripping down his face. “You’re a fucking bitch!”
Ty wasn’t too happy with Jack’s choice of words.
Within seconds, he had him by his collar, lifting him up, his feet dangling a foot above the wooden floor.
His eyes blazed as he growled, “Someone should teach you some manners about how to treat a lady. Maybe you don’t need your hands, considering you don’t know how to keep them to yourself. ” Ty’s eyes glowed.
“Holy hell, man. Please!” Jack grabbed Ty’s hands as though he was about to rip them off. “Don’t hurt me. I’m sorry. It was a mistake.”
“This is the only warning you’ll ever receive from me.” Ty lowered Jack to the floor but still gripped his collar. “Learn how to treat women with respect.”
Ty shoved Jack to the floor, then stood back and watched as Jack and his friends scrambled for the exit, shoving people out of the way to escape Ty’s fury. If Ty had wanted to catch up, there wouldn’t have been anything they could have done to get away.
The smell of fear drifted behind them, which only increased as Bryce jumped at them. He’d been guarding the door and decided to give them one last scare.
Ty moved quickly to my side and cupped my face with both hands. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”
A dull pain throbbed in my head. Maybe it had been hurting all along and I was just now noticing it. I was overheated, fighting to inhale enough oxygen.
Ty looked concerned. “Bryce! Get over here.”
Bryce jogged over and joined us. “Is everything all right?”
“No, something’s wrong with Liza.” He pointed to Sabrina. “Make sure she gets home safely, all right?”
Bryce nodded.
The loud music became muffled as the world turned on its axis. “I’m dizzy.”
Ty scooped me off my feet and into his arms. He carried me out of the bar and into the fresh night air.
I groaned, clutching my stomach as the world continued its slow spinning. Was it just me, or was the spinning getting faster? “I haven’t been this sick in a long time.”
Ty gently set me on the curb and sank down beside me. “Has this happened before?”
“Yes. I used to get really bad headaches as a kid, which led to terrible temper tantrums.” I rested my arms on my knees and sighed. “My parents thought it was just me going through puberty.”
Ty wrapped his arm around me and kissed my temple. “Did anything help when you felt that way?”
I nodded. “Those angry sensations seemed to calm down when I started taking the hormone medications.”
Shit. The medication!
“Maybe the new medicine I’m on is causing this.”
Ty was quiet for a bit. “Long-term use of medications can cause a lot of complications, not to mention high doses of hormones. Once we’ve mated, I don’t think you should take your medication anymore.”
I turned to face him. “Really? Don’t you think that would be too risky?” It was certainly something I’d have to discuss with Doctor Reynolds again before I made that decision.
“You’ll have a mate, and our scents will mingle once I claim you. There’ll be no need to mask your scent anymore.” He grabbed my hand. “Isn’t that the whole point of taking the medication?”
He was right. I hadn’t thought about our scents mingling and possibly toning down my intense pheromones.
“Honestly, I would be happy to not take them anymore. They stifle me,” I admitted.
“In what way?” He cocked an eyebrow.
Before I could answer Ty, Sabrina hollered from the front steps of the bar. “Liza? Are you okay? Should I call an ambulance?”
So much for her sobering up and gaining some volume control.
“No, that won’t be necessary.” I smiled weakly in her direction. “Let Bryce take you home. Ty’s taking care of me.”
“Oh, I bet he is taking care of you.” She stumbled over her own feet as a chuckling Bryce caught her before she fell on her face.
My face flamed when I met Ty’s gaze. So much for having a serious conversation without us thinking about banging one another.
We watched as Bryce walked Sabrina to his car before Ty turned his attention back to me. “You were just about to tell me how your hormone pills stifle you,” he reminded me.
“My wolf always seems lethargic. Not just that, but I no longer feel the pull of the moon like I did as a child.” I stared straight ahead, a little embarrassed to admit how different I was from other shifters.
“I don’t even feel the need to shift often.
And, if I’m being honest, I don’t have a strong sense of connection to other wolves.
” I hated being this way. I just wanted to be like he was. I wanted to be enough to deserve him.
Sympathy radiated from Ty as he squeezed my hand. “I can tell you want to say more. Go on.”
A lump rose in my throat. “I’ve often wondered if my lack of connection was due to the fact that I was depressed because I’d been displaced.
My wolf knows this isn’t her pack. Or, maybe the pills affect more than just pheromones.
Either way, I stick out like a sore thumb.
” I touched my hair and pushed it back from my face as if I wasn’t touching it to point out how out of place I was in a sea of dark-haired shifters.
Ty looked away and didn’t say anything. Had I said something to make him rethink mating with me?
He would soon be an alpha. Perhaps he needed a woman by his side who had a much stronger sense of belonging to the pack.
Instead, fate had stuck him with a depressed, hormonal, light-colored shifter who didn’t even know who her real parents were. Lucky guy.
He turned back to me, stroking the back of my hand with his thumb as he curled his fingers into my palm.
“I’m sorry you’ve felt so out of place all these years.
I can’t imagine feeling the way you’ve felt for so long.
” He paused, and I sensed the emotion emanating from him.
“I promise that from now on, I’ll make sure you know you belong to the pack.
You’re mine, and you’ll always belong by my side. ”
Who wouldn’t fall for a guy who said stuff like that?