Chapter 8 #2
Angie stepped past a collection of small tables, spinning on her heel as she took in the space. There were still Christmas lights hanging off the speakers on one side of the room, the reflection glowing blue and red in her irises.
“Am I hearing Shakira?” She inclined her head toward the speakers. “I haven’t heard this song since I was in high school!”
“Trends are slow to make their way this far north. At least they finally stopped playing 80s music.”
She unzipped her coat, tossing it at me as she wiggled her hips. A grin spread across her face, and I was torn between wrapping my arms around her to feel her move against me, and throwing her over my shoulder to drag her back outside.
It was a Wednesday night, so the cantina wasn’t as packed as it could be, but there were at least half a dozen unmated males scattered throughout the space, and I couldn’t handle the thought of them looking at Angie.
“This is so cool!” she said, snapping my attention back to her. “I can’t remember the last time I did something fun.”
I exhaled slowly through my lips, bracing myself for an evening of fighting my wolf. Angie wanted to stay, so we were going to stay.
I dropped her coat over the back of a chair, pulling it out for her to take a seat. Ross and Dustin rejoined us, dropping four bottles on the table.
I snatched one up before Ross could take a drink, glaring at it. “That had better be a root beer.”
“Oh, c’mon. It’s just one.”
“Your whining is proving my point. Did Bev serve you a real beer?”
“She knows I can handle it,” Ross said, pressing his shoulders back.
He was tall, and he might get taller, but he still had filling out to do. As much as he wanted to keep up with us, he wasn’t ready.
I gave Dustin an accusing glare. “You bought it for him.”
“Like you weren’t drinking beer when you were eighteen.” Dustin rolled his eyes. “Quit the papa bear act and relax. We survived just fine while you were in Seattle.”
His smile didn’t reach his eyes, and I didn’t miss the edge to his words. Something was going on with my brother, and sooner or later I needed to confront him about it.
I swiped three of the four beers off the table, carrying them back to Bev with a sigh. She approached me from the other side of the bar, brow furrowed.
“Something wrong with your drinks?”
“Did you know you were serving beer to my little brother?”
Her gaze zipped around the bar. Guilty. “Dustin is supervising him. Just one here and there.” She wet her lips, the nervous energy from her wolf making mine feel irritated.
I spent so much time with dominant alphas in Seattle that I’d forgotten how to interact with more submissive shifters.
Softening my voice, I asked, “Can you make us a couple of those blue mocktails Ross likes?”
Bev finally risked a glance at my face, her shoulders relaxing. “Sure. I’ll get right on it.” Then to the rest of the room she shouted, “Who wants free beers on Rhett?”
A small crowd formed around the bar. With a growl, I corrected, “Only those beers. Take it or leave it.”
Bev laughed, turning her back to the others and feeling safe with the bar between them. She twirled around a second later, making a show of pouring syrup and Sprite into three cups.
Twirling the stem of an extra cherry, she passed the drinks to me and asked, “Is she really your fated mate?”
Dustin and his big mouth. Good.
I glanced over my shoulder to where Angie was seated a comfortable distance from my brothers. Bev was watching her too, with a dreamy look in her eyes.
Murmurs rippled through the group near the bar. The hairs spiked on the back of my neck, and my wolf growled his irritation as all eyes landed on me.
“Yes, she’s my mate.” I said it loudly, possessiveness adding steel to my voice. “Thanks for the drinks.”
I returned to the table, handing out the electric blue drinks. I didn’t know what the hell was in it, but I knew Angie would like the color.
“Ooh, it’s pretty!” She took an experimental sip through the straw.
“It’s virgin.”
“Dude, you don’t have to out yourself like that,” Dustin teased.
Ross snorted, plucking the cherry from the top of his drink. “It’s better than being a fuckboy.”
“What would you know about that?”
Ross blushed, fidgeting with the cherry stem. “I know enough.”
I shifted my chair closer to Angie’s, putting an arm over her shoulder. I could still feel the others watching us, and while I understood their curiosity, I didn’t like it.
My wolf really didn’t like it. He wanted to challenge them all for staring at his mate.
Sensing my tension, Angie pushed up from her chair. Taking me by the arm, she drew me with her to an open space on the floor.
“Dance with me?”
Every muscle in my body was tight, prepared for confrontation. I wasn’t usually this edgy, but between Dustin’s stunt and the excess attention, I couldn’t settle down.
Angie dropped my arm. “Or if you don’t want to—"
“I do.” I took both her hands, tugging her to me and trying to pay attention to the beat of the song. I couldn’t hear the music through the rushing in my ears.
The bond was a physical pressure on my lungs, not giving me an ounce of breathing room until I was touching her. I needed to be alone with her. I needed to tear every scrap of material separating us and feel my bare skin on hers.
Maybe I should just tell her. At this point, I was being dishonest.
I opened my mouth, prepared to begin a well-planned speech I had been preparing since our drive yesterday, when one wolf who had been hovering around the pool tables entered our space.
I curled an arm around Angie, turning to the intruder with a snarl.
“Hey man, I just came to thank you for what you did in Seattle. We heard about what happened.”
That was unexpected.
“You heard already?” I asked.
“Everyone did. You made national news.”
“I was just doing my duty to protect my pack.”
He clapped me on the shoulder, and I forced myself not to shove him away. I couldn’t remember his name. Ricky, maybe? I was usually good with names and faces.
Right now, I could barely remember my own.
“What did you do in Seattle?” Angie asked.
“It’s kind of a long story…”
“He didn’t tell you?” Ricky stepped closer, and I snapped my teeth at him.
He backpedaled, studying the bruise on Angie’s neck. “Sorry, I didn’t realize you weren’t marked.”
Another shifter had stepped up behind Ricky, also a wolf. “Who brings an unmarked mate to the cantina?”
My wolf’s hackles were up. That sounded like a challenge if he’d ever heard one.
I shouldn’t fight him. He was right. Coming here was a horrible idea. It was an excuse to delay the inevitable because I was being a coward.
But what if Angie didn’t want a mate? What if she couldn’t feel the bond and she just walked away?
I pivoted, pushing Angie behind me and facing him. “I don’t see how that’s your business.”
His eyes flashed blue with his wolf. The animal wasn’t as dominant as mine, but he would fight when threatened.
Angie’s arms were suddenly around my neck, and I was forced to take a step back. She smiled widely, seemingly unaware of the dangerous aura crackling around me.
“Should we give them a good show?” she whispered.
Then her lips were on mine, and the world around me faded. Lightning struck me right on the mouth, radiating down my body in electric waves. It traveled over my skin, into my bones, hitting every single nerve ending. My heart roared in my chest. Blood rushed between my legs until it hurt.
My hand came around the side of her neck. With the other hand, I pulled her flush against me, drowning in the sensation of her. The bond moved between us like a tangible force.
Like roots taking hold of the surface of my soul.
When our lips parted, the music was louder. The lights brighter.
Angie’s cheeks were red. Her eyes sparkled, mouth parted in a stunned expression.
She recovered faster than me, shaking off the haze from our kiss and pulling me back into a fast-paced dance.
I almost stumbled, only keeping track of the movement because my eyes were following her constantly, mesmerized by the sway of her hips.
The bond pulsed under my ribs, fiercer and more demanding than before.
I was getting the faintest glimpses of Angie through the bond. The way she masked her trepidation with excitement. Arousal and panic swirling together into a confusing mess of emotion.
She wanted me as much as I wanted her.
And she could have me. I would give her all of me.
But not yet. Not until she gave that ring back.
Then, she would get her fresh start.