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“I’m going to buy them some drinks, and then you can tell me what in the hell is going on,” Charlie murmured, and Bram tilted his chin in acknowledgment. He headed back inside, bought the house a round of shots and beers as an apology, and went back outside to Bram and Ford. He made it one step before a deep voice to his right came from the shadows.
“You fucking pussy-ass bitch.” Instantly, he recognized that voice. The hair on Charlie’s arms stood up, and his muscles warmed and grew as his blood started pumping fast and hard through his body.
Frank stepped out of the shadows, followed by three more scuzzy and intoxicated-looking humans. The jackal had a bottle of tequila in his hand and a sneer distorting his upper lip.
“I let you have that bitch. If it weren’t for me stepping back and letting her go, Ary would still be mine, and I’d own every inch of her.”
Ary wasn’t around to stop him this time. Bram and Ford were around the building where he had parked his truck, and he knew both of them were too drunk for their senses to pick up the shit that was just about to go down. That was fine by Charlie, because he wanted to take Frank down, and if these crackhead humans wanted some of his bear too, then so fucking be it.
Cracking his knuckles and rolling his head on his neck, Charlie grinned at Frank and the humans. He allowed his bear to flash to the surface, letting them see exactly what they were about to be dealing with.
“Do you know what you’re messing with?” Any sane shifter fought with an opponent of their own size. A coyote didn’t fight a lion, and a jackal sure as hell didn’t fight a bear. Even in human form, he was at least double the size of this asshole who kept advancing on him.
His goons behind him seemed more hesitant. They may not have the keen senses a shifter did, but they could tell they didn’t want any part of this.
“Man, I didn’t sign up to fight no bear,” one of the greasy humans muttered.
“Yeah, man, you never said anything about us fighting an animal.” The humans took a step back in sync, and Frank growled in frustration.
“Y’all are a bunch of pansy-ass pussies.”
“Hey, we didn’t sign up for this shit. You just told us you needed a few extra hands to get rid of the asshole who’s been hitting on your girl.”
His girl? Oh no fucking way was this jackal motherfucker going to put any claim on his Ary. Charlie growled low in his throat, which had the three humans turning and booking it in the other direction. Good, because this fight was between the two of them.
A bigger man would have walked away, but all Charlie could see was Frank’s hands on Ary and the foul, disgusting things he said to her earlier in the day.
No, this motherfucker wasn’t going to get away with what he did, and he would be put in his place. When this was all said and done, Frank the jackal would never come near Ary again, not if he wanted his balls still intact.
Frank laughed, guzzled the last of his liquor, and tossed the bottle against the side of the building. It shattered, and the noise echoed off the high walls. “I know what you are, but I don’t think you know who I am.” He rolled his shoulders back. “I’ve taken on bears before, and you ain’t no different from them pansy-ass motherfuckers.” His voice was slurred, and it was clear he was drunk, but intoxication wasn’t going to save him now.
In a move faster than Charlie thought possible, given the jackal’s inebriated state, Frank swung out and connected with Charlie’s gut. The wind was momentarily knocked out of him, but he straightened to his full height, felt the shift take over, and grinned at the little fucker. Frank shifted as well. The sound of their bones breaking and realigning and their clothes tearing away pierced the night.
There they stood, jackal to bear, and all Charlie wanted to do was rip into him until blood coated his fur and there was nothing left. Frank made the first move, his actions sloppy but fast. The rage in him was on the verge of insane and manic.
A searing pain lanced through Charlie’s side, and he roared. He swung his paw out, connected with Frank’s muzzle, and sent him flying against the brick building.
For a few seconds, Frank was down, but because the asshole was crazier than shit, he got back on all fours and charged at him again. Charlie was done with this. He charged for Frank and met him in a head-on collision. He was three times the size and weight of the jackal, and with rage filling every part of his body because this dick still wanted Ary, he knew there was no chance he’d lose.
