He would not relent, and nobody seemed to notice me trying to get away and him staying right up close to me, way into my personal space.
Chapter Ten
Carver
Something about the bass pumping and the lights moving set me at ease. Most people probably didn’t feel that way but since we opened the club, I found a home in this place.
But instead of a sense of calm as I entered the main area where the bar was, a vise gripped my chest. My wolf snarled and snapped at me.
Find her. Find mate. Danger.
“What the fuck?” I said out loud and began searching. My feet took me toward the laundromat since I assumed that was where she was, but my wolf corrected me.
Mate here. Mate here.
I stopped dead in my tracks and scanned the room, letting my wolf push his power into my sight. He had a sense of things I didn’t.
My eyes landed on someone whose back was to me, and that was when I saw her hand. I’d watched her long enough to know that hand. Long, slender fingers. No nail polish or gaudy rings. No jewelry to speak of.
I launched myself forward and stalked over to the person while calling Diesel. He had only seconds ago opened the door to the club. “Diesel! Over here.”
The floor vibrated as Diesel stomped over and grabbed the man by the back of the shirt. No questions. No conversation. One minute, the fucker was there and the next, Diesel was dragging him outside as he would an unwanted critter.
“Josie, are you okay?” I scanned her body for obvious wounds but I didn’t see any. Still, one of the worst things a male could do to a female didn’t leave wounds on the outside of their bodies.
“I’m…he…” The sobbing started. It broke my damned heart in half.
“I’m gonna pick you up and bring you to my office, okay?”
She nodded, and more sobs wracked her small body. I leaned in and she wrapped her arms around my neck. Her legs went around my torso, and I pushed through the crowds not caring who I shoved or knocked off-balance.
My mate’s crying took priority over every damned thing in the world. She pressed her face into my neck until we were in my office and I shut the door behind us. I sat down in my chair and positioned her a bit but she never let go.
“Sweetheart, tell me what happened. Did he hurt you? Diesel can stomp on his face if he did.”
That made her giggle a little. She pulled back and looked at my face. “He was gross and sleazy and saying nasty things, but he didn’t touch me. If you hadn’t gotten to me before…”
“Shhh.” I cradled her against my chest. “I’m so glad he didn’t hurt you. I know you’re scared. That must’ve been terrifying.”
She nodded. “I’ll never come into the club again. I was going to find Aries and tell him…well, it doesn’t matter.”
“We try very hard not to let those kinds of people into the club but sometimes they get through. I’m so sorry that happened to you.”
A few things flickered through my mind. One, we needed to get her a phone and input all our numbers, for, you know, business’ sake. Two, we would have to keep a better watch over her. No asshole would ever touch her or talk to her again, at least, not one she didn’t want to.
Sitting up again, she swiped the tears from her face. “I ran away from my pack. They chased me. Hunted me down. I thought…at first, I thought he was with them, or they sent him to get me.”
“Nobody is going to get you, Josie. Do you hear me? If Diesel or Aries or I are around, no one will get to you.”
She sighed but didn’t move. Good. She could stay on my lap as long as she wanted. We stayed silent for a few breaths, and I listened as her heartbeat calmed. “Why are you three being so nice to me?”
I wiped away one tear left on her cheek. She let me. “Because we care about you.”
“Oh. I’ve only ever had one person care about me.”
My chest ached for her. This beautiful, hard-working woman and no one cared for her?
“No one?”
