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I ignore him, focusing on the live band as they hit a heavier note, the bass vibrating up through the floor and into my thighs.

Not discouraged, he leans close, using the noise as an excuse. “You alone tonight?”

“I’m not interested.” I roll my shoulder in an attempt to dislodge his hand.

Instead of being discouraged, the Alpha’s hand moves to the back of my neck, turning possessive. “And I’m not used to being ignored. I asked if you were here with anyone.”

I risk another peek toward Orien’s position and find him closer now, lingering well short of the counter. Across the crowded room, his attention catches on mine, and heat coils low in my body.

I try to shut down the sizzle of awareness, clamping down on my pheromones before the Alpha beside me takes the subtle shift in my scent as a go-ahead to keep pushing.

No such luck. His pheromones push outward as his breath warms my ear. “How about I show you around?”

My hold on my pheromones loosens, sending out a thread of distress as my shoulders curve inward, and I tuck my chin down. “I’m here to enjoy the music.”

His grip on my neck tightens. “Hey, I’m just trying to be friendly. Don’t complicate this.”

Awareness ripples through the nearby tables, and several Omegas quietly distance themselves from us to avoid the pheromone overspill.

Orien lingers a few yards away, hands loose at his sides, not moving to intervene.

My stomach tightens, my pheromones growing thicker in the air as I wait for the moment where instinct should override restraint in any Alpha watching an Omega in distress.

It doesn’t come.

Which means I’m on my own.

“I said no,” I repeat, steadiness returning as my spine straightens. The Alpha blinks at the shift in me. “You should let go of me now.”

Instead, his grip tightens, rising temper rolling through him in visible waves. “And what exactly are you going to do⁠—”

I seize his wrist with both hands, pivot into him, and slam his head into the bar. The music swallows the crack, and he crumples to the floor. I step back and release him. He doesn’t get up.

“Hey—” the bartender starts.

“I’m leaving.” I spread my hands in a show of surrender. “He’ll be fine in a couple of minutes.”

I retreat a step, running a hand over my hair and adjusting my sparkle clip as I lock down my pheromones again. As I do, Orien crosses the room toward me, and my heart does a double-tap as I freeze in place.

He moves without hurrying, paying no attention to the Alpha still sprawled on the floor. The crowd parts around him in subtle, instinctive waves reserved for dangerous Alphas.

He halts a breath away from crowding me. Up close, his irises appear even paler, nearly silver in the dim light. “You could have ended that sooner.”

I pull my cardigan back into place, smoothing the fabric over my hips. “I didn’t come here for a fight.”

“You came here for something.” His eyes rake over me, lingering on my bare midriff. “I’m still deciding what.”

My chin juts out, and I take a step closer, closing the distance he had left between us. “So you wanted to see what I’d do if that other Alpha manhandled me?”

A pause stretches between us as Orien doesn’t deny it.

I raise one eyebrow. “Did I pass?”

Amusement touches the corner of his mouth. “That depends on what you’re trying to accomplish.”

The music swells again, filling the moment with sound. Behind Orien, the Alpha stumbles to his feet, one hand pressed to his forehead, and he glares in our direction.

He starts toward us, his fists clenched and ready for a fight. But when Orien’s head turns toward him, the other Alpha’s bravado dissolves, and he backs away, disappearing into the crowd.