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“B-b-boss,” he says, scrambling back.
“Scum,” Gideon snarls. “I should’ve gotten rid of you decades ago.” His body trembles, and his nails lengthen to claws, his skin rippling as fur starts to sprout. “Your wife begged me not to, but now what excuse do you have?” He stalks after Wendell, ripping stools and chairs out of his way. “You know she’s claimed, though at least this time you know she’s over eighteen.”
Bile rises in my throat, remembering the blue book.Wendell, wife caught cheating.With underagegirls?
“Y-you know that girl didn’t press ch-charges—”
“It’s still statutory,” Gideon says, his voice deep and threatening. “It’s still against pack law.”
“I-I fixed this with my wife, boss. She—”
“I don’t care!” Gideon roars, flipping a second table. He lunges forward, grabbing the front of Wendell’s shirt. “You’ve let your miry disgraceful eyes roam Adara’s body ever since she walked in that door, and it ends here.”
Wendell nods feverishly. “I-I’ll never look at her again. I—” He whimpers as Gideon drags him toward the bar door, the crowd parting easily, eager to get out of their alpha’s way.
“Shift!” Gideon yells, tossing him hard onto the ground.
“W-what?” Wendell sputters, looking around him as if searching for support.
The bar crowd pours toward the door, and I push my way to the front. I find Frank and grip onto his forearm. “Stop him,” I say, pleading. “He’s going to kill him, isn’t he? Stop him!” My voice rises with each word, panic clawing up my throat.
Frank grimaces, patting my hand with his. “No one can stop him once he gets like this.”
“No… you…” I struggle to find the words to say, my gaze flicking to Gideon’s body as he shifts into his wolf, prowling back and forth as he waits for Wendell.
“Come on,” Frank says, pulling from my grasp to wrap his arm around my shoulders. He starts to steer me back inside. “Let’s get you inside, okay? Gideon’ll be fine.”
I let him guide me a few steps before my wolf speaks for the first time in so long that it shocks me, freezing me to the spot.
Stop him.
I don’t need to know why she’s suddenly speaking to me. All I know is that this iswrong, and she agrees. I tear from Frank’s grasp and whirl around, throwing myself through the crowd. Wendell shifts, his bloated, greasy wolf shaking with his tail between his legs, staring down at the ground. Gideon’s muscles coil as he readies to attack, and I stumble, pushing through the last row of the gathered group of people. Falling onto my hands and knees, I feel the loose gravel cut into my palms.
“Gideon!” I scream, my throat burning. “Stop, don’t!” I shove myself up from the ground, latching myself onto his back as he lunges at the other wolf. I dig my hands into his black fur, squeezing my eyes shut as his jaws snap around at me. “Don’t do this,” I plead, my voice a hoarse whisper as I repeat the words over and over. “Don’t do this. Don’t make me watch you do this.”
Slowly, his body stills beneath me, lowering himself to the ground. His fur disappears, and he twists, wrapping his arms around me as he lays on the ground, shielding me from the crowd. Tears of relief pour out of me, sobs wracking my body as my shoulders shake. I bury my face in his bare chest, my hands clinging to him as if he isn’t real.
“Shh,” he soothes, smoothing a hand down my hair. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry,mia fiamma.” His head snaps up, his body tensing as he rolls me onto my back.
No!my wolf yells, and my hands move up to his neck before I register the movements.
A scream tears from my lips as Wendell’s sharp teeth sink into my flesh, my hands and fingers going numb with fire. Gideon shifts in an instant, ripping the wolf’s jaws from my hands as he grows between us. He wrestles Wendell’s wolf, jaws snapping. Large arms cradle me under my shoulders and knees, moving me away from the fight as the two black wolves clash against each other in a blur of teeth and claws.
It’s a matter of seconds bleeding into minutes that feel like a thousand lifetimes before Gideon stands panting over Wendell, who lays pinned to the ground. Dark blood glints in the moonlight as it runs down Gideon’s fur, a large gash trailing from temple to jaw. It drips onto the wolf laying on the ground, unable to catch his breath, a sickening grin splitting his bloodied face as his tongue lolls onto the ground. His beady eyes stare up at Gideon, filled with humor.
“I knew she weakened you,”he sneers, coughing up blood as it sprays over the ground.“She’s going to bring death to every one of us because all you wanted was a piece of ass—young and tight.”
Gideon’s paw crushes against Wendell’s throat, and he brings his face down, staring into his eyes.“You aren’t worthy to share the air she breathes,”he says, slow, calm.
Wendell’s eyes widen just as Gideon’s jaws clamp around his throat, a sickening crack echoing in the air.
The crowd erupts into cheers, hollering and yelling, clapping at Gideon’s victory, but all I can hear is his last words repeating like a broken record from my nightmare—she’s going to bring death to every one of us…
It feels surreal when the bar goes back to normal almost immediately after the fight. Occasionally, someone will come up and pat Gideon on the shoulder, congratulating him on his victory. Frank’s smile is the one thing that’s changed, not quite reaching his eyes as he serves everyone their drinks.
Gideon guides me into his office, ignoring the high of the crowd around us and shutting the door to drown out the noise. Peeling back the towels Frank wrapped around my hands, his jaw tenses. “I’m sorry,” he says gruffly.
“It’s… it’s fine. It’s my own fault for interfering…” I can’t make eye contact with him, my gaze glued to the wounds. The ribbons of flesh on each side of my palms bleed, and my hands shakes, blood pooling and dripping down my fingertips.
