He was young, but it was clear he lived a harder life. Probably drank too much, smoked too many cigarettes, and didn’t get enough sleep or eat well enough.
And those thoughts ran through my head when I saw him lifting his hand and bringing it toward me. It was when he dragged his finger down the length of my arm that something in me snapped.
There was a voice inside of me that screamed I’d had enough, that I was too tired, too angry to let things be, to accept things the way they were. I didn’t have to be that way anymore. I didn’t have to submit to survive.
Before I knew what was happening, I brought my arm up, my hand connecting with his cheek. His head snapped to the side, the sound of my open palm cracking against his flesh so loud it echoed off the alley. His two friends were stunned into silence, their eyes wide as they looked between each other.
And then the male I hit slowly turned and looked at me, baring his teeth, and I knew his drunken anger was about to make itself known.
“Fooking cow.” He gritted his teeth, and even in the shadowy alley I could see his cheek turning a bright pink from my slap. “C’mere, lassie, yer mawkit.”
But before I could move away, react, scream, or otherwise, a slow, deadly, threatening growl came from behind me. The human before me froze, his mouth going slack as he tipped his head up, and up, and up a little bit more so he was looking at whatever stood right behind me.
Not something… someone. My mate. Odhran.
Rhodes’s friends took a step back, and another one, horror morphing their faces. I could only assume what they saw. I knew my mate was almost in full Lycan mode. Glowing blue eyes, body getting bigger.
And although the Otherworld was relatively kept secret for the safety of the species, and rarely let themselves be known to humans, sometimes it just couldn’t be helped. And those times were when you were protecting your mate.
I felt Odhran’s hand land gently on my shoulder. Ever so softly, slowly, he adjusted me so I was now behind him, his big body like a shield in front of me. I looked up at his profile, but his expression was void of any kind of emotion.
The calm before the storm. Dangerous waters without a ripple or a wave.
“Odhran,” I said softly but he didn’t look at me, didn’t flinch, didn’t even blink. “Let’s go,” I said with a little more strength in my voice, and placed my hand around his thick wrist.
I glanced down to see his hands were curled tightly into fists before he relaxed them. He did this motion over and over again, his nails now claws, the heat pouring off him at dangerous levels.
I said his name again, but still he was silent, still that low growling leaving his chest and increasing in intensity the longer we stood there.
And then he was taking a step closer, and another one. I felt my eyes widen when he curled his hand around Rhodes’s throat and slowly lifted him off the ground, the male insubstantial compared to Odhran and a Lycan’s strength. The human clawed at Odhran’s hand, the tips of his toes barely scraping the asphalt.
The human was gasping, his face turning red as my mate leaned in and growled something low, harsh, and unintelligible against the human’s ear.
And then Rhodes’s eyes widened, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. Odhran pulled back, and they were now nose-to-nose, my mate’s gaze fierce and glowing.
Rhodes made gagging, strangled noises and then just as quickly as the situation started, Odhran was dropping the human to the ground, turning around to take my hand, and leading me away from the scene.
My body was trembling, not from Odhran’s reaction, but from a multitude of different emotions and sensations moving through me. I’d been so shocked to see him react that way that my fear and the memories of the past had been temporarily beaten down.
But the farther we moved away from the men, the more I started to feel my body unravel, my mind fraying at the edges.
Odhran didn’t say anything as he helped me into the SUV, buckled me in, and then gently smoothed his hand over the back of my head. He refused to look me in the eye, but that was probably for the best. I was feeling stripped bare.
Part of me hated the woman I’d become, the female who, although she had shown strength just moments ago, was still so unsure of how to navigate this new world of freedom.
The trip back to his home was done in silence, with the intermittent sound of his hands tightening around the steering wheel, of the leather creaking filling the interior of the car.
It wasn’t until he was pulling the car to a stop, cutting the engine, and then helping me out of the vehicle that I dug my feet into the ground and looked up at him. His focus was on the ground, his jaw tight, a muscle flexing underneath the scruff-covered skin.
“Can you give me a minute?” I waited until he looked at me, until his glowing blue eyes were locked with mine before I spoke again. “Just a moment alone. I…” I glanced down at my feet, my brows pulled low as I was lost in thought. “I just need a moment to myself.” To rage, to cry, to scream, to just say screw all this pain and push through it, move forward. I didn’t want to live my life like this. I didn’t want to be so trapped in the past it was my own personal vault, a hell that I’d never escape.
He glanced up and looked around, as if he could see into the dark in the forest. His nostrils were flared, his eyes appeared a little fierce, and his breathing was a little fast. “I didn’t frighten ye, did I? I could no’ stand it if I was the cause of any of yer fear.”
When he looked at me there was a lot of torment behind his eyes, something I wished I could take away from him. But I couldn’t even control myself or my own feelings. I wanted to be strong for him, so strong that he didn’t have to worry that I was too fragile and unbreakable, that I wasn’t truly ruined.
I knew by the look on his face it was painful for him to give me this time to myself, his instincts and inner animal demanding he was always near, always protecting me. I was proud of both of us when he gave a slow nod, leaned down and kissed my forehead, and then took a step back.
“I’ll be here for ye, lass. When ye’re ready. I’ll be right here.”