9
NESS
Alvin looked me up and down. He gave an appreciative nod before saying, “You healed well last night.”
I shot a panicked glance at the human patrons still inside the café. A human grabbed his girlfriend’s hand and tugged her towards the exit. Thankfully, Alvin and his cronies didn’t stop them. A human teenager still lingered in the far corner. Her earbuds kept her from noticing what was going on.
“You can’t expose us,” I hissed.
Alvin shrugged. “If we get exposed here, it won’t be my fault. You’re the one who betrayed your pack. You brought the outsider in. Anything that happens from here on out isyourfault.”
I stiffened. The girl in the corner bobbed her head in time to her music. Her gaze never rose from the book in her lap. I hoped that she would realize what was happening and run for the door. I tried to will it. My hound howled inside me, but the sound couldn’t find its way into reality.
“Don’t do it,” I whispered pathetically.
Behind me, Cerri tried to step forward. I held out my hand to stop her. She didn’t need to get involved in this fight, too.
“What do you want?” I asked.
Alvin gave me an unimpressed look that flashed darkly. My hound rose in challenge. Though I couldn’t bring myself to look him in the eye, I got as close as I possibly could. I glared at him while my hound fought to break free, so she could tear into Alvin.
Not here, I told her.
Bad Moon Café was my last sanctuary. It was the last bastion of peace that I had in a world where I found nothing but suffering. Though I wanted to teach Alvin a lesson for invading my sanctuary, I wasn’t going to violate this place with violence, either. I wasn’t going to make a mess or break anything.
Not unless Alvin made the first move. I tensed, waiting for him to strike.
The human teenager still sat in the corner. Her attention had lifted. I watched her face turn pale as she read the room. Somehow, Cerri had slipped away from the counter. She appeared at the teenager’s elbow and motioned for her to follow. I breathed a sigh of relief as Cerri led the teenager out the back entrance.
Unfortunately, that left me alone with Alvin and his cronies. Today, Alvin had brought Jackson and Marcus Wills. When they were younger, the brothers had been kicked out of every high school in the area for violent bullying. Time hadn’t done them any favors. In the years since their high school careers, they’d only gotten meaner.
I wanted better for my pack, for people like Janessa and Kelsey and even Connor, with his misplaced sense of duty. Jackson and Marcus could rot in hell, for all I cared. They watched me with hungry gazes. Their wolves lingered too close to their skin and filled their eyes with inhuman light.
I licked my lips nervously. “Your dogs don’t know how to contain themselves. I have more restraint than those two put together.”
Alvin spun and cracked Jackson upside the head. He staggered and crashed into his brother. The two fell into a display of tea boxes. The tea clattered to the floor and drew a growl out of me.
Alvin turned to me. “You think you have restraint? They’re just boxes, Vanessa. Why are you so upset?”
As if Alvin had delivered a cue, Marcus laughed and stomped on a box of Earl Grey tea. Jackson looked me in the eye as he crushed two boxes back-to-back. Those would come out of my paycheck, for sure.
Where was Ryder? I hoped he was still with my father, like I’d asked. Knowing that my father was safe would give me the strength to keep my chin high. I could afford to pay for a few boxes of tea.
I just had to keep them from destroying anything else.
A wave of misplaced courage overcame me. I stepped out from behind the counter and up to Alvin. His grin widened. I straightened my spine and lifted my gaze as high as I could. My fury empowered me. I could almost look him in the eye.
His snarl rippled through the room. I rocked back, my heart lurching. Alvin caught me by the front of my shirt before I could escape. He yanked me forward. I heard the sound of tearing fabric, remembered that this shirt wasn’t mine, and stopped fighting.
Would Addie care if I ripped her shirt while trying to escape Alvin? Probably not, but I didn’t want to make anything worse. I’d feel like shit if I had to hand a ruined shirt to Addie, so I let Alvin hold me hostage.
He leaned in close, his lips twisting into a sneer while his rotten breath rolled over me. I tried to turn away, but he slapped me across the face. The room spun before suddenly jerking back into place.
While I struggled to catch my breath, my hound waited for the right moment to strike. I had to hold her back and remind her that retaliating would only make things worse. My friends didn’t need to clean me off the floor when Alvin was done with me. If I bowed my head and let Alvin get his rage out, then this would end soon.
I hated this. My fingers curled into fists at my sides. Rage made me tremble as every muscle tightened with the need to fight back. My hound howled. The smell of coffee disappeared. The air changed, carrying the scent of ozone and an electric charge.
Several emotions passed over Alvin’s face all at once. They happened so quickly that I couldn’t read any of them before they were covered by his angry bravado all over again.