“Don’t be stupid.” Alvin slammed me into the coffee counter.
I cried out when the gashes in my thigh reopened. Apparently, the toaster pastries hadn’t been enough to help me fully heal. Warmth spread over my thigh as I struggled to catch my breath. Alvin didn’t give me time to collect myself. He palmed the side of my head and shoved it into the wood wall of the counter.
Splinters pierced my skin. My eyes burned as fury and terror mingled inside me.
Alvin couldn’t win, but I couldn’t fight him here, either. This wasn’t the right place to make a stand. If I wanted to fight back, I would have to lead him out of Bad Moon. I refused to let him leave his mark on this place.
At least Cerri had gotten out. Alvin wouldn’t accuse her of defending me. I hoped that she was safe, and that Alvin hadn’t posted someone outside the back exit. Cerri could handle herself. She probably had a pocketful of potions to protect herself.
“I’m only going to get dumber if you keep hitting me in the head,” I said.
His growl turned into a roar as he pulled his hand back to strike. I flinched.
The blow never came.
Wary, I cracked open one eye. Ryder stood behind Alvin. He had ahold of Alvin’s wrist. Both Jackson and Marcus shared a confused look, as if he’d snuck right past them. They moved to grab Ryder, but Alvin inhaled sharply and raised his free hand to stop them.
I lifted my head and noticed that Ryder had tightened his grip on Alvin. The skin of Alvin’s wrist had turned a mottled purple color. Alvin’s clenched jaw was all that betrayed his pain.
Alvin twisted and turned his glare toward Ryder. I watched as Alvin’s gaze dropped to something hanging from Ryder’s neck. A medallion on a thin leather cord sat atop Ryder’s chest. The fight bled out of Alvin in an instant, making me give the medallion a second look.
At first glance, the medallion had seemed normal. I’d thought it was made out of metal and covered with a red enamel, but now I could see that it was a dark red crystal that had been shaped and polished into a flat circle. In the center, a blood-red blossom caught the light.
Alvin yanked his wrist away from Ryder. “I see that you’re a weak worm of a man. You crawled to that whore’s feet to beg for help, and now you’re her tool. And here I thought you were a threat.”
Even as he spat vile words at Ryder, Alvin flexed the hand that Ryder had crushed. The bruise flared over Alvin’s skin before slowly receding. Alvin healed faster than any other shifter I’d ever seen. His wrist returned to normal in the blink of an eye. If Ryder had broken any bones, they were whole before I could even take another breath.
Thinking about wounds made my thigh throb. The gashes were still open. They refused to heal until I ate again. I didn’t dare move while Ryder stared Alvin down. If either of them started a fight in here, I would be pissed.
Not in Bad Moon.
Alvin knew what he was doing when he walked in here. He’d known that I wouldn’t fight back here. If I asked Ryder not to fight, too, then Alvin would have the upper hand.
I hated Alvin for pushing everyone into a corner. He seemed to know how to move so that his foes were trapped. I had to be smarter than Alvin if I was going to live through this. I began to doubt my decision to ask for Ryder’s help. If Alvin was going to control Ryder the same way, then this battle was already lost.
I stole another glance at the medallion around Ryder’s neck. The symbol seemed familiar, but I couldn’t place it. Alvin had called Ryder a whore’s tool. What had he meant by that?
Ryder’s expression twitched, as if he were fighting back a snarl. Jackson and Marcus stepped up behind him. I dragged myself to my feet and put myself between them. I had to lean on Ryder’s back to stay standing, but I wasn’t going to let them hurt him.
Why? I wasn’t sure. I was using Ryder. He was nothing more than a means to an end. He could easily take on all three men at once, but the urge to keep him safe overrode my own desire to live.
The warmth that spilled out of him suffused me with a little bit of energy. I raised my chin and looked Marcus in the eye. That was when Jackson decided to strike.
Ignoring the pain in my thigh, I ducked and punched him in the stomach. While he recovered from the blow, I spun on Marcus. He reached out to grab me, but Ryder yanked me out of the way. He slid an arm around my waist and smoothly switched places with me. He had ahold of Marcus’s outstretched arm in an instant. He twisted it behind Marcus’s back until the grown man hissed in pain.
All the while, Alvin watched. His upper lip curled as he sucked his teeth. I braced myself for his attack, but it never came. Instead, he raised a hand again, and the brothers froze. Alvin’s sigh filled the quiet room.
Alvin turned his attention on me. Though he remained calm, I could see the fury boiling just beneath his skin. “If you keep consorting with the outsider, you will lose your rights to the pack and the safety we provide. This man isn’t capable of making good decisions. He’s already signed his life away.”
I shared a glance with Ryder, expecting him to give me a confused shrug. Shame shadowed his eyes. He’d done something while he’d been gone, and it had to do with that medallion.
Ryder should have been protecting my father. I highly doubted that he’d gotten the token while hanging out with my dad. I clenched my fists at my sides. Pain radiated from my thigh and up my torso, making me take the weight off my wounded leg. Off balance and ready to collapse, my anger didn’t look as threatening.
“What did you do?” I whispered.
Ryder gave a nearly imperceptible shake of his head. He wasn’t going to tell me today. I had a feeling that even when Alvin left, Ryder would keep his secret.
I turned to Alvin. “Are you kicking me out of the pack?”