Page 18

Chapter 17

Dina

I blink, frowning.

The place is closed.

Lights half off.

Chairs turned upside down on the tables.

Sign flipped over.

Only the cleaning crew is supposed to be coming, and they’re late.

“Sorry, we’re closed!” I call out automatically, wiping my hands on a towel as I round the counter.

But when I step into view, my stomach sinks straight to my toes.

Because standing there, bold as ever, is Eric, my ex, who seems to be hard of hearing.

And not just Eric.

Eric and two of his frat-boy rejects, all laughing and swaggering like they own the place.

Drunk. Great.

I hate unruly people under the influence. It’s one of my biggest icks .

Oh, fuck me. Not tonight.

I just don’t think I have the mental bandwidth to deal with his crap right now. Pandering to egos was never my thing. And Eric’s ego is already the size of the Washington Monument, for fuck’s sake.

I believed in straight talk, and I’d been just about as forward as a person could be when a relationship ended.

He just didn’t seem to get the hint. It’d been months since we were together, but I guess I wasn’t firm enough.

“Eric,” I say, plastering on my best I am so done with your shit face. “We’re closed. You need to leave.”

He grins, and it’s every bit as slimy and smug as I remember.

“I’m not here for pizza.”

“Even better. Now, leave.”

“Aw, come on, Deen. That’s no way to treat an old flame.”

I cross my arms tightly.

“There’s no flame. No smoke. Nothing. Just yesterday’s trash.”

His buddies snicker like I didn’t just verbally roast him alive, which figures.

Eric steps closer, ignoring every ounce of nope radiating off me. Like he can’t see how disgusted I am by him.

He sniffs the air deeply.

“Looks like you’ve been hanging out with a dog.”

“What?”

My heart starts pounding. The hair on the back of my neck rises.

Warning. Warning.

“Relax, Deen. We’re old friends here. I just wanted to hang out. Maybe talk about us... you know, like adults.”

“There is no us,” I say firmly, backing up toward the counter, closer to my phone, and the knife I was using. Just in case .

“And I need you and your pals to leave. Now.”

But he doesn’t listen.

Of course he doesn’t.

He steps right into my space, hands brushing my arms like he has any right to touch me.

“Don’t be like that,” he murmurs, voice low and patronizing.

“You used to like it when I stopped by. Thought maybe you were lonely. No dog can give you what I can, Deen.”

It dawns on me then, he means Doug. Which means Eric and his two friends aren’t human.

Fuck.

My pulse spikes.

Suddenly, this doesn’t feel like a pathetic ex fishing for ego boosts anymore.

This feels threatening.

“Eric. Back. Off.”

My voice is sharp now. No warmth. No invitation.

But he doesn’t move.

His fingers tighten just slightly on my arm, and the realization hits me hard and fast, I’m alone.

The cleaning crew isn’t here yet.

No MJ.

No Carina.

No one.

Except Eric and his meathead friends, who are definitely not human. Not with the way their eyes are glowing, and their movements are all jerky and unnatural.

Shit. Now they’re blocking the door.

Panic starts to flicker in my chest, cold and quick.

“Eric, I’m serious,” I snap, my heart pounding in my throat.

“Look, I need to finish up, and you need to go. Get. Out. Now.”

He laughs. His buddies take out two cans of spray paint and my eyes widen in horror.

“No!” But I am too late.

They start to spray obscenities over the mural.

My mural.

The one I painted on the wall of mine and my sisters’ place.

This bastard.

I should probably stay quiet, but do you always do the things you should?

Me neither.

“You prick!” I snap and stomp my sneaker-clad foot, which doesn’t sound half as loud as I want it to.

“You used to like my prick, Deen. Don’t you remember?”

“Fuck you,” I yell, fear and rage warring within me.

“Soon, Deen. Real soon. First, we’re gonna have a little fun.”

Eric laughs again and chills race down my spine, the bad kind. It’s low, mean, and way too confident.

This asshole.

“Eric, you better leave now?—”

“Or what, Dina? You gonna call your little boyfriend? You think I’m scared of some mangy fucking Wolf?”

I spin, reaching desperately for my phone, but I’m too slow.

Eric’s arms wrap tight around me, yanking me back against him.

I freeze.

Shit. Shit. SHIT.

This is so not good. He’s strong. Bigger than me. And I admit, I’m scared.

He leans in, breath hot and disgusting against my ear.

“You can scream if you want. I might even let you call him, Deen. But I doubt he’ll get here in time,” he hisses.

And then, like this couldn’t get worse, this motherfucker licks my cheek.

It’s hot and slimy, and his breath smells mildly like tuna salad.

Rage and disgust explode inside me.

But before I can even shout, a voice slices through the tension like a blade.

“Taking bets on that, Cat?”

Eric stiffens instantly.

So do I.

Because that voice?

That growl?

It’s Doug.

My Doug.

Relief hits so hard I almost collapse.

The entire room shifts.

Eric turns, still holding me like a coward, but his friends? Gone.

They bail fast, muttering excuses as they slip out without so much as a glance back. They always looked so big to me, but they have nothing on Doug.

He has to be a head taller and wider by far.

Eric’s head whips toward the doorway, and when he sees Doug standing there— eyes glowing faint gold, muscles bunched, radiating lethal, predatory alpha fury —it’s like he knows he’s in deep shit.

Good. Asshole.

Doug crosses the room with slow, deliberate steps. It’s like his presence alone swallows the entire space whole.

His jaw is tight.

His voice is a low, deadly rumble when he speaks.

“Get your fucking hands off her before I rip them off your goddamn body .”

Electricity sizzles through the air, and it seems to radiate from him.

Doug is all quiet fury. And honestly, I’ve never been so happy to see someone in my life.

Eric hesitates.

Which is the wrong fucking move.

Doug’s eyes narrow, lips curling back to reveal sharp, dangerous teeth.

“Don’t make me say it again, Cat,” he growls, and I swear I glimpse his elongated canines behind his lips.

His amber eyes burn gold, glowing with wild intensity as the air thickens around us.

It feels heavy. Charged.

A heady mix of raw, unfiltered testosterone and the undeniable pull of Shifter magic that rolls off him in waves, thick enough to make my skin prickle and my breath catch.

It’s not just anger.

It’s power .

Like his Wolf and human sides are in perfect harmony in this moment.

And his goal? Me.

I know it deep inside.

Doug won’t let Eric hurt me.

I believe that with my entire being. And it’s the only reason I’m still standing.

“You think I can’t smell your fear? You wanna play apex predator with me? Come a little closer.”

Eric falters now, clearly exposed and stripped of his bravado.

Yep.

Cat Shifter.

Makes sense now.

All the attitude, the sleaze, the false confidence, and overabundant use of hair products.

“She was mine first,” Eric tries weakly, already retreating.

Doug’s laugh is low and dark, pure Wolf.

“She ain’t yours. Never was. You think pawing at a woman and licking her like a creep makes her yours? I’d say someone wasn’t raised right. But no worries, Cat, I give lessons.”

Eric drops his hold on me fast, like I burned him.

Good. Let him.

I back away immediately, chest heaving, eyes locked on Doug like he’s the only safe place left in the world.

Doug steps right up to Eric, chest to chest now. He’s taller, wider, and meaner looking than the Cat Shifter who is sweating bullets right now.

Gross.

“You’ve got two choices, Cat. Get out before I ruin your life or make this physical and let me do it the fun way.”

Eric opens his mouth, ready to argue, fist pulled back like he’s going to swing.

But Doug moves first, and he is fast as lightning.

His fist slams into Eric’s jaw with brutal force.

The crack echoes through the empty pizzeria as Eric stumbles back, clutching his face, eyes wide in pure shock.

Doug shakes his hand out like he didn’t just nearly knock the guy’s head clean off.

“You come here again, you touch my woman again,” Doug growls, towering over him now, all feral menace and crackling dominance, “and I’ll do a lot worse than break your fucking face.”

“But she?—”

“This is your one chance to leave here on your own feet. Stay gone, or I swear I’m gonna tear you limb from limb. And if, by some miracle, you manage to put all the pieces of you back together, I'll make sure you have nowhere to run. Nowhere , Cat. No Pride in the country will take you when I’m finished. There. Will. Be. Nothing. For. You.”

Eric doesn't argue.

He scrambles toward the exit, practically tripping over himself to get out the door and into the night.

Doug locks the door behind him, then turns back to me.

His eyes soften immediately as they land on me.

I stand there, wide-eyed, shaken, but safe.

Because of him.

It’s just us again.

The silence is thick with adrenaline and leftover rage.

“Dina,” he says softly, voice losing its bite the second he looks at my ruined mural and back at me.

“I’ll fix it,” I explain, not even caring that those assholes ruined my work.

That’s not important right now.

Doug sucks in a deep breath and exhales slowly, like he’s trying to compose himself.

Then he crosses the space between us in two long strides and pulls me flush against him, hands cupping my face like he needs to feel every inch of me breathing and okay.

“Mine,” he murmurs fiercely, before kissing me like he needs to seal that vow deep into my soul.

And honestly?

Right then?

I don’t care that it’s possessive or wild or totally, utterly Wolf.

I melt right into it.

Because I’m his.

And he’s mine.

Even if he doesn’t quite realize it yet.

I don’t waste another moment thinking or overthinking .

I just launch myself at him, arms wrapping tight around his neck as relief rushes through me in waves.

He catches me easily, arms banding tight around my waist, pulling me close like he’s afraid I’ll vanish.

“I got you, Sunshine,” he murmurs, lips brushing my temple as he holds me tighter.

“Always.”

And it’s exactly what I needed to hear.