Page 16 of Same Thing
A snarl rattled his throat, and Liam shoved the door open, strode for where Nory was disappearing up the stairs. He bolted for the mouth of the stairwell and witnessed her disappear around the corner to climb the next flight of stairs.
The door to the bottom apartment opened, and Liam froze, witnessing Jackson slink out to look up. There were gaps between the outdoor stairs, and a slow-boiling rage consumed Liam.
“What are you doing?” he demanded.
Jackson startled hard and started making an excuse. “I was just…I was—”
“No lies,” Liam said, approaching smoothly. “I can’t stand liars. You’re going to leave her alone.”
Jackson’s eyes went wide as Liam stepped out of the shadows and into the halo of Jackson’s porch light. Oh, he knew what his eyes looked like right now. They would be glowing with bloodlust.
“You…you’re…”
“Going to be a big problem for you if you can’t leave her alone. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“I’ll call the police,” Jackson said backing toward his door.
“Good. We can talk about a restraining order and tell them all about your stalker habits. Don’t fucking threaten me, boy.That’s a bad idea.” He blurred to him and grabbed him by the throat and slammed him against the side of the building. Liam smiled at the satisfying sound of Jackson’s choking sounds. He lowered his voice. “If I hear of you showing up at the same place as Nory again, I’m going tohurtyou.” And oh, he felt that oath with every fiber of his being. He would hurt him, and consequences be damned.
“Okay, okay,” Jackson choked out. “I won’t.”
Liam yanked him off the wall and shoved him into his apartment. “Sweet dreams, Asshole,” he snarled. He stood to his full height in the open door frame, glaring down at Jackson who laid on the ground, holding his sore throat. “Dream of what will happen if you keep hunting her.”
“What’s it to you?” Jackson asked hoarsely.
“She’s mine,” Liam said smoothly, and then turned and pulled the door closed so hard, it rattled the building.
She’s mine?
What the hell? He stared at the door for a few moments, replaying those two words in his mind. He could hear the truth of his own words, and it disturbed him down to his soul.
She’s mine.
No. No, no, no, she couldn’t be his. He’d just said that to Jackson to let him know where he stood. Yeah. Yeah, that’s why he’d said that without thinking.
Liam backed off the door and turned, making his way down the sidewalk toward his truck. His door was still open, and from here, he could hear Nate still on the phone, asking what the hell was going on.
Nothing good.
This place was messing with his head. This was why werewolves stuck with the Pack and stayed away from humans. He and Nory came from two different worlds. The rules weredifferent. The violence was different. The consequences were different.
Jackson’s first instinct was threatening to call the cops, but for werewolves? They didn’t threaten that. Police wouldn’t even register as an option. Werewolves Changed into their animals, and they fought, and they bled each other until their differences were settled, or one of them died, whichever came first.
Liam didn’t belong here.
She’s mine.
No, she wasn’t.
For Nory’s sake, she couldn’t be.
Chapter Five
When Nory had gone back to check on Alese last night, Liam’s truck had been gone.
He was probably meeting with that pretty woman.
Why did that bother her so much? She didn’t stand an icicle’s chance in hell with a man like Liam, and besides, they weren’t even the same species. Right? Were werewolves a different species than humans? She needed to Google that.