Flames burst inside of my chest when his scaly hand grabbed her wrist and yanked her down to his eye level. “Wantto get out of here and do something fun?” His obnoxiously loud slurs announced his disrespect to the entire room.
I was already on my way as she forcefully yanked her arm back to her. “We don’t touch the bartender. You know this.” She was stern, but gentle. Too gentle.
It made me furious to think of how many times Faeryn had professionally set boundaries while Theo stood to the side, trusting her to handle it. Sure, he would check if she was alright and step in if needed, but she should never have to ask somebody else to get involved. Any disrespect to my female should be automatically punished without her having the weight of the decision on her conscience. The fact that she had to live in a world where anyone could make her feel uncomfortable or unsafe was deplorable. The line between unintentional harassment and full endangerment didn’t matter to me now, I was in guardian mode. Tolerance was low.
“I’m sorry, you’re just so beautiful.” The cold-blooded drunk smiled. “What do you like to do? I’d love to spend the night going—”
“I’m not looking for anything.” She dodged another attempt to grab her arm.
“You’re always so kind to me. Has anyone ever told you your eyes are sooooo bright…” His hands continued fumbling for her.
I strained to contain my claws and wrapped a safe, soft fingered hand over her shoulder, gently pulling her back to trade places with myself.
“The lady asked you not to touch her,” I snarled, unable to avoid my lip curling over sharpening teeth.
“Graysen, it’s fine.” Faeryn pulled at my forearm to drag me away from the male.
“I wasn’t trying to touch her,” he sputtered in surprise. “I was just asking her if she’d like to—”
“She’s mine,” I bit. “Andif you ever lay a hand on her again I’ll kill you. Stay the fuck away from Faeryn.”
The primal itch in my brain begged me to become feral. Her arm would smell like his dirty hands. I needed to replace it with my own scent as soon as possible. I needed to rip my teeth into him and use his flesh to fuel me so I could be stronger, a better protector. I needed to set an example to any other male who thought for even amomentthey could encroach on my territory. Make my female uncomfortable. Have “a night” with my mated partner. If Cassius was watching from nearby, maybe he would think twice before testing my mercy.
“I’m going back to the bar.Don’tleave me alone to handle it without you,” Faeryn glared. I was nearly in shock. Her aggression should be directed at the male who pawed at her, notme.
“I’m sorry,” the insolent male croaked, his dull scales creasing in insufficient regret.
“Don’t apologize. Just drink some water and eat some food. You don’t want to drink yourself to death, do you?” Her voice was aggravatingly sweet—nearlyapologetic.
I loomed over the male for a moment, seeing red. I wasn’t myself. All the tension I had been harboring had finally found a physical target. He represented all that endangered our happiness. If I could handle revenge here, on him, our trouble would go away. He was the first breathing threat I could truly neutralize. Maybe hewasCassius. He wasn’t the correct species and didn’t match the description at all, but maybe Ragen reported incorrectly. I could handle this now, and my precious Faeryn would be safe.
“Stella!” Faeryn called. “I need you to take Mr. Donnar home!”
The faint clicking of Stella’s heels approached. She shoved past my rigid body, taking the man’s hands and assisting him to his feet. “Overdo it again, Mr. Donnar? Let’s get you home,” she cooed gently, shooting me a look that said “get it together” before helping him stumble out the door.
“Fuck, Graysen,” Faeryn snapped at me. “You know he’d never hurt anyone. He was just caught up in the excitement of the day.”
Before I could collect myself enough to reply, she stomped off and resumed her management of the rush. I stood dumbly for only a moment, long enough to remember her biggest threat for the time being was having a bad day, before resuming my rounds by her side. Coming back into a state of personhood from my feral rage was disorienting, like waking up intoxicated in the middle of the night. I knew where I was and how I had gotten there, but everything felt wrong. I tried to make myself useful despite the fog in my head. I was in the modern world. The modern world required…differentsolutions than generalized violence. My instincts screamed otherwise, but I drowned them out with as much reason as I could muster.
Faeryn
“Sorry about yesterday.” My face felt warm as Stella and I leaned against the back counter and watched our room of satisfied patrons chatter amongst themselves. This customer load felt incredibly manageable after the chaos of the holiday rush.
“What about yesterday?” I couldn’t tell if she was feigning ignorance. Had she really not noticed the scene unraveling?
“Having you escort Mr. Donnar home,” I sighed. “I don’t know what got into Graysen. I’ve never seen him like that before.”
“Trust me, it wasn’t the first time one of us had to get that man safely to his front door, and it won’t be the last. I needed the fresh air anyway.”
“Was that… normal?” I asked tentatively. Gossiping about Graysen felt uncomfortable, but I did feel the need to process. Yesterday was our first shift together. I really had no clue how typical that level of aggression was. Maybe his work personality was more intense? That would be a good thing to know so I could give him a hard time about it. Being a dick to people who made innocent mistakes wouldn’t be tolerated in my partner.
“Not quitenormal, but he’s definitely had his moments.” Her textured claws clicked together against her waist thoughtfully. “He was pretty miserable when we first began working together.”
“How long have you worked together?”
She hummed thoughtfully. “Technically, Graysen worked here before me, but when I started he’d taken a leave of absence. It must have been five or so years ago. When he returned, everything was touch and go. He missed shifts, snapped at everybody, started fights, and was clearly neglecting himself. I thought Theo would fire him, but that never happened.” She paused, clocking my concerned expression. “I shouldn’t be telling you this. That was a long time ago. I don’t think it was an accurate representation of him as a person.”
“No, of course not,” I said flatly. I had already accepted his past, knowing the unspoken truth would be difficult to learn about over time. Still, the glimpse I’d received yesterday was hard to stomach.
