Snorts of laughter echo from the crowd around me, a few lowooohssounding.
“I could put you on your knees if I wanted to,” Bobby taunts, straightening. “Omega. Fuck off, will you? This has nothing to do with you.”
“Oh, I’m going to—,”
When I wrap my arms around Kenny from behind, she stiffens. “It’s me.”
Magic. It feels like some unexplainable form of magic, the way her body softens against mine. The way it threatens to suck out all of the tension from my own spine.
She twists to look up at me. Then she looks back at Bobby.
She doesn’t say anything. She just grins, leaning back. “Call me a slut again, Bobby, will you? Theo didn’t catch it the first time.”
My hands tighten on her as I slowly look up. “You fuckingwhat?”
And Bobby, confronted by an alpha the same size as him, shrinks like the coward he is. “Look, Theo—,”
“Big Billy bollocks,” Kenny mutters under her breath. “Bet you have a cock the size of a cocktail shrimp. Probably smells like it too.”
At any other time, I’d be biting my cheek to hide my laughter. But I’m not feeling amused, not with that word rattling around my skull. Carefully, I settle my hands on Kenny’s hips and shift, lifting her until she’s safely behind me. My hand raises, brushing her cheek as she looks up at me, brown eyes widening. “You don’t need to get involved. I’ve got it.”
I have no doubts. “Yeah, but you don’t have to.”
Turning, I take a step closer to Bobby. My fists curl as I tilt my head. “Anything else to say?”
His eyes flicker to the watching crowd around us. “I was messing around. Nothing to do with her, sticking her nose in where it doesn’t belong. Unless she’s trying to catch my attention.”
Then his face changes, to a smirk that has my skin crawling. “Maybe she’s got it. Maybe you need to keep a better handle onyour girlif you don’t want her going somewhere else.”
Movement behind me has me glancing around. Kenny is kneeling beside the stocky kid, her hand smoothing out a crumpled page as she murmurs to him. He looks at her like she’s hung the moon.
I know the feeling.
She glances at me, an apology in her eyes.
Bobby stumbles back as I take a step. Another, until my hand reaches out, gripping his shoulder. Sliding, until it reaches his throat.
“Theo—,”
My grip tightens. He tries to pull away, but I’m not letting go.
I squeeze a little tighter, his hands scrabbling for purchase against my fingers and coming up short. “How’s it feel, Bobby? To be picked on by someone stronger than you? Feel good?”
When he chokes, I roll my eyes. “On your knees, asswipe.”
His eyes bulge. “Likef-u-ck.”
He barely puts up a fight as I wrap my other hand around the back of his neck and force him down until his knees hit the dirt. A few snickers echo behind me. “Doesn’t feel great, does it? Apologize.”
“To Sam.” Kenny unfurls herself, crossing her arms as I present him like an offering. “Not me.”
Yes, you. “Sam first, then. But then you apologize to Kenny.”
I let go of his throat, keeping my hand on his neck until he’s forced to stare at the ground. The words steal out from between gritted teeth. “Sorry.”
“What was that?” I shake him lightly. “I don’t think Sam heard you.”
The kid scrambles to his feet, hovering behind Kenny and gripping his bag against his chest as Bobby says it again. Louder, this time. “Jesus. I’m sorry, alright?”
