My wolf had him pinned. I bared my teeth and let out a low, warning growl that vibrated through the small space. One wrong move, and the animal inside me would have finished the job.
Theo’s eyes burned with defiance, then flickered to fear. In that beat, I could have ended him. I could have let my teeth find his jugular, told Cooper it was self-defense.
Instead, I saw Zack’s face, hurt and stunned from the rehearsal. I remembered Cooper’s warning. Not again. I forced the leash of discipline down hard.
It felt like holding a cliff back with bare hands, but I managed it.
I pressed Theo harder against the wall until his resistance melted. Then I struck, fast and precise, not to kill but to break his balance and knock him out.
He went limp and slid down to the alley floor in a tawny heap, then shifted back into human form, naked and out cold.
I stood over him, chest heaving, the taste of blood and adrenaline metallic on my tongue. Slowly, painfully, I shifted back to myself.
My knees hit the ground; my legs shook from the strain of holding the worst of it in.
Griffin was the first to reach us. He looked from Theo to me, eyes hard but not unkind.
“You handled it fast,” Griffin said quietly.
I nodded, wiping at my jaw where sweat mixed with a smear of blood. “He could’ve hurt someone.”
“Yeah.” Griffin’s voice was flat with the weight of it. “But now you might be in trouble again with Cooper.”
My stomach dropped.
“Don’t worry,” Griffin added, surprising me with the small mercy. “I’ll tell Cooper you tried to mitigate the situation as best you could. You stopped it from becoming a full blowout inside the bar.”
The back-alley silence broke as the service door opened and Zack came running out.
He skidded to a stop when he saw Theo on the ground. For a second, he just stood there, eyes wide, chest heaving from his own sprint.
“What the hell happened?” Zack demanded, then his gaze landed on me.
Shock, worry, and something unreadable flickered across his face.
I opened my mouth to speak, to apologize and explain, but the words tangled.
Griffin stepped forward and filled the pause. “Zack,” Griffin said, blunt and steady, “Mark had to take him out before he tore the place apart. Theo came in hammered and started pushing him. Mark moved it out here before anyone else got hurt.”
Zack looked from Griffin to the crumpled form at our feet, then back to me.
For a heartbeat I braced for the look I’d seen before. That hollowed, hurt expression that had followed the broken guitar.
Instead, Zack crossed the alley in two long strides and pulled me into a hug.
At first I was so stunned I didn’t return it, but then his arms tightened, and a fierce, trembling relief flowed into my ribs.
“I’m proud of you,” he said, just loud enough for me to hear. “You held back. I know how hard that was.”
Heat flooded my face. His words steadied something inside me that had been fraying since the guitar.
“I did the best I could,” I whispered into his sweater.
He pulled back a fraction and looked at me, and his eyes were steady, not accusing.
“I know. You did what you had to. You kept everyone safe.” Zack smiled, small and fierce.
Griffin cleared his throat, a polite cough that reminded me he was still there.
