“You heard me,” the man grunted, staring at my hand.
“What the hell is your problem?” I snarled.
Ryu put his hand on my shoulder. “Wait, Scar. He’s not worth the effort.”
The man just shrugged.
I yanked away from Ryu’s grip and stormed away. He chased after me. “Scar, wait!”
“What?” I growled when he caught up.
“I’m sorry that guy was so rude,” he said.
“Don’t be sorry. Not your fault.”
“And I’m also sorry about—”
I whipped around to face him. “Sorry about what?”
I stared into his dark eyes. Years of experience taught me I could intimidate people by towering over them and staring them in the eye long enough. Even alphas. Maybe this way I could finally make Ryu fuck off. Maybe he would stop trying to be my friend, and go back to his perfect life with his magic skills and his new boyfriend Henry.
But Ryu didn’t back down. He met my gaze calmly and took a deep breath. “It was my mistake. I forgot about your arm. I’m sorry.”
If I was in my wolf form right now, all the fur on my body would be standing on end with anger. “How many times are you gonna apologize to me?” I snapped.
He blinked in confusion. “Pardon?”
“I’m tired of hearing it,” I growled. “Sorry this, sorry that. It gets annoying. You don’t have to apologize all the time just because I’m fucked up and not normal.”
“What?” He gasped. “Scar, I don’t think that about you at all.”
“Maybe not on purpose, but trust me, your subconscious does,” I muttered. I began walking away but Ryu cut me off, and for the first time I saw something resembling anger cross his face.
“Now, hold on! Don’t assume you know whatIthink. You’re not in my head, Scar.”
“I don’t have to assume, Iknow,” I snapped. “It’s what you think because it’s whateveryonethinks. Poor Scar, with his ugly fucked up body. Let’s feel bad for him all the time! And don’t look so naive and confused—yousawthe way that guy stared at me.”
Ryu paused. The conflict dissipated from his expression. “Yes, I did. He had no right to treat you that way.”
“It doesn’t matter what people have rights to do or not. They all act like that. They look at me like I’m diseased or contagious. Look!” I gestured to the faces in the crowd all staring at us.
A circle of strangers surrounded us. Every pair of eyes watched, unblinking. It made my skin crawl. My chest tightened and I couldn’t breathe. I wanted to lash out, or disappear—and the latter was always safest.
I’d already learned my lesson fifteen years ago that fighting only got me hurt. I just needed to retreat and be alone like I always was.
I needed to escape.
Ryu lowered his voice. “Scar, I think they’re staring because we’re making a scene.”
“I don’t care,” I snapped. “I’m going home. Thanks for the night out.”
Without looking back, I stormed off. I didn’t hear him chase after me this time.
I slipped into a back alley to hide from the crowds. My chest heaved with heavy, panicked breaths. Leaning against the brick wall for support, I squeezed my eyes shut and took a moment to recover. I hated being stared at. But being stared at while I fought with one of the only people to consider me his friend was even worse.
It’s better this way.Ryu would go home, stung but otherwise fine. He’d recover. He had other friends—better friends than me. Maybe I’d lose his business, but I could deal with that. He wasn’t much of a drinker anyway.
Suddenly I remembered that Ryu wasn’t alone anymore. He had a date tomorrow. An omega boyfriend. Soon they’d be getting pregnant and making babies. Fated mates and all that shit.
