“Admit it. You know you own a very used copy ofFifty Shades of Grey!”
I start laughing so hard I can’t breathe. “I own the whole series,” I admit through bursts of laughter as splashes rain down on me. Mave loses it with my admission, and we’re both holding our sides as we laugh our asses off.
“Let your freak flag fly, you kinky witch.”
Voices on the beach draw our attention. I look over expecting to find Mave’s friends, but it’s a different group laying out blankets right next to ours. Mave stiffens beside me.
“Shit,” she mumbles quietly.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, and my adrenaline rises in response to her sudden distress.
She looks away from the newcomers and back to me. “Do you care if we leave?”
I study her for a beat. It’s obvious she feels bad for asking. “No, that’s cool, are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’ll explain in the car.”
Mave hesitantly swims towards the shore, and I follow. Her demeanor visibly changes, she’s hardening and fortifying, but I don’t know why. Every ounce of laughter and happiness that was just in her eyes has been shuttered away, replaced by a cold ferocity.
My senses are on alert as we wade out of the water towards our things. I feel eyes on me, but I don’t look around for the source. Neither of us bothers to get dressed, as we start to pack everything up. I’m shoving my clothes in my bag when Mave’s head snaps up. I follow her gaze and spot Kaika, Macon, and Tru rounding a corner and walking towards us.
“Shit, shit, shit!” Mave harshly whispers.
I look from her to her friends and then finally to the group of newcomers. A couple of guys from the new group hone in on the male shifters. Kaika and Tru slow, almost imperceptibly, as they register the new arrivals.
“Tru,” a male voice shouts from the new group.
“Here Tru, come here boy.”
A burst of laughter follows the obvious insult. I look back at the newcomers, completely disgusted with the taunt. Mave mentioned that shifters aren’t always on good terms with casters. With the tension now radiating from Mave and her packmates, it’s clear I’m about to get a front row seat as to why.
The group of new arrivals is big. There are eight guys and two girls, but only four guys in the group seem to be outwardly amused by the taunting of the shifters. The other guys are merely watching with various looks of boredom or disinterest on their faces.
I pause at the set of gray-blue eyes that are trained on me. The eyes belong to a tall blond guy. His hair is short, and an unruly curl gives it a hot bed head look. The contrast of his dark eyebrows and tan skin against the lightness of his eyes and hair gives him a striking and drool-worthy visage. His stormy-blue gaze tracks me with shrewd intensity, and I match his stare for a minute before looking back towards the shifters.
Macon, Kaika, and Tru almost reach us when a stocky guy grips Tru’s arm and yanks him toward the offensive group. I expect Kaika or Mave to react to the manhandling, but Kaika is staring at the ground and Mave is watching, but she’s not doing anything about it. Kaika and Macon stop in front of us, and Mave starts handing them the things we brought.
Tru is forcefully guided over to the group of troublemakers. I only catch phrases here and there, but I hear something about agameand totell them when. I’m trying to figure out what the hell is going on when out of nowhere, a guy punches Tru in the stomach. He crumples over from the blow.
The assholes laugh, and the kid that threw the punch looks toward the bored faces of the other six people he came with like he’s seeking their approval. I step away from Mave and calmly walk into the ring of assholes. I step in front of Tru to face off with the group of bullies.
“Want to explain to me what you’re doing?” I ask evenly.
“It’s a game, right Tru? As soon as he sayswhen,we stop," the asshole to my left explains with a laugh.
I’ve only known Tru for a handful of hours, but I’ve noticed that he hasn’t spoken a word the whole time. Maybe he’s the strong, silent type or maybe it’s something else, but it’s clear these assholes know that no matter what they do to him, he’s not going totellthem to stop.
I turn to look at Tru, narrowing my eyes at the stocky asshat who still has his arm around Tru’s shoulders. He wisely drops it. I hand my keys to Tru, hoping he’ll take the hint and get Mave and the others in the Jeep. Tru’s eyes are filled with fire, but his body language is surprisingly submissive.
It bothers the shit out of me to see that he’s tempering the fight in him with inaction. I turn around and start backing up into Tru’s body, forcing him to step out from the group in order to make room for me.
“Sounds fun. I want to play, but I go first," I say sweetly.
He snickers uncomfortably and looks around at his friends. When no one steps in to tell him this is a bad idea, he agrees with a shrug and a smirk. I step up to him and give him the most demure smile I can muster.
I call on the runes on my arm, wanting a little extra kick in my punch, and I hit the guy hard on the side. I feel the distinct crunch of broken ribs, and he crumbles in on himself, immediately screaming in pain. I step back to give him room to writhe and look at the other three assholes in challenge.
The stocky one looks furious. “What the fuck did you do?” he rages at me, trying to get in my face. I grab him by the neck, lift him off the ground, and then slam his body down flat into the sand. I use enough force to knock the wind out of him but not enough to break anything. I lean over the asshole while he gasps for air and I wait until his eyes focus on me.
