“That so?” He chuckles. And the dominance emanating off him along with his obvious irritation is like hornets attacking my skin.
“King,” she gasps, spinning around and sliding into the place between me and him as if she’s going to come between us both. Her head whips back and forth, checking where we are before she stands up, and pretty much pops a hip and glares at him, doing the same to me too. One fucking look is all it takes, and she miraculously pulls the plug on the challenging and aggression we’re oozing. She fucking twists up our attention, taking it off of each other and diverting it back to herself. You can feel thechange almost immediately, the air is less dense with Alpha pheromones too. Interestingly she seems to soak in the change before she blasts into action.
“I’m taking my ass inside.” She winks before she dances up close, shaking her ass, before racing away making more noise than the storm.
Then I’m left alone, face to face with King Grady. He goes to say something, but she hollers back at us loud like a quarterback at playoffs. It’s pretty clear we’re expected to follow but by the looks King’s got shit he needs to say first.
“I just told your brother inside, and Maverick, you hurt her and I won’t hold back.”
“This isn’t going to work,” I state because the longer I stay near him it’s easy to see we’re going to rub each other the wrong way.
He laughs under his breath before rocking back on his heels, being a judgemental fuck.
“I expected more of you, Steel,” he smirks while he speaks, and his voice and innuendo is full of unspoken threat and unwavering confidence.
Growing up around the club, obviously I’d heard so much about him. But words are words, and being around him it is nearly overwhelming how intimidating and intense he is. I reckon the only reason I don’t fucking dissolve in a puddle of compliance is because I’ve had to grow up with Rex and his cuntish parenting skills which involves nothing but callous criticism and narcissistic bullying.
I return his smirk with my own, nodding my head too. “Most people do. I wish I cared,” I say back.
He blows a noisy exhale which screams disappointment. The fucker. I stand taller, purposely shifting my stance so if he jumps at me, I’ll be able to land a quick punch. Instead, he relaxes back on the railing but it’s nothing more than an act.
“Right now, I’m not actually talking about you,” he says slowly, pausing to take a noisy inhale and exhale as he looks out over the water. When his eyes swing back at me, they’re full of what makes him Alpha, and one of the strongest I’ve met. “Honestly, if I was, we both know this conversation would be happening very differently. Tristan is a different story completely.”
I flick my chin up, urging him on. “You might need to spell this out for me because I have no fucking idea what you’re on about.”
He shrugs like he’s not surprised at my answer, like he was expecting it, and I don’t like that one bit before he continues. “But the two other members of your pack do.”
“Go on.” I wave him on, being a prick. Rex would be proud. And that thought is like a bucket of water. I never want to be like him but I’m not backing down now either.
Of course he doesn’t miss the shift in my mood. The asshole even probably knows the reason why, but he does dial in the raw power that radiates off him. And then he surprises me, directing our discussion to a more personal level. “You don’t feel a pull towards her?”
“It’s not your business.”
He throws his hands wide, disagreeing, but being way too agreeable in the way he challenges what I said. “I suggest it is.”
“No, it really isn’t.”
“She tell you she’s on suppressants? That this time tomorrow she’ll be in the throes of heat riding my knot? And knowing her like I do, knowing everything she’s told me about the other members of your pack, I’d put money on them being there too.”
“And?”
That pulls him up. Well, he pretends like it does before we’re interrupted by her hollering from the rear deck again. When I turn around, he’s already looking at me but in the space of heryelling he’s almost like looking at a different person. And I didn’t need the proof of their connection, but I see it because it’s there, in his protection, in his ever-changing mood. But it’s the look of absolute devotion that has me locking up anxiously.
“I can tell you the exact time and day I met her. She changed my life and continues to do that every fucking day. For about a thousand reasons that are none of your business I haven’t claimed her but that changes within a few hours. A word of advice from someone who would be happy to watch you walk away, don’t deny yourself her.”
“Righto. Anything else?”
“Yeah, at some point we need to speak about how you remove yourself from Rex and the Death Riders.”
I shake my head, stunned at his audacity. He keeps going like he’s got that right but worse still, I feel like I’m swimming with a bleeding cut in front of a crocodile waiting to attack.
“Or you spend the next few days ignoring the fact your fathers a cunt and I want to rip your fucking throat out for putting Tristan in danger. Choice is yours, but I have to say if you go down that road, I’ll hold you face down in the lake until you got no air left in your lungs then leave you floating while I ride off with my girl on the back of my bike. One or the other, Steel.” He smiles again, and it’s fucking menacing despite him pretending we’re old friends just shooting the shit. “Anyway, looks like you’ve got some thinking to do, and I’ve got some food to grill.”
Chapter
Thirty-Six
TRISTAN
