Vic froze in the street, his back to Cian. He turned slowly, his eyes narrowed on the werewolf. Cian pushed up his sunglasses, exposing eyes the same colors as Lyric’s.
“You were born to two human parents. Your dad had a best friend named Badge Henson. He was a Rogue. He was a drinker, wasn’t he? He and your dad were drinkers together. They got into trouble. Your mom had to wrangle them. And then one night, Badge was drunk and out of control. He hit on your mom, your dad got pissed, punched him, Badge Changed, and you were there, weren’t you? Protecting your parents? You shot him, didn’t you? And what did he do? I always get fuzzyabout this part of the story. Oh, that’s right. He bit you. He Turned you. A man you’d grown up trusting. A man who had protected you and your family for all that time. You had a Maker Bond to him, didn’t you? He trained you up. Taught your wolf how to fight. Only the more you acted like him, the less your parents recognized you. You started fighting with your dad, and eventually your mom kicked you out. How old were you again? Fifteen?”
“It wasn’t their fault,” he gritted out.
“Yeah, but you’d think they would be more loyal to you, right? You had protected them from the big bad wolf that night, after all. You’d stopped Badge from hurting them and they repaid you by kicking you out. Fifteen is young to be on your own.”
“I was fine.”
“You couldn’t even drive yet.”
“I said I was fine. Fucking clearly, I’m fine!” he yelled. “I was a mess, and I was hard to handle and I Changed too much, and I couldn’t control the wolf. My parents needed to kick me out. They had a right to. It was justified. Don’t you dare fucking judge them. I know what this is. It’s bait. Keep fishing, motherfucker. You think reciting my history is going to hurt me? I own that shit. I’m proud of my history. You want to sit here and look cool because you did a little research on me? Go research how many little fuckboys like you I left bleeding after they tested me. That story is way better. I got the girl in the end. Accept it. This isn’t about my past. It’s about Lyric. Your bond is dead and you’ve lost control of her.” Vic allowed an empty smile. “Your loss.”
“I had that girl for years. She’ll always think of me.”
Vic froze, his fists clenched and the snarl in his throat unending.
Wolf, no.
“Do you know what a little whore—”
Vic reached through the car window and yanked him out before he even registered that his body had moved. He slammed him onto the concrete and pummeled his fist against his face over and over. “Change,” he snarled. He would kill him for calling her that word.
He didn’t change though. Instead, Cian smiled up at him through a bloody, split lip, and said, “Help!”
Vic froze with his fist raised in the air.Help?
“Get off him!” came a yell from nearby, and Vic looked up to see a police officer exiting a dark gray unmarked car. It was one of those camouflaged cruisers without the lights on top. “Freeze!” he yelled, drawing his weapon.
“He’s trying to kill me!” Cian yelled, scrambling out from under him.
Disgusted Vic stood, staring at Cian as he scrambled away, acting hurt and scared. What was this? Real men didn’t act like that. Werewolves wouldn’t ever act weak like this. He thought Cian was a War Wolf. What was happening?
“Werewolf!” Cian screamed, pointing. “He was trying to Turn me!”
Vic was shocked into stillness as he realized what the game was. Cian had known that officer was there. He’d said all the right things to get a rise out of him, and now Vic’s cover would be blown.
“Hey, that’s just Vic,” Donny yelled at the officer who was slowly approaching, his weapon drawn.
“Stay back!” the officer said, and now there was another behind him from the same vehicle. “We need backup,” he called to his partner.
“I’m not resisting,” Vic said, backing up slowly. He really didn’t like having a weapon pulled on him. The wolf inside of him wanted to eat this man for threatening him.
“Down on your knees!”
Vic gritted his teeth against the growl in his throat, trying to stop it. He shook his head hard to dislodge the vision the wolf put in his mind of him Changing and attacking the officer.
“I can’t do a cage,” he said low. “I’m not fighting.”
“Put your hands behind your head and drop to your knees,” the officer demanded as his partner asked for backup in a radio at his shoulder.
Cian was spouting off a story about how he had been stalking him and trying to Turn him for days.
“Look at his fuckin’ eyes!” Vic barked. “He’sa werewolf!”
“He wants me to be!” Cian yelled. “Please help me.” He was sniveling and crawling away, dramatic with blood pouring from his split lip.
Vic had never been more disgusted in his entire life.
