My breath stutters.
The world tilts just slightly.
“Let me go,” I say through gritted teeth, battling back the nausea that gets worse and worse the longer his skin is in contact with mine, the more he presses into me.
“Hey, no need for that. I just want to take you out. I’m not hurting you.”
“You are actually,” I say before swallowing down the swell of bile in my mouth. “Please. Believe me, you don’t want to be this close to me.”
He presses closer, which really doesn’t make sense. He must smell how distressed I am, he must be able to tell I’m not feeling well. But maybe he likes that? Maybe he’s the type of alpha who gets off on other people’s fear.
Of course he is because that’s my luck.
“I think I do want to be this close to you, closer if I can manage. What do you say, omega? You want my cock in that pretty little cunt? You want an alpha’s knot? It's been weeks since you’ve had one, hasn’t it?”
Years,actually.
But its none of his business. And even if I weren’t sick and could stomach the thought of anyone but my pack inside me, I certainly wouldn’t pick some limp-dick douche who thinks the way to get what he wants is through intimidation.
There’s no stopping what happens next. His words combined with his proximity, touch and scent swirl into a noxious concoction that swells in my belly and forces its way right up my throat, and all over his chest.
He blinks down at me in shock for a moment, before looking at his ruined shirt covered in vomit and then back to me.
“Told ya,” I say with a small, pleased smile, enjoying my work.
“You fuckin’ bi-” The curse ends on a yelp as he’s yanked away from me and tossed to the sidewalk. A huge hulking presence steps between the two of us, and I sag when I realize it’s Creed.
He glances over his shoulder at me, silently checking that I’m okay, and I give him a quick nod.
Satisfied, he turns back to the douchebag who wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer. “Next time a lady tells you ‘no’ you’re gonna wanna listen,” Creed drawls low and dangerous.
The alpha sputters on the ground for a moment before he scrambles to his feet, as though that will make Creed have second thoughts about beating the shit out of him. “Or what?” he sneers.
Well, he’s clearly too stupid to live.
Creed sighs, there’s a scuffle that I barely see and then my friend is flipping open the other alpha’s wallet and snagging out his ID. He tucks it into his pocket and then tosses the wallet back. “We’ll be watching, Harvey Daniels of 227 Marchwood Street.”
He doesn’t explain who ‘we’ is or answer the ‘or what’ question. But then he doesn’t need to. He’s a six foot six giant of a man, with malice radiating out of him. It must be nice to have that kind of power.
Harvey slides his angry gaze to me, like this is my fault, and then scrambles away, taking his vomit soaked shirt with him.Creed watches him go, keeping his body between me and the muttering alpha, and then he turns toward me, concern clear on his face. “You alright, Ren?”
I wave a hand. “I’m fine. Just… a little icked out, you know?”
His jaw hardens and he nudges me in the opposite direction from the one Harvey went in. “You shouldn’t be working here anymore, Ren. It's not safe.”
I can’t help but smile at his overprotective demeanor. “Working at a bank is arguably one of the safest places I could be. Certainly safer than the yoga studio.”
“Which you also shouldn’t be working at. You’re in recovery. You need time-”
“I need to not sit around my nest all day wallowing. That’s not going to change anything. This is my life now, Creed, my new normal. I need to accept that and figure out how to live with it.”
I expect some kind of response, but he’s weirdly quiet. His hand settles on my lower back to guide me around a corner. “Creed?”
He glances back over his shoulder, and he urges me along faster. “What?” I ask, following his line of sight but not seeing anything.
He sighs as he ushers me to his car. “I know you said you don’t want guards, Ren. That you don’t want us watching your every move, but I think you’re gonna have to get over that real fast. Especially if you want to keep working.”
“What? Why?”
