The two of us smile at one another as we shake hands, and something about it feels significant. Like we’ve just agreed to some sort of truce between our kinds, even though we’ve done no such thing.
“Who wants a shot?” she calls out, holding up the bottle.
The bar is already crowded, but more people come flooding over when she begins pouring shots into their mouths. She nods to me encouragingly, and I follow her lead, making my way down the bar. When I reach Sienna, she leans her head back, and I give her a hefty pour that ends up dripping down her chin when she starts to laugh.
“My turn,” the bearded werewolf purrs, looking up at me.
I squat down and grab a hold of his chin as he leans his head back. His hands inch up my thighs while I pour the alcohol down his throat, and not one part of me feels the need to stop him.
He swallows back the vodka, and I run my thumb over his bottom lip, wiping away the remnants. All of a sudden, his head is slammed down into the bar in front of me.
“Kole!” I scream, standing back up.
Blood immediately gushes from the wolf’s broken nose when he lifts his head, looking a bit dazed. He whirls around to see who attacked him, but Kole grabs him by the throat, digging his nails into his neck so deeply that blood begins to trickle down his deep bronze skin.
“Touch her again, and it’ll be your neck I break,” Kole threatens with a vicious snarl.
He releases his hold on the werewolf, and the two men retreat into the crowd without a fight.
“What the hell is your problem?” I sneer, looking down at Kole as he runs his hand through his hair.
“Get down,” he orders, holding out his hand.
“No! You don’t get to tell me what to do!” I turn my back on him and stride down the bar fueled with fury.
What the hell has gotten into him? I could understand if Thane reacted that way, but Kole? That’s so unlike him.
“Looks like Alpha’s still got you on a leash,” Veronica mutters, shooting me a sympathetic look.
“We’ll see about that.”
I make my way over to one of the male vampires who has been eyeing me and squat down in front of him.
“Hey, baby. Let me get some of that,” he says, nodding to the bottle in my hand.
I look over and see Kole glaring at me from the other end of the bar like a controlling ex-boyfriend, but I’m done being controlled.
“Open your mouth,” I order to the vampire standing in front of me. He turns around and leans his head backward with his mouth open. I glance at Kole, tossing him a quick smirk before pouring a shot of vodka into my mouth and spitting it into the vampire’s. “You might want to run,” I advise to the guy when I turn back and see the rage burning in Kole’s eyes.
The vampire looks at me, then at Kole, and takes off in a blur, clearly having no desire to go up against his Alpha’s brother. I stand back up, handing the vodka bottle to Veronica, and she runs her eyes down me approvingly.
“You’re my kind of girl.”
I toss her a wink and slip off the bar, disappearing into the crowd. I’m on my way back to Sienna when Kole grabs me and pins me to the wall with a growl.
“You think that’s funny?” he sneers, as I look up at him with a taunting grin.
“What the hell is going on with you tonight?” I attempt to push him back, but he stays planted, caging me against the wall with his arms.
“If Thane were here, he’d kill any guy who even looked at you the wrong way.”
“But he’s not here!” I snap.
“It doesn’t matter! As far as everyone knows, you’re still his pet, which means no one is to lay a hand on you.”
I roll my eyes, turning away from him. “It’s not like they were hurting me.”
Kole snatches my chin, turning my face back. “That would’ve been preferred to them touching you with lust burning in their eyes.”
