Chapter Twenty
The bathroom tap was leaky.
It let a few droplets of water hit the drain every minute, breaking Anthony’s concentration as he stared at his reflection.
He’d marked her.
It wasn’t a big deal in his last pack, but here they seemed a lot less friendly to the idea.
What if they found out who she was?
Would she have to deal with a bite back from the local pack?
He wanted to be able to protect her.
If he couldn’t, what use was he?
Anthony washed his face to clear his thoughts. He was getting muddled up with hormones from having sex with her. All he wanted was to settle down with her as his partner, to show her that he could take care of her and be all she needed.
He wanted to provide for her.
It was an old, biological calling, something that was in his blood not only as a wolf, but as a human as well. Anything he could do to make his partner happy and comfortable would never be too much. She was his life now.
She needed to be comfortable with all parts of him.
Even the parts of him that he kept most hidden.
When he went out to the living room, she was falling asleep. Anthony smiled and picked her up gently.
“What?” Sierra said softly, her voice thick with sleep.
“I’m just getting you to bed,” he explained as he opened her bedroom door and turned on the lights. Her room was decorated with dozens of pictures of her and her mother, and he made a mental note to ask her to show him all of them some time. He wanted to know everything about her life.
“Thank you,” she said softly, kissing him as he set her on the bed.
Anthony pulled the sheets up and tucked her in gently.
“Get in with me.” She patted the space on the bed beside her.
“Your bed is a twin sized one. I wouldn’t fit with you on it,” he laughed.
“You could always try,” she sounded like she was serious, but he knew he needed to pass up the tempting offer. He needed time by himself to figure out his own mind.
“I have to go back to my hotel tonight. I have business to do,” he explained, running his fingers through his hair.
“When will I see you again?” she seemed to wake up a little at hearing he was leaving.
“I want you to see me shift,” he said. “Tell me when you’re ready to see me when I’m a wolf, and we’ll set up a time,” he offered.
“I’m ready,” Sierra said, almost too quickly. She seemed eager to find a way to have him stay the night, and although it was alluring and tempting, he knew better.
He needed time to himself.
“I’ll text you in the morning,” he answered, kissing her forehead.
“All right,” she said, dejected.
***
The drive back to the hotel dragged on forever.
He’d driven for days between packs, before stopping for more than gas and food, yet this half hour drive was tedious and too long. He wanted to be asleep with Sierra. He wanted to be able to just stay the night with her like she offered, without worry that it would impact her in any way.
He knew he was a ways off from that being possible.
Pulling up to the hotel, he realized he was even further away from it than he’d assumed.
There were a couple of men outside his hotel room. Both were bald, both had nasty and unhappy looks on their faces.
The options ran through his head like a game show.
Behind door one, he could just get out and see what they wanted. There was a chance they were at the wrong door, or even that they just wanted to talk. This wasn’t entirely likely, but it was possible. The only other option with this approach was that they’d want to fight.
Behind door two, he could drive back to Sierra. He could sleep in her tiny bed beside her, or even on the couch in the living room, and pretend he didn’t see them standing there. Or they could follow him to her place. Confront him there, in front of her. She could lose trust in him this way, or even possibly get hurt, and it would be his own fault for bringing them there.
He couldn’t do that.
Tired of it all, he parked his car.
It all felt like slow motion.
As he turned off his car, he could feel their eyes flick up to him. He looked back at them, returning the threat. Anthony took his wallet out of his pocket and slipped it into the glovebox. If they were going to try anything, at least his money would be safe. Easily and without hesitation, he opened his car door and slid out. The night air was cooler than he expected. He’d been so warm leaving Sierra’s apartment.
He was going to take his time.
Anthony looked up, taking in how many thousands of stars were visible in the dark of the night, and when he looked back down, the men were walking toward him.
Time to rise up to the opposition.
Steadily, not letting hesitation show, he matched their pace and walked back toward the strangers.
He tried to match their faces to anyone he saw at the meeting, but they weren’t familiar.
“I heard you fuck outside of your species,” one of the men said. His voice was slurred with alcohol. A couple steps closer and Anthony could smell it.
“I’m not here to cause trouble,” Anthony said simply, offering them an easy out.
“Fuck you. Our blood lines are thin enough as it is,” the other man said. He sounded more than sober. Anthony wasn’t sure which man seemed more dangerous.
“I’m just trying to live my life. Let me in, and I’ll leave. You won’t see me again. I’ll leave the pack alone,” Anthony said, knowing it sounded like a threat.
“No, you’ll stand out here and talk with us for a while,” the first man said, walking closer.
“You don’t look like you just want to talk,” Anthony said simply, grounding himself to his spot.
“Well, you got us there.”
The first punch didn’t hurt.
Even though he expected it, the impact still surprised him. This surprise ate away any pain it may have caused, covering it with a dozen other sensations. Mostly anger.
The second punch not only hurt, it pissed him the fuck off.
What did he do to deserve this? Fell in love with a non-shifter? So what?
She was amazing. Anyone would be out of their damned minds to think they couldn’t fall in love with her. She was quickly becoming the only thing he could think about anymore, and he wasn’t complaining.
On the third hit, a crack to his jaw, Anthony decided to fight back.
His blood was boiling, and he’d been aching to have someone he could take it out on.
Balling his fists tight and keeping his wrists straight, he started giving back. Every hit he landed felt like catharsis, felt like confession. He let the blows cleanse him of his stress and his anger.
His family was dead. He was alone. Now that he was reaching out, finding someone who cared, these bastards wanted to take that from him?
No! Fuck that! He wasn’t going to let strangers sit around and try to tell him how he needed to live his life.
He wasn’t going to let them ruin the one good in his life.
The two men were strong and practiced, and their fists and fingers were hungrier. The pain started to outweigh his anger, and Anthony hit the ground only after bloodying one of their noses and blackening the other’s eyes.
Usually, shifters would only fight as wolves, but something about doing it as men felt right.
They started kicking him, and he coughed out – not begging for help, but trying to make them stop. Eventually, he stilled his body, and after he didn’t move for five minutes, they got bored and left.
The easy way out would have been to shift.
He could become a wolf, and then shift back to human and each scratch and bruise would be gone.
He didn’t, though.
Each wound, each pain, was earned, and he wanted to wear them long enough to really feel them.
Anthony limped his way to his hotel room, feeling his ribs swell and ache from the pain of it all.
The cold water of the sink finally woke him up out of his haze.
The world was moving at the correct speed again, and watching it catch up left him with a feeling of spiraling vertigo.
He wasn’t sure why, but he felt cleansed in a deeper way than the soap on his skin.
Once his blood no longer colored the sink’s stream, Anthony turned off the water and pat his skin dry with one of the soft, white hand towels.
A new conviction overtook him.
He’d let Sierra see him like this.
If she didn’t run, then she felt the same way he did about her. He’d be able to trust her and keep her around for good. He wasn’t sure what he’d do if she turned him down – probably skip town immediately – but for now, he’d try.
Settling down into the room’s queen-sized bed, he couldn’t help but feel how empty it was.