Chapter Eleven
The next morning Malcolm stepped into the back entrance of Devil’s Den, a frown on his face. He heaved a sigh and walked down the hallway leading to the main bar room. His hands kept clenching and unclenching.
A yawn attacked him. The rest of his night after leaving the hotel had been restless. He’d spent a couple hours loitering near the hotel hoping to catch sight of this mysterious Yuri asshole, but when he noticed a cop car circling the block, he decided it was time to get the hell out of there.
Attacking a cop wouldn’t just bring Caleb down on him, it’d bring the dragons, especially considering they had contacts in all levels of law enforcement. The King of Maricopa County and his errand boy Greg Thomas wouldn’t give two shits about Malcolm’s love life.
“Fucking dragons,” Malcolm muttered under his breath as he emerged from the hallway into the main bar. “They aren’t going to stop me from beating this Yuri fucker down.”
Caleb stood behind the bar polishing it with a rag. It was still a couple of hours before they opened, and being werewolves didn’t mean the bar or glasses would clean themselves. All their powers and abilities made them the kings of the forest, but in the city, they still had to worry about a lot of the same basic garbage that any human worried over: rent, taxes, and work.
Malcolm walked over to the bar, his frown deepening. He took a moment to glance around the room. He wasn’t ready for his personal problems to become fodder for the entire pack to discuss.
“Sarah not here?”
Caleb shook his head. “She’s doing a little supply run. Should be back in an hour, though. What’s up? Need some chick advice about your little ballerina?”
Malcolm took a deep breath and shook his head. “It’s probably better that she’s not here. I need alpha advice. This will probably end in me beating someone down.”
“Okay, didn’t expect that.” Caleb furrowed his brow. “What are you talking about?”
“Some asshole named Yuri is stalking Irina, and I’m thinking about handling it in a rough way. One that involves blood and broken bones.”
No concern crossed Caleb’s face, only understanding. “What, some guy who got a little too into her performance?”
Malcolm shook his head and growled. “No, they used to be together, back in Russia. She’s terrified of him. I told her that I’d protect her, but she basically told me to fuck off and get the hell out of her life. She thinks if I go up against the guy, I’m gonna die.”
His alpha set the rag he was using down on the bar. “So I’m guessing this asshole is, what, Russian Mafia, or something like that?”
Malcolm shrugged. “I don’t know. That’s what I’m assuming. I want to get involved. I know she only pushed me away because she’s worried about protecting me.” He growled. “But that’s bullshit. I’m not gonna run because some mafia asshole throws a few threats my way. But…” He shook his head. “I also don’t want to put the pack at risk.”
Caleb scoffed. “Fuck that.”
“Huh?”
“Fuck the risk to the pack. Just because we have to keep things quiet doesn’t mean we have to slink off with our tails between our legs if someone frowns at us.” Caleb slammed his fist on the bar. “If anything, it’s the opposite. Fuck this Yuri asshole.”
“Are you sure? What about the dragons?”
“Fuck them, too. If we do this the right way, they won’t even know or care.” Caleb grinned. “The only problem is you’re gonna have to rein it in. You can beat his ass down, but you can’t kill him or shift in front of him.”
Malcolm snorted. “I don’t need to kill the asshole. I just need to scare him back to Russia, and I can do that without having to shift.” He smacked his fist into his palm. “I just need to get in the same room with the guy, and I can do my thing.”
“Sounds good to me. Now, I’ll have your back in this, but I can’t commit the entire pack to a personal problem. I know you’re interested in this woman, but at the end of the day, she’s not Blooded, and she doesn’t know about wolves, so the fewer of us who get involved the better. Not that I think you need a bunch of the pack to take down a human.”
A grunt sounded from the back of the room.
Thomas stood in the doorway to the office, a frown on his face, and his arms crossed. Even something about his beard seemed angry. “I want in. I don’t give a shit if this has to do with Blooded. I just want to beat some ass, and some stalker asshole sounds like a good candidate.”
Caleb laughed. “Fine by me if it’s okay with Malcolm. Three wolves on this is more than enough, so not gonna ask anyone else.”
The beta considered the offer for a few moments. The fact that his pack brothers had his back ate away at some of his worry. He’d been convinced he would walk to the bar and have Caleb tell him to leave Irina to Yuri’s not-so-tender mercy.
Malcolm sighed and shook his head. “I don’t need your help. I appreciate it, but I can handle one asshole human stalker by myself. If you guys get involved, it might just end up scaring her and make her think we’re a gang. I don’t need her thinking I’m as bad as Yuri.”
Thomas shrugged. “So what? If you’re pursuing this woman enough to get involved in her shit, you’re probably gonna tell her the truth sooner than later.”
“I don’t know what I’m gonna do, but for now, the only thing I care about is getting Yuri off her back, and I can do that without any help.”
Caleb nodded slowly. “Your call in the end, Malcolm.”
Thomas frowned deeply. “You sure?”
Malcolm grunted. “Yeah, I’m sure.”
“What if he brings friends?”
“If anything gets out of hand, I’ll let you know, but for now, what I need to do is to get this asshole to come at me. If he had friends, I doubt he’d be playing hide and seek games, and unless they are wolves, why the fuck do I care?” Malcolm shrugged.
Caleb leaned forward and rested an arm on the bar. “Okay, sounds like you’ve made a decision and have a decent idea of where you want to end up with this. What’s your plan to handle this Yuri? How you even gonna get him to come at you?”
“The guy’s obviously been watching her, and he obviously knows what I look like now given what he said to me the other day on the phone, so this will be easy. I just need to show up at her next performance in a couple days. There’s no way he’ll be able to resist coming at me.”
Thomas made a face. “You’re gonna go to the ballet on purpose?”
Malcolm smirked. Apparently, some of the guys still hadn’t realized how he met Irina, even if they knew she was a ballerina. It didn’t matter.
“Yeah, just have to make the sacrifice.”
* * *
Malcolm’s sixth call that day to Irina went to voicemail. She’d also ignored all eight of his texts.
He stared at his phone, glaring at it as if he could force a response with a facial expression. He wasn’t some weak man who needed protection from a thug. He certainly didn’t need the delicate woman he was interested in trying to protect him.
He shook his head. No. He wouldn’t let her sacrifice her freedom to Yuri. He’d already purchased the tickets and would be going to the performance. The risk was his to take.
The werewolf grinned to himself. He couldn’t wait to meet Yuri and have a spirited discussion about the merits of staying the hell away from the ballerina.