by Jenika Snow
“I’m going to enjoy this, bitch,” he said in a low voice right by her ear.
She slammed her head back against his face, twisted in his arms like she’d been taught in training, and went to push him back, but before she got to the latter the bathroom door opened and Hayden stood there.
“I heard you shout…” Hayden said, but his words trailed off as he looked at her face, and clearly saw the busted lip she sported. Danika felt the blood drip onto her chin, but just wanted out of here and didn’t bother cleaning it off with her shirtsleeve. Hayden looked at the asshole again, cursed low, and grabbed her arm to haul her out of the bathroom. She thought they would just leave, but Hayden went into the room, slammed his fist into the other guy’s face over and over again until he fell into the bathtub, and only then did he back up. Her best friend breathed hard, acting like he wanted to go after the guy again, but she grabbed his hand and pulled him back.
“Hayden, let’s just go.”
Hayden spit on the ground by the asshole’s feet. The guy was now half in the bathtub, drunker than hell, bleeding from his nose and mouth, and groaning.
“You fucker. I should kick your ass until you aren’t breathing anymore for thinking you could put your hands on Danika like that, or any woman for that matter.” He cursed out again, turned and faced Danika, and said in a low voice, “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
They moved out of the house, and she stared at all the people that were watching them with surprised and interested expressions. The music still pumped through the house, but she just wanted to get the hell out of here and put this experience behind her.
Once they were outside and by her car Hayden breathed out and ran a hand over his hair. “I am so fucking sorry, Danika.”
“It’s not your fault, Hayden.” She wiped the blood from her lip, winced at the soreness of it, and watched as he continued to pace in front of her for a few more seconds.
He stopped, stared at her, and the defeated look he gave her broke her heart. “I brought you to this damn party, and should have never left you alone.”
She placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled softly at him. “Hayden, guys like that motherfucker—” She chuckled, and he did the same. She tried to make this situation a little lighter even though she was feeling anything but. “Guys like him try shit like that no matter what. You are not responsible for that, I am not responsible for that, and we can’t blame ourselves.”
But that was a lie, because she did feel responsible, felt like if she hadn’t started shit with him, threatened to kick in his balls, maybe he would have backed off.
Stop thinking like that.
She pushed her thoughts away, knowing she needed to be strong, to get through this, and that dwelling on it wouldn’t help.
“God, Danika.” He pulled her in for a hug, rested his hand on the back of her head, and stroked her hair. “Your dad will kill me when he sees your lip.”
She shook her head, but closed her eyes and stayed right where she was. “No, this wasn’t you’re fault, and he knows you’d never put me in harm’s way on purpose.” She pulled back. “You can’t help how an asshole will act.”
He smiled, but it was forced. She pulled away, patted him on the chest, and tipped her chin toward her car. “I have to go anyway. I’m meeting up with my dad and his friend for dinner.”
“You sure you’re okay to drive home?”
She nodded. “Of course.”
“Because I’d feel better driving you there. We can pick up your car tomorrow, Danika.”
She shook her head before he even finished. “No, it’s okay, really. I’m okay.” She pushed him gently toward his car parked a few feet away. “You’re okay to drive?”
He nodded. “I’m good. Just text me when you get home so I know you got there okay.”
“I will, and you do the same if you get there before me.”
He smiled, and this time it was genuine. She watched him get in his car. And then she went over to the driver’s side and climbed in. After starting the engine she watched in her rearview mirror as Hayden pulled out of the driveway. But he didn’t drive away, and she knew he was waiting for her to leave as well.
Once she was on the road, driving away from the party and the situation, she felt herself crumble, felt herself break inside. The tears flowed down her cheeks despite her trying to stop them. When Hayden went in another direction and was no longer behind her, she pulled off to the side of the road, let her tears consume her, and didn’t know how in the hell she was going to keep it together when she got to her father’s house.
Chapter Four
Damien had stayed away for four years … four fucking long years. To say that was one of the hardest things he has ever done was an understatement. Danika was his mate, his too young and inexperienced mate. She was also the daughter of his best friend, Tyler, and that should have had Damien backing off and realizing that being with her, mate or not, was a bad idea. Tyler was like family, like his brother, and mating with his daughter, imprinting on Danika, would complicate things.
He should have left for good though, should have just forgotten about everything, packed up his shit, and gone far away. That would have been the right thing to do, the safe thing. But he couldn’t, no matter what was the best route for everyone. His body was pulled toward her now in a way that wasn’t just about taking care of her, protecting her.
For the first two years he had stayed away, wanted to give her until the age of maturity so she could be told what she was to him. He’d traveled the country, visited old military buddies, seen his mother and father, and tried to center himself for his return to claim his mate. But when he’d come back to her it was to find out she’d left for college. There had been a sliver of relief that she’d gone and done something with her life. But the bigger part, the imprinted part of his animal, had paced to bring her back, tell her what she was to him, and claim her. When a shifter found their mate it was instant, consuming, and had all other thoughts and needs becoming basic and primal. The shifter was only focused only on making sure that the female they had imprinted on was theirs irrevocably.
Now she was twenty, and he’d been back in town for the last two years, staying in his own world, working toward trying to figure out how things would work out with Danika. But he knew from Tyler that she had her Associate’s degree now, and had a job offer in town. He was outside beside his truck, pacing back and forth as he counted down the minutes until when he was supposed to head to Tyler’s for dinner. He had yet to tell his friend that Danika was his mate. But he was going to tell Tyler and Danika tonight, let them both know that he’d waited for the last four years for this, and he wouldn’t be denied. He’d never force Danika into a mating, but for him there was only her. There would only ever be her for him. His need for her was unbearable, but it helped that she’d been gone, away from where he was.
“This is it. Don’t be an asshole, take this situation nice and slow, and hopefully this won’t change everything for the worse.” Bracing his hands on the driver’s side door of his SUV, he lowered his head and closed his eyes. “Fuck,” he said in a low voice, feeling like he was about to break in two from the anticipation, nerves, and the tension in his body.
He pushed away from the SUV, stared up at the sky, and felt his lion move inside of him, impatient, needy, and so territorial at the thought that he was just an hour away from seeing his mate. “Calm down, you bastard,” Damien said, breathed out, and got into his car. Once he had it started he sat there for a moment, staring out in front of him, his hands wrapped tightly around the steering wheel. This was it, the moment he had been waiting for since he had come back to settle down four years ago. The imprinting desire may have started out as only wanting to protect Danika and make sure she was safe, but for the last two years it had continued to grow to this blistering need of arousal. Going this long without claiming his mate should have been some kind of record. But the truth was he’d never met another male that had go
ne through the imprinting. He had heard about it plenty of times, but the men he’d associated with had been SEALs, the same as he was, and they had been focused on fighting. There had been no claiming going on while he had been serving his country, no desire to have a female for more than just a few hours at a time anyway. And since meeting Danika, for the last four years, he hadn’t been with anyone. Once an imprinted male found his female he couldn’t even get an erection for another woman. But that was how Damien wanted it because Danika was the only female he’d ever want.
****
Danika pulled her car into the driveway of her dad’s house, cut the engine, and looked at the house. She saw the SUV that she assumed was Damien’s, and wiped her cheeks again, trying to stem off her anger and hurt. After pulling over on the side of the road and crying, she’d forced herself to get back on the road when her tears weren’t body wracking. But she still had tears that were a steady flow down her cheeks. Was she in shock, pissed, sad, so disconnected that she didn’t know what in the hell was going on?
With one more deep breath, she grabbed her purse and opened her car door. Heading up the steps and entering the house, she wanted to just tear down the hallway and lock herself in the bedroom.
“Is that you, Danika?”
She wanted to ask her dad who else would it be just walking into the house, but she was in a strange mood and kept her mouth shut. She went down the hall to the bathroom and shut the door behind her. Looking at her reflection had her wincing at the sight. She lifted her hand and lightly touched the scabbing split lip she sported. Her eyes were red-rimmed, her cheeks pink from crying, and all in all she looked a hot mess. After splashing some cold water on her face, and taking one more deep breath, she stared at her reflection again. She would have to explain her face to her dad, and what made this worse was the fact his friend was here, and would witness the whole awkward exchange.
Danika didn’t want to talk about what happened, not now, and maybe not ever. Her martial arts training hadn’t been enough to stop the asshole that forced himself on her, and if not for Hayden this night would have ended very differently. She fixed her hair, putting it in a loose ponytail, because leaving it down wouldn’t conceal her face, and hiding in her room would just have her dad worried more, and making a bigger scene of talking to him. She’d just get this out of the way.
Leaving the bathroom and walking down the hallway and into the kitchen, she heard her father speaking to Damien. Just thinking about the lion shifter had her body feeling electrically charged. She couldn’t describe the sensations moving through her, or why she had this weird feeling whenever she thought about him. She’d only met him that one time four years ago, and he probably didn’t even really remember her. She rounded the corner and saw her dad leaning against the counter, a beer in his hand, and speaking to Damien, who had his back to her. Her dad started laughing after he told some old war story, and when he realized she was standing there he glanced her way. His smile faded slightly when he took in her face, and then he was cursing and moving toward her.
“What happened, Danika?” He went to touch her but she took a step back.
“Nothing, I’m fine.” She looked at Damien who had now turned around, but the way her father was positioned in front of her made only half of his face visible to her. She lifted her hand to cover her mouth, and although her father was talking about something right in front of her, it was like all sound left. She stared at Damien, watched as he came closer, how his pupils dilated, and heard this strange rumbling coming from him. Either she was imagining it all, or her father was oblivious to the situation happening right now.
“What in the hell happened, Danika?” her father said more forcefully this time. She looked at him, didn’t want to get into this, and shook her head.
“I said I’m fine.”
“Did you fall or something, trip and hurt yourself?”
Her anger and annoyance over the situation, over the fact she didn’t want to be here right now talking about this, had her lowering her hand and staring at her father. “Did I fall or something?” She had no right to be upset at her dad, but she was already emotionally unstable, and having his friend witness this sucked. “No, Dad, I didn’t fall, but I also don’t feel comfortable talking about this right now.”
Then Damien was standing right beside her father, his gaze on her lip, and this low sound left him. It was threatening, dangerous, and she actually moved back a step. When she looked at her father she saw him watching Damien, his eyebrows knitted as he clearly was surprised by this reaction coming from the other man, too.
“Who fucked with you?” Damien said in this low, growly voice, one that sounded more animal than human.
“W-what?” She felt like she was trapped in this strange dimension where her father thought she was just clumsy and injured herself, and where this man she’d only met once before had her body on fire, as he demanded who’d hurt her.
“Danika.” Damien took a small step forward. “Tell me who put their hands on you.”
She saw her father snap his head toward her through the corner of her vision, but she couldn’t stop staring at Damien. His light blond hair wasn’t cut in that military style like it had been all those years ago, but it was short still, and brushed his forehead. And his amber colored eyes were bright, animalistic in quality, and she felt like he could see right into her soul. It was like nothing could be hidden from this man, and it was unnerving.
“This isn’t something I am going to talk about right now,” she said on a shaky breath, staring at her father who seemed to be realizing that her split lip might not have been caused by her inability to walk straight. “It was not a good idea coming here.” She needed to leave, needed to head back to her place because she should have known that she was too tattered emotionally to deal with being around anyone. “I have to go. I … I just have to go.”
Running away was childish on her part, but she couldn’t think straight right now, not when her father and Damien were watching her like they expected her to break down in front of them. And she was about to, just burst out in tears because right now she felt so emotionally stripped bare she couldn’t even breathe.
“I’m sorry,” she said to both of them, and turned and left her father’s house. There would be questions, but she also knew that until she was ready to talk she couldn’t give any answers.
****
Damien was doing everything in his power not to go after Danika and demand she tell him who had dared touch her. But he saw the way her eyes had widened after he spoke, and the way she had felt that he had gone too far and too fast with her. The scent of fear, anxiety, and inner conflict had slammed into him like a sledgehammer.
“What in the hell was that about?” Tyler asked. He ran a hand over his head and breathed out. His friend was clearly out of his element right now. “Danika has never acted like that, and you think someone did that to her lip?”
Damien hadn’t told Tyler what Danika was to him. He had meant to tonight, but then this weird situation had gone down, and right now it seemed inappropriate. “I don’t think she’ll say what really happened until she’s ready.”
Of course he’d scented the truth when he’d asked her who’d touched her. The truth had been there, right at the surface, but her emotions had been so raw and open that he knew she had been on the verge of breaking down. That was the only reason he hadn’t pressed her on the issue.
“I’m going to go.” Truth was he felt like a bastard, because he was planning to follow Danika and get some answers. She was his mate, and seeing her after four years of keeping himself in check had been the hardest thing his lion and human side had ever tried to suppress.
Tyler didn’t respond, and the scent of his worry over Danika, and the fact that he was looking like a stressed-out father filled Damien’s nose.
“She’ll be okay, Tyler. Don’t worry.” And Damien would make sure of it, because he’d find out who the fuck had touched her, and he’d beat their
ass for hurting his woman.
Chapter Five
She slammed her front door, pissed about a lot of things. Yes, storming out of there and not letting her father help her had been childish, but she’d been working on emotion, and leaving had seemed like the best thing to do at the moment. She went into the kitchen and placed her hands on the counter. Closing her eyes and breathing out, she thought about how her dad had watched her with concern, and how pissed Damien had been. She remembered the way her father had thought she had hurt herself by accident, but then how Damien had gone almost territorial of her. But then again he was a shifter, could’ve smelled the truth of it all. That didn’t explain why he’d seemed like he wanted to know exactly who had hurt her so he could hurt them. It had all been too much, and she had only been there for less than half an hour.
“God, what is happening to me?” she said to herself, not exactly sure what she meant by that question, or how to solve it. Then the sound of someone beating on her front door had her spinning around. She moved toward the door, looked through the peephole, and her heart stopped when she saw that it was Damien. Taking a step back, Danika looked at the floor, then glanced at the door handle. She gripped it, turned the brass, and pulled the door open. There he stood, looking fierce enough that she saw the way his lion flashed across his face. Danika swallowed, didn’t know why she felt this heat fill her, consume every inch of her, or why she wanted to give herself to this man she didn’t even know.
