by Bryce Evans
Walking back to her seat, London held her head up and stared at the woman sitting beside Ryder. When the waitress got to her she ordered. “Yes, I would like the steak medium rare and a salad with ranch dressing. My grandmother would like the same.” London looked over at Me-Len who smiled and winked at her.
“Ms. McGregor, I invited you and London today interrupting your plans so everything is on me. I hope you ordered what you want today. It’s not every day that my sister and her best friend graduate from college with honors.” Ryder was talking to her grandmother but he was looking at London. She knew she shouldn’t get mad, but she also knew that he was only doing that because he knew they couldn’t afford to pay for the steaks. He was pissing her off and she hoped it showed through her expression.
Speaking before her grandmother could answer, London wasn’t going to allow this Alpha to have his way and make her look like she couldn’t afford a meal.
“That is very kind of you Mr. Malone but I can’t allow that. I had planned to pay for our meal today. Plus you have so many people to pay for already, and I’m sure some know that and will probably order the highest item on the menu, so I have to decline your gracious offer.” London gritted her teeth as she informed Ryder that she didn’t need his money. She looked over at Jena hoping the bitch would take the jab she just threw back at her. Take that, London shouted in her head.
Jena gasped as she listened to London. The expression on her face was priceless. Zoey was snickering and Jena looked like she was going to slash London’s tires when they left, but it was a great come back.
“I asked you here today, so it should be up to me to pay for your dinner.” Ryder demanded. All at the table watched as Ryder and London bickered back and forth. She felt the tension in the room as she glanced around the table. Some people made eye contact with her and others continued to look away like they were not listening.
Apparently this man just didn’t get it. London knew he was an Alpha male and all demanding but he needed to give it a freaking break. This time she made it her mission to not give the conceited man her surrender. Nope it is not going to happen, London thought. She gritted her teeth then gave it to him again.
“I know you asked us, but we have the money to pay for our own food, Mr. Malone,” London spouted off. She was gritting her teeth as she spit out the last comment. Before London could say something else, Zoey reached over and whispered in Ryder’s ear. “You are making it worse for her, Ryder. Everyone knows now that money is tight for them. Don’t make it worse by demanding to pay for their meal.” It finally hit Ryder that everyone was staring at London. Her expression was pure anger and it was all directed at him.
“Good God, just let him pay, we all know you can’t afford a place like this.” Jena spit out. Before she could think about it, London pushed her chair back and jumped across the table knocking Jena backwards as she straddled her chest. Her hand was around her neck putting pressure on it. London could feel people scoot their chairs back from the table as she held Jena to the ground.
Getting close to her face, London started whispering, but everyone in the room was a werewolf and could hear exactly what she was saying.
“Now you really don’t know me and I sure as hell don’t know you, but where I come from, it is not polite to talk about things you don’t know about. What makes it worse is that you think you are trying to impress him, but it only makes you look stupider when you open your mouth. We all know why men want you and it’s not because of your intelligence. However, if you so much as look in my direction again or say anything else to me, then consider an ass-whipping coming. Do I make myself clear?”
London felt powerful ripple through her body as she held Jena down on the ground. She could feel every one’s eyes on her back, but she didn’t care. She felt invincible, super powerful, and stronger than she has ever felt before and it felt natural, but how? Was she a witch or was her adrenaline pumping so hard that she felt powerful. Her thoughts were so scrambled she didn’t know whether to fly or run out the door and hide. The one thing she did know for sure was that she proved a point to Jena who looked scared to death. She always kept her control even when people pissed her off. For some reason, she just jumped across a table and held a werewolf down to the ground. Now that isn’t normal.
Slowly getting up and backing away from the frightened Jena who lay on the floor staring up at her. London didn’t look at Ryder or anyone else, when she held her head up and walked back around the table. Now she was shocked and embarrassed at what she had just done.
As she approached her grandmother, London bent down and whispered in her ear, “Do you want a drink from the bar?”
“No dear but you go and get yourself one. I’ll sit right here and enjoy the rest of the show.” London thought she would be angry with her for scaling across the table and practically chocking one of the wolves, but Me-Len just smiled back at her. She patted her hand like it was a normal day.
Grabbing her pocketbook, London shrugged her shoulders then cleared her throat as she walked out of the dining room area. The bar was empty since Ryder had closed it down for the party. She walked up to the bar and took a seat.
“May I get you something? It’s on the house.” The man behind the bar informed her.
“What the hell. I’ll have two shots of tequila, please.” Today had gone to shit so she might as well take something that will hopefully, calm her nerves down.
“You got it. By the way, that was a great move jumping over the table. You must be a gymnast or something, because I have never seen anyone jump that far.” London cleared her throat. She could hardly believe it either. The table was big and she just scaled it like it was nothing then she took a werewolf to the ground. Again, like it was nothing. Drink London, just drink. Don’t think about this right now.
“Uhm thanks.” The bartender placed two shot glasses on the bar and filled them to the top. London didn’t waste any time when she grabbed one of the glasses and shot the liquid down her throat. She closed her eyes as the clear liquid burned its way down to her stomach. This had to be the good stuff with the extra burn she felt. Tequila always helped her with the stress. She didn’t drink much, but when everything started to close in on her, London would get out the bottle and take two shots. That always seemed to do the trick. However, tonight was turning out to be the night from hell. Thinking she may need another to help wash it away, London asked the bartender for another round.
Hearing someone clear their throat, London slowly opened her eyes and turned to see who was sitting next to her. Ding, ding it was Tiger boy sitting next to her smiling. What was his name again? Nolan. Yep that was it.
“Can I get you something sir?” The bartender asked.
“Yes I will have the same as her.” Nolan Banks answered.
London knew she needed more alcohol so she could stop the panic that wanted to take over. Taking the second glass, London poured the tequila down her throat.
“Liquid courage.” Nolan muttered.
“Yep.” London coughed out as she put the glass down on the table. Nolan patted her on the back as she laughed.
“What’s so funny beautiful?”
“This whole day has been bizarre, wouldn’t you say?”
Nolan turned on the stool toward her. “I think it has been quite interesting.” Laughing, Mr. Nolan Banks turned in his seat propping his head up and stared at her.
He was flirting with her and she didn’t want to lead him on. Hell there probably was another woman sitting at the table just waiting to start something with her. Trying to ignore what he was saying, London changed the subject. “So Mr. Banks what is it you do for a living?”
“I think I would like to get to know you better.”
London thought the man was gorgeous, but he did nothing for her. Not even a tingle or spark. “Well there really isn’t much to tell. I’ve been at college for four years and now I’m moving to New York for a job with the Landon Computer Company.”
; “Well that’s not going to work,” Nolan protested.
“Why is that?” she asked.
“Because I live in Alpha City and with you going to live in New York City, that will hinder me from getting to know you, beautiful.” There it was again. He called her beautiful. London knew she wasn’t ugly but good grief this man was beyond good-looking. What is his game, London wondered.
“Are you are flirting with me, Mr. Banks.”
Laughing, Nolan put his hand on hers. Hearing the growl, London turned her head. Ryder was standing behind Nolan looking pissed off again.
Looking over at Nolan, London asked, “Did he just growl at me?”
Nolan turned around in his chair and looked at Ryder. “I think he did.”
Nolan laughed as London narrowed her eyes at Ryder, then reached around and grabbed the shot glass and swallowed another. The alcohol was taking effect and she felt bolder as she centered all her anger toward the man who was pissing her off and making her body melt all at the same time.
“Yeah, yeah, Alpha boy. Let me get my grandmother so we can leave. I didn’t mean to jump on your little girlfriend but she needs to shut her mouth and show a little respect. Maybe you need to let her fight her own battles, especially the ones she started, but don’t worry we are out of here.” London got a five-dollar bill out of her pocketbook and placed it on the bar for the tip, then got up and started walking back to the dining room. However, she felt funny, like she was walking sideways.
Before she could get to the table, Ryder was pulling her toward a private room. “Hey…get your hands off me.” London pushed Ryder and when she did he let her go and she fell flat on her butt. He tried to catch her but she pushed him hard enough that he lost his balance letting her fall to the floor. His eyes got wild looking when she started losing it. It seemed he was enjoying her anger. Pointing up at him, London couldn’t believe what he just did.
“You piece of shit. Arrogant bastard. You think you can just push people around, and then throw them on the floor?” Rolling forward, London pushed herself off the floor and jumped to her feet. However, the motion sent her forward into Ryder’s arms. She tried to push away but his arms only tightened around her.
“Calm down.” Ryder snapped as he held her close to his body trying to keep her from falling on the floor again.
“Calm down? You just threw me to the floor. You calm down and let me go.” London fired back. Her vision blurred as she glared at him. Why was he acting like this towards her? She just met the man for God’s sake. The fact that she wanted to take her clothes off and have sex with him pissed her off even more. She loved the way he held her close. When he let her go, she backed up away from him. The warmth left her as she backed up further.
Thrusting his fingers through his hair, Ryder was about to say something when Zoey and Nolan chose that particular moment to walk in the room.
Running over to her, Zoey grabbed London’s hand. “Please don’t leave, London. Please stay for me. Your grandmother is having a great time. Jena has been moved to another table. Please just stay for me. You can pay for your meal. He thought since you had to change your plans and go with us he would pay for the meal, but he won’t pay for yours. You can. Plus, we just graduated and they are going to move the tables out and we are going to dance and have fun. It’s our last night together. Please…” Zoey was pleading with London. Poking out her lip, she could tell how much she wanted her there.
Frustrated, London blew out a deep breath and nodded. She looked over at Ryder who looked relieved that she had changed her mind too. She figured he was acting like that for Zoey’s sake. There was no other reason for the look.
“Thank you. Come on, they are bringing in the salad now. You will feel much better after you eat.” Zoey held London’s hand as she escorted her out of the room and back into the dining room.
“Jerk,” London said under her breath, but she knew that Ryder heard her as she walked away from him.
“Save a dance for me beautiful.” Nolan shouted as she walked out.
Chapter 8
When Jena made that comment to London, Ryder felt magic come across the table. He had never felt powerful magic like that before, and then she jumped toward Jena. No human could scale across a table like she did. Before he could stop her, London had Jena pinned to the floor.
If it hadn’t been for Zoey, he would have pulled her off Jena. “Stop Ryder. You don’t know London. She can handle herself.”
Handle herself? What was Zoey talking about? Jena was a wolf and could rip London’s throat out with her claws. He feared for London. He knew how mean Jena could be. She had been challenged before and she won every time. The woman had a mean streak a mile long. She was a beast in bed, but she was also a tough bitch.
“London is human, Zoey,” Ryder responded.
“She isn’t just a human, Ry. She’s a witch too. Look at her magic,” Zoey said pointing at the magic floating around London. The magic he was accustomed to was usually yellow in color, but London’s magic held a red tint to it. He couldn’t believe it but the magic was different. He could see the power she had inside her.
Ryder looked back at Meryl Pierson, his wizard advisor, who looked just as shocked as he did. Yeah, he was going to talk to Meryl about London later. He needed to know just how powerful of a witch she was. He said that Me-Len was a great and powerful witch but he was made to believe that London wasn’t a practicing witch and had no power.
She was beautiful as she took down Jena. He was getting hard now just thinking about her being so dominant. All he wanted to do was grab her up and fuck her. She was driving him crazy acting like an Alpha. No matter how much he wished it she wasn’t an Alpha and that was the reason he couldn’t be with her. He wanted her so much. His best friends were flirting with her and the anger had him acting out. This obsession he had with London was driving him crazy and was getting out of control.
When he looked back at Me-Len, she was just sitting back smiling. Everybody in the room was out of their seats watching this human put one of the meanest bitches he knew down on the ground, but not Me-Len. No, she seemed so self-assured or calm while watching her granddaughter take out one of his wolves.
Jena deserved it, and much more, but he was torn on what to do with her, because she was still one of his wolves. He turned and made eye contact with his best friends who were also smiling, especially Nolan. The bastard was not only smiling, but he had that look on his face that meant he was very interested in London. Knowing Nolan like he did he knew the man loved a challenge and he could see that London would be one.
Fuck, he can’t have her. She belongs to me! Damn it, what was he saying? She wasn’t his.
London slowly got up from Jena, and walked back around the table. She whispered in her grandmother’s ear, and then walked toward the bar.
He looked back around at Jena who laid on the ground in shock. She never knew what hit her. Ryder went over and held his hand down to her. She took his hand but lowered her eyes when she got up and faced him.
“You get your ass over to the table furthest away from here.”
“But…but.” Jena tried to explain. Ryder put his finger toward her lips. Then he bent down and looked at her with his eyes blazing. “Don’t you fucking say another word. You’ve embarrassed the pack and me enough already. You had no right to say a damn word to that woman. You deserve what you got, and Jena,” Jena slowly looked up at Ryder. “Not another damn word.”
Ryder turned back around and found his pack was watching him. He looked toward the bar where London had gone and saw her sitting there with Nolan. “Shit,” he muttered stomping off toward the bar.
When he got closer to her, he heard Nolan loud and clear. The man was making his move. Then he made the mistake of touching her, and Ryder couldn’t stop the growl that escaped his lips. The rage he felt toward his best friend was surprising to him. He had no claim toward her, none, and Nolan could touch her or even sleep with her. The wolf inside him was ra
ging along with the human side. He couldn’t allow that to happen. No matter what he had to do.
Ryder listened as London told Nolan off, and then informed him that she was leaving. Shit. He couldn’t let her leave. When she walked off he knew he needed to act fast. Without thinking it through, he grabbed London’s arm and pulled her toward the private room.
Before he could say anything to her she pushed him and he lost his grip. She fell backwards to the ground on her butt. He thought she would laugh, until he saw her face, and saw just how pissed off she was.
Her expression told him to back the fuck up, and if the look didn’t express what she was feeling, the tongue-lashing did. He reached down, but she was already on her feet and falling toward him. He caught her, but when he touched her and inhaled her scent, he knew. Either she was his mate, or the obsession he had for her made him believe she was. Before he could tell her he was sorry, she was on him telling him off again.
Zoey and Nolan came running in the room when they heard her yelling. Zoey started pleading with London to stay for dinner. Thank God. When London started to leave, he heard her mutter “Jerk” and that cut him like a knife. He wanted her to like him, but now his obsession made him act stupid toward her and anybody who came near her. He needed to fix this.
* * * *
Sitting back down at the table, London took deep breaths to calm down. Damn man. He made her ache in places she only felt in dreams. She had never ever liked a man who was domineering and acted like he owned a woman.
London knew that he told Zoey what to do and maybe that was part of Zoey’s problem. Fortunately, she wasn’t Zoey and no man would tell her what to do. Ever!
When she walked in the room, London noticed her grandmother was laughing with an older man. She hadn’t seen him before. He was a nice looking man who smiled at her grandmother like she was precious. Me-Len did look like she was having a good time, though. Glancing around the room everyone looked happy, laughing, and cutting up with each other. It would be wrong of her if she left now. All she needed to do was ignore Ryder. Yep, that was what she was going to do. Operation Ignore the Prick!
