“Ready to do this?” Ross asked, and Izzy gave a confident nod before following him back to a closed off cubicle with a reclining leather seat inside. “I heard you say you were doing ‘both’; what else were you wanting pierced today?”
“My ear, please,” Izzy replied, tucking his hair behind the shell of his unmarred ear.
“Okay, go ahead and hop up in the chair and we’ll start with that.”
Izzy climbed into the seat and asked, “Will you hold my hand, Daddy?”
“Of course.” I locked our fingers together as Ross pulled on a pair of black gloves.
“Okay, buddy; I need to clean your lobe first. It’ll be a little cold.” I watched closely as Ross carefully wiped an alcohol swab over Izzy’s ear. “Now I’m going to make a little mark with my pen.” He used a ballpoint to draw a dot in the center of Izzy’s lobe, and then lifted a small display box filled with different colored gems on posts. “What earring would you like? It will have to stay in for about six weeks.”
“Hmm. What do you think, Daddy?”
“They’d all look nice on you,” I offered, and he beamed.
“I’d like the white one. That’s like the one I used to have.”
“That sounds perfect.”
Ross loaded the earring into a piercing gun and held it up to Izzy’s ear. “Here we go, buddy; big poke.”
A loud clicking noise sounded and Izzy squeezed my hand. The scent of his blood hit my nose and set off a series of events I wasn’t expecting; my fangs descended and a menacing growl sounded in my chest. Another man had drawn blood from my mate, and my instinct to defend and avenge was taking over.
“Sorry, Daddy; am I squeezing too hard?” Izzy asked, looking up at me with guilt in his eyes as he loosened his grip on my hand.
I managed to stop the growl, but I couldn’t fully rescind my teeth. Poor Ross looked terrified when I said, “No, little one.” I didn’t want him to worry, so I looked at the gem glistening in his ear and said, “It looks wonderful.” Ross gave him a mirror to look in, and my boy squealed with happiness.
I’d just gotten my anger under control when Ross lay my boy back flat and marked his navel in a similar way. Izzy picked out a glass gem that reflected colors of every shade when it caught the light.
When Ross slid the bar through Izzy’s skin and his scent once again hit my nostrils, I growled again and my hand moved on its own accord to grab Ross’s shoulder. Both men looked at me with concern, and I barely managed to pull it together. I released my grip and patted him instead, saying, “You’ve made us both very happy.”
Ross gulped hard at the sight of my fangs and stuttered out, “N-no problem.”
After we received the care instructions for Izzy’s piercings (and Izzy admired his new bling in the mirror), I paid the bill and gave Ross a generous gratuity to make up for my uncontrollable behavior.
Izzy nearly bounced up and down as we left the parlor, gushing about how much he loved his piercings, and how lucky he was to have a Daddy who let him be himself and loved everything about him.
I opened my mouth to argue that I was the lucky one, but fell silent when an uncomfortable feeling skittered over me. The hair on the back of my neck stood up, and my fangs lengthened again. My fists clenched in preparation to fight.
“What’s wrong, Daddy?”
“I’m not sure,” I answered honestly. “But something’s not right.” My sensitive ears picked up a scream in the distance. “Someone’s in trouble and I need to help. Stay here, Izzy; stay safe for me.”
When he nodded, I sprinted down a nearby alleyway at top speed. Another growl left my chest when I saw Mandy cowering at the end of the corridor, with two huge men harassing her. Even though they were in human form, the scent in the air proved they were coyote shifters.
"Hey sexy, let's see what you had done in that shop," one of the shifters snarled, grabbing at the bottom of her shirt.
"Please leave me alone," Mandy begged, trying to pull the fabric away from him. Her shirt tore up the center, exposing her stomach and her new piercing.
"Mm, very nice. What else have you got for us to find?" He ripped her shirt upwards, revealing her bra as the other man trapped her wrists.
I sprang into action, jerking the biggest shifter away from her and pinning him to a brick wall. Shifters were strong and quick, and I was alone against them, but I hoped that I could pick them off one at a time. I wrapped my hands around his thick neck and stared into his eyes. I attempted to lock on to his mental waves, to convince him to leave the girl alone, to stay the hell out of the city…anything, but instead, he just smiled wickedly at me.
"Your mind tricks don't work on me, blood sucker," he growled through his teeth, and I grunted when he punched me in the gut. The only way this was ending was physically.
I pulled one hand away from his throat and rammed my fist into the side of his face. His nose bent and trickled blood, but immediately snapped back into place. I pulled my fist back to hit him again, but froze when I heard a sweet voice call out, "Leave her alone!"
I looked over my shoulder just in time to see Izzy, who had snuck into the alleyway, take off his sneaker and chuck it at the other shifter, nailing him in the head. The creature backed away from a weeping Mandy, turning his attention to Izzy and baring his teeth. Oh, fuck no.
"Oh good, another playmate," the creature snarled.
Rage burned within me. My blood was alight with fury as the shifter closed in on my mate. The look of horror in Izzy's eyes as he scrambled backwards sent the same electrical pulse through my body as when we bonded. My muscles clenched and burned. I gripped the head of the shifter before me and slammed it into the brick wall, creating a dent and sending him sliding down to the ground, totally unconscious.
I rushed to the other shifter, who had a fistful of Izzy's hair as he lowered his mouth toward my boy's face. He pressed his tongue to Izzy's cheek as he whimpered, and I lost control.
I gripped the shifter's shoulders and threw him back onto the ground before leaping on top of him. I punched him again and again, hearing his bones crack from my blows and sending blood spattering over the asphalt, though it dried on his skin instantly.
The creature fought back, viciously clawing at my throat and chest, shredding my skin. As quickly as it knitted back together, he tore it again without mercy. He wanted to either drain my blood or pierce my heart to end my life, but I would never let that happen. I had too much to live for with my perfect boy. His life was at risk as well, and I would do anything to ensure his safety.
I growled and placed a hand on either side of the shifters head and twisted with all of my might. His eyes widened with a look of terror and he scratched faster, deeper, but it was no use. Tendons and ligaments snapped, and finally his head turned in an unnatural angle as his hands slapped against the ground. Just to be sure, I continued to twist until his face was on the asphalt, and I looked down upon the matted hair on the back of his head.
I rushed back to Izzy, who was pale and trembling on the ground. I dropped to my knees in front of him, and he immediately started weeping when he saw my shredded, bloodstained sweater. “Oh, Daddy.”
“It’s okay; I’m okay. Look.” I pulled the strips of fabric away from my chest so that he could see I had no more bleeding or scars. “I’m all healed up. Are you okay?”