His features crumpled, as though she’d wounded him.
Erik put a hand on Dillon’s shoulder. “You can’t just interrupt girls’ day.”
Isabella had been so distracted by Dillon’s presence that she hadn’t noticed Erik, Casey, and Gavin. While Evangeline leapt out of her seat to throw her arms around her mate’s neck, Nellie stiffened in her seat.
Dillon drew her attention back to him when he said, “I wanted to spend more time with you.”
Guilt dropped like a stone in her gut. She felt the impact of it, how it bent her spine and soured her stomach. Dillon wasn’t trying to be overbearing. He wasn’t tracking her down to see what she was up to.
He’s not Tommy.
She could find no similarities between the two men, and yet her body refused to behave. One moment, she was head over heels with desire. The next, fight or flight kicked in and made her want to run for the door.
“Sorry,” she whispered.
Dillon studied her with hurt still lingering in his eyes. She opened her mouth to attempt to explain, but Gavin drowned her out.
“You! I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”
Nellie shot out of her seat and spun on her heel. She marched toward the café’s back exit. Gavin gave chase, vaulting over her chair and jumping over other tables to catch up to her. While Isabella watched Gavin, Nellie vanished. Isabella raised a brow, but Gavin seemed undeterred. He charged through the back door like he could still see her ahead.
“What is wrong with those two?” Erik asked. He shook his head and sank into Nellie’s empty seat.
Surrounded by friends, Isabella couldn’t bring herself to explain why she’d reacted so poorly. She knew she shouldn’t have started anything with Dillon. In her current state, she was setting them up for failure. The idea of breaking his heart filled her with dread.
She would never be the woman he needed. Dillon deserved better. When he tried to get her to talk, she shook her head. He reached for one of her hands, but she pressed them between her thighs. As badly as she wanted to reach out to him, she didn’t want to lead him into disaster.
That’s all she would ever give him.
Chapter Ten
Dillon walked down the street with his friends. Gavin had vanished, probably still searching for the witch. Evangeline and Casey kept touching, like they could barely stand being apart for a second.
Dillon couldn’t stand to look at them. Instead, he stared at Isabella’s back and wondered what he’d done to push her away. Her immediate response when he stepped up to her confused him. After what they’d done, he thought she would have greeted him happily. Instead, he felt a barrier of ice rise between them.
Erik nudged him with his elbow. “I bet you fifty dollars that Gavin and the witch end up mating.”
Dillon cast an incredulous glance at Erik. There was no way in hell that the witch would put up with Gavin for more than five minutes. Chances were high that she’d already turned their clan leader into a rabbit and left him in an alley somewhere. While Dillon didn’t think the witch was that much of a threat, Dillon knew he should check in on Gavin anyway.
That was his duty as a clanmate. When Gavin and the others had issues, Dillon took care of them.
Dillon didn’t care. He cared about Isabella and whatever it was that he’d done wrong. His beast writhed, trying to fight its way out of him. The creature had gotten a taste, and now it wanted more. She was all he could think about.
“Hey, did you hear me?” Erik asked, his voice carrying a low rumble.
Dillon watched the sway of Isabella’s hair. He wanted to run his fingers through it. He wanted to pull her into his arms and feel her melt into him like she had before.
What had he done wrong? What reason had he given her to hate him so much?
“Fuck you, Dillon.” Erik shoved his hands in his pockets and surged forward, shoving his way between those in front of him.
Isabella let out a sound of dismay. Dillon’s lips twisted in a snarl. He grabbed Erik’s shoulder and yanked him back. Erik swayed on his feet before spinning on Dillon. His sunglasses had slipped to reveal two, glowing multi-colored eyes. As Dillon watched, the second eye bled into a bright green, the signal that the monstrous beast in Erik was winning control.
Dillon pursed his lips and shook his head. They couldn’t have a dragon appearing downtown. He checked around for an alley to duck into, but there were people going about their business on all sides. No space was out of eyesight or earshot.
“Hold it back, buddy,” Dillon said.
Erik shrugged him off and swung around. He huffed as his feet slapped the concrete sidewalk. Tiny cracks webbed out from beneath his footsteps. Erik wasn’t fighting the beast back. Dillon watched Erik snarl at a passerby.
Dillon didn’t want to be on duty all the damn time. He trudged forward and grabbed Erik by the back of his shirt, but he didn’t have the energy to drag him away.
“Release me,” Erik growled, his voice completely different now. It resonated as if echoing from a deep abyss.
Dread settled into Dillon’s bones. Nothing would ever go right for him.
“I said release me!” Erik howled.
He whirled on Dillon, but neither realized that Isabella had approached. She staggered back, out of the way of Erik’s flailing limbs. Dillon heard her hiss and caught her cupping her cheek.
Dillon had never really known rage before in his life. He’d known anger and frustration, two distant cousins. Rage, however, set him ablaze and made every muscle in his body tense for the coming fight. The beast in him bared its teeth. When it turned its sights on Erik, it no longer saw him as a friend.
Faster than he’d ever moved before, Dillon rushed Erik. His shoulder connected with Erik’s sternum, forcing the air from the man’s lungs. Even while enraged, Dillon knew this fight couldn’t last long. He had to incapacitate Erik and bring this to an end.
Erik slid back and grabbed Dillon around the waist, forcing him to stay bent as Erik now commanded the fight. A chorus of gasps rang out around them. The more humans that gathered, the more liabilities there were. Dillon had to stop Erik’s rage. He had to break this hold.
What Dillon really wanted was to pin Erik down and punish him blow by blow for lashing out with Isabella nearby, but Dillon couldn’t give in to that desire. Not even while burning with searing rage could he have what he wanted.
Dillon didn’t try to break the hold. Instead, he pushed forward and tried to topple Erik. At the last moment, Erik tried to lift Dillon’s feet from the ground to keep him from having any forward momentum, but it was too late. They tumbled into a heap of limbs and growls as they frantically fought for dominance.
Finally, Dillon shoved a knee into Erik’s spine and pushed his face into the concrete. He glanced around to make sure everyone was safe. Isabella had a purple bruise on her cheekbone and a look of fear in her eyes. Dillon’s stomach flipped, revulsion at his own anger starting to overwhelm him.
She would always look at him with that expression of horror now that she knew what kind of beast he was. Dillon was trapped, being the clan’s keeper and nothing more to anyone else, for the rest of his life.
***
Isabella could do nothing while Dillon and Erik fought. She watched fists fly and thought she heard the crunch of bones. If she tried to intervene, she would be crushed for sure. That meant she had to stand by, and watch Dillon endure the pain his friend was causing.