“Yeah, and it is only getting more dangerous with Ford there starting a bunch of drunken shit.” He looked over his shoulder and smiled at her. “Don’t worry. Everything will be okay. Go back to sleep, baby, and when you wake up, I’ll be right next to you.” He leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead.
She watched in silence as he quickly shoved his legs into a pair of jeans and pulled a T-shirt over his head. He kissed her once more before he strode out of the house and to a place nightmares were made of.
She lay there alone, in his huge king-sized bed, smelling his scent surround her and wishing she wouldn’t worry so much. He could take care of himself, had been long before she came around. She had heard horrendous stories about prostitutes, drugs, and near murder at Slater’s. Why were Charlie’s brothers at a place like that anyway? Why that bar hadn’t been shut down was beyond her, but one thing was for sure—there was no chance of her going back to sleep anytime soon.
Slater’s was one of the roughest bars Charlie had ever been to. Because of its location, it made it damn near impossible to see from the road. So if you didn’t know it was there, you would never stumble upon it. He took the long, winding dirt road that took him past the pines and blue spruces until the dim lights of the bar came into view.
He parked his truck beside a line of Harleys and made his way inside. Slater’s was on the edge of Sweet Water city limits, hidden behind a thick line of trees and off the main road.
Classic rock blasted through the shitty, scarred door and surrounded him when he walked inside. Cigarette smoke, alcohol, sweat, and sex lingered in the air. The interior wasn’t big and only held a handful of tables, some busted up chairs, and a few stained barstools. The sound of breaking glass had him turning and looking to his left.
There, in the center of a loose circle, stood Ford. Bram was holding him back for the time being. An aged, human, beefy biker stood in front of Ford, his thin lips spreading over his yellow, crooked teeth, and his huge, rounded belly shaking up and down from his laughter.
Ford looked on the verge of shifting, and Charlie was surprised he hadn’t yet and that Bram was able to keep him under control.
Ford’s mouth moved, and whatever he said had the biker’s laughter dying and his face turning a deep shade of red. An old and used-up looking human woman stepped up to the biker and whispered something in his ear. He shrugged her off, peeled his faded, leather Cut off his body, and cracked his knuckles.
“Shit.” Charlie ran a hand over his jaw. If that human knew what the fuck he was messing with, he’d turn around right now and walk his ass out the door. Charlie shoved the people aside until he was standing beside his brothers.
The stench of sweat was overpowering. He turned toward the biker and looked him up and down. He had to give the old human some credit, because there wasn’t an ounce of fear permeating from him.
“Listen, just walk away, man.” He could practically see the steam coming from the human’s ears.
“Whatchu say, boy?” He took a step toward Charlie, his fists in balls by his side, and the sound of his teeth grinding filling the space between them.
“Whatever my brother said to you to get you pissed off, I apologize. He’s drunk and clearly going through some shit. I’d be happy to buy you and everyone else a round of shots, or beer if you prefer.” No doubt, Charlie and his brothers could have taken all these humans, but he was tired and certainly wasn’t in the mood for any fucking drama. Placating the lot of them seemed far easier.
All he wanted to do was get Ford and Bram back to his truck and crawl in bed with his female. It took a moment, but slowly the human’s anger dissipated, and he took a step back.
“All right, but after that, your boy needs to get his ass outta here.”
Charlie nodded, because he intended to do just that.
He and Bram carried Ford out, who didn’t know when to keep his damn mouth shut and yelled out every curse word in the English language. At least with Charlie and Bram’s manpower they were able to drag him to the truck.
“I’m going to buy them some drinks, and then you can tell me what in the hell is going on,” Charlie murmured, and Bram tilted his chin in acknowledgment. He headed back inside, bought the house a round of shots and beers as an apology, and went back outside to Bram and Ford. He made it one step before a deep voice to his right came from the shadows.
“You fucking pussy-ass bitch.” Instantly, he recognized that voice. The hair on Charlie’s arms stood up, and his muscles warmed and grew as his blood started pumping fast and hard through his body.
Frank stepped out of the shadows, followed by three more scuzzy and intoxicated-looking humans. The jackal had a bottle of tequila in his hand and a sneer distorting his upper lip.
“I let you have that bitch. If it weren’t for me stepping back and letting her go, Ary would still be mine, and I’d own every inch of her.”
Ary wasn’t around to stop him this time. Bram and Ford were around the building where he had parked his truck, and he knew both of them were too drunk for their senses to pick up the shit that was just about to go down. That was fine by Charlie, because he wanted to take Frank down, and if these crackhead humans wanted some of his bear too, then so fucking be it.
Cracking his knuckles and rolling his head on his neck, Charlie grinned at Frank and the humans. He allowed his bear to flash to the surface, letting them see exactly what they were about to be dealing with.
“Do you know what you’re messing with?” Any sane shifter fought with an opponent of their own size. A coyote didn’t fight a lion, and a jackal sure as hell didn’t fight a bear. Even in human form, he was at least double the size of this asshole who kept advancing on him.
His goons behind him seemed more hesitant. They may not have the keen senses a shifter did, but they could tell they didn’t want any part of this.
“Man, I didn’t sign up to fight no bear,” one of the greasy humans muttered.
“Yeah, man, you never said anything about us fighting an animal.” The humans took a step back in sync, and Frank growled in frustration.
“Y’all are a bunch of pansy-ass pussies.”
“Hey, we didn’t sign up for this shit. You just told us you needed a few extra hands to get rid of the asshole who’s been hitting on your girl.”
His girl? Oh no fucking way was this jackal motherfucker going to put any claim on his Ary. Charlie growled low in his throat, which had the three humans turning and booking it in the other direction. Good, because this fight was between the two of them.
A bigger man would have walked away, but all Charlie could see was Frank’s hands on Ary and the foul, disgusting things he said to her earlier in the day.
No, this motherfucker wasn’t going to get away with what he did, and he would be put in his place. When this was all said and done, Frank the jackal would never come near Ary again, not if he wanted his balls still intact.
Frank laughed, guzzled the last of his liquor, and tossed the bottle against the side of the building. It shattered, and the noise echoed off the high walls. “I know what you are, but I don’t think you know who I am.” He rolled his shoulders back. “I’ve taken on bears before, and you ain’t no different from them pansy-ass motherfuckers.” His voice was slurred, and it was clear he was drunk, but intoxication wasn’t going to save him now.