Page 45 of Wicked Savage Wolves
I sigh. And then my stomach does the unthinkable and growls like a rumbling bear. Howem-barr-essing.“Come on, vanilla. We need to put some meat on those bones.” Jordy tugs me from my seat angling me toward the booth Des is still sitting in but I dig in my heels.
He stops and scowls over his shoulder at me. “What?”
I tilt my head toward Zheng and Jordy snorts. “You’re going to pick Liu over us?” he asks as if the very idea of doing exactly that is unfathomable.
“Uh, yeah. I came here with him. I’m not going to just bail because you three showed up.”
He frowns like he never thought of it like that and I have to smother a laugh. These three really are used to always getting whatever they want. It must be nice. I tug my hand free from his grip and reclaim my seat, but rather than heading to the booth as I’d expected, Jordy grabs the stool beside me and Rafael takes the empty seat beside Zheng, who looks anything but thrilled to be seated beside him. As soon as he reaches for a menu, Des rises and heads toward us, taking the last empty seat next to Rafael.
Zheng’s jaw ticks and he clenches his hands into fists on the counter. I rest a hand on his knee and mouth one word—Sorry.Rafael sees the touch and a snarl curls the edge of his lips, so I quickly snatch it away.
“We can head out,” I mutter. “Grab something on the way back to—”
“Nah. Don’t be like that.” Jordy moves to squeeze between Zheng and me, throwing his arms around both our shoulders and pulling us toward him in a weird side-hug embrace. “Stay. You want us to get along, right?” he says to me. “Be friendly and shit?”
I nod.
“Alright then. We’re doing our part. Liu,” he meets Zheng’s frustrated gaze, “you don’t mind, do you? It’ll be just like old times. All four of us together. Like family again. LikePack.”
Zheng shoves out of his seat, forcing Jordy to stumble back a few steps. “I’m not fucking doing this.” His chest rises and falls with each heavy breath and he bares his teeth. Rafael and Des also stand, folding their arms over their chests.
I jump to my feet, eyes wide. “Hey, it’s fine. We can—”
“No. It’s not fucking fine.”
I flinch at the furry in Zheng’s tone.
“Don’t talk to her like that.” Rafael comes to my defense, taking a menacing step forward. All of this is escalating way too fast.
“Hey.Hey!” I draw everyone’s attention back to me. “What am I missing here?”
“Nothing,” Zheng is quick to snap back.
Jordy laughs. “Keeping secrets, Liu? Then again, that is your MO, isn’t it?”
“Fuck off. I’m not dealing with your shit. You’re not my Alpha.” Zheng storms past him, making a beeline for the door before he catches himself and turns back to me. “Come on, Isa.”
I step forward to follow, but a hand on my elbow stops me.
“Not happening. You wanna storm out that’s on you. But she’s not going anywhere with you like this. Calm your beast down or I’ll do it for you.”
Before I can argue—because, yeah, Zheng is angry but it’s not like he’d hurt me—he’s cursing out a, “Whatever.” And leaving me behind.
Un-freaking-believable.I consider chasing after him. He’s my ride after all, but a firm shake of Rafael’s head has me deciding against it. Was it too much to ask to have a normal day for once? No mean girls or asshole fathers or stupid boys to ruin it?
My stomach rumbles again. “Come on, vanilla.” Rafael steers me toward a nearby booth. “Let’s feed you. I’ll take you home after.”
20
Rafael
Aflare of something eerily close to jealousy burns hot in my chest at the thought of Isa on a date with ZhengfuckingLiu. No. Scratch that. I’m not jealous. I’m pissed. Who the hell does Liu think he is?
I told him to stay away from her. Jordy made it public knowledge that she belonged to the wolves. He saw us together at Shadle Creek. Heknowsshe’s mine. And he’s still sniffing around.
It’s like the guy has a death wish. After what happened that summer before junior year—when the asshole nearly got all four of us killed—you better believe I’m not taking his shit anymore. I can’t believe I was ever friends with that asshole. He might be in my Clan, but he is notPack.Not in the way it matters. Not after what he did.
I pull Isa closer to me, conscious of my mounting anger. My arm wraps around her narrow waist as I lead her to our usual spot. Lust stirs and my dick twitches as I take in her slim legs and narrow waist, breathe in the strawberry scent of her shampoo. She isn’t wearing a lick of makeup, exposing a faint sprinkling of freckles on the top of her nose. God, she’s so fucking beautiful.
