Page 22 of Darrin: The Wolves

She was shaken to the core by the weird confrontation with someone from his past and felt blindsided by it all, but she didn’t let go of his hand.

By Saturday night, The Howl was packed.

Dare and his pack had decided the band that had auditioned that afternoon had a good vibe for the summer and put them on the schedule. They now had bands for every weekend through the end of July. Their plan was to choose a band among the groups to become the house band with regular weekend gigs.

But he wasn’t really thinking about that.

He was mainly thinking about Audrey.

She was at a table in the main room with Cassidy and Juliette eating burgers and talking, and he was behind the bar because it was a damn busy night. Audrey was wearing one of his Howl t-shirts that was too big on her but he loved how she looked in it.

Like she washis.

Without thought, he filled drink orders, his gaze mostly on Audrey as she laughed at something Cassidy said. He could tell her laugh was forced, though. Because her smile didn’t reach her eyes and the laugh rang hollow.

He hated that because he knew her feelings were still roughed up from the confrontation with Nadia. He hated that Nadia had gotten close enough to his precious mate to dim the light in Audrey’s eyes. And he was damn furious at himself for not telling Audrey what happened before Nadia got a chance to fuck things up.

Audrey glanced up, as if she could feel Dare’s gaze. He stared at her, wishing he could mentally communicate with her:You’re mine.

She smiled, as if she could maybe read his mind a little bit, and his wolf grumbled.

Trick leaned against the bar. “You guys okay?”

“We will be. I just haven’t had a chance to really talk to Audrey about everything.” The day had been a blur after the confrontation, with the band audition and prepping for the dinner rush. Once they closed for the night, he’d ensure Audrey knew she was the only female for him.

He finished filling the drink orders, then wiped down the counter even though it didn’t need it. He needed something to do with his hands, because otherwise he was going to toss Audrey over his shoulder and run back to the house to make her his.

As he collected payment and filled a drink order, he cleared several empty glasses and realized the tub under the counter was full. Their barback was off for the night, so he said, “I’m going to run the dishes to the back.”

“You want me to do it?” Trick asked.

“Nah, I need to move around a little, my wolf is going nuts not being close to Audrey.”

“You are close to her, she’s right there.”

“Close likeclose.”

“Ah.” Trick chuckled. “Go on then, I’ll handle things out there.”

Dare picked up the tub and lifted the pass, then walked back to the kitchen. After emptying the tub, he checked in with Sigh, then headed out of the kitchen and into the hall, the empty tub dangling from his hand.

He made it two steps before the scent hit him, and he froze and turned toward the end of the hall and the back exit.

Nadia stood in the middle of the hallway.

“You were told not to come back,” Dare said, setting the tub on the floor out of the way.

“Aw,” she said, tilting her head slightly. “Yet here I am.”

“You’re trespassing.”

“I came to talk.”

“I already said what I needed to before. Now you’ve snuck into the tavern through the back door? Have you lost your mind?”

“I wanted to get you alone, without that human mucking things up.”

“Don’t talk about my mate. Leave.”