Before he could say anything else, I turned and kicked the door open. Patrons scattered away from the door and a path opened up straight to the bar.
I raised an eyebrow at a seriously frowning Liam. “Thanks, but I think I’ve got it.” Okay, so it was brassy and maybe stupid, as my ribs reminded me with a sharp twinge that they weren’t fully healed. But I just couldn’t let him take care of me in public like I did in private. I just didn’t have it in me to be that girl.
Growling under his breath, he followed me in. No one even stepped close to us. The crowd there was mostly humans, but I caught sight of a few supernaturals trying to blend in. A leprechaun in the far corner chatting up a pretty red-headed girl, a water nymph sitting on a table surrounded by men … and Doran, his arm slung over the shoulders of Crystal, the young Shaman who’d helped save my life. His eyes tracked me, as he whispered in her ear. I just shook my head and moved to the bar.
Dox gave me a big grin and shouted over the music. “Your girl is a natural bartender!” He pointed to the far end of the bar where, to my shock, Pamela was slinging drinks. And I mean slinging them. Spinning the glasses across the bar, she flipped them into the air at the same time as she grabbed a bottle of booze from under the table. I squinted, watched the half pause of the bottle and the glass in mid air. The patrons cheered as she poured drinks with a flare that most bartenders took years to learn, if they ever managed at all.
“Well, I suppose that’s one way to practice being subtle with her spells,” I said softly.
Liam didn’t laugh, didn’t answer; he just closed the distance between us. “Dox, you got any food in this joint?”
Dox raised his eyebrows, silver rings glinting in the light. “Don’t go insulting me, Agent. You remember what happened last time? No, never mind, you wouldn’t remember much of that.”
I laughed, grimaced as my stomach muscles clenched, and slid onto a barstool. Liam sat beside me, but turned sideways so he could keep an eye on me, no doubt. I stifled the urge to tell him to chill. Alpha, I had to remember he was an alpha to the core and every urge he had to protect was in overdrive because I was hurt. Still, I struggled not to tell him to back off.
Dox slid a stack of chicken wings and carrot sticks in front of us. I dug in, sucking the meat off the bones as fast as Liam did. My belly grumbled … no, that wasn’t my belly. I looked down to see Alex staring up at me, pointing with one claw to his mouth. He mouthed “hungry please” at me, and scooted closer. I grabbed a chicken wing, intending to give it to him, when Liam’s hand covered mine stopping me.
“He eats after us.”
Shock filtered through me, and I turned to stare at Liam. “What did you say?”
Liam didn’t even twitch, his eyes not giving me any indication that he was joking. “He can eat after us.”
Okay, so shit, I knew this was going to happen, maybe not this exactly, but something where the alpha in him would show up and start a pissing contest. But did it have to be right now with me and Alex?
Liam let go of my hand and I flipped the chicken wing to Alex. Submissive, he might be, but I would be damned if I treated him like a second-class citizen. Liam snarled and stood. I followed him and put myself between him and Alex.
“This isn’t a pack. Not like your wolf wants it to be. I won’t have you treating Alex like shit.”
Liam closed the distance between us so that we were nose to nose. Taking me right back to our early days with him as my nemesis instead of my lover and mate.
“I don’t treat him like shit. I treat him like the submissive he is.” Liam’s whole body quivered with suppressed emotion. I was putting my money on ‘pissed’.
“Not around me you won’t.” I stepped back, and Alex wrapped his paws around my calves.
“Sorry Boss, Alex waits.” He pushed the chicken wing across the floor to Liam’s feet.
Well shit. I hadn’t expected Alex to side with Liam on this. Before I could say anything else, Dox rapped his knuckles on the bar. “Rylee, you’ve got a phone call. You can take it in my office.”
“Who the hell knows we’re here?” I snapped. The bar patrons closest to us backed away. Yeah, I was being a bitch, but I didn’t like seeing Alex get treated like he wasn’t good enough. Especially not by Liam.
Both werewolves followed me, Alex at my heels and Liam moving up to my side. Not that anyone was standing in my way.
I strode through the bar and down the short hallway to Dox’s office, all the while doing my best to ignore the growing ache in my ribcage. The office was neat and tidy, though everything was sized up for his larger-than-life build. His desk and chair were made of some sort of high polished dark wood that was almost black except for the soft swirls of caramel here and there. I slid around the desk and sat down in the chair, my feet dangling, barely brushing the floor.