“He is the best one for this event,” Drew said low. “He’s the one who usually runs cable up the pole to create our skylines at the different job sites we’ve worked. Heights don’t get to any of us, and we’re comfortable in trees, but Denison is the fastest on time.”
Two other men reached the top near Denison, but he was first. One of the competitors wore a T-shirt like Matt that read Gray Back Crew, and the other said Boarlander Crew. The other five competitors were way behind and looked clumsy compared to the three men at the top.
Danielle clutched the drink she’d bought and debated whether to watch Denison climb down. He seemed completely comfortable in his element, though, and it was hard to take her eyes off him. He was smiling, as if he was enjoying himself, and a knot of tension slid from her shoulders.
Matt wasn’t going to ruin today.
“Are you okay?” Brooke asked, fighting the crowd to get to her. Skyler, Tagan, and Haydan followed close behind.
“I’m fine,” Danielle assured them. “Just mad that guy won’t take a hint.”
“He won’t mess with you anymore,” Tagan said in a quiet voice.
Something about the way he said it made her believe him. Tagan seemed like the most reserved out of the bunch, but he had that look sometimes that said he was a brawler when he had to be. Like Brighton.
Denison said a few words to a man with clipboard, then looked out over the crowd until he saw her. With a grin, he made his way through the onlookers, then swept her up into a back-cracking hug. With a quick spin, he searched her face, but his smile dropped when his eyes landed on her lip.
He set her down immediately and kissed her gently where it hurt the most. “You’re bleeding.” He kissed her again, and warmth spread from the tiny cut through her lip. It made it feel numb and tingly. Easing back, he asked, “What happened?”
“Nothing you need to worry about,” Tagan said gruffly.
Denison narrowed his eyes at his friend and froze. He looked to his brother, then behind him, where a group of Gray Backs were gathered. Matt was with them.
Time for a shift in conversation. “I brought you a drink.” Danielle shoved the sports drink in his hand. “I was afraid to get you beer because I thought it would inhibit you, but clearly you can handle yourself just fine,” she rambled. “I dropped all of our food, though. You can make bad beer wench jokes now.”
Denny looked at her and blinked slowly. “Stop. Who did that to your face? Did someone hit you?”
“No, it was nothing like that.”
Over Denison’s shoulder, Skyler looked green in the face. Okay, no one was speaking up to get her out of this, and something heavy was settling over her chest, like static from a lightning storm. The air even smelled different now. She couldn’t put her finger on what it was exactly. A little woodsy with undercurrents of animal.
“Denison,” Tagan said, stepping in front of him and blocking him off from Danielle’s view. “I forbid you going after him. We took care of it, Brighton avenged your mate, the girls are safe, and we can’t afford a war. Keep it to the competition.”
“Tagan,” Denison said in a helpless, choked voice.
The sound tore at Danielle’s heart, and she pushed around Tagan’s wide shoulders.
Denison’s eyes were blazing a frosty silvery-white. “Not here, Denny,” she said, resting her hands on his chest. “I’m okay.” Something tapped on her shoulder, and when she looked over, Brighton was handing her a pair of sunglasses.
The crew surged forward, surrounding them as she slid the glasses over his eyes to shield them from the crowd.
She tried to smile, but her lip trembled. Cupping his cheeks, she whispered, “I swear I’m okay.”
Denison leaned forward until his forehead rested on hers. “Tell me what happened quick.”
“He kissed me. I hated it. He was trying to get to you. That’s all.” She’d leave out the whore comment and hope Denny didn’t ever catch wind of it. He didn’t seem the type to let something like that go.
He pulled her lip gently down with his thumb. She couldn’t see his expression anymore behind the glasses, but he looked at the tiny wound for what felt like minutes. “Not deep enough,” he murmured. “You’re hungry. I need to feed you.” His voice had taken on a dreamy quality.
Her stomach was growling. Her corndog sat on the grass where she’d dropped it when Matt had kiss-attacked her. Uninvited face molestation plus a ruined hand-battered corndog equaled Matt getting a serious kick in the gonads next time she saw him.
****
Denison was going to bleed that Gray Back slowly. He couldn’t do it today because Tagan, his alpha, had ordered him not to, but someday Matt was going to feel deep pain and regret for hurting Danielle.