Page 49 of Cider
The guy just started to laugh. He didn’t believe me. I sighed. Enough was enough. I stood, walked around the table, and while looking down at the scum infested man, grew my claws and with sufficient force stabbed down into his thigh, right next to his little balls.
As he let out a painful whimper, my mates came out from the back room with Lys and Igor. They all had varying expressions. If it wasn’t such a serious situation, I’d have laughed at them.
Titus gently reached for my arm, pulling my nails out, patting my hand. His eyes were on Samuel’s face. His eyes promised death. I threaded our fingers together and squeezed, getting his attention back to me.
“I think it's in your best interest to listen to my mate.” Titus’ voice was hard, scary. It only turned me on.
I had issues.
“She just stabbed me!” Samuel whined as he clutched his thigh.
“It’s just a little stab. Nothing fatal.” Igor leaned forward, tilting her head as she sniffed the air close to him. “Pity. If she’d stabbed a little bit higher, it could have been fatal.”
Samuel’s skin paled more than it already was. He glanced between all of us surrounding him. “You’re all insane.” Pushing out his chair, he stumbled backward, away from all of us. “You won’t get away with this.”
“I think she will.” Titus stepped in front of all of us, his back blocking my view. “I think you’ll take her advice and leave town. Tonight. Igor will be happy to escort you out.” He nodded to her as she came to stand next to him, her crazy grin sending a shiver of fear down my spine.
Oh, crap. This wasn’t the plan.
“Titus.” My hand touched his back. “We discussed this.”
“We did. We tried it your way. He’s just too dense to seem to understand that you were trying to help him. I’m not going to stand by while he is here and thinks he can hurt you.” Titus didn’t even look back at me.
Billy, next to me, wrapped his arm around my shoulder. “Let them do this. This guy has a black soul and isn’t worth the time you’ve wasted on him.”
“What are you idiots talking about? I’m standing right here! Move! I need to get to a hospital,” Samuel sputtered loudly.
“Yes, let’s show this fly out.” Igor’s glee was apparent and I felt a little squeamish. She really wasn’t planning on eating him, was she?
“Wait. Igor. Titus. Come on. We just want him to go away and forget about my recipe. That’s it.” I glanced between them. Jack came up to my other side and wrapped his arm around my waist.
“Cider,” Igor offered me a sweet look, “I won’t do anything to upset you. You’ve been kind to me, been my friend. Let me take this man away from here. I won’t cause him pain. Besides, this gives me the excuse to explore more of the world, yes?” She gripped Samuel’s arm and proceeded to drag him out of the store. “You’ll have to get another part time worker. Sorry! Let’s pick up some steak sauce on the way out of town, yes?” The door closed behind them as Samuel struggled against Igor’s unnaturally strong grip. The shop was quiet for several long moments.
“Well, that went way off kilter.” Lys slapped her hands together in mirth. “I am going to head home. Jace is off tonight and promised to give me a lap dance. He got a new piercing, so I can’t wait to play with it.”
Titus winced. “Really? Did you have to tell us that? I’m standing right here.”
She laughed as she left. “That’s what you get, DAD.”
Titus looked at us in confusion. “What did I do?”
Shaking my head, I leaned into my other two mates. “Who knows?” Then, it suddenly hit me. All the stress melted away and my legs gave out. Jack’s arm tightened to keep me up. “It’s over. It’s really over.” Whatever Igor planned to do to Samuel meant that I got to keep my shop and business. “This whole thing has been crazy, but there is one thing that I’m thankful for.” I touched Jack’s cheek. “I have my mates.”
Epilogue
“Damnit, Cider!” Billy groaned. “Why must you tease me?” His panting whine was adorable.
I licked the tip, the cream was delicious. I kept a firm grip on the base.
“It’s not my fault that I was faster.” I bit down on the popsicle. “Damn, it’s so good and creamy.”
Billy wiped his brow, glaring at me from where he laid across the couch. “You’re a jerk.”
“I asked yesterday if we were running low on anything when I was at the grocery store. Not my fault.” This time I sang out my reply. “It’s sooooo good.”
His middle finger went up in reply as I cackled from the island.
“Long day?” My legs swung on the barstool.
