Page 18 of Marked By Feral Monsters
But I don't have time to dwell on this revelation, because Danny shoves himself into the array of voices. "Lily, I came here to talk to you. I don't know what's going on, but these, these—" he points at the werewolves in disgust.
Ah, there's the Danny I know. He tried to hide it. Or, he got turned on by the idea of me working here, thought he'd walk on the wild side with me. But that's not him.
He'sthe boring one.
"Mara, can you please have this man escorted out of the building and added to the banned list?" I say without looking away from Danny. She stops arguing with the wolves and nods, snaps her fingers, and the bouncer with a new black eye ambles over and grabs Danny by the collar.
"Lily, wait! Please! After everything we've been through? The years we had? You're just going to throw it all away without even talking to me?"
There's so much I want to say back. The fight bubbles up my throat, and I'm ready to unleash it. I had a lot of time to think last night after he showed up unexpectedly. He said he didn't know how good he had it with me.
I left, and suddenly he needed to figure out how to do his own laundry. Cook his own meals. I'm not his fucking maid. Or his mother. He damn sure didn't treat me like a partner, let alone someone he's in love with.
"Goodbye, Danny. Don't come around again."
His face turns red when he realizes I'm not giving him a second chance. "Fine! Veronica was a better lay than you anyway!" he screams. The wolves all growl, but I'm tooembarrassed to process what the fuck is happening at normal speed. At least that's one problem solved. There's still the matter of five werewolves and my missing underwear.
Mara takes a moment to explain, but the wolves keep interrupting. One at a time, they push each other out of the way to touch my arm or hold my hand. It's disorienting. Finally, Mara snaps. "That's it! You five, out!"
They shout again, but she gives Braden a look, who nods, then feeds his magic into the chaos. The guys calm down but don't leave. Mara begins, "I told you I would explain to Lily what happened. And if she agrees to see you, then I know where to find you: outside the door, pacing like lost fucking puppies, I'm sure. Now, she is my employee. She was guaranteed safety when she took this job, and you five have violated our rules. You're lucky I'm not calling the police. Step outside while we speak with Lily. Do not test me on this."
Mara's voice booms, laced with power. I assumed she was human, but now I'm questioning everything. She's magnificent. With longing looks, all five of the men file out.
I have to bite down on my lips to hold in the plea, asking them to stay. Anxiety, worse than before, pops its inconvenient head up, and this time, I can barely swallow it down. It's not internal; it's a shaky thread, tugging me toward them, fear that they're leaving me, which makes no sense. I feel like I'm spiraling out of control.
The crowd around us has slowly dispersed. The floor manager returns to help Eli since I've abandoned my post. All that's left is me, Mara, Keely and Braden.
It's Keely who finally breaks the silence.
"You're their mate."
Holding my drink tray like a shield, I spin on my heel and head back to the bar.
Lily
"Table nine is ready for their check," I tell Eli. He's been giving me narrow-eyed looks for the last hour, ever since Keely announced the most absurd thing I've ever heard in my life and I stormed off.
What ridiculous fucking nonsense.
Eli prints the ticket, slaps it on the beer-stained tray and slides it toward me, all without taking his eyes off me. I want to groan and laugh at the same time.
Sheepishly, I swipe the ticket and deliver it to the table. Taking my time, I weave between the tables, but no one seems to need a thing. It's as if they all know what's simmering between me and the five wolves currently pacing outside, which, if I'm being honest with myself, they probably all do, and they're all in collusion with each other.
Fucking monsters.
Running out of ways to stall, I make my way back toward the bar, only to find Keely and Braden gossiping in low tones with Eli.
I hear the wordmatewhen I approach, which makes my heart and feet stutter.
I've read the pamphlet. I know what that means, technically. But that's impossible. There's no way I could be their mate.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't our resident coward." Braden sips his shimmering cocktail through an obnoxious sparkly curly straw, his narrow, high cheekbones highlighted by the sucking motion. I made that cocktail for the gnomes, using edible glitter,as a special for one of their holidays last week.
The curly straw is all Braden.
I snatch the drink from his hands and dump the contents in the sink on Eli's side of the bar. Then I gasp. "I can't believe I just did that. I'm so sorry. I just meant to—I don't know. Steal your drink."
"You did," Braden sasses, tilting his head.
