Page 21 of Beautiful Butterfly

“There’s nothing to be nervous about,” Paris whispered across the table. “Take a deep breath, Sam. We’re going to be there.”

“Okay.” Sam nodded and did as Paris suggested, taking a deep breath.

Then he stiffened, and his eyes narrowed.

Frowning, Alister followed Sam’s gaze and saw a short, lithe guy approaching the table where Wyatt, Cannon, and Morgan were seated. The stranger had platinum-blond hair with pink streaks, and admittedly, he was good-looking.

“Oh, hell no,” Sam growled. The sound wasn’t a bad attempt for a human.

“What is it?” Paris asked.

Sam shot to his feet. “That’s the bitch who disrespected Morgan when I still had all those stitches in my back. I tried to beat his ass, but my mate pulled me away.” Sam yanked his legs out from under the table. “I told him that if I saw him again I was going to bash a brick over his head.”

Alister saw the stranger batting his lashes at Wyatt and giving him a flirty smile. Logically, Alister knew the twink had no clue that Wyatt wasn’t single, but that didn’t stop jealously from rearing its ugly head.

“I warned you!” Sam sprinted around the table, with Alister and Paris close on his heels.

Alister had no idea what happened before, but it was clear that Sam’s warning had gone unheeded by the blond.

“I wasn’t flirting with your guy!” the blond squeaked as he stood there, his eyes wide.

Morgan grabbed Sam around his waist and hauled his mate off his feet, tossing the human over his shoulder. “You can’t attack people, beautiful.”

As badly as Alister wanted to rip the guy’s hair out for flirting with Wyatt, he didn’t. Instead, he walked over to the blond and jabbed a finger at Wyatt. “All three of these men are taken.”

Even though the blond was short, he was still a few inches taller than Alister. The trollop sneered at him. “I’ve known Deputy Birch for years. I have a right to talk to the law enforcement in this town without being accosted, so step off before I crash out on you.”

Alister gasped, his fingertips pressing against his chest, and then he lunged at the hussy. “You have no idea who you’re fucking with, bitch!”

“Kick his ass, Alister!” Sam shouted from Morgan’s shoulder.

Before Alister’s hand made contact with the blond’s face, the hussy backhanded him.

Everything happened so fast, yet it felt like it happened in slow motion.

Paris’s expression was savage as he cocked his arm back, but Cannon damn near tackled him, hauling his mate away.

Simultaneously, Wyatt curled an arm around Alister’s chest, but when his mate yanked him backward, Alister threw his leg up and connected his foot with the bitch’s jaw.

The blond landed on his ass. He clutched his face as he cried out. Wyatt twisted around, swinging Alister away from the guy as a patrol car drove onto the grass and stopped five feet away.

A small crowd had gathered as Alister fought to get out of Wyatt’s hold. “I’m going to break his fucking jaw!”

“You better let me go!” Paris shouted, trying just as hard as Alister to get to the blond.

One of the new deputies slipped out of his cruiser, and although Alister had been introduced to him when he’d gone to the station to pick up his car, he couldn’t remember the tall, massive guy’s name.

“What’s going on?” the deputy asked in a relaxed, professional tone.

“Settle down, butterfly,” Wyatt said in his ear then told the deputy, “Cuff the one on the ground. He assaulted Alister.”

“I need a hospital,” the blond yelled, his hand still pressed to his cheek. “I can’t believe he kicked me in the face!”

When Alister realized he’d used more force than he’d meant to, the fight drained right out of him. He was still pissed about being backhanded, but Alister was ten times stronger and shouldn’t have put so much strength behind his kick.

“You can let me go,” he said to Wyatt.

His mate’s arm slowly eased from around him, as if he didn’t trust that Alister wouldn’t go after the blond.

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