Page 196 of Bride of Choice

“If you hurt him, I’ll never forgive you!” I bellowed above the din.

Rek turned, grabbing my hands to jerk them from him, ignoring the fur clutched in my hands in doing so, and easily slid me off his back.

“Don’t do it!” Lurching forward, I grabbed his ankle, nearly tripping him. Rek easily shook me off. “Please!” I burst out.

There have been a few fights amongst Lo denaii that ended in blood shed, and in one incident death, or so I was told, though I’ve yet to personally witness one myself—and hopefully I never do. This was not something to fuck each other up over, not for me.

Rek paused and stared down at me for a long moment. His hair was standing on end, electrified, chest heaving like a bellows. With a barely perceptible nod, he turned away from me and stalked towards Doogie.

Doogie stood on the balls of his feet, bouncing in place. Hands up, claws extended, he looked like he was ready to fight but didn’t really want to.

Rek growled something at Doogie that had the other male’s eyes widening in surprise.

Rek attacked first, going at him with fists instead of claws, human style.

Doogie got the next punch in.

Screaming at them to stop, I scrambled for them but strong arms nabbed me up, holding me aloft as the fight ensued. Odix.

Gopher hovered beside him, the pair ignoring my pleas to make them stop, let me go. A sense of betrayal filled me.

They just stood by and watched as Rek and Doogie exchanged barbs and punched each other’s lights out.

I was hysterical at this point— I didn’t care what anyone else thought. That panic of earlier returned.

Where was Kooky? Was he too just standing by watching?

Like thinking his name had conjured him, Kooky strode forward, a huge water bucket in his arms, Veck’s biceps bulging as he followed up beside him with a similar super sized jug of water.

Berkr and Tarnk brought up the rear.

Berkr tackled Rek, then Tarnk piled on.

Instead of dousing Doogie and Rek, Kooky doused Rek, then Veck waited a moment as Rek coughed, gasped, but then started to snarl again, and Veck dumped his burden over him next.

Doogie stood there, wiping blood from his nose, breathing heavily but looking otherwise calm and collected. It hadn’t really been his fight.

Kirch stood off to the side, hands on his hips, expression unreadable, as if waiting for Rek to deflate so he could help him up and drag his ass home.

Setting his water bucket down next to Veck’s, Kooky strode towards us. Walking right up to Odix, he didn’t ask, he demanded, “Give.”

Odix thought to grumble at first, but thought better of it when Kooky bared his teeth at him and his fangs dropped, growing longer, thicker. Those smoky blue-grey eyes I found mesmerizing flushed until they were eclipsed in inky darkness.

The second his hands were on me I practically leapt into his arms. Kooky curled me into him and turned to leave without another word.

Pressing the side of my face to his, my chin on his shoulder, sniffling and wondering just how much I looked like a clown right now, makeup dragging down my face, I felt eyes on me and glanced up.

Hands fisted at his sides, Rek simply stood there, blood trickling down his busted up eyebrow and nose. Our eyes met and held. We kept eye contact until he was a speck in the distance.

Kooky remained silent the entire trek back to Celuk’s. He waited until I’d showered and eaten before venturing quietly, “Jo want talk?”

“Don’t you have a hunt to go to?” I replied quietly, picking apart the bread on my plate bit by bit. I didn’t really feel like talking at all.

“It wait,” he said simply.

“Not on account of me, I hope,” I mumbled, giving up pretending I was eating to drag my mug of tea closer to me.

“No.” Shrugging, he grabbed my plate and took care of it.

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