Page 68 of Under an Endless Moon

I knew that Otto had seen it at the exact same time as I did because every muscle in his body went rigid.

Rage billowed from his being as his attention raced to take in the area.

Fury streaked like a lightning strike across his flesh as he searched for any lingering threat.

There was quite a bit of traffic at this time, people rushing around to start their days. A few loitered on the sidewalk in front of my shop, taking in the spectacle.

My stomach roiled in a vat of nausea, and my head spun with dizziness.

Oh God, I thought I might be sick.

Otto put a hand on my leg and slowly turned to me.

Rage colored every inch of his face. “Stay right there.”

“Otto—”

“Mean it, Raven. You stay right there and do not move.”

He killed the engine and kicked the stand, and he managed to shift off the bike while leaving me sitting on it.

He stepped onto the sidewalk, his attention darting every direction as he scanned the area, the man a fiery blaze as he stormed toward Moonflower’s door.

There were five people standing near it, but only two that I recognized.

Pete, a kid who couldn’t be more than sixteen who was working next door at the coffee shop for the summer, and Sienna. Sienna who’d had her arms crossed over her chest, hugging herself. I saw the outrage and disgust lining her face when she shifted to look behind her as Otto prowled that way.

“Anyone see anything?” he demanded as he approached.

Pete shook his head. “No, I got here an hour ago and it was like that.”

Sienna ran her hands up her arms as if she was trying to chase away shivers. “No. I just got here for my shift and heard what happened. I wanted to come and check if Raven was okay.”

The others rumbled theirnosas Sienna’s gaze drifted my direction. Sympathy rippled through her features.

“It’s okay,” I mouthed.

If only saying it made it true.

Because it was one hundred percentnotokay. Not when some prick, asshole, dickface had done this. And for what reason other than to be mean and rude? To scare me?

A sticky sensation crawled over me. Those old chains that had bound, held me in terror, and the determination to never let someone bully me again.

Never to let them hurt me or intimidate me.

Otto stormed across the sidewalk and pressed his face to the window.

He cupped his hands on either side of his eyes so he could see inside. When he obviously didn’t find anything, he went stalking around the side of the building in search of anything amiss.

That burly bear who could be so tender nowhere to be found.

He was a grizzly ready for attack.

A beast that raved.

While I sat there itching, not sure if I wanted to hide or get off the bike and hunt this jerk down, too.

Disquiet gusted as my brain shifted through who might be responsible.

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