Page 16 of Chaos Claimed

Annoyed, he yanked open the screen door, nearly hitting himself with it. Good grief. If this was a sign of how his night would unfold… He was still going out. The more he drank, the less he would care about the frantic feeling building inside of him.

* * * *

Suero parked his motorcycle behind Macey’s car at Percy’s house. How had he gotten roped into babysitting the woman while Percy and the others hit some club?

“Right, because partying isn’t my thing,” he grumbled as he walked across the lawn. “You all go have a blast. Meanwhile, I’ll entertain myself with endless hours of bullshit TV, while contemplating my life choices.”

Suero wasn’t clueless. He knew Diablo joked about how he’d acted around Macey. That’s because Diablo had grown up with two loving parents.

Not everyone was that fortunate. A woman’s presence in Suero’s youth had been rare. The absence of a mother to temper his wildness and balance aggression with softness had left a deep mark on him.

It wasn’t as though Suero enjoyed making a fool of himself. He simply lacked the know-how to behave around maternal figures. Younger females didn’t affect him in the same way.

But the presence of a matriarchal woman turned him into a goddamn eager-to-please pup.

And he hated that about himself. Suero could conduct interrogations, throw down in a fight, and survive everyday pack life. But a maternal figure was his Kryptonite.

With a mutter, he knocked on the front door. Percy answered, letting him in. “I’m so sorry about you doing this. Santiago insisted.”

Suero noticed the way Percy kept a healthy distance from him. He didn’t blame the human after what Tito had done.

Crazy thing was, no one ever suspected Tito had a deviant side. That made Suero wonder if Percy had been his first victim, but his gut said Percy wasn’t. Too bad Santiago had killed Tito. Suero would’ve loved to have that honor.

And since then, Matias questioned himself as a leader, though the guy would never admit it.

Weakness and doubt got you killed.

Only strength was respected among shifters.

“Had nothin’ better to do.” He glanced around, noticing Macey wasn’t in the living room. Hopefully she had gone to bed for the night and Suero could save what dignity he had left around her.

“Um, there’s food in the kitchen if you get hungry.” Percy gestured toward the back of the house like this was Suero’s first time there. “My mom knows you’re hanging out here tonight.” He lowered his voice, but didn’t step any closer. “She doesn’t know the earlier chaos was because of Jacob. I’d rather keep it that way.”

Suero frowned. “She didn’t ask why you trashed the kitchen?”

Percy winced at the reminder of what he’d done. In Suero’s opinion, it hadn’t been that bad. He’d seen far worse.

“I simply said it was a personal matter.” His lips twitched slightly, though he didn’t smile. “She assumes I had a fight with Santiago because he wasn’t here earlier.”

Because the brother had been in jail. That still pissed Suero off when he thought about how that shit went down. The dirty cops in Blackthorn should consider themselves damn lucky Matias had declared them off-limits. But once the restriction was lifted...

“That still doesn’t explain why I’m hanging out at your place,” Suero said.

It was a bad sign when Percy’s pale complexion turned a fiery red, the color spreading all the way to his ears.

“I might have mentioned that you broke up with your boyfriend,” he admitted, raising his hands defensively, his eyes wide. “Sorry if that offends you in any way. The excuse just popped into my head.”

Which was pretty insane since that’s exactly what happened. After interrogating the cheetah shifter from the warehouse, Suero had asked him out on a date.

For two weeks they’d texted and shared late-night calls. They’d even gone out on a second date. They hadn’t even shared their first kiss before Kia ghosted him for some reason.

“Suero?” Percy stood there, frowning.

“It’s cool.” He cleared his throat, noticing the human had taken a few steps back. “Just point me to an outlet and hand me a remote and I’m good.”

Ten minutes later, he was sprawled on the couch, TV remote abandon on the coffee table, as he scrolled through old texts from Kia.

Just another pathetic Friday night.

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