Page 86 of Big Bad Bully
It’s my father’s way of thinking.
It used to be my way of thinking. But Madi proved her strength and proved me wrong.
Still, other packs might see Brick’s pairing as a weakness and decide to challenge him.
Is the King of Monaco one of them?
The guarded look disappears from Luka’s face like it never existed. His mouth stretches into a wide smile and opens his arms like an exuberant host. “Well, you cannot go to the casinos. They are owned by the vampires. Come aboard my yacht, and I’ll show you what Monaco is all about. Let us celebrate your mating, Atlantean style.”
“Thank you, we would love that,” Brick says.
I catch Sully’s eye. Looks like we’re going to party on a yacht with a bunch of strangers. Alcohol, a huge group of shifters, and two human females–including one who doesn’t know our kind exist.
Fuck.
What could possibly go wrong?
The Sea Maid is a two hundred million dollar superyacht owned by Atlantean Enterprises. At 75 meters, it’s the largest yacht in the dock. I heard the docking fees are over six figures a month.
At dusk, it glows like a jewel. It’s so huge, it might as well be a bright white city floating on the water.
I watch over Aubrey as we board the boat. For some reason, she and Madi were singing “You’re So Vain” by Carly Simon on the ride over. Now she, Madi, and Brick’s sisters Ruby and Scarlett ooh and ahh over the luxurious wood floors and white leather lounge area. Staff members in white and navy uniforms offer us glasses of prosecco. I wave mine away, and Aubrey grabs it and drinks it for me, her eyes sparkling. I’m glad she’s having a good time.
I notice our males are a lot less relaxed. I keep myself between the ladies and the Monaco pack wolves at all times. Luka allowed Sully’s team aboard the ship to do a security sweep. Sully himself okayed the trip, so I shouldn’t be on high alert.
The biggest danger is the King himself. And he’s drinking. It takes a lot of alcohol for a shifter to maintain a buzz, but he seems determined to accomplish it. He also insists on giving us the full tour, including the cinema, gym, spa, and ice room. The ladies love it.
“Instead of the spa, we could’ve come here,” Scarlett giggles.
“You are welcome anytime, my lady,” Luka captures her hand and bows over it.
I don’t like watching him flirt with Scarlett, who I think of as a little sister, but she’s a she-wolf who can handle her own. Brick makes her train daily in self defense.
We’re mingling on the party deck, next to the glass bottomed pool.
The other wolves stand back, murmuring politely. Everyone’s behaving themselves.
I don’t know how I ended up next to Luka, but he’s talking to me, and it’d be rude to rebuff him.
I’d rather be with Aubrey. After a day at the spa, she is glowing. Right now, she and Madi are on the top deck, taking in the view.
“Your luna is lovely, for a human,” Luka murmurs.
I give him a nod although I want to grill him on what he meant by ‘for a human.’ Is he a shifter supremacist like my father? Like I was raised to be?
“You’re also here with a human,” Luka says. He raises his head and sniffs the air. “The one with the delectable scent. Spiced oranges?”
Talking about scents is super personal. I tense, my wolf hating that he’s speaking of Aubrey so intimately and so casually. But maybe it’s an American thing.
Luka swirls his drink. He’s drinking ouzo, and the strong anise smell hides his own scent.
“I, too, enjoy a human now and then. They are so weak. Dominate them a little, and they become eager to please. Easily kept as pets.”
I have a gift for staying unemotional. Controlling my reactions, so I can manipulate situations with the correct angle, but anger explodes in my brain. Did this dickhead really compare Aubrey to a pet? Like she’s a dog like Pepper?
I want to kill him. Right here, right now. It’d be so easy. He’d never see it coming, I could just jump on him, tear out his eyes, and strangle him before he knew what was happening.
My wolf is howling, all for it. No one talks about Aubrey like that and lives.
