Page 17 of Feral Heart
Not happening. Not while Cesar breathed.
“Sometimes Rowan stays over too. He looks at me funny.”
Rowan. The creep from the grocery store with dead eyes and a predator’s smile. The thought of that man being anywhere near Jamie made Cesar’s wolf want to hunt.
“Hey,” he said softly, turning Jamie slightly to face him. “What if you stayed at my place tonight?”
Jamie’s eyes widened. “At your house?”
“Sí.” He brushed a thumb across Jamie’s flushed cheek. “My bed is big, my fridge is full, and no one will bother you there.”
“I don’t want to be a burden.” Jamie’s words slurred slightly, his eyes earnest despite the alcohol. “You’ve already been so nice, making me food and letting me play with knives. And everyone always says I’m too much.”
He tilted his elegido’s chin up with a gentle finger. “Listen to me, colibrí. You could never be too much for me.” The raw honesty in his own words surprised him. “I like everything about you—the talking, the bouncing, all of it.”
Jamie stared at him, blinking slowly. “Really?”
“Really.” Cesar pressed a soft kiss to Jamie’s forehead. “So what do you say? Want to come home with me?”
A slow smile spread across Jamie’s face. “Okay.” He twisted back around, hands returning to the handlebars. “Let’s go find Cesar first though.”
“Of course.” Cesar chuckled. He slipped the key from his pocket, inserted it into the ignition, and kicked the starter. The engine roared to life beneath them, and Jamie let out a delighted squeal.
“It’s so loud!” he shouted, hands gripping the tank.
Cesar smiled, wrapping one arm securely around Jamie’s waist while the other controlled the throttle. “Just like you, colibrí.”
With a smooth motion, he backed the bike out of its spot and rolled toward the exit. As they turned onto the main road, Cesar accelerated, Jamie’s delighted laughter carrying on the wind, head tipped back against Cesar’s shoulder. His wolf hummed with satisfaction.
Cesar allowed himself to imagine more nights like this—Jamie in his arms, their bodies pressed together, heading home. His home becoming their home.
Whatever came next—hyenas, angry brothers, or just the complicated dance of getting to know each other—he knew with bone-deep certainty that Jamie was worth every risk.
The bike ate up the pavement as they headed toward his house, Jamie’s warmth seeping into him, chasing away the chill of the night air.
* * * *
Chopper gave Matias a head nod across the crowded bar, catching his alpha's eye through the haze of cigarette smoke and dim lighting. Matias returned the gesture with barely a flick of his chin, but that slight movement was all Chopper needed.
Moving through the crush of bodies, he ignored the way his beer sloshed over his knuckles as some drunk asshole bumped into him. Music thumped against his eardrums, bass vibrating up through the floorboards.
Down the hallway, behind the main room, where the private rooms waited in shadow, Chopper leaned against the wall. Cool plaster pressed against his shoulder blades as he wiped beer from his fingers onto his jeans.
Footsteps approached—measured, unhurried. Matias never rushed for anyone. His presence filled the narrow hallway before he physically appeared, that unmistakable aura of controlled power preceding him like an invisible force.
“What is it?” No preamble, no small talk. Classic Matias.
But years of serving under him had taught Chopper to read the subtle signs—the slight tension around his eyes, the way his fingers rested too casually at his sides.
“Cesar had visitors out back.” Chopper kept his voice low, aware of the thin walls. “Three hyenas. One of them’s their new alpha.”
Matias’s face remained perfectly still. Not a muscle twitched. Only his eyes betrayed him—darkening almost imperceptibly, pupils contracting to pinpoints. He was royally pissed off.
Silence stretched between them, heavy with unspoken tension. Matias didn’t move, didn’t blink, just stood there processing. His stillness was somehow more intimidating than if he’d thrown a punch through the wall.
“And Cesar didn’t think to tell me himself?”
“I volunteered,” he replied with a half-shrug. “He’d been looking for his little human.”
