Page 21 of Feral Heart
Chapter Seven
Now was the worst time to still be a little drunk. Jamie was staring skyward at over a dozen rough-looking me while his boo was talking with the bartender.
Why was the bartender there? From the way Cesar was talking with him, the guy had clout. What barkeep could make so many men listen to him?
This isn’t a normal biker club.
Some of the things Jamie had thought earlier were coming back.
Like how the eyes of the dude he’d accidentally darted in the head had glowed.
It was the third time Jamie had seen that happen. His gaze flicked between them all, watching their interactions. The only upside to having an abusive brother—which sounded horrible just thinking that—was the fact Jamie had gotten pretty good at reading people.
Or in this case, listening. Animal-like growls erupted softly here and there as the men talked. A few tilted their heads back and sniffed the air, as if they could smell the attackers that had already taken off.
Jamie might have a lot of difficulties thanks to his repeated head trauma, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t figure things out.
It just took him longer than most people. Although Jamie didn’t exactly know what he was piecing together, he knew it was something significant. After what had just taken place, he should be bouncing around, implementing his soothing techniques, spiraling out of control like he had in the alley.
But he was too terrified of drawing any attention to himself.
A few times Cesar glanced at him, his sexy eyebrows doing a little dip, like he could already read Jamie like a book and knew something was off.
I need to get out of here. Something isn’t right about this situation or these men. Just act normal and slowly slip behind the barn. Once you’re out of sight, run your butt off.
And go where? Home? Because that was such a better option. It seemed no matter what Jamie did, he couldn’t catch a freaking break. He’d wanted so badly for Cesar to be one of the good guys, had crushed for two months fantasizing about his stud muffin.
He’s been nothing but nice, patient, and caring. How can he be a bad guy? That didn’t make any sense, but tell that to Jamie’s panicking brain.
Cautiously, he started to walk backward, one soft, careful step at a time. As long as he moved slowly enough, they wouldn’t realize he was gone until Jamie was already sprinting across the field behind the barn.
The gravel shifted under his sneaker, causing the pebbles to crunch noisily. Jamie winced but moved faster. If there wasn’t anything wrong with the men, they wouldn’t react to—
Jamie gasped when Cesar glanced his way again, his eyes glowing a beautiful amber as he turned fully toward him.
“Don’t run, colibrí,” Cesar cautioned in a deep, growling tone. “You’ll trigger it to chase you.”
Trigger what? Jamie trembled when he noticed all their eyes were glowing.
Oh, heck no! He wasn’t sticking around to find out. Jamie spun and bolted, feeling like he was going to vomit from drinking so much. Already he was sweating his butt off, and he hadn’t even reached the back of the barn yet.
Don’t turn around. Whatever you do, don’t you dare look over your shoulder! Jamie glanced back.
“Ack!” It wasn’t Cesar chasing after him, but a massive wolf with gorgeous gray fur and scary sharp teeth! Jamie ran even faster, then tripped over a big piece of metal sticking out of the ground. He screamed as he fell, throwing out his hands to break his fall. His knee collided with the metal thingy, causing an explosion of pain to surge through his right leg.
“Ow!” he cried out, clutching his injured leg and rocking back and forth, hoping the pain wouldn’t last long.
Ferocious growls erupted around him. Jamie lifted his gaze to see the beautiful wolf that had been chasing him fending off the other wolves. Holy crud. Just how many were there?
As the wolf battled, another, much larger one slowly approached Jamie, its light brown eyes focused on him. Jamie struggled to breathe as he watched, but instead of attacking, the ginormous wolf positioned itself in front of him, like it was protecting him.
The snarling pack of wolves finally retreated, taking a few steps back. The gray wolf’s fur was stained with blood, and it limped as it turned around.
Jamie’s brows shot up when he saw its tropical-blue eyes! What the biscuits? “Cesar? Is that… Are you the wolf?”
It limped over to Jamie, head low, ears slightly pinned back. The wolf’s blue eyes locked with his, filled with something that looked a lot like worry. Was the wolf actually worried about Jamie’s reaction?
His heart raced like it might burst from his chest as the massive gray creature approached.
