I was almost out of control. The room spun in the corners of my vision, my wolf pushing closer to the surface, begging to take over. My hands curled into fists, my breathing fast and sharp.
“Still got that runt temper, huh?” one of them laughed, leaning back in his chair like this was all some kind of game.
I stopped just short of him, my chest rising and falling hard. My fists clenched tighter. “Say that again.”
“Runt,” another sneered. “You think you’re scary now? You were the weakest wolf in the pack. Always holding Elliot back. Everyone knew it. No wonder he left you.”
They didn’t know me anymore. They didn’t know how many hours I trained after everyone went home, or how many times I collapsed behind the training center because I wouldn’t let myself stay weak. I forced my wolf to grow, to fight, to survive. I wasn’t that weakling anymore.
I lunged. My fist collided with the first guy’s jaw, snapping his head sideways. The others shouted, stumbling to their feet, but I was already on the next, kicking his knee out from under him. He grunted and fell hard. For a second, it felt good. This was justice.
“Jasmine, stop!” Mindie’s voice cracked as she tried to stop me. She was still bleeding, barely able to stand. “You’re going to get us both fired!”
“I don’t care!” I shouted.
“That’s obvious,” said a low voice behind me.
A hand gripped my arm from behind. I turned. It was Elliot. His eyes burned with fury, but there was a sense of smugness underneath that didn’t look right.
He leaned in. “Throwing punches in a club? Is this what you’ve become? Street mutt...you disappoint me.” He looked at me from head to toe and shook his head.
My breath hitched. “Shut up asshole! Let go of me.” He didn’t. Instead he tightened his grip on my arm, causing me to wince.
“You’re wasting your time with jobs like this,” he said, voice calm now, almost soft, like he was trying to be reasonable. “Is this the best you could do? You don’t belong here, Jasmine.”
“I’ll go where I can earn a living,” I snapped.
“I gave you a way out,” he said smoothly. “You just didn’t take it.”
My wolf growled low in my chest. “You mean to become your dirty little secret while you parade around with the Lycan Princess?” I hissed.
Elliot smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Who else would want you? You think too highly of yourself, Jasmine. You would be dead without me.”
“I’d rather die than crawl back to you.”
His smile slipped, and I could see the temper flaring just under the surface. “You always loved playing the victim.”
I yanked my arm from his grip. “You, out of all people, don’t get to insult me.”
My chest heaved as I stared at Elliot, still burning with rage. But as the noise and shouts from the crowd faded into the background, something ugly clicked in my head.
His friends didn’t just happen to be here. Not in this pack’s most exclusive club. Not on a night where I’d just started working.
I looked at him. The smugness in his eyes, the arrogance in his posture. It told me everything I needed to know.
“You sent them here, didn’t you?” I said, my voice shaking with rage.
Elliot’s expression flickered for the briefest second. Then he smiled. That slow practiced smile I used to mistake for charm.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said smoothly. “My friends go where they want. You just happened to show up.”
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