2. Dean

2

DEAN

I stalked away from the coffee shop with my jaw clenched tight, unbelieving I was leaving without the coffee I'd paid for. That wasn't what bothered me most, though. What bothered me most was that Astrid, of all people, thought I'd stolen her coffee.

She was a real piece of work.

The woman hadn't even fought back when Lucius screwed with our heads. Instead, she'd stood beside Xander—her older brother and Lucius's right-hand man—and done nothing. Her easy compliance with everything made her an accomplice to what went down with Lucius in my book.

My wolf grumbled, but it was hard to know if he was agreeing with me or arguing. Things between us had felt off since Lucius got into our heads. There was a disconnect there now. One I didn't know how to explain or fix. It just was.

When he howled again, an image of Astrid flashed through my head.

Her brown eyes and dark curls. The way her lips had pressed so firmly together, clearly portraying how irked with me she'd been.

My wolf paced, but I shut him out, clenching my fists at my sides. I didn't want to think about Astrid. Thinking of her made me think of Lucius and everything that happened with him and the Ashen Tribe.

It made me loathe that moment in time even more—it made me loathe her.

I was glad the Ashen Tribe had taken Lucius out. He'd deserved what he'd gotten and then some. The way he'd forced himself into so many shifter's minds and turned us into his little pawns to stalk the Ashen Tribe like prey hadn't been right.

He'd had a power no one should have—and Astrid had been right at his side. She and her brother.

"Dean," someone called from behind me.

I knew who the voice belonged to immediately, and felt rage blister my insides as I spun to face him. Xander stood a few feet away, anger toward me reflected in his eyes.

"What?" I demanded.

God, I couldn't stand this guy.

Even when I shoved all the Lucius shit to the side, he still got under my skin. The guy looked like a raven. He was tall, lanky, and had dark hair that swept into his eyes, making me want to whip out my pocketknife and cut it. His nose was on the large side, and there was something beady and sinister about his stare.

If a human couldn't look at him and realize he wasn't one of them, they were as dumb as a box of rocks.

Xander stormed up to me, his beady eyes narrowing. "What was that back there with Astrid?"

My wolf nipped at him, and I tried not to laugh. Our loathing of this idiot was the only thing I felt like we'd connected on in a while.

"None of your business," I countered.

It wasn't. This douchebag didn't need to know squat.

Where had he even come from?

"Anything to do with Astrid is my business," he seethed, his expression hardening.

Who did he think he was?

My wolf could eat him.

Instead of agreeing with me like I thought he would, my wolf howled out a warning meant for me. He sensed something was off about this jerk. As I stared at him, I noticed it too. I couldn't put my finger on what I was picking up on, but there was definitely something strange about him. It was in the way he carried himself, like he had a fucking chip on his shoulder now.

One I'd love to knock off.

"She's my sister," he continued, his gaze never wavering from mine.

"And?" I deadpanned, not giving a shit about who she was to him.

She'd accused me of stealing her coffee. She thought I was a fucking thief.

Me.

"You should watch yourself," Xander seethed, his head cocking to the side like a fucking psycho as a smirk twisted his lips. "You don't want me as an enemy."

This dude had never given me the heebie-jeebies as much as he did right now.

Even so, I took another step closer to him, knowing it would inflame the situation further and not giving a damn. Tension radiated off Xander, but I enjoyed it. I wanted him to hit me. I wanted his scrawny ass to take the first swing so I had more than enough of a reason to retaliate and nail him good.

Astrid stepped out of the coffee shop in the next instant, and my wolf grew restless. He paced back and forth, causing me to tense at the sight of her too.

Suddenly, it felt as though I was outnumbered.

My wolf's senses went into overdrive, and I knew it was time to get out of here. I released a growl toward them both as a warning and then turned to stalk away. While part of me wanted them to follow after me—to give me a reason to unleash my beast and tear into them both right here and now—a larger part of me didn't feel like fighting today.

I'd done enough of that as Lucius's pawn.

However, even as I distanced myself from the two of them, my guard remained up. My wolf was flipping out and my heart beat way too fast inside my chest.

What the hell was going on?

With my hands clenched tight at my sides, I pressed forward, not glancing back once. I didn't have an explanation for what I felt in the moment, but there was one thing I knew for certain—that wouldn't be the last time my path crossed with either of them.

Xander seemed to have a random vendetta toward me burning through his beady little eyes, and for all I knew Astrid had the same.

So much for wanting to enjoy a peaceful cup of good coffee on my only day off this week.

Fuck.