Chapter 2

My gaze scannedover the social media page again. When Mama sent me the link, I thought she was joking about finding my old friend. Malcolm and I were close when we were cubs. I missed him something fierce. But Pa made us move, and we lost touch. Mama knew I was lonely. She must've gotten tired of me trying to make friends on my own.

There was a little button on the side to message the company. That's what Mama found. Malcolm had a construction company way out in Montana. His picture was on the page talking about the owner. He was different from when he was a kid, wider and more muscular. But his face was similar, and I recognized him right away. The ache in my chest grew, and I rubbed at it subconsciously. Living in the city seemed like a good idea when I left home, but my bear was lonely out here. I was the only shifter in the area, as far as I knew. I had to drive for hours to get to a safe space to shift. I missed having friends who knew about the animal. Who were part of that life.

"Who's that?"

My boss, Audrey, was peering over my shoulder when I looked up. She was kind, and I sort of considered her a friend. I mean, we didn't hang out outside of work, but she was supportive and always comforted me when I got dumped.

"An old friend. Haven't talked to him since I was a cu– kid," I corrected with a grimace. Sometimes things I wasn't supposed to say slipped out. Audrey called it my country charm when I accidentally called kids cubs. Humans didn't know about shifters. It wasn't safe for them to know. Humans were dangerous.

"Oh, are you looking to reconnect? That sounds nice. What are you waiting for? Send him a message."

I looked down at the little message box again. "It ain't weird? He probably don't even remember me."

"If he doesn't, he doesn't. It doesn't hurt to try. You never know, maybe he misses you, too."

The hope was overwhelming, and the ache moved up my chest into my throat, making it hard to swallow. I clicked on the little button, but I knew better than to type up a message myself. My thumbs were too big for those tiny keyboards. I handed it to Audrey with the biggest puppy dog eyes I could muster.

"Help me?"

She snickered, plucking my phone out of my hands and typing out a quick message. Her thumbs moved like lightning and she tipped the screen toward me to approve the message before she sent it off.

"There. Simple and sweet. You saw his website, remember him from childhood, and want to reconnect. Easy peasy."

I nodded slowly, but I couldn't bring myself to press the send button myself. Audrey had to do it. I chewed on the side of my thumb, my knee bouncing as I waited for a reply. Audrey had to put her hand on my knee to stop me.

"It might be a while. Those company sights sometimes take a few days to get back to you. Besides, we're opening soon. Take a deep breath and relax. Okay?"

"Okay… Thanks Audrey."

She gave me a supportive shoulder squeeze before wandering off to check on the rest of the club. I worked nights as a bouncer at Audrey's club. I liked it well enough; the pay wasn't great, but I got to protect people and that soothed my bear some. He was… a pill sometimes. Overprotective to a fault, and quick to bring out the claws. When I actively let our instincts guide us and protected people, he was easier to manage. Even if I didn't let him out as much as I should.

People knew me after a few years of working here. We didn't get a ton of trouble because the few times people tried it, they had to deal with me and it didn't end well for them. I didn"t like hurting people, but when they were trying to hurt others, it happened. And I tried not to feel bad about that.

I dealt with unruly patrons and made sure the club didn't get overcrowded. It wasn't hard to do, which meant I didn"t need to think that hard. Which was good because I wasn't the brightest crayon in the box. At least, that's what Mama said. She was being nice about it, though. Pa called me an idiot and a whole host of other not nice words. I tried being smarter, but book smarts weren't my best quality. I wasn't really sure what was. Maybe that's why I went through girlfriends so often.

My current relationship was my longest. Kinsley and I had lasted a whole month so far. She didn't seem to mind that I was a little dumb. I made up for it with presents and affection and she seemed happy with that. When she came into the club with her friends, she kissed my cheek, patting my chest affectionately as she passed.

That put me in a pretty good mood and the anxiety from before faded away. I listened out for trouble and checked the hallway to the bathroom often. There was always someone with me at the door, since I couldn't ever get the numbers right to check IDs, so it was easy for me to slip away when I needed to. I was coming back from another bathroom check when I saw a guy flirting with Kinsley. It happened sometimes, she was really pretty, but I tried not to let it bother me. I didn't want to smother her and chase her away. My last girlfriend said I did that.

I was heading back to the door to help Darnell when the guy put his hand on Kinsley's hip. My bear protested, and I had to fight to keep my feet from turning that direction. I waited for her to push him away, but she didn't. She smiled. That was the same smile she gave me when she wanted sex. My stomach dropped out, and a whimper crawled up my throat.

My eyes were glued to them as they interacted with each other. Kinsley kept her flirtatious smile, and the man ordered them both a drink, a slimy grin on his face. My instincts kicked up, but it was hard to tell if I was really sensing something or just jealous. I slipped through the crowd, my eyes on them both, until I was close enough to really look at them. Kinsley was only half paying attention to the guy now, her drink resting on the bar as she chatted with her friends. It should've been a relief, but then the guy leaned to whisper and point out into the crowd, and when Kinsley turned away, he dumped something into Kinsley's drink.

I might be bigger than most guys, but I was also really fast. Before she could pick up her drink again, I knocked her hand away and grabbed the guy by his collar.

"Teddy!" Kinsley protested.

A snarl rattled my throat as I glared at the little man in front of me. "What did you put in her drink?"

"I didn"t do shit, asshole!"

"Teddy, stop it!" Kinsley shouted over the noise of the club. I ignored her.

"Answer me."

"Don't get jealous because she wants to talk to a real man," he sneered, his nails digging into my hands to try and dislodge me. I didn't even flinch.

"You're lying," I growled at the man.

He scoffed, looking almost bored dangling from my grip. "You can't prove shit, man. You're just mad because you know you'll never keep a woman like her. Don't worry. When she's in my bed tonight, I'm sure she'll be thinking of you," he drawled with a sneer.

My vision went red, and my bear rose to the surface, demanding pain. But then Kinsley reached for her drink again, and I had to drop him to stop her from drinking it. I didn't realize she wasn't going to until she threw the whole thing in my face.

"You're such an asshole, Teddy! He bought me a drink! What is wrong with you?"

"Kinsley–"

Before I could defend myself, the guy from before shoved me. I wasn't expecting it and it threw me off balance, almost making me crash into Kinsley. I was a big guy, bigger than most guys actually, so if I fell on her, it'd hurt. That pissed me off, and I spun around with a growl, clocking the guy across the jaw. He was out cold instantly and dropped to the ground. Uh oh.

Audrey appeared out of nowhere, her jaw hanging open as she took in the scene.

"I didn"t mean to do that."

As the ambulancetook the jerk away, I stood off to one side with Audrey and one of the officers who showed up after 911 was called. He had a serious face, a notepad in his hand as he talked to me.

"You were right. We found GBH in his pocket, and multiple eyewitnesses said he attacked you first. But… the woman you were protecting is telling another story. She said you're her boyfriend, and you got jealous. Does that have any truth to it?"

I had never been a good liar, so I stuck with the truth. "Kinsley comes here a lot. Guys flirt with her sometimes. It sucks, and I don't love it, but I usually just ignore it. Something about this guy felt wrong. I only stepped in when I saw him dump the powder in her drink."

He nodded along and smiled at me when I was through. "See, if you would've said you don't get jealous and that had no part in it, I would've assumed you were lying. You were honest with me instead. I appreciate that. I'm going to write this down as self defense. Just… maybe ask someone else to step in if it involves a romantic partner. You don't want someone claiming jealousy was a reason. It could be bad for you."

"We'll make sure to do that," Audrey reassured him. The officer left not long after, and Audrey sent me to the locker room to change. My shirt was soaked from Kinsley's drink.

I was just pulling on a fresh shirt when the door opened and Kinsley strode in. She still looked mad at me. I opened my mouth to defend myself, but she cut me off with a slash of her hand through the air.

"Don't. I don't want to hear it. I'm sorry, Teddy. This can't keep happening. I don't need you to rescue me every time a guy looks in my general direction. The possessive thing was cute at first, but it's just not what I'm looking for."

I made a face. "I'm not possessive. I was tryin' to help. He was a creep."

Kinsley sighed, crossing her arms. "No, he wasn't. He offered to buy me a drink. He's allowed to do that. I told him no to anything more and he would've walked away eventually."

"But–"

"Look, we haven't been seeing each other that long, so this shouldn't be that hard. We'll part ways as friends, okay? Just… next time you meet someone, try not to go nuts. Women? don't need men to protect them. We're looking for partners, not protectors. Something to think about."

She flicked her hair over her shoulder, stalking past me back to the bar. Knowing her, she'd have a new guy by the end of the night and I'd go back to my little apartment alone.

A buzz in my pocket drew my attention, and I fished it out, thankful it didn't get all wet when Kinsley threw her drink. My eyebrows jumped up when I saw who the message was from.

Malcolm.