Page 22 of Animal Instincts
The shadows claimed most of the alleyway, and he wasn’t about to stop this because there were people watching.
Robert had a crazed expression on his face, but something inside of Damien snapped, and his lion pushed forward even more. He wrapped his hand around Robert’s neck and growled, hoping to have the little asshole piss himself.
“You fucked with my mate, my woman. You dared to lay a hand on her and think you could take something from her that isn’t yours.” He slammed his fist harder and faster into Robert’s face.
“You lion shifting fucker.”
He slammed his knuckles into Robert’s face, heard the bone break, and felt the blood spray on his neck. “I don’t want to even think about all of the females you have taken advantage of, but this will be your last time.” Damien tossed him across the cement. Robert tried to get up, but he was bloody, had broken bones, and his strength was gone. He felt no sympathy for the man that thought hurting a woman made him superior. Damien walked over to him, and said in a low voice only Robert couldhear, “If you even think about my woman again, or I find out you ever did this to any other female, I’ll hunt you down and kill you.”
He kicked Robert hard enough that his body skidded across the pavement. Damien turned, kept to the shadows, and saw a man and woman stop to see what was going on.
They couldn’t see him, and he doubted they could see the bastard on the floor either, not unless they wanted to come deeper into the shadows. He left and headed back home.
He needed to shift and run this extra energy out of his body, because right now he was so fucking dangerous he even scared himself.
11
“Good, Hayden,” she said without any interest in the fact the asshole that had attacked her at the part just seven days ago was now lying in the hospital because someone had kicked his ass. “He probably deserved what he got.”
“Danika, the guy is near death lying in a hospital bed,” Hayden said through the receiver. “And you and I both know you don’t think violence solves anything.”
“I doubt he is near death.” She braced the phone between her shoulder and ear, and stuffed a change of clothes into her backpack.
She was heading over to Damien’s after work, and although it had only been a week since he had told her what she was to him, and even less than that since they had told her father, things were going as smoothly as if it was always meant to go this way.
She stopped what she was doing and thought about what Hayden was telling her. “So someone beat the shit out of the asshole that attacked me at the party,” she stated without forming it as a question. “And why would I care, Hayden? Theguy probably pissed off someone’s boyfriend. Serves his ass right.”
“I don’t think you’re understanding what I’m saying.”
She knew exactly what Hayden was saying, and she didn’t care one bit that the prick was lying in a hospital room beat to hell. “I understand. I just don’t care because the guy was a royal asshole.”
“A witness said it was a shifter that beat him up.”
That had everything in Danika stilling. “A shifter?”
“Yeah, a lion shifter more accurately, and one that kept talking
about never putting a hand on his mate again or he’d make sure the guy was buried in the ground where no one would find him.”
She had spoken to Hayden about Damien, nothing in-depth, but enough that her friend knew Damien was her mate, pretty hardcore when it came to the mate thing, and that for the first time in her life she felt like she belonged somewhere with a man. “You think it was Damien?”
“I don’t know, because I don’t really know the guy. But I would bet it was given the fact you’re his mate, he’s a lion shifter, and the guy that just happened to get beat up was the one that fucked with you last week.”
Yeah, she knew it was Damien, even if no names had been said. He had already said he’d hurt anyone that touched her, that he’d find out who had messed with her.
He’d delivered on that promise, but Hayden was right. She didn’t want violence answering violence. “I’ll talk to you later, Hayden.” She hung up the phone and stood there for a moment just thinking about what was going on.
Did she care that asshole was in the hospital? No, not at all, but the fact she was the cause of it didn’t sit well with her.
Maybe she contradicted herself because she had told Hayden she didn’t care that someone had kicked his ass, and now she wanted to talk to Damien about it.
But she wanted him to know she wasn’t about to have a relationship where he used force to make it known she wasn’t to be messed with. Unfortunately she would have to wait until after work, and this was going to be the longest day of her life.
She hoped Damien could understand where she was coming from, because it was early in their relationship, and she wanted everything out in the open for both of them.
12
Danika had planned on seeing Damien after work anyway. After she spoke to Hayden about that asshole that attacked her in the bathroom, and how he was now in the hospital, she had to speak to Damien herself.