The Maverick Pride Tales - Chapter 187: Chapter 187

Megan giggled and sipped. Correction, she tried to take a sip, but her shoulder got jostled by someone pushing their way to the bar. She spilled some of her drink and grabbed a napkin, cleaning it up before it spilled onto the floor.
“Excuse me! Excuse me, bartender!”
One of the skinny females who’d eyed Megan before waved her hand in the air to get Lucy’s attention. She didn’t even apologize for pushing Megan and spilling her drink. She shook her head, grabbing another napkin and wiping the rest of the spill so Lucy didn’t have to.
Rude.
Megan’s Tiger snarled, but she reined in the beast. The two women were human, and Megan did not want to make a big deal out of someone else’s pettiness. In her experience, rudeness was usually a symptom of narcissism, and Megan had enough of that in her life with Matthew. The only way to stop a narcissist was to not feed their enormous egos with even the tiniest scrap of attention.
She’d learned a long time ago to ignore the unacceptable behavior, else she’d be sucked into a battle she had no chance at winning. With a narcissist, there was only them. Their opinion was the right one and everyone else was always at fault. No accountability, no responsibility, and no reasoning. Yeah, Megan was so not dealing with that tonight. Lucy winked at her before she turned to take their order.
“We want a couple of pink starburst shots,” the one with the pouty lips demanded, and Lucy rolled her eyes.
“Sure. Just wait your turn like everyone else,” Lucy replied.
She started filling an order for a customer who’d been waiting for her before those two arrived. After she finished getting the gentleman his beer, Lucy started making the candy liquor shots. Megan took out her cell phone and checked her text messages while sipping on her sparkling water. She was tapping her toes to the beat of the music and was pleasantly surprised the bar had such an excellent live band.
They were playing a mix of punk and rock with a couple of country crossovers thrown in, and Megan liked it very much. Her date was supposed to be there any minute, and according to Uncle Uzzi, he was going to message her when he arrived. But there was still no message, and Megan was starting to fret.
Maybe she’d gotten it wrong? Maybe she was supposed to text him? Megan wanted to ask Lucy her opinion, figuring the pretty female probably had more experience than she did with men. After all, there were rules to dating, weren’t there? Hell, if she knew.
“There you go. That’ll be $22.50,” Lucy told the women.
“Hey, don’t you offer free drinks for ladies here?” pouty lips said.
“We do. On ladies’ night. See the poster, that’s on Thursdays,” Lucy replied.
“Well, that was just last night. Don’t you think you can just ignore the rules? I mean, we are doing you a favor just being here. Who builds a roadhouse in New Jersey?”
“That’s right. You know, we are classing this place up for you,” pouty lips’ friend added snarkily.
Ugh.
These two were really starting to grate on Megan’s nerves. Had they no shame? First, they asked for free drinks. Then, they insulted the owner’s establishment to her face. Even if they didn’t know Lucy co-owned the bar, it was still rude.
“Excuse me? What did you just say about my bar?” Lucy growled, pure acetone in her voice.
The petite bartender’s eyebrows had rocketed up to her hairline. The air felt heavy all of a sudden, and Megan scented fur and anger on the little fireball. She hated fights, but was always willing to help a friend, and for some reason or other, her she-Tiger felt strongly that Lucy was her friend. Without being asked, she stood up to her full height, looked down at the two snarky females, and cleared her throat.
“What do you want, Tall Girl?”
“Tall Girl? Really?” Megan said and shook her head. Like that was the worst thing she’d ever been called. “Look, why don’t you two just pay for your shots? Or better yet, take your ‘class’ and your sass right out that front door, and I’ll cover this round for you. But if you want that option, you got about three minutes to get your skinny butts out of here on your own esteem. Otherwise, I’ll drag you out. Got it?” Megan said, her eyes boring holes into the two nasty women.
“Fine,” pouty lips said, drinking her shot fast before looking at her friend. “Let’s go, Ava.”
“Wait. If Tall Girl wants to pay for our drinks, I think she should have this one,” Ava, apparently that was the other nitwit’s name, lifted her shot glass and moved to throw it at Megan.
Unfortunately for her, she wasn’t counting on Megan’s speed or agility. She reached out, lightning quick, and caught the fruity drink in her hand, catching most of the liquid there, but spilling a fair amount. Unfortunately for Ava, the liquid she spilled splashed right into her heavily made-up face.
“You bitch! I’m gonna⁠—”
“Is there a problem here, ladies?”
A tall, angry looking, gray-eyed man with long, wavy black hair was suddenly standing right beside Megan. He smelled like Wolf, dominance, and something dark and spicy that made her inner Tiger growl and chuff, tasting the air. Megan froze. She was one second away from tossing those two females across the room, pissed as she was at how they’d talked to Lucy.
But those two women were not the reason she was suddenly still as a statue. It was the stranger with his tempting, exotic, delicious scent, causing her she-Cat to sit still and take notice.
Damn. Oh, damn. But he is fine. So fine.
She swallowed. Nostrils flaring as more of his fragrance slid down her throat with that involuntary gulp of air.
Grrrr.
He was saying something to the other women, but Megan couldn’t follow. She was having a hard time hearing anything over the thundering sound of her blood racing through her veins. Lucy moved closer to where Megan stood. The bar was between them, but something about the tiny whirlwind being next to her made her feel better. She was nodding at the tall stranger and motioned at some big fucker who seemed to part the crowd like the Red Sea with just a glare.
“Time for you two to go,” the newcomer growled, and yep, he smelled like Wolf and dominance, and a little like Lucy, too.
Alpha, her Tiger whispered, the animal recognizing him for what he was.
“That’s my mate, Derrick. No worries, he’s got this. Now, give me your hand, Megan,” Lucy said in a calm tone.
“What?” Megan asked, suddenly incapable of following even that simple instruction.
The bar was packed and loud, but that wasn’t why she was having a hard time focusing. It was that man. He was just so, so big. He felt heavy. Important, maybe. Hell, Megan was not used to being crowded. Even with his back to her, she felt his attention was on her. A quiet kind of power pulsed in the air surrounding her, and she felt calm.
“Your hand, Megan,” Lucy repeated, and she was looking at her earnestly.
Megan canted her head, eyebrows raised when the big, dark stranger turned slowly around. Holy. Shit. He was gorgeous. He had thick, glossy black hair pulled into a ponytail at the nape of his neck. His skin was a tawny shade of bronze, like he’d been born under a July sun and spent every day under its glorious rays. His eyes were what caught her attention. They were a rich, creamy gray with specks of silver light. The more he stared at her, the brighter the silver glowed. He spoke to her, his voice hardly more than a guttural whisper, and shivers danced up her spine.
“You injured yourself.”
He was big. Taller than she was, with wide shoulders and huge cords of muscle roped across his body. His silvery eyes remained intent on hers, and Megan was hypnotized by that singularly steady stare. She breathed in deep and her she-Tiger went nuts. He smelled so good. Like apricots and sunshine, and fur, and man. The stranger was a Wolf. But different from any Wolf she’d ever sniffed before.
Dire Wolf, her she-Cat provided. Made sense. This was where they set up their territory, according to Uncle Uzzi.
“You’re bleeding, lily. Open your hand.”
Fuck. He was right. Megan was bleeding. But still she couldn’t move. She was completely frozen, still trying to absorb the shock of meeting him.
“Let me see,” he said, taking her hand in his bigger, stronger one.
Her gaze ran over him, taking in the flex of his muscles as he moved, peeling open her fingers gently. He had tribal tattoos around his biceps and forearms, the artwork phenomenal in her opinion. Megan loved tattoos. She had a few herself.
By the time he was removing shards from the broken shot glass she’d embedded in her own palm after she’d caught the damn thing midair after the normal had tossed it at her, Megan wanted to learn everything she could about him.
Where did he get those eyes? Who did his tattoos? What conditioner did he use on his hair? Why did he smell so good?
It was a terrible habit of hers, thinking of a million questions when something piqued her interest. But that was Megan. Along with being quick and strong, like strong enough to crush a thick shot glass in her hand, she was also nosy as fuck.
Of course, this guy would have no interest in telling her any of his secrets. Especially after the dumb move she’d just made with those two normals.
Yep, dumb move. Really dumb.
“Not dumb, lily. But maybe too strong,” he grunted.
“My name is Megan,” she said, straightening her back. “Shit. Did I say all that out loud?”
Another grunt was his only reply. Too strong. She’d heard that her whole life, but it never bothered her as much as it did coming from this stranger’s lips. She frowned, holding her hand still for him while he lifted tiny specks of glass from the wound.
“Here,” Lucy said, handing her a damp cloth. “And I think he uses Shea Butter conditioner,” she replied with a wink.
Mortification filled her, but she couldn’t run away yet. Not with him holding her hand still. She exhaled slowly, willing herself to calm the heck down, but that was really difficult with him standing so close and being so, so him.
Danger. Danger.
“Thanks. Sorry to make such a mess,” Megan said, apologizing loudly.
She withdrew her hand from his hold and took over wiping it with the rag. She cleaned the last bits of blood from her skin before handing Lucy back the cloth.
The cuts were already healing, by tomorrow they would be gone.
“Oh, don’t be silly. Those nasty heifers caused that whole thing. Besides, I feel terrible you got hurt.”
“It’s healed already. You don’t need to worry about me,” Megan murmured, sliding some bills across the bar. “To cover the cost of the shots⁠—”
“Ohmygawd! Woman, you are not paying for that mess! Anyway, this is Cole. He’s part of our Pack. Cole, this is Megan. Cole? Hellloooooo! Earth to Cole?” Lucy said, snapping her fingers in front of the man’s face.
Megan dared a peek at the man, but he was still standing there, staring at her with the oddest expression on his face. She looked away quickly. He was way out of her league. One of those too beautiful to be real people. Megan was just average. Besides, wasn’t she there to meet someone?
“I’m taking a break in fifteen, and I was wondering if you wanna hang out? Maybe not get attacked and have a drink with me,” Lucy offered with a sincere smile.
Darn. She would have really liked to stay right there with Lucy and him. But she had an obligation to see her date through, after all. It wouldn’t be fair to Uncle Uzzi if she just ghosted the man.
“I am so sorry, I completely forgot I am meeting someone here. But any other time, I would love to hang out with you,” Megan said.
“Who?” Cole growled the question.
“Who what?” she replied.
“Who are you meeting?” he repeated.
“Oh, um, I don’t actually know. Blind date. Sort of,” she said honestly, and looked down at her phone.
Uncle Uzzi had sent her the cell number of her prospective date, and seeing as how she might have missed him in all the fracas, Megan typed out a quick text asking if he was there. Lucy seemed to watch their byplay with interest, and Megan frowned as she clicked send.
Cole’s growl cut off as his pocket began to vibrate. He withdrew a large, brand new iPhone that probably cost more than she made in a month, and he grinned as he replied to his message.
Megan’s frown increased as her phone buzzed, and she looked down. A gasp escaped her lips as she read the reply. Thunder roared in her ears and Megan forgot to breathe for a moment.
“Yes. I’m right here, lily.”