“I can’t believe you, Chaz,” Paula said, the disgust as thick in her voice as it was in her expression, deepening when she turned a hateful glare on me. “Are you doing this for her?”
Chaz’s hand had been limp in my lap until Paula spoke; it abruptly turned into a tight fist, sending bright rivulets of blood spilling from the cuts. As he tensed in preparation to stand, I quickly wrapped a towel around his arm, then put a restraining hand on his shoulder as I stood instead.
“Let me handle this.”
He glanced over at me, the low, ominous rumble in his throat dying into silence as curiosity won out over his anger. At his nod, I quietly moved over to where Paula sat on the bed. Kimberly slid away from us, leaving me to face Paula alone. I stopped a couple feet back from the bed, fists propped on my hips as I met the Were’s baleful glare with a harsh stare of my own. She looked away first.
“I am tired of your shit, Paula. I didn’t do anything to deserve the harsh words, the mean looks, or the petty name-calling. Was I in thrall to Royce at one point? Yes. Am I now? No. So,” I said, taking another step forward, aggressive enough that she pulled away from me. “I don’t know where this animosity is coming from, but how about you knock it the fuck off and try to treat me with a little respect, hmm?”
Her gaze darted to the others, her mouth opening in dismay at seeing that Kimberly had distanced herself from this argument. That was fine and dandy by me. The last thing I needed was more of the pack to turn on me.
“Fine,” she muttered softly, so quiet I could barely hear it.
“If you have a beef with me, make it because of something I did to you, not over a rumor. Got it?”
“Yes,” she said, a little louder now.
“Good,” I said, though now that I’d won, I wasn’t sure what to do. She just sat there, not looking at me, and everyone else was being awfully quiet. After a minute, I sighed and turned away, intending to fix up Chaz’s other arm.
As soon as my back was turned, she was moving. The only reason I managed to duck out of the way in time was because I heard the squeak of bedsprings. Despite my quick reflexes, her nails raked down my arm, catching in the fabric of my sleeve. With her augmented strength, she might have broken the skin even with those blunt, French-manicured nails. Either way, I wasn’t interested in finding out if she could, and I was pissed that she’d stooped to this tactic to deal with me. If I let this slide, the others would see me as a pushover. I’d never have anyone’s respect in the pack, and she’d think she could get away with it time and again until I showed her I could stand up for myself.
She wanted to play hardball? I’d play it her way, then.
The others moved to hold Paula back, but before anyone could come between us, I spun around and decked her across the jaw. She staggered to the side, clutching at her bleeding mouth and staring at me in shock. Kimberly practically leapt off the bed and backed out of the way, giving us room.
Anger glinted in Paula’s eyes, and she bared bloodstained teeth as she lashed out to return the favor. I was prepared for it this time. Despite her incredible speed and reflexes, I managed to avoid the worst of it and was only struck a glancing blow on the shoulder, stumbling back a step or two.
The pain was bad, but I ignored it and aimed a kick at her solar plexus, intending to put her off balance and knock the wind out of her. Thanks to my anger it was a sloppy move, and I had to hop back to regain my balance.
She doubled over, the air going out of her with a pained sound, so I helped her along to the floor by hooking my foot behind hers and sweeping her off her feet. Breath knocked out of her, she stayed down when I put my sock-covered toes on her throat with just enough pressure to constrict her air.
She clearly hadn’t expected me to be trained to fight back and probably hadn’t thought I could hurt her too badly with my