She was so high on the adrenaline of standing up to him that she didn’t realize she was shaking until her beer bottle rattled against the wall behind her.
That woke her up—and sparked fear inside her. She darted into Mahalia’s and leaned against the bar before her knees gave out. “Julio,” she managed, her voice weirdly calm in her ears. “I need to talk to Julio.”
Anna took one look at her and raised both eyebrows. “What happened to you?”
Sera fought back the urge to laugh hysterically. “Josh is out there. I don’t know if he’s there anymore, but he was.”
“What? ” Anna tossed her hand towel behind the bar. “Where is he? I’ll rip his balls off.”
Pointing seemed stupid, but she did it. “That way. I told him to fuck off, and you must be rubbing off on me, because he did.”
The blonde paled. “Go to the office and stay there,” she ordered, already rounding the bar.
Obeying Anna was instinct. Her roommate didn’t issue blunt orders often, but this time the power of the command washed over Sera and steadied her legs before setting them in motion.
She moved in a daze, behind the bar and through the swinging doors to where Nicole’s old office sat, mostly taken over by Anna now.
Sera had stood up to Josh alone, but she didn’t have to be alone. That kept panic at bay as she sank into a chair.
When the door opened, it was Julio who came through it. “What’s wrong? Anna said you needed me.”
“I have to tell you.” She still felt giddy, but doubt was starting to scrape at her too. She should have ducked into Mahalia’s the moment she sensed Josh. She should have screamed for help like a good little submissive.
If Julio snarled at her over it, she might snap.
He knelt by her chair. “You have to tell me what?”
“Josh was outside. He tried to talk to me, and I told him I wasn’t interested.”
His hand closed around the arm of the chair with enough force to make the wood creak.
“Jesus, that bastard’s here?”
Sera swallowed around the lump in her throat. Fear, exhilaration—she felt manic, jumpy.
Insane. “I stood up to him. If I hadn’t been able to, I would have yelled for help, I promise.”
The door slammed open again. “Gone, but it can’t be far,” Anna fumed. “I’m going to hunt that asshole down and show him what happens around here to big men who like to pick on girls.”
Sera’s self-confidence withered. There was her entire life, put into sad perspective with one offhand comment from Anna. She was a silly girl whose greatest triumph was not wandering off with the ex-husband who’d smacked the hell out of her.
Julio rose. “Let him go—for now. With any luck, he’ll run on home and forget all about it.”
“And if he doesn’t?”
Julio heaved a breath and glanced at Sera. “Then we’ll figure something out, Anna. Can the bar spare you for a few days?”
“I can arrange it,” she confirmed.
“All right, make it happen.”
Anna reached for the doorknob behind her but didn’t leave. “Sera? You okay?”
Smiling was her job. Gratitude and acceptance, because alphas like Anna needed it. “I’ll be fine. Thanks, Anna.”
She nodded and left, and Julio smacked his forehead against the door. “What a mess.”
Sera hated herself for withering. For apologizing, when she knew it wasn’t her fault. “I’m sorry.”
“For what? You didn’t go out of your way to make trouble.”
Like it mattered. “I was born trouble. I’ll always be trouble.”
He turned and hesitated before settling his hand on her shoulder. “You shouldn’t go back to your place alone, just in case. With the calls and now this…”
“I know.” She closed her eyes and inhaled, dragging the scent of him into her lungs, as if he could erase all trace of Josh. “He’s not a bastard, you know. I mean, not some random asshole. He’s like most of the coyotes. The survival of the species kicks in, and they get rabid.
Dangerous.”
His fingers stroked over her collarbone through her shirt, raising goose bumps on her arms.
“That’s why this is nothing to mess around with. It’s not ego, Sera, it’s instinct.”
“I know. But it makes it harder on him. He can’t get what he wants if he hurts me too much.”
Julio leaned over again, far enough to put himself on eye level with her. “All that means is that he’ll try to find other ways to get what he wants.”
She couldn’t hold his gaze. Literally couldn’t, not with instinct unsettled and her emotions scattered. She focused on his chin instead. “I’m not stupid. I’ll go somewhere safe. I just wanted…” To be strong. To believe, for one stupid second, that she wouldn’t spend the rest of her life afraid of Josh, or of another coyote like him.
Julio nodded. “We’ll pick up some of your things and you can come home with me.”
That startled her into meeting his eyes. He stared back steadily.
Home. With Julio. The Southeast council’s headquarters encompassed a warehouse with plenty of spare rooms along with the apartments claimed by Julio and Andrew. It wasn’t nearly as intimate as it sounded.
Sera still shivered. “I’m a mess tonight. Do you really want to bring home a jumpy coyote who’s as likely to hide under the bed as sleep on it?”
“Sweetheart, you can sleep curled up in the bathtub, if that’s what makes you feel safe.”
If it hadn’t been a distinct possibility, she might have laughed.
Julio arched an eyebrow. “You’re going to sleep in the tub, aren’t you?”
“Maybe.” It came out a little sullen, and she had to laugh at herself after all. “No, probably not. I’m not traumatized. I’m just…really confused.”
He straightened, his hand still on her shoulder. “Come on. Let’s get you out of here.”
When she stood, her knees didn’t shake. She was steady. Grounded by the quiet, unobtrusive magic of an alpha’s touch. He could silence her fears as easily as she could soothe his rage, and sometimes it took nothing more than the slightest physical contact.
If she focused on that, on the fear and the comfort, maybe her traitorous body wouldn’t have its usual response to Julio’s proximity—mindless, heart-pounding lust. Sleeping curled up in the bathtub was a lot safer—for everyone—than sleeping curled around him.
Chapter Four
At one point, Julio had doubted that Sera would gladly suffer in silence rather than ask for help. Now, he knew it for the truth.
He watched as she hesitated in the doorway and peered into the guest bedroom. “Will this be okay?” he asked, just to be sure. Maybe she’d have preferred one of the apartments they kept empty but ready to accommodate visitors.
“It’s nice.” She clutched her half-full duffel bag, and she’d seemed pathetically grateful that he let her carry it up the stairs instead of plucking it out of her hands. “Perfect, really.”
He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “The, uh, bathroom’s across the hall, and I’m at the end of it. My room, I mean.”
“All right.” She ventured across the threshold, then turned to look at him. Wry amusement filled her hazel eyes as she took a blind step back. “This isn’t how I usually go home with men.”
Of course it wasn’t. Men had been sniffing around her since her return to New Orleans, and she’d had no reason to deny herself. “Guess not.” He dragged his gaze from the pale curve of her neck. “We should figure out what to do about your ex.”
Both of her eyebrows shot up. “I thought I was staying with you because Anna’s going to go scare a few decades off his life.”
“Not quite.” He’d dispatched Anna to follow Josh and make sure he went home instead of hanging around New Orleans. If she scared him, all the better, but it wasn’t the goal. “As long as he’s out of town, he’s none of our concern. That’s the preferable solution all the way around.”