Fully Exposed

Steph POV

There was no chance of me saving myself from the fall. 

My half-exposed ass hit stone.

The pool wasn’t deep, but I still plunged completely under, my breath punched out of my lungs like a blow. Water went straight up my nose, blinding every sense, and I felt my palms scraped open in an instant. 

Just as quickly, I shot up, sputtering, gasping for breath even as the fountain spray still rained from overhead. I hurt all over like hell, this on top of the bruise from yesterday, and couldn’t tell one pain from another. But what hurt most was my pride.

Laughter erupted from the entire patio. Not just chuckles and giggles—no, it was a dissonant chorus of full-on, cruel howling by tipsy bastards getting a show on top of their overpriced drinks.

The kind of laughter that made me want to weep and flee—the kind that made my wolf snarl inside me and want to shred every last one of them.

“How ironic!” someone called. “Bunny-girl can’t even walk straight!”

My leotard clung to me like a second skin, suctioned tight. I rubbed my eyes and found my hands coming back black, smeared with mascara that was clearly falsely labeled as waterproof.

“Steph!” 

I blinked more water away to reach blindly for Shiloh—

And then I made the stupidest decision of my life, one that would change the course of it forever.

I pushed my bangs back off my forehead.

No one was laughing anymore. They were staring.

At my forehead.

The thick bangs I carefully styled every day and sprayed with an ungodly amount of hairspray for fourteen years—it all went down the drain.

An entire patio of wolves had a full view of the exposed, ugly, raised scar branded into my skin for the rest of my life. 

The rogue mark.

It was like someone yelled fire! Chairs scraped, glasses shattered on the concrete, and growls rose over the sports commentary.

“She’s a rogue,” a male snarled.

Dozens of voices were suddenly overlapping.

“Get her out of here—”

“—shouldn’t be on pack territory!”

“—she doesn’t belong—”

I scrambled to my feet, stumbling until my back hit the fountain. I covered my forehead with both hands, wishing I could cover my ears to block out the waves of hatred hurled at me. 

It would only be a matter of time before physical violence got involved.

No one could save me. Not even myself—not with the crowd blocking both entrances. 

“Steph!”

I heard Shiloh’s desperate call, but she was lost in the mass of jostling bodies, too short to force her way through. But I didn’t miss the confused and hurt look on her face. She didn’t know what was happening, but I knew she felt betrayed. I’d hidden something big from my only friend. She was thinking I lied or didn’t trust her enough to share.

My heart cracked.

My wolf stirred restlessly, clawing at the ground, baring her teeth, but just as anxious to bolt as I was. But I couldn’t shift here. It would only make things worse. No blood needed to be drawn tonight.

There was a big splash behind me. I whirled, nearly slipping as a rough hand seized my arm: Raul, the manager. His lip was curled, eyes blazing with disgust. “You’re fucking fired, rogue.”

He yanked me hard enough to pull me out of the fountain, soaking wet, uncaring that I almost fell over the edge again. Everyone parted like the Red Sea if the sea were just made of wolf snarls and gnashing teeth. 

I’d lost both of my shoes. Concrete raked at my soles as I was dragged toward the back entrance. Raul was literally going to kick me to the curb. My car was a row down, but my keys were inside. It was too far to walk home. My phone, too, was—

No one was going to save me but me.

I planted my feet, writhing, clawing at Raul’s grip. “No! Let go of me, dickhead! Let go—”

Raul yanked again hard. “Don’t fight it, rogue bitch—”

Crack!

Raul’s head snapped to the side.

He released me—only for someone else’s grip to replace his.

Terror flooded through me anew. 

I am going to die here.

The thought froze time.

Then I saw who held me now, whose other fist bloomed with Raul’s blood.

It was him who froze time.

Tyler.

Mussed brown hair, scruffy jaw, broad shoulders—

Steel-blue eyes burning not with annoyance but with something.

Whatever that something was… I felt it pierce my very soul. Something that hooked around my ribs, seeming to pull me closer to inhale his scent that was still wrapped around me from last night. It hit me hard and soft—campfire smoke, the woods after a warm rain, and fresh laundry.

My wolf went very, very still.

And then she bowed low, hackles raising and ears pricked.

Mate.

No. It couldn’t be.

“Leave,” he growled—but not to me. To Raul, who was scrubbing his jaw as blood dripped from his nose. The warning left no room for argument, and even though it was low, it silenced half the patio. “She’s with me.”

Raul snorted derisively. “She’s a rogue.”

“And you’re in my way.”

Time resumed.

I’d never seen Raul anything but arrogant and superior. But at Tyler’s warning, I saw his inner core within the facade. He paled like he’d been threatened with a shutdown of his precious bar, fearful that all his swaggering would be stripped in an instant.

It struck me as odd that he would bend so quickly to a male half his age, but that was low on the priority list.

Tyler didn’t wait for Raul to step aside. He shouldered past, his grip iron on mine—not meant to hurt, but to keep me close and—and safe?

The wolves parted again, but this time it was different. The air reeked of submission with an undercurrent of fear and shame. Every hair on my body prickled with unease.

What was happening?

Tyler didn’t release me until we were on the opposite side of the parking lot. Crickets in the nearby brush and the distant TVs were the only sounds, our only light source a buzzing street lamp above us. 

That, and our hearts thundering in perfect sync.

I stepped back, wrapping my arms around myself. “Wh–why did you—”

“I think we both know the answer to that.” Tyler’s voice was dismissive but not unkind as his eyes roamed my face, lingering on my forehead. “That’s brutal.”

I slapped my hands over my forehead. “Yeah, it is,” I snapped. “So what?”

“So you’re mine.”

The words felt like fire under my skin. I couldn’t discern if it burned or just warmed.

Either way, my wolf wanted to stay, to get closer.

I wanted to get as far away as I possibly could.

“I’m not yours,” I retorted. “I’m not anyone’s but mine. And don’t expect me to thank you for getting me out of there. I’m not going to inflate your ego bigger, thinking you’re some kind of prince rescuing a damsel—”

Tyler’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “My ego? That’s why you think I saved you?”

“You didn’t save me! You just dragged me away from all my shit! My phone and car keys are inside! My fucking shoes are gone!”

I tried to shut myself up, but everything just spilled out of me like a busted damn. It only added to my shame—but I couldn’t stop.

“I’m dressed in a fucking leotard like a wannabe swimsuit model! My best friend is back there thinking I lied to her! Like I had some secret second life! I’m drenched in fountain water that smells like—ugh, I don’t even know! Don’t even mess with me, sidewalk-shover. I can handle myself.”

Every word brought me closer to tears, my throat closing so tight it hurt. I turned my back to him, walking away just to put distance between us. My wolf did not like that, but I didn’t give a shit about what she wanted right now.

I wanted to be alone. I wanted things to make sense. I wanted things to go well, for once. 

I wanted my life to be better. Happier. Simpler.

A sob burst out of my chest before I could stop it. I clapped my hands over my mouth.

“You deserve more.”

I sucked in a breath so sharp it hurt. Then, slowly, I turned to look at him. He hadn’t moved; about ten feet separated us. His expression hadn’t changed, either: neutral but tight, like he was refraining from an impatient sigh. It didn’t match the softness of those words.

I sniffed. “What?”

“I said, do you want to die here?”

“What? No!” I spun, feeling emotional whiplash. “That’s not what you just said! What the hell—”

Tyler stormed forward until there was only a foot between us. I took a startled step back, but he caught me—gently this time–and said softly, “Or do you want to come home with me?”