Enzo's Attitude

Marvel Hala

“Well, I wanted to be here specifically for you, Marvel,” Daray stepped forward, offering me a playful wink.

I giggled at him, brushing him off. Daray was a notorious flirt, and it was impossible to take him seriously.

“Thanks, Daray. I appreciate it,” I said with a dismissive smile and a playful wink.

“I’m serious, Marvel,” he whined like a child. “Come closer. We need to smell each other. You never know, you might just be lucky enough to be my mate,” he teased, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Admittedly, Daray was good-looking, but I would pity his mate a bit. She was definitely going to have to put up with a bit of a wandering eye with him, and while I didn’t think he could act on it, that could be a hard pill for a lot of women to swallow.

“Daray,” Enzo suddenly snarled, his voice sharp and his tone threatening.

Everyone at the table stopped and stared at him, wondering what’d set him off again as he bared his teeth.

But then, like a switch had been flipped, the look in his eyes suddenly shifted, his fangs receded, and he righted himself.

“Go and get us some drinks,” he grumbled.

“Yes, Alpha,” Daray replied with a hint of sarcasm.

He and Enzo had been friends long enough that he didn’t call him by his title unless he was doing so condescendingly. Enzo raised a warning eyebrow in reply, and Daray knew better than to push it further as he rushed off to get the drinks.

“I’m going to help him. Do you know what you want this time around, Marvel?” Kiara offered.

“Surprise me. You know what I like,” I shrugged.

I trusted Kiara to pick something strong, but not anything that would burn the hair in our nostrils. And I honestly just didn’t have the attention span to choose.

“So, Marvel…” Tyrus started. “Any idea who your mate might be?”

“No. He hasn’t turned up yet,” I sighed.

“So, not Carl then?” Tyrus teased.

“No, definitely not,” I assured with a chuckle and a shake of my head.

“She might have caught a whiff of him this morning, but we aren’t sure,” Aida chimed in.

“Oh yeah?” Tyrus pressed, smiling down at her as his arm was wrapped around her shoulders.

“Yeah. We were out for a run. Followed the scent back towards the packhouse, but we lost it after that.”

“Really? That’s strange,” Tyrus observed, throwing a curious sideways glance at Enzo, who merely grunted. “So, what are you going to do then?”

“I don’t know. Just keep living life, I guess. Can’t very well stop everything for some faint scent trail on the wind.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s true,” he shrugged, though he looked strangely bothered all of a sudden, as though an unexpected weight had just settled over him.

I was about to question his sudden change in behavior but was quickly distracted by Kiara’s return.

“Shots, bitches!” she yelled as she got back to the table with a tray full of shot glasses.

We grabbed one for each hand and threw them back one right after another. It wasn’t until we’d gone halfway through the tray that we paused for a breather.

“You know, Hala,” Enzo charged, the words dripping with condescension. “Grinding on another male isn’t really appropriate. You should be more respectful to your mate.”

I was taken aback. He barely ever speaks to me anymore, and now he wants to give me a lecture on morals. Who was he to judge me? I had, literally, done nothing wrong, and moreover, he was certainly one to talk. He absolutely had not been abstaining since coming of age, and I knew that for a fact.

“Excuse me, Alpha…” I sneered. “But I don’t believe that what I do is any of your damn business. And if you're so worried about respect towards prospective mates, then you should look in the mirror. Everyone knows that you’ve slept with half the she-wolves in the pack.”

I may have been exaggerating some, but still. He had no right to accuse me of disrespecting my mate when whoever’s his was would have to face multiple former partners of his every single day.

“I’m a male and the future alpha of this pack. I can do what I please,” he snapped with a haughty arrogance. “You’re a female and have a reputation to protect. How do you think that your mate would feel to walk in and find you grinding all over another guy?”

“Seriously?!” I couldn’t believe the audacity of this man. Alpha or not, he had no right. “Last I checked, my mate isn’t here, so I was doing nothing wrong. Until I’m mated, I’m allowed to do what I please just as much as you or anyone else can.”

I stared him in the eye, refusing to submit to his will. I was surprised by how long I could hold the eye contact. I was a beta’s daughter, which made me stronger than the average wolf. But it was still surprising to me that he couldn’t manage to force his authority on me.

I even managed to keep my gaze locked on his as I picked up another shot and slammed it back, before taking another.

After a few moments, I had finished most of the shots that were left on the tray. While Enzo just smirked at me, as though he were amused by my little show of defiance.

Well, I’ll show him how defiant I can really be, I determined as I turned away from the table. I took a quick glance around before spotting a male that I liked. His name was Troy, and he was a pack warrior – agile and strong. We’d dated briefly, and things hadn’t worked out, but that hadn’t stopped us from hooking up on occasion since.

I walked up to him and grabbed his hand, leading him out onto the dance floor without a word, but he didn’t protest.

I pressed myself against him and began to sway with the music. I rubbed my hands all over his firm body and allowed him to do the same to me. He leaned in for a kiss, and I willingly closed the gap, my lips connecting with his.

I’d kissed him before, but for some reason, this time it felt different – stiff, uncomfortable, awkward. I was attracted to Troy; there was no doubt about that. But there was a nagging feeling in my gut that was saying this was wrong. But I convinced myself that it was just Enzo getting into my head, so I tried my best to ignore it.

I was just about to break this sorry excuse for a kiss when there was a loud crashing sound. I ripped my lips away from his in surprise, then instinctively got into a defensive stance. Were we under attack? Glass was shattered, shards flying everywhere.

My head whipped in the direction of the chaos and found Enzo huffing angrily, as he looked at the overturned table in front of him – spilled liquor and broken shot glasses scattered across the floor.

Tyrus was holding tightly onto Aida, having pulled her out of the way just in the nick of time. Kiara was back at the bar and looked just as stunned as the rest of the crowd. We stared at our future alpha, mouths agape and minds muddled with confusion. He was in a bad mood often, but tonight seemed excessive.

What the hell had happened now? I wondered. Was he really so angry about me “disrespecting” a mate who wasn’t even here? And why the fuck does he care so much?

Enzo made no attempts to explain himself or clean up the mess he’d created. Instead, he turned on his heel and stormed out of the bar without a word to anyone.

Well, I guess that was one way to celebrate my birthday.