Savage Bonds

Tula's

Tula's was packed, the air thick with the scent of alcohol, arousal, and barely contained pack energy. Luka surveyed the crowd from his position at the bar, his wolf restless beneath his skin despite the successful search for Emma Morrison. They'd found her. Shaken but alive and brought her home safely. Luka felt like he deserved to blow off some steam.

But something was off. A nagging emptiness gnawed at his chest.

"Another round?" Jake asked, sliding up beside him with two beers.

"Thanks." Luka took a long pull, the cold liquid doing nothing to ease the strange ache that had been building. His eyes scanned the room, desperate for distraction. "Good crowd tonight."

"Mmm," Jake hummed. Luka focused on the brunette near the dance floor. Jessica something. He'd seen her around, knew she was single, and knew she was interested based on the way she'd been looking at him all night.

Maybe she'll help, he thought, though he couldn't say what exactly he needed help with.

"I'll be back," Luka said, handing Jake his barely touched beer.

Jessica was more than willing when he approached, her hands sliding around his neck as they moved to the music. She was pretty, enthusiastic, and exactly what he needed to take his mind off the strange restlessness.

Except it wasn't working. Her perfume was too sweet. Her laugh too high. Her hands on his skin felt wrong somehow, like wearing clothes that didn't fit.

"You're a good dancer," she purred against his ear, pressing closer.

The words scraped against his nerves. Why did everything feel so hollow tonight?

"I have my moments," he replied, spinning her around. Over her shoulder, he caught sight of Lauren near the bar, her face tight with barely controlled fury. He'd forgotten she was here.

The sight of her made his chest tighten with guilt. Not because he cared about hurting her, but because he knew he should care and didn't. What was wrong with him?

When the song ended, Jessica looked up at him expectantly, but Luka was already stepping back, his skin crawling with inexplicable irritation. "Thanks for the dance," he said with a charming smile, though it felt like a mask that didn't quite fit anymore. "I should get back to my friends."

Her face fell slightly, but she recovered quickly. "Of course. Maybe we can do it again?"

"Maybe," he said, though they both knew he wouldn't be back. The lie tasted bitter.

He made his way to the bar where a redhead was nursing a martini and looking bored. He knew her too, vaguely. Pack member, worked at the bank, recently single. The mechanical way he cataloged her details made him feel suddenly exhausted.

What am I doing? The thought came unbidden, sharp with self-disgust.

"Can I buy you a drink?" he slid onto the stool beside her.

Her face lit up. "I'd love that."

As he signaled the bartender, he saw Lauren pushing through the crowd. Her eyes were locked on him, and the desperate edge to her expression made his wolf wary.

Rachel leaned closer, "I heard you found Emma Morrison today."

"Just doing my job," Luka replied. His attention was split between Rachel's admiring gaze and Lauren's approach. His skin prickled with the need to run.

"Luka." Lauren's voice was steel wrapped in silk as she appeared at his elbow. Her hand clamped down on his arm, nails digging in just shy of drawing blood. The possessiveness in her touch made his wolf snarl. "We need to talk."

"I'm busy."

"Now." Her smile was all teeth, no warmth. "Unless you want me to make a scene right here."

Rachel looked between them, clearly uncomfortable. "I should go."

"Yes," Lauren said before Luka could respond. "You should."

Luka watched Rachel retreat. "That was rude."

"Rude?" Lauren's laugh was sharp, brittle as breaking glass. "You want to talk about rude? How about ignoring me all night? Dancing with every unmated female in here like you're running through a catalog?"

"Lauren."

"No." She pressed closer, backing him against the bar. The scent of her perfume was overwhelming, desperate, making his stomach turn. "I'm done playing games, Luka. We've been doing this dance for months. Everyone expects us to be together. My friends keep asking when you're going to make it official."

Oh hell, here we go again. The familiar refrain made him want to bang his head against the bar. How many times had they had this exact conversation? Official. The very thought made him feel like he was suffocating.

"We've discussed this."

"You've discussed it. You've decided. But you never asked what I want." Her eyes were bright with unshed tears. The rawness of her emotion made him want to bolt. "Do you have any idea what it's like? Watching you parade these random girls around while I stand here like an i***t, waiting for you to get it out of your system?"

Guilt twisted in his gut. He knew he sounded cruel. Knew he was using her. But the alternative? Committing, settling down, becoming the alpha everyone expected? That felt like death.

Luka glanced around, noting the interested stares from nearby pack members. "Let's not do this here."

"Why? Afraid people might see the real you? The one who uses women for entertainment, then tosses them aside?" Her voice was rising. "I've been warming your bed for months, and what do I have to show for it?"

"Lower your voice," he warned, his own emotions starting to fray.

"Or what?" She pressed even closer, her hand sliding up his chest. The gesture should have been seductive, but it felt like chains wrapping around him. "You'll leave? Find another distraction? There's a blonde by the pool tables who's been eyeing you. Or maybe Rachel?"

"Enough." He caught her wrist, not roughly but firmly. "You're drunk."

"I'm desperate," she corrected, and for a moment, the mask slipped entirely. Raw pain flickered across her face. "I'm losing you! What does she have that I don't?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb. I saw how you looked at her this morning." Lauren's nails dug deeper into his arm. "Is that your type now? Sweaty tomboys?"

The words triggered something. A flash of memory. Dark hair, fierce eyes, the scent of coffee and defiance.

He didn't respond or even process what she was saying. He saw Jake leaning against a pillar nearby, phone pressed to his ear, laughing at something whoever he was talking to had said.

"I swear, if you run the table, I'm never playing pool with you again." Jake was saying, his voice fond and amused.

Luka extracted himself from Lauren's grip and moved toward his friend, desperate for any escape from her increasingly desperate clutches. His heart was racing now, though he couldn't say why.

"Who's that?" Luka asked, grabbing his abandoned beer.

Jake held up a finger, still talking. "Yeah, yeah, I know you're hustling the college kids. Just don't expect me to be easy money."

He scanned the room again, looking for a way to escape Lauren, when his gaze landed on the pool tables in the back corner.

And his world stopped.

The restlessness that had been plaguing him all night suddenly crystallized into sharp, painful clarity. His wolf surged forward so violently that he had to grip the bar to keep from shifting.

There, lining up a shot with practiced ease, was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. Long black hair braided down her back, tight jeans that showed off legs that went on for miles, and a simple black tank top that revealed toned arms. She moved with fluid grace, her body language confident and relaxed as she sank the shot with surgical precision.

But it was more than her beauty that knocked the breath from his lungs. It was the way everything inside him suddenly oriented toward her. Like she was the magnetic north on his compass, and he'd been lost without knowing it.

"Holy s**t," he breathed, his beer forgotten in his hand. His heart hammered against his ribs, every cell in his body screaming with recognition he didn't understand.

She straightened, laughing at something her companion said. Elora, he realized. That's when he noticed the girl had her phone pressed to her ear. Her head tilted as she listened to whoever she was talking to.

The sound of her laugh hit him like a physical blow. Low, genuine, unguarded. It was the most beautiful sound he'd ever heard, and it made him ache with a longing so intense it bordered on pain.

Wait. Jake was on the phone. She was on the phone.

"Jake," Luka said slowly, his voice rough with emotions he couldn't name, "who the hell are you talking to?"

"Hold on." Jake pulled the phone away from his ear. "What?"

"The brunette at the pool table. Who is she?"

Jake followed his gaze, and his eyebrows shot up. "Are you serious?"

"What?" The word came out more desperate than he'd intended.

Jake shook his head with something that looked like disbelief. "You know what? I need to call you back," he said into the phone before hanging up.

"Well?" Luka demanded, his hands clenched into fists.

"That's Juni," Jake said, like it should mean something.

"Juni?" The name sent electricity down his spine.

Jake stared at him. "Juni Sullivan. You've known her your entire life. Went to school with us? Works at Moonbean?"

The pieces clicked into place with an almost audible snap. Coffee shop Juni. The girl from the gym this morning.

Shame flooded through him, hot and overwhelming. How had he not remembered her?

"That's Juni?" Luka couldn't reconcile the woman at the pool table, confident, stunning, commanding the space around her, with the girl who'd served him coffee while acting as if he were a nuisance.

"Yeah," Jake said slowly. "How do you not recognize her?"

Before Luka could answer, movement near the pool tables caught his eye. A man was approaching their table with the kind of swagger that immediately put Luka's teeth on edge.

"f**k," Jake muttered.

Asher Morgan. Riverside Pack's alpha heir.

"What's he doing here?" Luka growled.

"It's a neutral bar," Jake reminded him, but his jaw was tight. "Open to all packs, remember?"

Luka hated Asher. The guy was arrogant and had a habit of sniffing around their pack like he was shopping for recruits. Dating between packs wasn't forbidden, but it was complicated. Most wolves stayed within their own pack to avoid the mess.

Luka watched with growing irritation as Asher walked up behind Juni as though he belonged there. His hands slid around her waist in a possessive gesture that made Luka's vision go red.

The rage that erupted was unlike anything he'd ever felt. His vision blurred at the edges, everything narrowing to those hands on her waist.

"No f*****g way," he growled.

"Oh s**t," Jake muttered.

Juni leaned back into Asher's embrace like it was the most natural thing in the world. She turned her head, smiling at something he whispered in her ear.

The intimacy of it made something twist in his gut. This morning at the coffee shop, she'd barely looked at him. Now here she was, completely at ease with another alpha.

And then Asher kissed her.