Page 92 of The Denver Alpha
Juliet’s blonde hair whips around her face as she snaps her head in my direction, grinning from ear to ear. “So good,” she breathes, lunging over the console to wrap her arms around my neck and pull me in for a kiss.
There’s so much fire behind it that I’m immediately swept up in the moment, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her over to straddle me in the drivers’ seat. My hands grip her hips as she rocks against me, our lips sliding together as our tongues battle for dominance and sparks sear between our skin.
I kiss a path down her jaw, licking and nipping at her neck as her back arches. Her ass bumps into the steering wheel and the car horn blares.
“Cole,” she gasps, jolting forward to silence the horn.
Undeterred, I run my hands up the curve of her waist beneath her t-shirt, sucking the skin of her neck hard enough to leave a mark.
“People are staring…”
I graze her throat with my teeth before pulling back, reaching up sweep Juliet’s hair out of her face and tuck it behind her ears. Then I take her face in both hands, bringing it level with my own.
“Good,” I growl, staring into her eyes intently as my wolf pushes to the surface. “Now they all know you’re mine.”
She giggles as she leans forward to give me one last peck on the lips before climbing off my lap, falling back into the passenger seat. “Oh, they know,” she laughs, glancing out the window at the students gawking from the sidewalk. “Just like everyone in the packhouse does after your display in the kitchen this morning.Andmy brother…” She throws her head back, cringing and covering her face with her hands. “Ugh, his face was so red that he looked like he was about to blow a gasket.”
I chuckle to myself as I shift the car into drive and pull away from the curb.
Jax and Quinn left after breakfast this morning. Jax’s parting words went something like‘break my sister’s heart and I’ll rip yours from your chest while it’s still beating’, which was pretty much what I expected. I mean, I’ve got a little sister too. When she and Brock got together, I didn’t deliver a warning in as many words, but the sentiment was the same.
“You hungry?” I ask, merging into traffic to head away from campus. “I figured we could grab something to eat and you could tell me all about orientation.”
Juliet shrugs a shoulder. “I could eat. Then I’ve got some reading to do tonight. One of the professors didn’t have their syllabus posted online and dumped a bunch of reading on us for tomorrow, can you believe that? Apparently he’s old school so he doesn’t like to use the online portal for assignments, but…”
She’s cut off by the sound of my phone ringing through the car speakers, Jason’s name flashing on the screen.
“Hold that thought, babe,” I mumble, sliding my gaze to Juliet with a smile as I hit the button to answer the call. “Cole Bauer.”
“Alpha,” Jason replies breathlessly on the other end of the line. “We’ve got a situation at Jokers.”
My smile disappears at the distress in his tone. Juliet picks up on it too, the two of us exchanging apprehensive glances.
“What kind of situation?”
After dropping Juliet off at campus earlier, I went to my downtown office to work for a while. Right before coming back to get her, Jason had stopped by to drop off some paperwork, saying that he was headed to the club.
“Someone trashed the place,” Jason rushes out, his voice strained. “Fuck, it’s a mess here. There’s no way we’ll be able to get it cleaned up in time to open tonight. Fuck!”
“I’m on my way.”
I end the call, whipping a U-turn and narrowly avoiding a collision. The other driver lays on their horn, flipping me the bird, but I just speed away, intent on getting to Jokers as quickly as possible.
“Who would trash your club?” Juliet wonders aloud, shaking her head in disbelief. “Do things like this happen often?”
“No.”
I flex my knuckles around the steering wheel, chewing on the inside of my cheek. I’m drawing deep breaths, trying to stay calm, but I’m fucking seething.
Picking up on my mood, Juliet doesn’t say another word as we navigate the city streets, pulling up in the back alley behind Jokers and parking. The rear door of the building is propped open, and as we exit the Camaro and walk inside, she slides her hand into mine, giving it a little squeeze. I’m glad she’s there to anchor me because I’m not prepared for the scene we step into.
Jason wasn’t exaggerating when he said the place was a mess. Broken glass crunches beneath the soles of my shoes as we advance into the main area of the club, taking in the disastrous condition of the interior. It looks like a damn tornado came through.
High-top tables are upended, barstools lie in twisted broken heaps on the glass-covered floor. Shattered liquor bottles and glassware are strewn about, and the main bar looks like it was beat to hell with something, the top a mess of splintered wood. Signs have been torn from the walls, destroyed and discarded, and the leather VIP booths in the balcony above have been sliced open, stuffing hanging out of the gaping holes.
The club has been vandalized almost beyond recognition, no surface left unscathed, which tells me this wasn’t a random act. It was personal.
Juliet takes in the carnage around us with wide eyes, her hand coming up to cover her gasp as she surveys the damage. “Who…?”