Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

             For two months after you broke up he was relentless, he never left you alone. Calls, texts, emails, you switched your phone number, bought a completely new phone, but somehow, he was still able to get a hold of your new number. You needed help. You thought about going to the police, but what would they do? They could barely get a hold on the amount of crimes that were built up in the city, why would you become a top priority? The city you lived in was like something out of a comic book. Criminals did their deeds in the open during daylight, mobs and gangs paraded in the streets causing havoc, and the police felt too overrun to do anything about it. Crime walked freely, too freely, hardly anything could be done. So your ex-boyfriend is now your stalker. They would say, so what? Hundreds of people are dying in the streets every day, there’s bigger problems than yours.

             “You should hire a personal bodyguard,” your friend Sheila said. The two of you were curled up on the couch in your apartment. Luckily, it had good enough security, and the landlord notified you every time she caught sight of your ex lurking around outside, so you hadn’t had to move. Yet.

            “Like I could afford that,” you scoffed. “I’m barely making it by here.”

            “Mmm,” she hummed in thought. “Well, you need some sort of protection. Karate lessons?”

            “I tried that once in high school. Not really my thing. I don’t like hurting people?”

            Sheila sighed. “Well, you need something. I hate to say it, but he might not be content with watching you from bushes and bugging you online forever.”

            You stared back at your friend, knowing she was right, already having thought of all of this before, you just didn’t want to voice your agreement out loud. That would make it real.

            She looked away, and the two of you sat in silence for a moment, wanting to say something, anything, but what was there to say?

            Finally, you heard her draw in a breath, “You know… I work with a girl who had a problem like yours. Well, not exactly like yours, I don’t think. She wouldn’t tell me all the details…”

            “What’d she do?”

            Sheila took in another deep breath, glancing at you. Your brow quirked, what was she about to tell you?

            “You know about… the Wolf Pack?”

            You blinked. Of course you knew about them. The Wolf Pack was one of the many biker gangs that ran wild in the city. Mainly, all you knew that they did was ride their loud motorcycles through the streets, glaring at anyone who glanced their way.

            “Were they the ones harassing her?” The thought was scary, an entire group of ruthless guys ganging up on one person. You’d hate to be that one person.

            Sheila shook her head. “The exact opposite. They’re the ones that helped her. Scared the life out of whoever it was that was bothering her. Maybe…”

            You started shaking your head. “Oh no, there’s no way I’m going to ask a biker gang for help! They’ll eat me alive!”

            “They’re not cannibals,” Sheila scoffed. “She said they’re good people! And…” she got a wicked, excited grin on her face. “The leader is supposed to be really good looking.”

            You rolled your eyes and let your head fall back. “Not happening. I don’t care if he modeled for J. Crew before he took up his position as Alpha of the pack.” Your head dropped forward again to stare at your friend. “I’m not going to them for help.”

            Things only got worse. A week later, you were getting calls from your landlord about your ex wandering around outside every day. He was calling you every few hours, causing you to get glares at work, and filling your inbox with dozens of emails. All asking where you were, why won’t you answer his calls, and can’t you see you’re making a mistake?

            Soon the voicemails, texts, and emails were starting to get darker. Pick up the phone right now, you’re going to regret not answering me, you think you can keep ignoring me forever? I’m gonna make you pay for tearing us apart.

            Then one night while you were trying to fall asleep you heard tapping on the window attached to a landing. You were just going to ignore it, thinking maybe it was a branch knocking against the glass, but it only got louder, and it wasn’t letting up. When you finally got up to see what it was you saw a vague shape in the dark, and the flash of a blade. You screamed and ran back to your bedroom, locking the door. You dialed 911 and told them what was happening. You stayed on the line with the operator and she updated you on when the police arrived, when they checked outside your window, and you finally hung up when they knocked on your door.

            You were honest in retelling that you weren’t able to make out any distinct features of whoever it was outside your window, but you knew without a doubt that they’d had a knife. You didn’t tell them who you suspected it to be, and you weren’t sure why. Maybe you wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, or maybe you were just ready to take a different approach at getting your ex off your back. Either way, as soon as the police were gone, you texted Sheila, hands shaking, gasping as you fought to hold back terrified tears.

            YOU: I need to know how to get ahold of the wolf pack

            Sent: 3:42 a.m.

            SHEILS: I’ll get the info asap

            Sent: 3:45 a.m.

Chapter Text

            The next day you found yourself outside of a rundown looking bar called The Shakedown. Well, you weren’t right outside it, you were standing across the street from it, scared to make the jog over. Maybe a dozen bikers were standing around outside, leaning on bikes, against the brick wall, smoking, laughing, talking to each other. They were all men, so the thought of walking past them to get inside a dark, dank room filled, undoubtedly, with more biker men, was a terrifying thought.

            You have to try. He’s just going to keep harassing you and it might get worse. Even if they won’t help you, you have to try.

            You took several deep breaths, balled your hands into fists, gripped the strap of your purse close to you, and began crossing the street toward the bar.

            They all turned to look at you as you approached, most quieting down, some whispering to each other. You waited for one of them to yell out at you, whistle, or make some other obscene noise but none of them did. So, you grabbed the handle of the door and entered the bar.

            It was… cleaner than you thought it would be. No drunks slumped over tables, no dirty dishes anywhere there wasn’t a customer. A majority of the customers, however, did seem to be bikers. A few of them that were near the door turned and looked at you when you entered, but turned away once you glanced at them.

            You gently maneuvered yourself between people, trying to get to the bar. There was supposed to be a bartender working named Brian. Sheila told you that if you ordered a Fallen Angel he would help you.

            You were finally able to spot the bartender as you made your way over. He was an older man with short, gray five o’clock shadow dusting his jaw. His blue eyes were piercing, his gaze intense everywhere he looked. When he wasn’t filling drinks he was surveying the area, like he was keeping watch.

            The closest available spot at the bar was a few feet away from where the bartender was standing. You walked up, leaning your hands against the countertop, trying hard to ignore the stares of the people around you.

            “Um, excuse me?” you asked, but your voice was too quiet, he didn’t hear you. “Excuse me?” you asked again, a little louder but still not enough.

            “Brian!” The man to your left shouted, causing the bartenders head to snap up. “This lady would like some service.”

            You glanced over at the man who got the attention of the bartender. He didn’t look like someone who belonged in a biker bar. He wore the dark leather jacket and had the fingerless gloves, but he was fairly skinny, with a pointed nose and sunken eyes.

            “Uh, thank you…” you muttered to him.

            “No problem,” he mumbled back, raising his glass of—wait, is that milk?—to his mouth for a drink.

            “Thanks, Ross,” the bartender said to the milk-drinker, who nodded his head silently. Then the bartender turned his gaze to you. “Yes, what would you like?”

            “Uh, a…” You glanced away for a moment and lowered your voice. “Fallen Angel?”

            You could feel the man named Ross watching you, glass pausing at his lips. Brian also stared at you a moment then nodded. “I’ll go get that for you.” And he left.

            You waited silently, staring straight ahead, not daring to look around at anyone. After just a couple minutes Brian appeared from around the corner of the bar. “Come with me,” he said, beckoning to you.

            “Okay…” You moved over to where he was and followed him to a darker, more private part of the bar. There was a booth at the far right that you figured Brian was taking you to because it was the only one that had people occupying it. There were two bigger men with short beards, one had his hair in a short ponytail, a blonde streak pulled back with the rest of the brown. The others hair was fluffy, and he had soft eyes. These two stood on either side of the booth.

            Then there was the man lounging in the middle of the booth, his feet up on the table.

            Sheila had been right, he was rather good-looking.

            He was far skinnier than the other men, as skinny as the man named Ross had looked, with a five-o’clock shadow, and an immense mass of shoulder length, black curls that seemed to stick up everywhere. His jaw was sharp, and his brown eyes bore into everything he looked at. Which they did. Right into you. His head lolled to the sides as he watched you and Brian approach, following as you came closer. Was this really the leader of the Wolf Pack you were supposed to meet? Everything went exactly how Sheila said it did for the other girl, how could this… lanky, dorky looking beanpole be the leader of the terrifying Wolf Pack?

            Brian grabbed a stool from a nearby table and placed it in front of the booth.

            “Please,” he said, gesturing to the stool for you.

            You sat and whispered a thank you.

            “Thank you, Brian,” the one with the mess of curls said.

            “You’re welcome,” Brian nodded, and went away.

            “Hello,” the man with the curls said, no smile or hint of any emotion in his greeting.

            “Hello…” you answered back, and shifted in the stool. He was staring at you very intently, and it made you nervous.

            “What’s your name?”

            “(Y/F/N) (Y/L/N),” you answered.

            “(Y/n), he repeated. “Hm.”

            What did that mean?

            “Why are you here?”

            “I…” What were you doing here? It all seemed so stupid now. Now that you were here, about to ask for help it seemed like such a trivial thing to ask for help with. What were you doing?

            “Yes?” he asked, somewhat impatiently.

            You didn’t want to do this. You decided right then that you wanted to leave and never come back, just deal with your ex on your own, go to the police, demand they give you the attention you deserve… But you knew that wouldn’t work. You knew it was more than you could handle on your own. You were here now, and you had to try. He was waiting for you to answer him. Speak!

            “I, uh… have… a problem.”

            The man chuckled. “That’s obvious. You’re here, aren’t you? Now what is the problem, exactly?”

            You blinked, licked your lips. “My ex-boyfriend is, um… stalking me.”

            The man sat back, his head knocking gently against the booth as he rolled his eyes. “Another one of these…”

            “Dan…” The man with the blonde streak turned and mumbled. It was tense, like it wanted to be a suggestion but came out more like a warning.

            He—Dan, really?—lifted his head and stared back at you, a wry smirk on his face. “Fine, fine. What’s he doing? Sending you a few pesky emails? Calling you every once in awhile? Showing up at your house uninvited?”

            You bit back a sob, regretting your decision to come here more and more every second. “Something like that…” you whispered.

            “More? Less?”

            “More. A lot… more.” You took a breath. “I think he came to my house last night… with a knife.”

            “You think?”

            “I-It was dark, I could barely see…”

            “Mhmm,” he nodded, crossing his arms. “Well…” he trailed off, studying you and seeming lost in thought. “What kind of job do you have?”

            “An office job.”

            “Work in a cubicle, something like that?” You nodded. “Do you like it?” You thought a moment but shook your head. “Hm. Live in an apartment?” You nodded. “Uh-huh… Do you have a picture of this guy?”

            “Uh… yeah,” you dug in your purse for your phone and opened the gallery, scrolling through your pictures for the only one of your ex you kept. You were saving it for occasions such as this. You found it and opened it, holding your phone out to him.

            The man with the blonde streak took it instead, studying it for a few moments before he passed it to the other man, who in turn also studied it. All the while Dan kept his eyes on you, his stare dark. You weren’t sure what it meant. You wanted to return his gaze, be respectful, but it was too intense to look at for long. Finally, your phone was handed to him. He took it and leaned back, studying the picture for far longer than the other two had. He then locked your phone and set it on the table in front of him. You didn’t move to take it.

            “Do you have all of his personal information? Home address, phone number, email, all that?” You nodded slowly and Dan pulled out a notebook, handed it to the man with the blonde streak who handed it to you. “Write all of that plus all of your information down.” Once you scratched it all down you handed the notebook back to the man with the blonde streak.

            “Great. Now,” Dan sat up, his feet slamming on the floor. He leaned forward, pressing his fingertips together, elbows on the table. “Here’s what I’m thinking, and it’s not an option if you really do want my help. I can give you the security I’m sure you so desperately want. I can help you, there’s no doubt about that, but it’s going to require of you… more than I think you’ll like.”

            “…What do you mean?”

            He grinned wickedly. “If you want my help, our help,” he gestured to the other two men. “You will need to… disappear, so to speak.”

            You stared blankly, unsure. “…What? Like a witness protection program sort of thing?”

            He chuckled, a chuckle that said, stupid girl. “No, nothing like that. You’ll need to leave your job, your apartment, have little to no connection to your current life… and join us.”

            You blinked. And blinked again. And again. What? “What? You expect me to—”

            “Yes,” he said simply. “If you want this guy to leave you alone, if you think he won’t stop, and he does look like a very serious fellow, one who doesn’t quit until he’s won, then this is what you will have to do. You don’t think he’ll stop, do you?”

            You shook your head sadly.

            “Then perhaps if you’re seen with us… it will stop. It will stop, I’ll make it stop.” His tone was deathly serious.

            “But where will I—what will I--?”

            “You’ll live here, and work here.”

            “Here?” This was turning into the worst-case scenario. You would have preferred he laughed in your face and sent you on your way. Instead he expected you to uproot your whole life? “I can’t just—there’s no way—”

            “I own this bar, there is a way.”

            He glanced over at the notebook. “The area you live in… it’s okay. Obviously not the best… right?”

            His tone was suggestive, he wanted you to find this bar full of brooding men more secure than anywhere else? Why would you leave your private apartment to live here? The look on his face was hard. He expected you to trade everything you had for his protection.

            “For how long?”

            “As long as it takes.”

            With your ex, that could take months. You’d be sleeping and working under the Alpha’s roof for an indefinite amount of time, and for what?

            Suddenly your phone started buzzing. Dan looked down at it and read off the contact name. “’Asshole’? Are we speaking of the devil now?” He picked up your phone and held out his finger to swipe and answer the call.

            “Wait, no--!” You gasped, feebly reaching forward.

            “What will it be? You can either go home, continue to be harassed by this dickwad, or… I can give you all the protection from him you could ever ask for.”

            You stared at him, listening to the phone buzz in his hand. You were scared. You were terrified and confused.

            But you weren’t afraid of the Alpha of the Wolf Pack, (although, sure, he unnerved you a bit) you were afraid of your ex, and what he might do, what he might be planning to do. How far would he go? His emails, voicemails, texts, were becoming scarier each day. How else were you supposed to get him to stop?

            “Okay. I’ll do it.”

            “Mhmm,” he nodded as if he knew what you would say all along, and answered the phone call.

            “Hello? Is this the Asshole this number is listed under?”

            “What are you--No, no, no!” You gasped, standing frantically.

            “Ah…” Dan said, holding his finger up to you. The other two men held up their hands at you and began walking you back to your chair. You sat, shaking as you watched Dan talk to your ex. “Well, this is (y/n)’s new beau… Funny, she didn’t mention having dated anyone else…”

            You caught the man with the blonde streak rolling his eyes.

            “Well, I think I’ll have to ask you to stop pestering (y/n) if you’re going to act this way, or else I will find you, break both of your thigh bones, and leave you to suffer in a back alley, understood?” He’d leaned forward, his tone dark, biting each syllable out as he said them. He listened for a moment then rolled his eyes, falling back against the booth. “Oh, blah, blah, blah, honestly,” he scoffed, and hung up the call.

            “What did you just do?” you asked, voice shaking.

            Dan shrugged, studying your phone. “Tried to put the fear of me into him but I’m not too sure it worked… I’m honestly excited for if he tries to find you again.”

            You scoffed. “Great.”

            Dan’s eyes shot to you. “What?” he spat. “You sound ungrateful, sweetheart. I just decided to give you a home and a job, protection against your psycho ex.” He clicked his tongue against his teeth in a shaming manner. “I’d speak with a bit more gratitude if I were you.” He grinned, grabbing both ends of your phone and pushed, snapping it in half.

            You gasped, your mind going blank. So much of your life had been on that phone. Pictures and music and work documents, all gone.

            Dan just scoffed. “Oh, don’t look so sad. I’m going to get you a new one, of course. Just have to dispose of this so he can’t get ahold of you again.”

            You grit your teeth. “I already tried that. It didn’t work.”

            He paused, then shrugged. “Ah. Well. No harm giving it a second shot, eh? After all, it’ll make the transition so much smoother if I give you a fresh one.” He smiled, pushing your broken and shattered phone aside. How had he done that? Just snapped a phone like it were a ruler? He had to be much stronger than he looked…

            You let yourself take a moment, fingers covering your eyes as you tried to process everything. You couldn’t. One pressing question was burning on your tongue at the moment so you dropped your hands, looking defeated as you asked, “What am I going to be doing here? As a job?”

            Dan chuckled and sat back. “Bartender.”

            You sighed. Better than anything else, I guess.

            “And being my personal pet.”

Chapter Text

            ‘And being my personal pet.’

            The words rang in your ears. You stared blankly. “What? What does that mean?” Images of you crawling around on the floor as he led you by a leash flashed in your mind. Anger made you flush up at the thought.

            He waved his hand. “Nothing too terrible, it just means wherever I go, you go. If I leave the bar, you come with me. If I’m here, you’ll be working with Brian. Simple as that.”

            “But… why, exactly?”

            “Helps if Asshole happens to see you while you’re out. If he sees you with someone else, then… perhaps that will be beneficial.”

            Majorly, you thought to yourself, surprised that you finally agreed with him on something.

            “What if he—”

            “That’s for me to deal with, right? That’s why you’re here?” Once again, he said it as if it were obvious, like your question was stupid. You didn’t know if you were going to be able to get used to that habit of his.

            “Now, I suppose you’ll have to make some preparations, quit your job, pack up your apartment.”

            You sighed internally, quitting your job was one thing if you were just going right into another, but packing up your apartment by yourself was going to suck.

            “Barry, go make sure Holly and Ross are ready to help (Y/n) pack up her things.”

            The man with short hair nodded and went away.

            You blinked, surprised, but happy that you would have some help. You were also surprised to hear a female name, you figured this place was overrun by men.  

            “Arin will take you in a bit to go quit your job.”

            You nodded. “I asked for the day off because of what happened last night… it’s going to seem so weird to go quit my job now.”

            He continued, ignoring what you just said. “Arin, when you get back, let Suzy know that (Y/n) is going to need a new wardrobe.” He turned to you, a wolfish smile on his face. “If you’re going to be seen with us you can’t be dressed like that.” You looked down at your clothes, a pale pink skirt with a white cardigan and gray top. You pouted slightly, you liked your clothes, and you didn’t want to be covered in leather 24/7.

            Arin sighed. “Suzy will be excited to hear that.”

            “You can go now,” he said, looking at you. You stood abruptly, causing the chair to squeak abrasively against the floor. You winced and looked up at Dan. What were you supposed to say now?

            “Uh… th-thank—”

            Dan started waving his hand. “Go, go.”

            You turned to Arin and he nodded his head toward the front of the bar. You took one last glance back at Dan, he was playing with the pieces of your shattered phone, trying to bend them more. You turned away and began walking back to the front of the bar, unsure of what you were getting yourself into, and scared as hell of what this all meant.

            “We’re going to ride on that?” you asked, staring dumbfounded at Arin and the vehicle he was standing next to, a motorcycle the color of charcoal.

            “Oh, yeah.” He pulled open a large pouch hanging from the back and pulled out a black helmet with pink trim. “You better get used to it. I don’t drive nearly as fast as Dan does, and you’ll be doing most of your riding with him.

            “Oh,” you held your stomach, nausea flowing through you.

            “Catch,” Arin said, and tossed the helmet your way.

            Surprisingly, you caught it. “My hair…” you muttered sadly.

            “Again, you’ll have to get used to it.”

            You sighed begrudgingly and pulled the heavy helmet on. You fought to keep your head from tipping to one side or the other. Arin climbed onto the bike and started it up.

            “Come on,” he said.

            You reluctantly climbed on behind him. He grabbed your arms and pulled them around himself. “Woah,” you yelped in alarm.

            “Trust me, you’re gonna wanna hold on.”

            “Okay…” Your voice was drowned out as he revved the engine, suddenly you were glad the helmet was blocking out some of the noise.

            Arin pulled his own helmet on and hit the kick stand with his foot, making it jump off the asphalt. “Here we go,” he said, and began pulling the two of you away from the bar.

            It was an excruciating fifteen minutes. Your fingers were gripping Arin’s jacket so hard they were beginning to cramp, and you were a tad worried you were about to rip a hole in the leather. Magically, the two of you hadn’t run into a red light the entire drive, but that didn’t help your mood about the whole thing. You were more than happy to get off the motorcycle, tearing off your helmet and practically slamming it down where you’d been sitting.

            “I’ll be he—”

            “Got it,” you muttered, and turned to walk into the building.

            Another fifteen minutes later and you’d explained that you needed to leave your job immediately to your boss. She asked some questions, obviously trying not to pry too much. You hadn’t told anyone at work about your ex, so you made something up about having wanted to do something different for a while and she wished you the best. Then it was back on the hog and back to the Shakedown. When you arrived you were more annoyed than before.

            “I’m not going to like doing that all the time.”

            Arin shrugged, shoving the helmet you’d been wearing into it’s pouch. “You—"

            “--Get used to it? Yeah, unlikely,” you scoffed, annoyed that that seemed to be the answer to everything with these people. You began following him into the bar and noticed the giant wolf patch sewn into the back of his jacket. “Nice wolf.”

            “Oh, thanks,” he replied, not expecting the compliment. “Everyone who’s in the Wolf Pack has a specific animal patch on their jacket. Mine, Barry, and Dan’s are all the same, a Wolf, except Dan’s is a little different.” You glanced at the patch again. The whole body of the wolf could be seen, staring straight ahead with one paw forward. You wondered what Dan’s looked like.

            “Like an animal specific to themselves?” you asked, as he held the door open for you.

            He nodded, following you inside. “Yeah.”

            “Who picks them?”

            “Usually Dan, but if you don’t like it you can always change it, he doesn’t care that much.” You nodded in response. Arin began looking around the bar, trying to find someone. “I’m gonna go find Suzy so she can set you up with some new clothes.”

            “Okay,”

            “Be back,” he said, and disappeared in the crowd.

            Once you were alone you remembered where you were, and that you were, in fact, not at all alone. You were surrounded by dozens of drunk, loud men, who seemed to all be staring over at you. You were dreading for the inevitable, for some loser to come over and try to hit on you. What would you do then? Could you tell them to fuck off? Would Dan get angry if it came back around to him? What would he—

            “Hi, you’re (y/n), right?”

            You blinked, head snapping to a soft voice. It belonged to a woman with short, messy pale pink hair. Her eyes were dark, and the giant shirt she wore looked like it had gone through a shootout, holes of every size were torn through it.

            “Um, yeah,” you answered.

            “I’m Holly, my husband Ross and I are going to help you move in?”

            You blinked, “Oh, right, hi.” You held out your hand and she took it, shaking gently.

            “I’m sure you’re a little freaked out right now but this is all gonna be worth it. Dan always keeps his promises. And this place isn’t so bad once you get your footing.”

            Just then, about ten feet away from where the two of you were standing, someone threw down an entire pitcher of beer and attacked another bar patron. You and Holly watched in silence as it took three guys to tear the two away from each other, then were taken outside.

            “I…” Holly stammered. “I swear it’s not so bad.”

            “Right…”

            “Do you want something to drink? On the house since you’ll be working here soon.”

            “Just a water will be fine.”

            “Alright, then let’s go.” You let Holly lead you toward the bar, gently pushing past everyone blocking the way. You were able to catch sight of the patch on the back of her leather jacket: a giant white bird, it’s wings spread, looking like it was about to catch some prey.

            “I like your patch,” you said.

            “Oh, thanks. I love birds so Dan got me the biggest and best bird patch he could find.”

            Was everyone talking about a different Dan from the one you’d met earlier? You bit back your question.

            “Hey, Brian,” Holly said once the two of you reached the bar. Brian came up at once. “A water for (y/n), please.”

            Brian looked over at you and gave a half-smile. “Coming right up.” He grabbed a short glass and filled it with water from a pitcher under the table. “So, you’ll be working back here pretty soon, huh?” He passed the glass over to you.

            You grabbed the glass and just held onto it, enjoying the cold touch it gave your fingertips. “I guess so,” you sighed.

            “Don’t worry, I’ll start easy on ya. You ever worked in a bar before?”

            You shook your head. You’d never had any of those normal jobs everyone seemed to suffer through before landing in their career. Your parents didn’t want you to work while you were in school, and you’d been able to land temping jobs since you were out until a company liked you enough to keep you. Then you’d moved out of your parents place and gotten your own. You’d only been working at your previous job for the last two years, now you were back under someone else’s roof. You grieved for that slice of freedom you’d experienced, but only for a moment as you realized it’d been the exact amount of time you’d known your horrible ex. You pushed all thoughts of him out of your head as Brian began talking again.

            “You won’t need much training, the most complicated drink over half of the people that usually hang around here orders is a rum and coke. You’ll be fine.”

            You nodded, turning the glass slightly in your fingers and then raising it to your lips.

            “Ah, there’s Suzy.”

            You turned at Holly’s mention of the other girl you would be meeting and saw Arin walking over with his arm wrapped around a short woman with long black hair and amazing makeup.

            “Hi, (y/n), right?” the woman asked. You nodded and she stuck her hand out. “I’m Suzy, Arin’s wife. We’re gonna go shopping!” She sung the last part, a huge smile on her face.

            You chuckled and shook her hand. “I’m happy you’re excited.”

            “Dan gave me free rein to get whatever we want, so yeah. This is gonna be so much fun!”

            You laughed again. Suzy was the first person you’d met here that made you genuinely feel comfortable and happy. You were going to try and spend as much time with her as possible.

            “Then should we go?” you asked.

            Arin nodded, “Yeah, we just have to wait for Dan.”

            Your heart thudded. “What? Why?”

            “He decided he wants to join you two out shopping.”

            “Why?” You drew out the word, fighting against the urge to stomp your foot like a child throwing a fit.

            “Because…” a voice behind you said. You turned and saw Dan himself leaning against the bar, smirking over at you. “Who knows when Asshole is gonna be around to see you, and we wanna get it threw his head that you’re off the table to mess with as soon as possible, right?”

            You hadn’t realized it but you’d been holding your breath. “I-I guess,” you squeaked out, trying to remember how to breathe.

            “Right. So,” he grinned. “Let’s ride.”

            The three of you (Suzy, Dan, and yourself), walked outside. You followed Suzy to her bike, black with a hot pink trim. You guessed the helmet in Arin’s pouch on his bike had been an extra for her.

            “Pretty,” you remarked.

            “Oh, thank you! But… I think you’re—”

            “Oh, (y/n)!” Dan called.

            You turned to see Dan waving over to you. “You’re riding with me, sweetheart.”

            You wanted to argue, but decided it best not to. You smiled at Suzy sadly and walked over to Dan. His bike was a matte black, with different parts of it a regular shiny black. You caught sight of the patch on Dan’s back and studied it. It was a wolf just like Arin had described, but all you could see was the wolf’s head, a snarl on it’s face. It was scary, and you weren’t looking forward to having to stare at it the entire ride to wherever it was you were going to.

            “Like what you see?”

            Your face flushed as your realized you’d been staring at Dan silently for too long. “I, uh—”

            “It’s nice, right? There’s just something so satisfying about matte.”

            “Oh, right… right. Yeah, it’s… it’s really pretty.” You could feel your face burning even hotter.

            Dan glanced at you and chuckled then held up a white and black helmet. “Yours.”

            “Mine?” you asked, gently taking it.

            “That’s what I said, isn’t it?” You didn’t answer. “Put it on.” You did, and were happy to find that your head wasn’t trying to tip from one side to the other like the one Arin had you wear earlier. It felt light, and you almost smiled.

            Dan was busy tying his hair into a bun at the nape of his neck and you caught yourself studying his jaw and the angles of his neck, now unobscured by hair. You snapped out of it as he pulled his helmet on, also a cool matte finish. He swung his leg over his bike and sat.

            “Get on,” he muttered.

            You did so silently, immediately feeling even more awkward than you had when you rode with Arin. Arin was one thing, Dan’s henchman (or whatever), but this was the leader, the Alpha of the Wolf Pack.

            “Hold onto me, sweetheart.”

            With your body pressed so close to his your mind had gone blank, and you automatically followed his direction. You wrapped your arms around his waist, and were happy that he couldn’t see your face once again flushing up into a bright red. He felt… nice, which is not how you expected to describe him. From a distance he looks like if you touched him he’d break in half, but he felt sturdy under your touch, and as he sped off without warning, you weren’t afraid to tighten your grip on him, almost wrapping your arms around him twice.

            You thought you could feel him chuckling, but maybe it was just the bike.

            Luckily, it was a short ride, only a few blocks to a store on a strip mall. It looked like it had been made solely for the Wolf Pack to shop there. It was even named The Gutter.

            Fitting, you thought, then immediately chastised yourself. These people were doing more than you expected to help you, and this is how you repay them? By talking badly?

            Dan parked the bike right in front of the shop, not caring about parking lines as he killed the motor.

            “Off,” he spat.

            Your brows pushed together but you were more than happy to create some distance between you two so you did just that and pulled off your helmet.

            “Ugh,” you sighed, brushing back your sweaty hair that had stuck to your forehead.

            “Have fun?” Dan asked after he pulled his own helmet off and released his curls, causing them to bounce back into their usual disarray.

            “Something like that…” He held out his hands and it took you a moment to realize he wanted you to give him your helmet. “Oh,” you jumped, and handed it off to him. You caught sight of Suzy pulling her own helmet off and walked over to her.

            “Excited?” she asked, flashing you a smile.

            “As much as I can be…”

            “This is gonna be fun, I promise.”

            Dan pushed off his bike and started walking over to the two of you. “Somehow, I doubt that,” you murmured, and stood by, waiting patiently for Suzy to be ready to go inside when you suddenly felt an arm prop itself across your shoulders. It was Dan.

            You seized up immediately, and almost pulled away before he pulled you in and placed a kiss on your forehead. After which he leaned down to whisper in your ear, “Have to take every opportunity there is to look like you’re taken. Don’t know when he could be watching. Right?”

            Your skin was hot, your mind white. You tried to choke out something, anything but luckily in your silence Dan just chuckled, and Suzy had started walking toward the store.

            “Let’s shop till we drop!” she shouted.

            Dan sighed and began pulling you along. “Really? You had to say that?”

            Suzy whipped her head around and stuck out her tongue. Dan just shook his head, a light smile on his face.

            They must have all known each other for years… the closest you ever got to a smile from Dan was whenever you said something that was stupid to him. You wondered when you would get a genuine smile out of him.

            The three of you walked into the store, and it looked exactly as you imagined it would: black clothes in one shade hung everywhere, leather jackets, pants, bandanas, scarves, chain wallets, everything that you’d seen on the bikers in the bar, was here.

            “Hey, guys!” an employee behind the counter shouted as soon as he spotted us. He was an older man, had a bit of a stomach but still wore the all black wardrobe you’d figure someone who ran this place would wear. “My favorite customers, back again!”

            “Hey, Robby,” Suzy greeted. “We’re getting (y/n) here a whole new wardrobe.”

            Robby’s eyes flashed with excitement. “Excellent! Feel free to grab anything you’d like and we’ll start a tote for you!” He turned away and left us to look around. You assumed the Wolf Pack came to this store all the time, and always spent a lot of money. He’d mainly been looking at Dan while he talked so it must have been Dan that payed for everything.

            Suzy clapped excitedly. “We have to pick out a jacket first, that’s super important. Did you get her patch yet?” she asked Dan.

            “I’ve got an idea, spotted it the last time I was in the shop. I’m gonna call Matt now and have him pick it up.” Dan pulled out his phone, pulled you in for a kiss on the forehead, and turned away, tapping buttons on his phone.

            Your mind had gone blank again from the kiss on the forehead. You knew why he was doing it, and you knew there was no romantic attachment to it, it just felt odd because you barely knew him.

            Suzy was looking at you expectantly, like she’d just asked you a question. You blinked, “Uh, sorry, what?”

            “I said, do you want like a half jacket, or a regular length one?”

            “Uh…” you shook your head. “Maybe I should try them on first?”

            Suzy’s eyes flashed. “Yes, we are so doing this.” She made a beeline for a rack of women’s jackets and started pulling a few off. “Okay… let’s try these.” She lead you over to the changing rooms where another employee opened one up for you. You kept the door open, only stepping inside enough to use the mirror as you tried them on. You tried one of the half jackets on first, unsure of the length, so you pulled on a regular sized one after, but that felt like too much, and it was a little too heavy.

            “I… think I like the half jacket more.” You pulled a different half jacket on and turned to Suzy expectantly.

            She nodded. “I do too.”

            The jacket you were wearing now had zippers on the sleeves that only went up to half way up your arm, and straps on the shoulders and sides.

            “Uh, this one’s fine I guess.”

            “No, but do you love it?”

            You looked yourself over in the mirror again and shrugged. “I like it enough.”

            “It looks good.”         

            You looked past Suzy and saw Dan, hands in his pockets, leaning against the wall. A warmth rose in your stomach.

            “Thanks,” you mumbled, and pulled the jacket off.

            “Robby!” Suzy called.

            Suddenly the older man popped up from around the corner. “Yes?”

            Suzy took the jacket from you and held up the others. “She wants this one but not these.”

            “Alright,” Robby said, and took the items away.

            “We’ll just get one jacket right now but I’m sure if you want another one later we can get you one.” You could see Dan nodding in agreement as you followed Suzy to another rack of clothes.

            An hour later you’d picked out four pairs of black pants, most with holes and shreds, seven black and gray tops, a couple bandanas, a pair of fingerless leather gloves, and a few other random items. When you say ‘you’ you really mean Suzy and Dan. They asked for your nod of approval before they would hand things over to Robby. You were really just wanting this to be over as soon as possible. The more time you spent here with them, the more you just wanted to go home.

            But home isn’t your home anymore, at least, it won’t be pretty soon.

            You tried not to think about that as you watched everything being rung up, you wanted to see how much everything was going to cost, how much you were going to have to work off.

            Dan was standing a ways away from the counter. He’d already handed his card off to Suzy and was waiting for everything to be done. “By the way,” he said, catching your attention. “Your phone has an upgraded version, do you want that? Or the old one you had?”

            “Uh… well, I couldn’t possibly have you—”

            “Do you want it or not?”

            You gulped. “What-whatever you’d prefer?”

            He sighed. “That’s not really an exact answer, is it?”

            “Okay, yes, sure, that’s fine,” you rushed out.

            “Alright, that’s everything for you guys today, be sure to come back real soon!” Robby exclaimed, handing off the bags to Suzy. Dan stepped up to take them, shoving the receipt in his pocket.

            You swore in your head, pissed that you missed what the total had been. As you followed Dan outside you picked at your fingernails. “Uh, how-how much was it?”

            “Why do you need to know?”

            “Well, because I have to pay it back, right? Or… work it off, or something? And the phone…” Your head was starting to swim thinking about how much money was being spent on you today.

            “You don’t need to worry about that.” It was a nice thing he said, but it came out harsh. Still, you needed him to know you appreciated it.

            “Thank you—”

            “Stop. Don’t.” He gave you a look and walked to his bike. You followed Suzy and leaned in close to her.

            “Is he…?”

            “Always like that? Kind of. But… he’s a good person. Honestly. He’s an amazing person. Everyone in the Wolf Pack came to him with some problem or something that they couldn’t get help with anywhere else.”

            “And they all decided to stay?”

            Suzy shrugged. “It’s hard to find someone as good as Dan. You usually wanna hold onto something like that for as long as you can.”

            You didn’t really understand what she was saying, just stared over at Dan as he secured the bags in a hard plastic case on the back of the bike. It didn’t make sense, Dan actually being a decent person, with the way he talked and his reputation, but then you guessed that the fact you were able to go to him for help at all didn’t make sense. People didn’t usually go to biker gangs for help in their personal lives. What were you getting yourself into?

            “You gonna stare at me all day or are we gonna leave?”

            You jumped and walked over to Dan, your head down. “Sorry.”

            He held out your helmet to you silently and climbed on his bike. “Let’s go.”

            You sat down behind him and held on, in no time you were speeding off yet again, back to the bar.

            When you arrived Holly and Ross were waiting for you outside, talking to a few other people. Suzy took your bags. “I’ll put these in her room.” Dan nodded and Suzy gave your arm a squeeze, “I’ll see you later.”

            You waved sadly. “Bye.”

            “Truck’s already on their way to her place,” Ross informed Dan once they’d walked over.

            “Then let’s get going over there,” Dan replied.

Chapter Text

            Holly rode on the back of Ross’s bike as the four of you made your way to your apartment. You were dreading this more than anything before. That apartment had been your first after living with your parents, you loved the freedom it provided, and you were going to miss so many things about it. But you knew that it was necessary to leave and you were grateful that there was already another place for you to go to immediately.

            As you pulled up to your apartment your heartbeat skyrocketed, which was saying something from the pace it’d been since the bike’s engine had kicked on. Every time you came home you were worried that your ex would be there, lurking, waiting to confront you or do… whatever. You began looking around, trying to spot his car, or any sign that he was there.

            Dan killed the motor, took off his helmet, and you followed suit. You hadn’t realized you’d said his name until he turned around. “What?”

            “I—” you stammered. “He… every time I come home, I’m worried he’ll be here.”

            A smirk grew on his face. “That’s what I’m here for, right?” He climbed off the bike and held his hand out to you. You wanted to quirk your brow at him but thought better of it and just took his hand. He pulled you hard so your body fell into his and he grinned at your wide eyes. “Gotta make it clear…” He kissed your forehead. “You’re taken.” When you didn’t do anything he whispered, “Smile.” It was hard in your panicked state but you let a nervous giggle escape you, and a smile spread across your face. “There you go…” You pulled back and let him wrap his arm around you. Holly and Ross had gone to talk with the U-haul drivers as you walked inside.

            Ms. Guthrie was already there waiting for you. “(Y/n)?” she asked, her voice nervous. “Is that truck out there for you? I had no idea you planned on leaving!”

            “I know, Ms. Guthrie, and I’m sorry, it really all happened so suddenly. I—You know with my situation I can’t—shouldn’t stay here much longer.”

            “Ah,” she sighed. “I did think that this would happen. I’m so sorry, my dear.” She eyed Dan warily and leaned into you away from him. “You are… okay though?”

            You nodded reassuringly. “Yes, I promise. I’ll be even better once I’m somewhere new. I will miss being here though.”

            “I will miss having you as a tenant, dear.”

            Holly and Ross entered the lobby. “All set to go,” Holly announced.

            You gasped. “Boxes! I don’t have any boxes!”

            “Provided by the company. We just have to pack stuff up and they’ll deliver it,” Ross explained.

            “Oh… well, okay.” You waved to Ms. Guthrie, and she watched the four of you climb the flights of stairs up to your apartment with worry in her heart.

            “Do you think he’ll be waiting for you inside?” Dan asked as you came to your floor and pulled out your keys.

            His tone was somewhat excited, but the question still made you swing around to give him a wide-eyed look. “What if he is?”

            “Calm down, calm down.”

            “No, but—”

            “Ssh, is it this one?” He pointed to the door you’d stopped in front of and you nodded. “Give me.” He took the keys from you and you let him. He unlocked the door and pushed it open. “Yo!” he shouted. “If there are any Assholes in here, you’d better make yourself known right now!”

            “Ssh!” you screeched, grabbing his shoulder.

            “What?” he laughed.

            “People live around here, ya know?”

            “And?”

            You sighed and dragged your feet into your apartment, letting your bag fall on the floor.

            “Ah, good, you don’t have too much…”

            “Thanks,” you said wryly.

            “Your room is about as big as this living room, with a bathroom and a closet.” You looked around, that was better than you were expecting. “We should get all the big furniture you’re keeping out first…”

            And so it went for the next few hours, first all your furniture went out, then any items that didn’t have to be boxed, then the movers came and brought boxes which you, Ross, and Holly began packing. Once they were filled you handed them off to the movers who took them downstairs. Dan wandered around, looking at things and checking his phone. Which was fine, you’d rather him not touch any of your stuff anyway. You’d taken a few boxes into your room and began packing up everything in there. You’d gotten through a couple boxes and once you started on the third you heard a knock on the door.

            “Done yet?”

            It was Dan. Of course. “No, I need a few more boxes.”

            He disappeared and you sighed. Good. You filled the third box and were just about to go get more when Dan came in with an armful.

            “Oh, um, thanks.”

            He set them on the floor and nodded. “No problem.” The two of you stood there for a moment, Dan’s hands now shoved in his pockets and you picking at your fingers before you turned away awkwardly and began working again.

            “So, I’m sure you have some questions.” Dan leaned against the wall.

            You weren’t expecting that. “Uh… yeah, I… I guess so.”

            “So. Ask them.”

            “Um…” You paused, letting your mind go through everything that had happened today. “Is all of this really necessary? I mean, you could have just had Arin or someone follow me around, make sure my ex didn’t attack me. You didn’t need to—”

            “Yes. It is,” he interrupted. “If this guy is trying to reach you 24/7, then he’s watching you during almost the same amount of time. If you’re worried he’s going to try and hurt you then you need to be with someone who can protect you at all times.”

            Your face flushed. It sounded romantic, but you knew it wasn’t. You looked away. “Right…” you put a few more things in a box and closed it up. “How are you able to afford all of this? I know you own the bar, but…”

            “I don’t just take in girls with psycho stalker ex-boyfriends every day. I do all kinds of favors for all kinds of people, and they pay me in all kinds of ways.”

            “Oh.” You looked away, trying not imagine the kinds of things he’s done, or how people pay him. “Why… are you helping me?”

            He was silent for a moment, a small look of surprise on his face, one he didn’t want you to see. Finally he took a breath, regaining his aloof composure. “Haven’t you gotten it yet that this is kind of my thing? Helping people?”

            “But why? Why like this, why… everything? Everything that you’re buying, everything that you’re giving me?”

            “Does it matter?” His eyes and tone were cold but you were on a roll and not backing down.

            “Yes! For me, it does matter! Why are you going through all this trouble just for me?”

            “You act like you’re the first person I’ve ever done this for.”

            His words spat out like acid and it made your mouth snap shut. So, you hadn’t been the first. You’d expected as much but then… why were you feeling so… disappointed?

            “How many others?” It came out as a whisper.

            “What?”

            You cleared your throat. “How many other... girls have you helped like this?”

            “A lot. That’s all you need to know.”

            He turned, and was gone.

            It was stupid, it was all stupid. The way you were reacting, the way he was being, it was all so stupid. You stood quickly and pushed the door closed, a little too hard so it slammed. You dropped back down on the floor with your piles of books, clothes, random objects. Everything felt like a huge mess and you had no idea how you were going to survive it. You spotted a sweatshirt in the pile, a pastel green with a white four leaf clover on it. Your mother had bought it for you when you first started college, the clover and the light blue being your schools symbol and colors. You pulled it from the pile and hugged it close, tears falling from your eyes in heavy droplets, landing on your wrists and the sweatshirt. You decided when you got your new phone that your mother would be the first person you called.

            Twenty minutes later you heard a knock on your door. Worried that it was Ross, or worse, Dan, you turned your back and wiped your face as the door cracked open.

            “(Y/n)?” It was Holly. Your shoulders relaxed. “We’re almost done out here, you need some help?” A sniff escaped you and she entered the rest of the way, closing the door behind her. “Hey, what’s going on? Are you okay?” She came and kneeled down next to you.

            You covered both your eyes with one hand and let out a tired sigh. “Yeah, I’m… I’m fine, I’m just…” You dropped your hand, wanting to look up at her but unable to make eye contact. “I’m just really scared, and tired, and… this is all so stressful.” Your voice broke and tears started falling again.

            “Woah, woah, it’s okay, do you need to talk to Dan?”

            You sat up, eyes wide, voice steady, “No! No, that is the last thing I want right now.”

            Her brows pushed together and she rubbed your back. “Okay, well… we’re really almost done, we were just wondering if you were too…” She glanced around the room. “Want some help? I think once we get outta here and back to the Shakedown you’ll feel better.”

            You almost laughed in her face. That was the last place you wanted to go but you knew you shouldn’t turn back now. “Yeah… yeah, sure.”

            Holly helped you stand and together the two of you finished packing up the last of what was left in your bedroom. Once that was done the three of them stood together talking while the movers loaded up the last of the boxes. You, on the other hand, were slowly walking from room to room, remembering where things were, the way things used to be. Your artwork, fairy lights, and posters, you rubbed your fingers over the holes still in the walls from the push pins. You nudged where the carpeting was pressed down from where your bed, couch, table, had been. You weren’t looking forward to moving into Dan’s place, but you knew that it was necessary. Until your ex was done stalking you, you had to stay safe. Maybe when this was all over, you’d find somewhere better.

            “(Y/n),” Dan’s voice. You sighed internally and rounded the corner. “Let’s go. We’re done here.”

            You looked around once more and sighed. “Okay.” You walked to the front door, picked up your purse and keys from the floor and walked out. Once everyone was on the other side you shut the door and locked it for the last time, saying a silent goodbye in your head.

            You met Ms. Guthrie downstairs and handed over the keys and she gave you many wishes for success and happiness.

            Once outside you climbed onto the back of Dan’s motorcycle, helmet on and the engine revving. “Ready to start your new life?” Dan asked over his shoulder.

            You sighed. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

            “You better be. Your life is ours now, sweetheart.”

Chapter Text

            The rest of the week was difficult as you slowly became accustomed to your new life. You were quickly able to arrange your new place as Suzy and Holly had helped you, but living among so many other people that you hardly knew was still hard. They knew your situation, knew why you were here and what you were doing. Which was fine, you accepted that they were, in fact, good people, but them knowing so much about you, while you knew little to nothing about the rest of them made you feel like the center of attention, the odd one out.

            As Suzy and Holly were helping you settle in, put things away, get things put together and Suzy was helping you set up your closet she took the leather jacket you’d bought from the Gutter and set it aside.

            “Got your patch, I’ll sew it on and get it back to you soon. You’re gonna love it.” Her eyes flashed with excitement and you gave her the best smile you could. You just didn’t feel the same way as everyone else here did about those kinds of things, but still, you wondered if you really would like it.

            Regarding your wardrobe, as much as Holly and Suzy encouraged it by excitedly making suggestions for what outfits you could put together you didn’t take their advice all the way. You would wear the ripped jeans and tattered shirts with a bandanna tied around your wrist, or neck, but while you didn’t have your jacket you managed to stylishly fit in one of your cardigans, or a light-colored top. You felt a little out of place with your soft colors among everyone else who wore black but it’s what you felt best in, and you weren’t going to apologize for that.

            Brian started teaching you how to run the bar and you learned that you’d also be working with two other guys, Matt and Ryan. Constantly being surrounded by men made you cling to your moments with Holly and Suzy more desperately by the day. You thought yourself lucky, you learned quickly, and anytime a customer started getting aggressive or caused problems one of the guys stepped in to take care of it so you didn’t have to. You even found yourself not having thought about your ex for hours on end, when the fear of what he would do if he got close to you had been your constant worry for the last three months.

            It felt strange to admit, but you really did feel safe in the Shakedown. You were constantly surrounded by people, so the worry that he could trap you alone quickly vanished. As long as you stayed here, you would be safe. But then… there was the fact that you were constantly surrounded. If you weren’t working in the bar and just trying to relax by yourself in your room you could always hear the noise from the bar, or people lingering around in the halls, and you could never get more than an hour by yourself before Holly or Suzy, or both of them, came to check up on you. Which was okay, you really did like them, but you wanted some peace, some time to think about everything. You hadn’t yet realized that you were never going to have that.

            Matt was the one to give you your new phone when it was ready. When he handed it off to you, you quickly noticed the numbers of everyone in the Wolf Pack already programmed in. When you asked Matt about it he shrugged. “It’s what Dan wanted.”

            You nodded and your eyes ran over Dan’s name dozens of times, the fact that you had the Alpha’s number not registering in your brain no matter how many times you read it over. When should you use it? When would you ever get the chance to? You never left the same building, hardly even the same room, when would you be far enough away from him that you would need to text him? On top of that, what would you ever text him? You decided then that you could never text him first, that would be a crippling embarrassment.

            You didn’t see Dan all that much the first week after you moved in. In the mornings as the day started you would see him walking back to his area of the bar, or whenever a fight got too rough he would come out to break it up. He didn’t leave the bar, only had others run to get what he wanted, usually Matt or Ryan as that seemed to be their job as well as working the bar.

            You did see the Alpha that Friday, however. Early that morning Suzy knocked on your door, and when you opened it there she was, jacket held up to reveal the patch sewn on the back.

            “Ta-da! Do you love it? Dan picked it out, obviously, I hope I did a good job getting it on there.”

            You gently took the jacket from her and studied the art sewn into it. It was a basic white patch with black lines making up the picture of a fox curled up, asleep, on a small bed of grass. You were surprised that yes, you did like it. You’d been worried that it was going to be something crude, something with skeletons and blood, but it was nothing like that at all. The more you looked at it the more you loved it.

            You looked up at Suzy, a bright smile on your face. “I actually do. I love it, thank you.” You moved in for a hug and she happily accepted.

            “Aw, you’re welcome! You should thank Dan, too.”

            “Right, is he downstairs yet?”

            “He should be.”

            “Great, thank you so much again, really. You did an amazing job.”

            You walked past her and jogged downstairs, continuing to study the patch with a smile on your face. You looked around the main area of the bar for him but when he was nowhere to be found you made your way to the back. Sure enough you could see the Alpha’s fluff of hair at the last booth. You paused for a moment, feeling heat flush in your face as you thought about what you were doing. You didn’t want to turn back now, so you squeezed the jacket and walked over.

            He was tapping away on his phone, as always, one hand propping up his head. You stopped in front of his table and stood there for a moment, forgetting everything that you’d thought about saying. After a moment he lifted his head.

            “Yes?” He had that same lazy half-smirk he always had on.

            “Um…” You looked down at the jacket then held it up, showing off the patch to him. “I—Thank you for--”

            He lifted his hand and started waving it at you. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Quit it will yo--”

            “No,” You lunged forward and grabbed his hand, annoyance at that constant gesture of his overcoming you. You realized what you’d done and slowly let him go, dropping your hand by your side. “No, I need… I need you to know that I’m… really grateful.” You lifted the jacket. “Not just for this… For—For everything.” You stared into his dark brown eyes. “Thank you.”

            His expression was unlike anything you’d seen on him before. One moment he looked like he was trying to cover up shock and the next he seemed to be embarrassed. The hand you’d grabbed reached up to rub the back of his neck for a split second before he seemed to realize what he was doing and dropped it. “Uh, yeah, it’s—” He stuttered, choking slightly and coughed. “It’s no problem.” He sighed and looked up at you like he was searching for something. After a moment he shook his head and shifted in his seat. “Now, will you please stop trying to… do… this?”

            Your shoulders relaxed as you could tell he was back to his normal self. “Uh, yeah… it’s no problem.” You watched him nod in response with a smile on your face and turned, pulling on the jacket while you walked to the bar.

            A blush filled your cheeks as you felt him watching you the whole way.

            That first Saturday night, around the time that the bar usually winds down you noticed that the same amount of people were still hanging around, and they were all beginning to crowd around a small stage in the back.

            You walked over to Brian who was cleaning some glasses. “What’s that all about? What are they waiting for?”

            Brian looked to where you were pointing and smirked. “Saturday is karaoke night here at the Shakedown. And there’s always a very special guest singer.”

            Your brows pushed together. “Karaoke? Who?”

            Just then the lights dimmed, and a spotlight shown on the stage. The Alpha stepped up, his boots falling heavily on the wood. The crowd clapped and cheered as he pulled the mic out of its stand.

            “Dan,” Brian answered, a smirk filling his voice.

            A beat played in the speakers, drums and guitar quickly following. The crowd cheered as they watched Dan tap his foot, holding the mic in one hand and looking out over the crowd with a small smirk on his face.

            You almost wanted to laugh, Dan was about to sing karaoke? The Alpha of the Wolf Pack? You figured he would do anything and everything he could to prove how tough he and his gang were, but here he was about to sing karaoke?

            “Is this real?” you mumbled to Brian, amusement in your eyes.

            “What? You don’t know what you’re about to experience,” he replied smugly.

            “Oh, ‘experience,’ huh? You can’t tell me that he just happens to be an amazing sing—”

            “Sprawling on the fringes of the city

            In geometric order

            An insulated border

            In between the bright lights

            And the far unlit unknown,”

            As he sang those first few lines, your words died in your throat. Dan’s voice was surprisingly smooth, light, carried the tune perfectly. It was so different from the rough and harsh way you’d only ever heard him speak, especially toward you. It was nice, it was so nice. It was the nicest you’d ever seen him… be.

            “Yeah,” Brian said, smile beaming. “He just so happens to be an amazing singer. He starts the night off and then anyone who wants to join after is welcome…”

            You could hardly hear him as you moved from where you were standing so you could get closer, leaning against the bar with your elbows, chin in your hand.

            “Growing up it all seems so one-sided

            Opinions are provided

            The future pre-decided

            Detached and subdivided

            In the mass production zone

            Nowhere is the dreamer or the misfit so alone.”

            For a moment his eyes caught yours, and held your gaze as he continued to sing.

            “In the high school halls

            In the shopping malls

            Conform or be cast out.

            In the basement bars

            In the backs of cars

            Be cool or be cast out.”

            He broke your gaze and your chin slipped out of your hand, making you jump and remember where you were. You had been completely sucked in by Dan’s voice, forgetting where you were, your situation. All there was to focus on was Dan. Your chin drifted back to your hand as you let yourself center back on him.

            “Any escape might help to smooth

            The unattractive truth

            But the suburbs have no charms to soothe

            The restless dreams of youth.”

            Everyone around the bar were nodding their heads, cheering and lifting their drinks as the instruments took over, allowing Dan to dance around freely for a few moments. You giggled at the way he rocked his hips and waved his arms. This was so different from the man you’d known for the last week.

            Dan leaned into the crowd, everyone singing the words back to him, almost shouting them. You could feel the energy in the room spiking, the words holding so much meaning for everyone there. It made a smile form on your face.

            “Drawn like moths, we drift into the city

            The timeless old attraction

            Cruising for the action

            Lit up like a firefly

            Just to feel the living night

            Some will sell their dreams for small desires

            And lose the race to rats

            Get caught in ticking traps

            And start to dream of somewhere

            To relax their restless flight

            Somewhere out of a memory

            Of lighted streets on quiet nights

            Subdivisions

            In the high school halls

            In the shopping malls

            Conform or be cast out

            Subdivisions

            In the basement bars

            In the backs of cars

            Be cool or be cast out

            Any escape might help to smooth

            The unattractive truth

            But the suburbs have no charms to soothe

            The restless dreams of youth.”

            He held the last note, his voice growing quieter as it disappeared into the instruments. As the last few notes beat out the crowd all cheered wildly, and you could hear a few of them shouting for Dan to sing another song. He shook his head, pushing the mic back into its stand and bowed his head in a thank you. You clapped along with everyone else, a giant smile on your face. Dan walked off and the next person took his place, grabbed the mic and waited for their song to begin.

            “He’s good, huh?” Brian asked you.

            You nodded with a laugh. “Yeah, he’s... he’s really good. I was not expecting that, like, at all.”   

            “Can’t judge a book by its cover.” He tilted his head pointedly at you, gave you a smile and wandered away to help a customer.

            You shook your head, a quiet chuckle escaping you as you began to wipe out a few glasses.

            “Enjoy the show?”

            You looked over and there he was, the Alpha, leaning against the bar, smirk on his face. You laughed, and pulled the rag that was hanging out of your apron out and dropped it on the counter, moving it in gentle circles. “It was… unexpected.”

            “’Unexpected’?” he repeated.

            You looked up at the ceiling in thought, taking a side step closer to him. “I didn’t expect the headquarters of the Wolf Pack to hold a karaoke night every Saturday.”

            He chuckled and glanced down at the counter. “I guess that makes sense…”

            You swallowed, and not wanting to let the conversation die you asked, “You like music?”

            He looked up at you. “That’s like asking, ‘Do you like air?’”

            You laughed and moved closer. “That’s a yes, then.”

            “Who doesn’t like music?”

            You nodded. “You’re right.”

            “But I love music. I didn’t always want to own a bar and run a biker gang, ya know.”

            “You wanted to be a musician?”

            “Wanted? I am.”

            “You are!” You didn’t realize it but you were lost in him now, lost in this conversation, completely forgetting who you were talking to.

            “I sing, mostly.”

            “That’s obvious.”

            “Yeah, and I play a little bass.”

            “Wow… So, what happened?” You were less than a foot away from him now, leaning over the bar on your crossed arms. “Why’d you decide to do this instead of playing music, I mean.”

            He studied you a moment, a smirk playing on his lips. “Turns out getting a band going is harder than it seems. Everyone needs to be on the same page, want the same things… I never really found that.”

            “Wow… that sucks. You would’ve made it big, I know it.”

            “I’m glad you think so…” Cheers from the stage distracted the two of you for a moment and you both looked over. After a moment Dan jutted his chin to the karaoke machine. “You should do it.”

            A burst of laughter escaped you. “What? Sing? No, I don’t think so.”

            “C’mon,” he dragged the word out, and you enjoyed the sparkle in his eyes. It made you consider it for a moment, you liked to sing, but you weren’t exactly comfortable with everyone here to put yourself out there just yet.

            “I—Maybe next Saturday.”

            “Next Saturday,” he nodded, “I’m gonna hold you to that.” He tapped the table, giving you a smile and began walking away.

            “I said, ‘maybe’!” you shouted after him.

            “What? I heard, ‘definitely’!”           

            You laughed as you watched him disappear, a little disappointed that he left. You’d enjoyed talking to him like that, like you were regular people who could hold an actual conversation, why did it have to end so soon? You smiled to yourself as you continued wiping down the table, spending the rest of the night serving simple drinks in between watching people sing karaoke. A lot of them were really good, but to you, none of them compared to Dan. You were excited for next Saturday, when you would get to see him sing again.

Chapter Text

            That Monday afternoon, in the middle of working at the bar, you noticed a large group of people all heading outside at the same time. You watched them in confusion, wondering what was going on.

            “Let’s go.”

            Your head snapped to the side and there was the Alpha, looking at you expectantly.

            “Go where?” you asked.

            “We’re gonna take a ride. Nice way to start the week.”

            “Oh… kay,” you replied, moving past Brian with an apologetic look. He waved his hand as if to say, ‘It’s fine,’ and let you go.

            You followed Dan outside while pulling on your jacket, and the two of you walked to his bike. Most of the close group was there, Arin and Suzy, Holly and Ross, and Barry, along with a few other regulars were all standing around their bikes, getting ready to go.

            Dan threw his leg over his bike and sat down. “No helmets?” you asked, smirking to let him know you weren’t judging.

            “Just a gentle ride, you can get yours if you want it.”

            “No, that’s okay,” you rushed out, and sat down behind him. “Don’t wanna mess up my hair.”

            He let out a loud laugh, and you couldn’t help the giant smile that filled your face. You’d made him laugh. He laughed!

            “Your hair will be worse if you don’t wear a helmet.”

            A look of realization filled your face. “Oh my gosh, you’re right.”

            He shrugged, “Up to you.”

            “If it’s really gonna be a ‘gentle ride’ then I’ll pass.”

            “And if Asshole sees you?” Your body froze and you looked at him with wide eyes. When you didn’t answer for a few seconds Dan glanced back at you and let out a laugh. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding. You still don’t believe that I’m going to protect you?”           

            Slowly, you let your body unfreeze and rolled your eyes at him. “I don’t like jokes like that.”

            He grabbed your chin and gave it a small squeeze. “You’re so serious about everything.” He turned away and revved his bike, everyone else revved theirs back. You gently grazed the spot with your fingertips where Dan had grabbed you before you hurriedly had to wrap your arms around him as he’d pulled away from the Shakedown without warning.

            It truly was just a gentle ride through the city. You tried to enjoy it instead of worrying about your ex finding you. You looked around at everything, half on the lookout, and half because you hadn’t really explored much of the place you’d lived in for the last two years. You wondered if you’d ever get the chance to visit the shops and parks that looked interesting to you.

            It seemed as though everyone you passed watched your group as you rode by. Families and couples, large groups of people all turned to stare as you approached with engines raging, and continued to stare as you left their sight. You wanted to duck your head so you couldn’t be seen, what would they think of you? But then, why should you care?

            “You know, you’ll be okay if you lean back,” Dan said to you when you stopped at a red light.

            “What?” you asked.

            “If you lean back and just let the wind fly through your hair. I promise you’ll be okay.”

            “Isn’t that a little dangerous?”

            “Yeah, it’s dangerous. That’s why it’s fun.”

            You said nothing as the light turned green and Dan began driving again. His suggestion was so nice and the idea was slightly thrilling. Carefully you peeled yourself off his back, arms shaking slightly. He was going slow enough that you really did feel like you wouldn’t fly off if you let yourself lean back. Which you did, your hands on his waist and your legs squeezing into his were the only things that kept you on the bike. The wind caught your hair and flew around behind you. The cold wind ghosted your neck. It felt good, and your eyes drifted closed as a smile formed on your face. For a moment you wanted to let go and hold your arms in the air, but you knew better than to actually do that. You pushed all other thoughts from your mind, your ex, your situation, all your worries, and let them fly away on the current of the bike. Your heart was pounding, and without realizing it, a giggle escaped you. The Alpha smirked at the sound.

            He started going out more, sometimes twice a day for rides through the city. He would take you on shopping trips and whenever you looked at something with interest for even a moment he would ask if you wanted it. You would refuse, try to give some excuse not to get it and you would walk away, but when you got to the register it would be there waiting for you along with any other purchases Dan was going to make. It felt weird, someone buying you anything you would merely glance at and when you told Dan how you were feeling he said, “I want you to feel comfortable while you’re with me—us.” It sounded like a slip and he played it off like it was, but you weren’t so sure . You wanted to refuse the things he was buying, you started to worry about running out of space for everything but how could you say no when he was so stubborn? When he was already giving you so much? You definitely weren’t ungrateful, you appreciated every little thing that the Alpha did for you but it was starting to feel like he was trying to buy you, and you didn’t know how you felt about that.

            Later that week while you were working behind the bar, wiping out a few glasses you suddenly heard, “Why, hello there.” You looked up, and there was a middle-aged man with dark hair and an expensive suit leaning on the bar toward you. He was smiling gently, his eyes soft, but you got the feeling that this was his neutral expression, that it never changed. He had two taller, bigger men standing behind him. “What’s a pretty little thing like you doing working in a place like this?”

            “Uh…” You felt your face flush up, and fought the urge to immediately run away. “I-I sort of have to.”

            The man clicked his tongue. “Oh, no… you don’t have to do anything. If you’d like I could take you away from all of this, and you wouldn’t have to lift a finger for anything ever again.” His eyes trailed up your body as he talked, making you feel vulnerable. “What do you say?”

            Just then Brian walked over, as unknown to you, he’d been watching the man since he’d walked in. “Can I get you something to drink, sir?”

            The man blinked, and turned his unwavering smile of contentment on Brian. “Ah, yes. Please, take my order so this precious beauty doesn’t have to. I would like a Lawman’s Tower, please.”

            You and Brian stared at the man in silence for a moment. You had never heard that drink be asked for before, and supposed for a moment that it was one that was rarely requested until Brian gave the man a nod, said, “I’ll go get that for you,” and turned to you. “Dan will want you in the back,” he mumbled.

            “Oh-Okay,” you stuttered, and followed him through to the back. Lawman’s Tower must have been a code name, like Fallen Angel.

            Arin and Barry were sitting with Dan in his booth, his feet propped up on the table. “What is this?” he asked, as you and Brian approached.

            “A man with a job for you. Lawman’s Tower,” Brian answered.

            Dan’s frown deepened for a moment before he turned to you with a half-hearted, lazy grin. “Lucky day for you, sweetheart. You get to see what I’m really like.”

            “What?” you asked.  

            “Also,” Brian interrupted, “Uh…” he looked at the ground, a bit uncomfortably. “Well, you tell him,” he looked over at you and said, nudging his head toward Dan.

            “What? Oh, um, he kind of… hit on me, I guess?” You rubbed your arms, even though you weren’t cold. “It was kind of creepy…”

            The Alpha’s jaw clenched, and a wry smirk replaced his excited one. “Fantastic.”

            “I should bring him back, then?” Brian asked.

            “Oh, absolutely," Dan answered. "Come over here,” he beckoned to you as Brian disappeared. You felt deeply confused, but did as you were asked as Barry and Arin stood to take their places on either side of the booth. You sat where Barry had been sitting and Dan smirked at you. “No, come here,” he pressed, and wrapped one arm around your shoulders, the other around your legs and pulled you onto his lap. 

            You flushed up the moment he moved to touch you, and you knew it was impossible for him not to hear how fast your heart was beating. What was this for? Going with him on rides through the city, or shopping trips was fine, but why here, only in the bar? Was that guy really so important that you needed to look like you were with Dan now? You wanted to ask him about all of this but you knew you didn’t have time. Plus, you could feel him smirking at you, enjoying your reaction but you refused to look him in the eye. Instead you watched as Brian lead the man from the bar to stroll in with his two goons trailing behind.

            “Ah, well, I see you’re already being taken care of. My apologies,” the man said, arms open wide as he strolled in and stood in front of the booth.

            The hand that Dan had resting lightly on your thigh gave you a squeeze. “So, it’s true. You come here for my help and the first thing you do is try to take my girl away from me?”

            For a moment it felt like a balloon was being blown up inside your head, and your ears began ringing. My girl, my girl, my girl.

            “I meant no disrespect, she was working behind the counter, I had no idea she was already taken.”

            A low growl emitted from Dan’s chest, and you turned to him. “Dan, it’s—it’s okay.” You knew he was just making a show for your sake, so you wouldn’t have to deal with guys while dealing with a stalker. You glanced over at the man, “Really, I’m fine. It’s not a big deal.”

            Dan turned to you and stared into your eyes, making shivers ran through your body at the intensity of it. Then he leaned down and pressed a kiss to your neck. “Whatever you say,” he mumbled against your skin, and turned back to look at the man. “So, what is it you need?” Your skin felt like it was slowly roasting over a fire, but you tried desperately to focus on the conversation in front of you.

            “Perhaps we should start over. My name is Brent Eldwin.” He leaned forward and held out his hand to shake with Dan.

            “Dan,” the Alpha answered, moving his free hand up to play with the curls of your hair that hung at your back, an obvious sign to Mr. Eldwin that he wasn’t one to shake hands.

            “Yes, well,” Mr. Eldwin cleared his throat, moving back nonchalantly. He snapped his fingers and pointed behind him. The goon to his right grabbed a chair for his boss to sit in and placed it in front of the table. Once Mr. Eldwin was comfortable he sighed and glanced at you uncomfortably, “Perhaps this isn’t something we should talk about in front of the lady…”

            You blinked. “I—I can go, if—”

            “No,” Dan said, holding you firmly to him as you’d started to pull away. “If you insist…” The man nodded and Dan reached into the pocket of his jacket, pulling out a pair of headphones and his own phone. “Music?”

            “Okay.” You couldn’t help the light smile on your face as he plugged in the headphones and began scrolling through his music selection. You didn’t understand why it was so important to him for you to stay there when it would be easier for them to discuss whatever job this guy had for Dan if you went back to work. Nonetheless you pushed the earbuds into your ears when Dan handed them to you, a song already beginning to play. He handed you his phone and you read off the name of the band displayed on the lockscreen: Skyhill.

            “Hey, give me the music

            Feel the city as you walk

            Every step you take is closer to the

            Way you need to lose it—”

            Your eyes widened as you recognized the voice that was singing the song. You turned to Dan with a smile, hand shooting out to grip his arm. He looked over at you, smile already on his face. He knew what he had done, his smug smile told you so. You gave him a look and sat back, focusing on the words the Alpha was singing as your eyes shifted absentmindedly between him and Mr. Eldwin while they talked.

            You listened through two songs before you could feel the tension in the room rising. Mr. Eldwin began shifting in his seat, looking away from Dan and shaking his head with a deep frown. As the third sang faded to an end Mr. Eldwin leaned forward, his finger stabbing the table. You slowly pulled the earbuds out, not caring if they didn’t want you to listen in.

            “…can’t believe you’re being so touchy about this,” Mr. Eldwin was saying. “I’m offering you far more to do this than I could pay someone else. You should be jumping at the chance!"

            Dan stared at Mr. Eldwin silently for a moment, and your eyes darted back and forth between the two of them. He turned his head over to you and whispered lowly in your ear, “Get up for a second, baby.” Heat flared in your stomach as you did so silently, sliding off his lap to stand off to the side of the booth.

            Dan leaned forward, hands linked and arms resting on the table he continued to stare at the man for a moment before he reached forward, grabbed the back of the man’s neck and slammed his face into the tabletop.

            You gasped, jumping away and hands flying to your mouth. Mr. Eldwin’s guards jumped, almost lurching forward to protect their boss before Arin and Barry grabbed hold of them, pinning their arms behind their backs.

            Dan stood over Mr. Eldwin, pressing his smashed nose into the table by the grip on his neck. “Well, now, see, I sort of run, what to you would be considered, pesky little errands like this for people all the time, and I’ve gotten in to trouble quite a few times, and I like to make sure all of the I’s are dotted and T’s are crossed before I do this.” Dan glanced over at you, studied your wide eyes and shaky hands. He turned back to Mr. Eldwin slowly, leaning down to his ear. “You scared my girl, buddy. She’s never seen me get like this before. I don’t like it when she’s scared.” Mr. Eldwin’s lips were trembling, Dan smirked. “You come here, and you flirt with her, and then you scare her? Say you’re sorry.” Silence. Dan gripped the man’s neck, pushing him farther into the table. “Say you’re sorry!” he grunted.

            “I’m sorry,” Mr. Eldwin grunted, biting out each syllable. “Now, please, let me go, it hurts.”

            You stood there for a moment, stunned. Then you blinked and stepped forward. “It’s—It’s okay.” You leaned over, hand on Dan’s arm. You knew he had to just be acting, putting on a show, but the look in his eyes… it seemed too wild for it to all just be an act. "Dan, it's okay."

            He stared into your eyes for a moment, and you swore you watched him find himself again. He looked down at Mr. Eldwin and grunted with disgust, shoving the man away. He sat back down and opened his arms to you. You climbed into his lap yourself, worry etched into your brow as you settled yourself against his chest. One of his hands traced circles in the small of your back as the two of you watched Mr. Eldwin. The man lifted his head and a fresh pool of blood dripped out of his nose and onto the table. His nose, which once had a smooth bridge, was a lumpy mess now, very clearly broken even through all the smeared blood. He snapped his fingers with an annoyed sigh and the goon that Arin was keeping back, shoved him off, and pulled his pocket square out of his own jacket and handed it to his boss. Once Mr. Eldwin had the flow of blood dripping from his nose under control he slowly reached into his inside breast pocket and pulled out a card.

            “Expect a call from me soon,” he mumbled, voice slightly warbled from the blood, and flicked the card onto the table. It slid to a stop right in front of the Alpha.

            “Mhm,” Dan mumbled, turning to you to press light kisses against your neck. Small bursts of tingles went through you every time his lips touched your skin, but you watched as Mr. Eldwin stood, and made his way to the front of the bar without a goodbye. Arin and Barry followed so they could escort Mr. Eldwin’s guards out.

            Once they were gone you turned in Dan’s lap so you could look into his eyes. “Are you okay?”

            He looked down at you with a smirk, eyes jumping all over your face. “I’m the one who broke his nose, and you’re asking me if I’m okay?”

            You stuttered, mouth opening and closing like a fish. Your eyes followed the trail of your arm and you realized you had your hand on his chest. “Oh—” You jumped, and almost pulled away before Dan placed his hand atop yours, holding it against his chest.

            “Pretty different from the guy you watched sing karaoke, huh?”

            Your brows raised. “Uh, yeah. I… can’t seem to figure you out.”

            “Maybe that’s a good thing.”

            “But I want to.”

            Your statement had caught him by surprise. “You do?”

            You looked down at your fingertips, gently placed atop the hem of his V-neck. If you moved them just slightly you would be touching his chest. “How am I supposed to trust you if I don’t know who you are?” Your eyes flicked up to meet his, and he leaned closer to you.

            “Who said anything about needing trust?”

            You felt a smile growing but didn’t let it come through. He wanted to play a game, you could too. “I know that you want me to trust you.”

            “I do?”

            You laughed at his variant of a repeated question and leaned your head against his arm that was draped along the back of the booth. “That’s what that whole show was about.” You gestured over to the blood drying on the table. “You want me to feel safe with you. You want me to trust that you’ll protect me if and when the time comes.”

            He laughed. “Where is this confidence coming from? This isn’t the girl I met two weeks ago.”

            You felt a rush of adrenaline from his words and dived into it, moving your fingertips so you could hook them around the hem of his V-neck. “You… make me feel confident. Does that… make sense?” It didn’t make sense to you at all. He scared you, and he did everything he could to make sure other people were scared of him, too. But when you were with him like this, close to him, having actual conversations with him, his own charisma rubbed off on you, and it was intoxicating.

            He smirked, “Not at all.”

            His words hung in the air for a moment as the two of you stared at each other in silence, not sure of what the other wanted. Finally, Dan broke the gaze, looking away. “That guy was a real asshat.”

            You stuttered, sad that the moment was gone. Wasn’t there still so much left unanswered? “Uh, yeah.” He let you slowly slide your legs off him and you pushed your hands under your thighs. “What did he want anyway?”

            He chuckled. “Uh…You don’t really need to worry about it… based on his behavior I don’t know if I’m gonna take the job or not.”  

            “Obviously he still wants your help if he left his card,” you said, gently picking up the business card and spinning it on its edge with your fingertip.

            “Yeah, well,” Dan sighed, leaning over to steal the card from you. He studied it a moment and shoved it in his jacket pocket. “I’ve got lots of other things I could be doing than dealing with his shit.”

            “Mmm,” you hummed, and looked away, unsure of what to say now, but not wanting to leave. Your eyes landed on his phone and the tangled pile of the earbuds cord on the table and you gasped. “That band! Dan, you didn’t tell me you recorded an album!”

            He sat back, a nervous laugh escaping him. You beamed even wider, happy that you’d made him laugh. “Uh, yeah… that band was when I was making stuff with an old friend of mine, Pete. Back when I was still really hardcore about making it in music we recorded that album and then… he didn’t really see the future that I did for the band so… we split up.”

            “But you have an album, that’s still pretty cool. A whole album!” You grabbed his phone, about to turn it on so you could play it again when you were stopped by the lockscreen.

            “Here, give me yours.”

            You pulled your phone out of your pocket, unlocked it, and handed it to him. He tapped a few things on the screen for a few minutes and then slid it back over to you. “There you go.”

            You looked down at it and there, the whole album was now in your music library. You looked up at him with a wide smile. “Yay! Thank you!” You almost leaned over to hug him but stopped yourself, which seemed stupid the moment you thought you shouldn’t. Hadn’t he been kissing your neck and defending your honor only ten minutes ago?

            He chuckled, “No problem.”

            You beamed as you scrolled through the short list of songs, already planning to grab your earbuds and listen to the album while you cleaned around the bar.

            Dan watched you with a soft smile, glad that he was able to share this with you. He didn’t know why he felt the desire to share his old band with you at all when he hadn’t shared this with anyone else he’d helped. People have come and gone, seen him do karaoke and been as surprised as you, but why did he tell you about his old band? You glanced up at him with a smile, and he saw a sparkle in your eyes that made his heart pound. That’s it, he thought. It’s that sparkle, that twinkle of excitement. He didn’t want to flatter himself and call it admiration, but… was it?

            “I… I should probably get back to work,” you said, slowly sliding out of the booth, half-hoping that Dan would ask you to stay.

            “Yeah, yeah. You should.” Dan picked up his phone and unlocked it, immediately typing out something to someone.

            “See ya,” you muttered, unsure if he was even listening to you anymore.

            “See ya,” Dan repeated in a distracted mumble as he continued to type on his phone.

            You nodded and turned away, heading back to the bar.

            The moment you were gone Dan dropped his phone and rubbed his face with his hands, letting out a long sigh. He didn’t know why it was so important to him, seeing you smile, seeing you happy, but he knew one thing: it was better not to focus on it, to work, rather than get wrapped up in you. So, he picked up his phone and got back to work, forcing you out of his mind as much as he could.

Chapter Text

            Early Friday morning, while you were making breakfast and coffee you heard a knock at your door. When you opened it up there was Suzy on the other side.

            “Come in,” you smiled, and went back to the kitchen, letting her shut the door behind her.

            “How are you this morning?” Suzy asked. She followed you to the kitchen and leaned on your small island with her arms crossed.

            “Good,” you answered back, stirring your eggs in the pan. “How are you?”

            “I’m good too.”

            You nodded and glanced over at your coffee machine. “Want some coffee?”

            “Sure!” she answered with a grin. You smiled and poured her a cup, then handed it off to her. “Help yourself.” You gestured to the creamer and sugar on the table.

            “Thanks,” she whispered, glancing at you every now and then as she fixed her coffee. Once she was done she leaned on her elbows on the counter, cup held up to her nose. “So…” Her eyes studied the counter for a moment before flicking up at you. “What’s been going on with you and Dan?”

            You stopped stirring your eggs and slowly turned to face her. “Wow, okay. What do you mean?”

            “Well... Arin and I are married, and we tell each other everything and he says that he’s seen some… heavy flirting between you too lately. The thing with what’s his name? Brent?”

            You thought over every interaction you and Dan had over the last week. Your relationship had turned playful, light teasing and making jokes but most of it is when you’re outside the bar. Most of it. You rolled your eyes playfully and turned back to the stove. “It’s all just an act. Dan doesn’t want me to have to deal with guys hitting on me while I’m trying to get rid of my ex.” You looked back at her over your shoulder. “It’s nothing.”

            She hummed, straightening up and running her hand back and forth along the countertop. “I don’t know… (Y/n), you can tell me anything.” You said nothing. “(Y/n), do you like Dan?”

            You spun around, your mouth hanging open. “What? No! I mean, as a friend, sure. But he’s—he’s like… my boss, or… someone I’m… working for to pay off the work he’s doing for me? Ugh, I don’t know… But I don’t like him like that. We’re... we’re friends at most.” You stared at her, eyes wide. “Seriously. I mean, I’ve known him for what? Two weeks?”

            “Yeah, but how long do you really need to know you have a crush on someone?”

            You shook your head and mumbled, “We barely talk.”

            “You guys have to act like a couple sometimes, and yeah, I know, it’s just so your ex gets off your back, but… how can you act like that and not develop feelings for somebody, dude?”

            Your head dropped back as you groaned, “Suzyyyyyy…”

            She held her hands up defensively and chuckled. “Okay, okay…”

            You scoffed and turned back to your eggs, now done you scraped them off onto a plate. “Want some? I can make more.”

            “No, that’s okay, I already ate.”

            You nodded and brought your plate to the island, pulling up a stool to sit. You could feel Suzy staring at you intently as you ate. Slowly, you met her eyes and laughed. “Would you quit it?”

            She chuckled and looked away. “Sorry.”

            “Let’s talk about something else, yeah? I don’t know much about you and Arin. How did you guys meet?”

            An excited sparkle lit up in Suzy’s eyes. “Oh! Well, we actually met in high school, if you can believe that.”

            “What?” you gasped.

            “I know! It was at a con, he was trying to set me up with his friend actually, but his friend bailed and then I kind of… stuck myself to him the whole day and then… yeah,” she giggled.

            “Wow, and then happily-ever-after, right?”

            “Uh, no, actually we dated through the rest of high school and then… we made plans to move to California, but we actually broke up.”

            “What? Really?”

            “Yeah, and Arin left without me which really sucked because we had to sell, like, all of our stuff to afford to move there, so he left and I had nothing. Then I met this guy and I moved in with him after only knowing him for like a month, and then…” She sighed, shaking her head slightly. “Arin had always had trouble… stealing things. He stole from his friends when he was little, video games and stuff like that, and while he was in California he had to steal money from his friends all the time just to make it by… He got in trouble a few times, and after one of the worse times he got in contact with me again and started asking me to come to California… said he was doing worse than he thought he was going to be without me. But, I was in a new relationship, so I said no, and so Arin would write me a letter, and send it to me every single day, and I still have those letters.”

            “Aw,” you whined, hand covering your heart.

            “I know, they’re like, total teen angst, but they’re so sweet… Anyway, eventually this guy I was with started getting abusive, and… I really felt like I couldn’t get out. Things got really bad. Really, really bad. That’s around when Arin met Dan. Dan helped Arin get me out of that relationship. Dan scared that guy real good, and… I got to fall in love with Arin all over again on our ride to California. And Arin doesn’t get in trouble with theft anymore, he only does it for jobs that Dan has.” She wiggled her eyebrows and let out a laugh.

            You sighed and leaned back, not even realizing you’d slowly leaned in while listening. “Wow, so… Dan’s been helping you guys out since the beginning.”

            “Yeah. Like I said, he’s really a good guy. You wanna be around someone like him for as long as you can.

            “Yeah, I didn’t really know what you meant the first time you told me that, but, I think I do now.” Suzy’s eyes slowly grew wide as a smile filled her face. “Oh, no, no, no, that is not what I meant!”

            “(Y/n), come on! It would not be a bad thing!”

            “I don’t like him, Suzy, okay? We’re friends, that’s it.”

            Suzy let out a long, sad sigh and shrugged. “Okay, okay, whatever you say…”

            Saturday. Karaoke night. You couldn’t seem to calm down all day, your hands always moving too fast, an excited smile constantly on your face. Your leg bounced in anticipation anytime you sat down, and you struggled to keep your eyes off the karaoke stage.

            When it got to around 8:30 Brian let you know that you needed to be on waitressing duty. You were dismayed that you may end up being too busy to truly enjoy Dan’s song at the beginning of the karaoke night. Still, you got to work quickly, speeding about from table to table to get beer and food for any who asked for it, and clearing dishes away once they were done.

            You had just taken a tray full of used glasses to the dirty bin and emptied it when everyone around you started clapping. Your heart soared as you spun around to the karaoke stage, tray pulled up to your chest. Sure enough, there was Dan, already at the mic. He held onto it in its stand, and a steady beat once again filled the speakers. His leg tapped to the beat, and he began to sing.

            “This lightning’s gonna strike

            Right through this heart of mine again, again

            ‘Cause this rain ain’t gonna stop

            And we’re feeling every drop

            As they keep on dancing on our heads.”

            His voice was low and gravelly, his eyes closed as he sang his soul into the mic. You took a few steps closer, leaning against a nearby table. Dan’s eyes scanned the room until they landed on you. He looked at you very purposefully before letting his eyes drift closed again, opening and closing again to watch you while he continued.

            “But you gotta hold on

            You gotta be strong

            Right here with me if it all goes wrong

            To keep you from harm

            Away in my arms

            Steer you away from the storm

            When the sun won’t come around

            And your world keeps washing out

            I won’t let this love fall down

            I’ll carry you

            I’ll carry you.”

            Your heart melted as you listened to the words of the song. You could feel the thumping in your chest, and you knew with a glance around the bar, at people’s eyes closed as they swayed gently, that they could feel it too. You knew you needed to get back to work but how could you move?

            “So let’s run toward waiting lights

            ‘Cause I know there’s better skies ahead, ahead

            Sand through an hourglass

            This flood is gonna pass

            And we’ll still be standing, hand in hand

            But you gotta hold on

            You gotta be strong

            Right here with me if it all goes wrong

            To keep you from harm

            Away in my arms

            Steer you away from the storm,”

            “When the sun won’t come around

            And your world keeps washing out

            I won’t let this love fall down

            I’ll carry you

            I’ll carry you.”

            He repeated the last verse three times, the last time he held the last note until the instruments drowned him out. Once again the crowd cheered wildly, you clapping along with them. While they begged for him to sing again, you let out the breath you’d been holding and got back to work, crossing over to the nearest table crowded with unused glasses and loaded them on your tray with a wide smile on your face.

            “Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce to the stage, performing for the first time on Karaoke Night, our one, our only, (Y/n)!”

            A spotlight swung around and landed on you, in your apron and holding a tray full of dirty glasses. Your mouth opened and closed in surprise, barely audible noises escaping you. Dan jogged off the stage and right to you, a giant smile on his face. You stammered, “Dan, I can’t, I—I have tables—”

            “Well, then, I guess I need to speak to the owner—oh, wait, that’s me.” He took the tray in your hand from you and set it down on the nearest table, then spun you around.

            “I—What am I supposed to do?”

            He pulled the strings of your apron, undoing it and pulled it off. “Sing, of course,” he whispered in your ear.

            You spun back around to face him. “Dan, no, I’ll die out there—”

            “No, you won’t. Now, come on.” With a final push he nudged you over to Vernon, the guy who loaded up the karaoke songs.

            “Hey, what would you like to sing?” he asked.

            “Uh,” you chuckled nervously. “I—I’m not really sure.”

            “Well, we’ve got a book here that you can choose from if you have nothing specific in mind.” He handed you a white binder filled with plastic-covered sheets with lists of songs on them.

            You began flipping absently, looking for any title or any artist that looked familiar. You just need to pick one and get this over with, you didn’t want to keep everybody waiting forever. Finally, you spotted one, Lana Del Rey. You enjoyed her music, and wouldn’t mind singing one of her songs onstage.

            “Uh, that one,” you said, holding the book out while pointing. “The Lana Del Rey one?”

            Vernon nodded. “Okay, you’re on then,” he gestured up to the stage with a smile.

            Your stomach dropped as you looked up at the four steps it took to get onto the warmly lit stage. The stage where you would have to sing. Where you would have to sing a song. In front of the whole bar. In front of Dan. You glanced back to where you’d come from and there he was, standing with his arms crossed, a smirk on his face. He nodded his head toward the stage encouragingly, and you could feel your heart pounding in your throat. Finally, you took a deep breath and took the four steps up to the stage.

            All of your limbs felt like they were separated from your body by a couple inches, but you managed to get up to the mic and clunkily grab onto it, your hand hitting it made a thumping sound that bumped through the speakers. You noticed at your feet there was a small, old school box television, it’s deep blue screen glowing up at you.

            “H—Hi, everybody,” you mumbled. You received a few whoops in greeting and smiled back, though you could hardly see through the lights. “I don’t know how many of you know me, but I’m (Y/n), and… I guess I’m gonna sing a song for you because Dan is forcing me to.” Most of the crowd laughed and you glanced over at Dan, who was bending over at the waist in laughter. “So, here we go, I guess.” You looked over at Vernon and he nodded back. After a few seconds the title for the song flashed on the screen: Million Dollar Man, Lana Del Rey.

            You were delighted that you actually recognized the title, realizing just then that you hadn’t even payed attention to the song you’d chosen, only who sang it. A steady beat filled the speakers and hesitantly, very quietly, you sung along as the words appeared on the screen.

            “You said I was the most exotic flower

            Holding me tight in our final hour,”

            You glanced up at the crowd, and those you could see seemed to have pleased, eager-to-listen looks on their faces. You lifted your head a bit and sung a little louder.

            “I don't know how you convince them and get them, but

            I don't know what you do, it's unbelievable

            And I don't know how you get over, get over

            Someone as dangerous, tainted and flawed as you,”

            You wanted to look at Dan, to see his reaction, but the thought made your palms sweat. What was he thinking right now? You knew you weren’t as good a singer as he was, but were you at least tolerable for the next few minutes? You fought the urge to look at him and continued singing, your eyes trained on the blue screen.

            “One for the money, and two for the show

            I love you honey, I'm ready, I'm ready to go

            How did you get that way? I don't know

            You're screwed up and brilliant,

            Look like a million dollar man,

            So why is my heart broke?”

            You saw something shift out of the corner of your eye where you remembered Dan to be standing and looked up. He’d moved closer, taking a seat at a table. His eyes were soft, and they never broke away from yours. You found yourself unable to take your own eyes from him, and that wasn’t really a problem, you knew the whole song anyway.

            “You got the world but baby at what price?

            Something so strange, hard to define

            It isn't that hard, boy, to like you or love you

            I'd follow you down, down, down,

            You're unbelievable

            If you're going crazy just grab me and take me

            I'd follow you down, down, down, anywhere anywhere…”

            You smiled gently at him, and he returned it. Finally, you had to break your gaze away, it was just too intense, you thought you were going to drown. You kept your eyes on the screen as the worlds scrolled along for the rest of the song.

            “One for the money, two for the show

            I love you honey, I'm ready, I'm ready to go

            How did you get that way? I don't know

            You're screwed up and brilliant,

            Look like a million dollar man,

            So why is my heart broke?

            One for the money, two for the show

            I love you honey, I'm ready, I'm ready to go

            How did you get that way? I don't know

            You're screwed up and brilliant,

            Look like a million dollar man,

            So why is my heart broke?

            I don't know,

            You're screwed up and brilliant,

            Look like a million dollar man,

            So why is my heart broke?”

            As the instruments faded out the crowd began cheering, clapping wildly and whistling. You beamed out at those you could see and looked over at Dan, who was cheering right along with them. You smiled and did a curtsy at him, making him laugh in response. A few of the people close to the stage shouted, ‘Another, another!’ but you silently shook your head and jogged down the steps to meet Dan.

            “That was awesome! You didn’t tell me you could sing like that.” He smirked, his eyes bright.

            You scoffed. “Whatever, it’s not like I was you up there. And… you never asked.” You bumped his shoulder as you moved past him to grab your apron and tray.

            “You should sing again. Really,” he insisted. “I—They loved you.”

            You stared at him while you tied your apron. “I have tables.” You turned away and felt the blush on your face from Dan’s slip. It had to be nothing, but your body didn’t understand that, and you fought to keep the giant smile you felt right under the surface from bursting through at full force while you cleared tables and took orders for the rest of the night.

            Your best friend Sheila hadn’t heard from you in almost two weeks, since she told you to get help from the Wolf Pack, and it was beginning to worry her. So on Sunday, once she’d finally gained the courage she made the drive to the Shakedown and entered the bar, looking around everywhere, ignoring the stares she was given. Then she saw it, a flash of what looked like your hair. She made a beeline for it and there you were, busily working behind the counter.

            “(Y/n)!” she shouted.

            You looked up, eyes wide as they landed on your best friend. “Sheila!” you screeched.

            “Oh my, god, you’re okay!” she gasped, as you ran around the bar and into her arms. “I thought something had happened to you!”

            “No, no, I’m fine, I promise. I’m so sorry, I—”

            “I’ve been texting and calling you—”

            “No, I know, my phone, he—Dan—he sort of-- had to get me a new one and I’ve just been so caught up that I—”

            Unknown to you, the moment Brian realized this was an old friend of yours he slipped to the back to inform Dan.

            “Dan?” Sheila asked.

            “The Alpha—The—The leader of the Wolf Pack. He’s actually helping me.”

            “Oh, thank god. So, you haven’t run into you-know-who?”

            You shook your head. “Not once. It’s crazy, he was always on my mind for so long, I was constantly worried he might find me, but since I’ve been here I haven’t heard from him, or even seen him.”

            “Wow, that’s good. So, you like, live here now? I went to your apartment but Ms. Guthrie—”

            “Yeah, I moved out of there and into here.”

            “So, you live and work here? Doing what?”

            “Who’s this?”

            Your head snapped to the source of the question and there was Dan, casually leaning against the bar. You smiled. “Dan, this is my best friend, Sheila.”

            “Hello,” Sheila greeted, dragging her eyes up and down Dan’s body. She gave your arm a squeeze and you looked at her in confusion, but it only took you a second to understand what the squeeze was for. You rolled your eyes at her and she just smiled excitedly.

            “I thought I told you you could have little to no contact with your past life,” Dan said.

            You blinked. “Yeah, but… I haven’t heard from my ex in almost two weeks so… It should be fine, right?”

            Dan sighed with a one-shoulder shrug. The look on his face seemed annoyed. “I don’t know. Depends on if he’s taken to following… other people around.”

            Sheila’s eyes went wide, and she glanced from Dan to you and back. “I would not lead him here—”

            “How do you know?”             Sheila didn’t have an answer. “That’s just it, you don’t.” He turned to you. “This is why I told you you can’t meet with old friends, she could have lead him right to you—”     

            You grabbed his arm, glanced back at Sheila, and guided him a few feet from her. “And if she did, then what?” You stared him down, the burst of energy in you rippling through your veins. “You’ll protect me, right? She didn’t know, okay? She hasn’t heard from me in weeks because of your stunt with my phone. If he comes here, you’ll protect me. At least that’s what you said you’d do.”

            He blinked a couple times. “I will.” His head leaned forward, and his eyes shifted back and forth between yours. “I said I will.”

            “Then let me enjoy a few minutes with my best friend, okay? It’ll be fine.” You reassured him by reaching up and placing a gentle hand on his arm.

            He glanced over to Sheila and then back to you. “Fine.” He turned and pointed over to a corner of the bar. “I’m gonna be right over there if you need me.”

            “Okay, thanks, dad,” you mumbled as he turned away, making him stop and pull a face at you before smirking and going over to where he said he’d be.

            You let out a breath and turned back to Sheila. “Okay, sorry about that, he’s just so—

            “The energy between the two of you is like, fucking fireworks—no, more than fireworks, it’s like… Lightning, just sparks of electricity and flames.” She waved her hands around for dramatic affect and you fought her to pull her hands down.

            “I don’t know what you mean,” you mumbled, glancing over at Dan to see if he’d heard. He turned away just as you looked at him, so you couldn’t be sure.

            “I’m serious! That was the most intense interaction I’ve seen between two people in my life. Not even in the movies, (Y/n)!” You tried to shush her, and she only lowered her voice slightly as she continued, “You have got to get on that. He’s the leader of the Wolf Pack, and you just tamed him like you were training a golden retriever puppy. How long did that take?”

            You shook your head. When you first came here you knew you must have looked like a lost little lamb trying to find Mary Bo Peep, jumping at anything Dan said or did out of fear. How had you gotten to the point where you could calm him down with a few words and a touch on the arm? You started blushing.

            “I don’t know, it’s… it’s nothing. He just…” You glanced over at him, a glass to his lips and his eyes glued to his phone. You lowered your voice, chuckling in embarrassment, “He’s really is such a good guy. I know that with the Wolf Pack’s reputation and everything you’d think he isn’t but… I figured out that if you just get him to talk then you can get to know him, and—” You stopped yourself, shaking your head. You felt like if you continued, nothing would make sense.

            Sheila nodded. “You do like him.”

            You started to refuse but when your eyes met hers you stopped. You never could tell Sheila a lie.

            “I don’t—I don’t know. He still confuses me so much, and… everything with you-know-who I’m trying to deal with…” You finally shook your head, raising your hands in defeat. “There’s no way, there’s just no way it would ever work. Why does everyone think I like him so much already? We talk but not that much.”

            “You don’t know that it won’t work.”

            You groaned, “Sheils—”

            “No, (Y/n), I’m serious. You’ve been through so much the last few months. Now I don’t know much about him, but if he really does help people in distress as often as I think, how could he not be a good guy deep down? He’s gotta work hard for everything he does and has, and he’s gotta do that for everything.” Her brows raised high as she stared at you pointedly.

            You shoved her arm and rolled your eyes. “Whatever, I don’t wanna talk about this anymore. Let’s talk about you, okay? What’s new?”

            Sheila pursed her lips at you for a moment but took a deep breath and began updating you on everything you’d missed out on the last couple weeks. The few minutes that you stood there with her, talking like old times, you realized in the moment that it was much needed for you. Suzy and Holly were great, and you enjoyed your moments of kindness with Dan, but nobody beat Sheila. You were so lost in catching up with your old friend that you didn’t notice the man that walked in until you heard his voice slightly above the din of the bar.

            “(Y/n)…”

            Your heart stopped. Your blood ran cold. You wanted to turn around, you wanted to reach out for Dan, you wanted to run away.

            “(Y/n).” Louder this time, more forceful.

            Your mouth opened and you choked, a strangled noise the only thing that came out as your eyes shot to Dan. He looked confused for a moment before you watched his eyes shift over to the source of who was speaking your name. In an instant his expression turned to one of a cold, sinister annoyance. His back straightened and his arms dropped to his sides.

            Finally, you turned. And there he was, your ex. He looked paler, skinnier, the hair that hung out from under the baseball cap he wore looked stringy. His clothes were rumpled and stained, like he’d been sleeping in the same outfit for a couple weeks. Sheila moved closer to you, her one hand gently encircling your wrist.

            “Oh, god, it’s really you… What are you doing here, (Y/n)? You shouldn’t be here.” Your ex looked around with a look of disgust. People around him were starting to take notice of Dan and your own shift in atmosphere and were watching closely.  “Just… c-come with me, and we can talk about things.”

            You shook your head slowly and backed away from him, right into Dan. He wrapped his arm around your shoulders and pointed over at your ex, a wondering look on his face.

            “Aren’t you the Asshole I talked on the phone with a couple weeks ago?”

            You looked up at him, and you couldn’t deny yourself the wave of warmth that rushed in your stomach. Even after everything he said about not needing trust a couple days ago, you knew right then that you did trust him. You believed with everything you had that he wasn’t going to let your ex hurt you. One of your hands reached up to grip the back of his jacket, while your head dropped and rested against his chest. He pulled his arm closer around you and you knew that if you let yourself go completely he would catch you.

            “You’re the one…” your ex was saying. “You’re the one who had her phone.” A pause and you glanced up at him, his eyes darting between you and Dan. “And now you’ve taken her from me?” His chest started to rise and fall as he breathed hard.

            “Dan--” you mumbled, reaching up to grab his shirt.

            He patted your hand. “Shh,” he whispered and placed a kiss on your forehead.

            “How dare you. (Y/n), you… you slut.” Your eyes squeezed shut and you let Dan wrap both arms around you to shield you from him. “You belong to me, you’re my girl. One silly little argument and you run off and cheat on me?”

            Your face broke and you fought to hold back your tears as you shouted, “It wasn’t just one silly little argument! You know what you were using me for!” Dan looked down at you in confusion, realizing just then that you never told him why you left your ex in the first place. What did you mean? A question was burning in the back of your brain and you quickly worked up the courage to ask it, “How did you even find me?”

            His eyes softened, happy that you asked him a question, then his head turned to Sheila.

            She sighed angrily, a clear look of disgust on her face. “You followed me?”

            Your ex ignored the question and turned back to you. “I had to find you, why did you run away? She was the only lead I had after you disappeared. Not too good until she came here, obviously.”

            “Dude, you know that’s super fucking creepy, right? What is up with you?” Your eyes went wide at Dan and what he was saying, he was going to make your ex snap, and you didn’t want to be here for that.

            Your ex’s head dropped. “All right. All right, I am fucking done trying to play the nice guy. Come on, (Y/n), we’re leaving right now.” He stomped forward like he was going to pull you away from Dan’s arms but in a flick and flash Dan had a switchblade out and held horizontally to your ex’s throat.

            “You’re gonna wanna back the fuck up, right now, buddy.”

            Your ex was stuck between reaching toward you and feeling the blade slice his jugular. “I should kill you right now, you fucking bastard,” he spit.

            “I’m the one with a knife to a major vein of yours. You wanna try me, pal?”

            Your ex stood there, fuming as his eyes were glued to Dan’s.

            “Right… so…” Dan began. “What you’re not gonna do, is make a fool out of yourself in front of all these people, because what I’m not gonna do, is gut you where you stand. What you are gonna do, is stop pestering (Y/n), because she’s with me now, okay? You think you can handle that, tough guy?”

            “But she’s mine—”

            You didn’t even see it happen, only a flash and your ex was on the ground, blood spurting from his mouth and nose.

            “Dan, no—” you gasped, gripping the tail of his jacket once you’d realized what happened.

            His hand reached back to hold your shoulder. “It’s okay, I got this,” he assured you before turning to your ex and guiding you into his back like he was a human shield, not wanting you to even look at the pathetic mess on the floor anymore. “So,” he said, “I suggest you pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and go anywhere else, or I’ll have you riding an ambulance to the nearest hospital in the next thirty seconds. Take your pick.” He bit out the last sentence word by word.

            You heard your ex scoff and shuffle around to stand. A sniff, “This isn’t over, I will see her again. I love you, baby, and I miss you. I’m gonna get you out of here, don’t worry.” Your eyes squeezed shut and you willed him away. After a few seconds you heard his footsteps receding, followed by the opening and slamming shut of the door.

            You didn’t even have time to take a breath, the moment he was gone Dan grabbed your arm and started pulling you to the back of the bar.

            “Dan, what--?” you asked in broken words, feebly trying to pull yourself out of his strong grip. He said nothing, only pulled you to the door of the stock room, threw it open and dragged you inside with him. He shut the door and turned his back to it, eyes jumping all over you the moment they found your body.

            “Are you okay? I didn’t get you, did I?”

            “Dan, I don’t want to be in here.”

            “Did I hurt you?”

            The way he bit out the words made you stop. You sighed as you lifted the arm he’d just been yanking on. You rubbed it lightly, but it didn’t hurt. “No, I’m—I’m fine.”

            He nodded and took a deep breath. “Okay… Do you wanna tell me why you and psycho-dick broke up in the first place?”

            Your head dropped. You had hoped beyond hope that this moment wouldn’t have come. You shook your head, hair waving gently. “I don’t wanna talk about it.” It came out as a barely audible whisper.

            Dan leaned forward, trying to see your face. “(Y/n), you’re here because you needed help. Now, for a while I didn’t need to know why you dumped that loser but now it’s proving to be a problem.”

            “Oh, am I too difficult for you now? Are you gonna throw me out on my ass and leave me to get kidnapped by him now?” You looked at him with fierce eyes but the moment you finished talking you looked away.

            “No, I would never do that. I would never do anything that could hurt you. I’m not your ex, I’m never going to be your ex.” His voice became quiet, almost to a whisper. He cleared his throat, “I just don’t know how to help you if you don’t—”

            “Well, you just asked if I wanted to tell you, didn’t you? And I don’t so can you just fucking drop it and let me out of here?” You tried to push past him to get to the door handle, but he sidestepped in your way, grabbing your shoulders.

            “No, (Y/n), you have to tell me what he did, what did he do to you?”

            “Dan, stop—” You fought against him, trying to pull away, trying to hit his chest.

            “What did he do, (Y/n)? What did he—”

            “Stop!” You screeched, making your own ears ring.

            “Okay,” he said quickly, and let you go, holding his hands up.  

            You stood there for a moment, panting, hair covering your face. Then all at once your face broke and you dropped to the floor, sobbing into your palm.

            Dan stood there and watched you, not knowing what to do, how to help. Did you want him to go? Did you still want to go? Finally, he lowered himself, crouching down in front of you a few feet away. He said nothing.

            You sat there, sobbing in Dan’s silence for what felt like an hour. When your sobs finally turned to hiccups and whimpers, your eyes too red and irritated to bother opening them, you lifted your head slightly. He was the last person you wanted to tell this to for the first time, but he was here. That was enough.

            “He was great at first, he really was.” Your voice was hoarse, but you kept talking. “So sweet, payed for everything on dates, took me shopping… After about a year he started…” You sighed and rolled your head back, blinking up at the lights. You sniffed. “He started guilting me, said I owed him for the movie we went to, the lunch he bought me, the dress he payed for. He started… trading things he was buying me for… sex.” You swallowed, feeling bile rise in your throat. You shrugged one shoulder. “I didn’t think anything of it at first, ya know? Figured, ‘yeah, he’s good to me, I should be good to him too.’ Then he started wanting… more, and I couldn’t—” You winced, and looked away. You felt Dan shift closer but he didn’t move to touch you. You turned back to him but didn’t look. “He started abusing me because I wasn’t doing what he wanted. Pushing me so I fall into tables, slapping me, pulling me by my hair… All because I couldn’t… do what he wanted…” You shook your head, feeling your strength waver. “Dan, I-I can’t—”

            “That fucking monster.”

            You looked up, your eyes wide as you blinked, tears falling on your red cheeks. He was shaking. His eyes downcast at the floor, fists balled on his thighs. Every part of him was vibrating and he looked like he was going to break apart.

            “You should have told me. I would have ripped him apart where he stood. I’m gonna go find—" He moved to get up but you shook your head slowly and placed a hand on his arm, making him freeze.

            “No, Dan, I can’t,” you groaned. He looked into your eyes and his muscles relaxed. “I can’t deal with this right now.” You hoped he knew what you meant. You were too exhausted to listen to him storming around. “Please, just…”

            “You should have told me,” he insisted, leaning forward.

            “How could I?”

            “I wouldn’t have been so… touchy.”

            You shook your head. “No, you were okay. I knew you were different from him.” You inhaled shakily. “It freaked me out at first, but… it’s okay, really.” You tried to smile but couldn’t muster it.

            “Everything I was buying…”

            You nodded. “I know.”

            “I just wanted you to—”

            “I know.”

            “I’m sorry.”

            “Dan, please, just… Just…” You gripped his arm, shaking your head as you tried to formulate what you wanted in that moment into words. It was impossible, but he knew. He knew without you having to say a thing.

            “Okay,” he whispered and leaned forward to press a kiss against your forehead. He stood and gently picked you up bridal-style. You rested your head against his chest, feeling yourself slowly start to fall asleep as he carried you up the flights of stairs to get to the apartments. You heard the door of your apartment opening and shutting, and after a few seconds you were placed on your bed.

            The last thing you thought of was how soft the flannel sheets were, and how you didn’t have flannel sheets.

Chapter Text

Dan’s POV

            For hours she lay sleeping in my bed. For hours I paced, wondering what I was going to do. I felt so guilty about everything I’d ever done with her. Every touch, every kiss, every tease. She wanted to reassure me that she was okay but how could I be sure? She didn’t tell me about everything with her ex, how could I know she wasn’t just lying to protect my feelings?

            I pulled up a chair next to her sleeping face and gazed down at her. I wanted to reach out and stroke the hair away from her face but how could I touch her without her knowing? Everything I did around her now felt dirty, like I’m a creep. I scoffed and sat back, still looking at her.

            She is so beautiful. Is that the first time I’ve thought that? No, it can’t be. In such clear words, yes, but watching her look at things in stores, waiting on tables at the bar, and god damn it, singing on the karaoke stage were all times I’d thought just that.

            How could anyone hurt her like her ex had? How could anyone do their damnedest to crush the innocent soul that lay nestled inside her? With everything I had I wanted to protect her, but how could I do that when I now knew… that I wanted her so badly? How could I hold back when she’s all I want?

            You can’t, she’s still suffering so much. I knew this was true, but I didn’t want to admit it to myself, not yet at least. Everything happened so fast, how did I develop these feelings so fast? Every kiss on the forehead in public was to let every guy in a two-block radius know that she was not to be messed with, just to keep her from predatory eyes, but had I really gone and tricked myself into…

            I leaned forward, my head in my hands, fingers curled around the roots of my hair and pulling. What are you going to do? I need to distance myself from her, let her know that it’s not my intention to put moves on her right after she has to deal with something so severe.

            Does she even like your skinny punk ass? I had no idea, really. With every flush of her cheeks each time I touch her, smile at her, look at her, you’d think she did, but could it have been… something else? Could it have been fear and embarrassment that was laced with every interaction between us from the damage he’d done? I needed to fix this, to make it clear to her that I was never going to hurt her. But… how?

            She shifted, brows pushing together, face turning up to the ceiling for a moment and she made a tiny groan before settling back down.

            Fucking idiot, have you even thought about what you do? The danger you’d be putting her in? I’ve severely injured, robbed, threatened, and all but murdered people and this precious girl walks into my bar and I’m about to drag her into all of this? She doesn’t need any of this, she doesn’t deserve to have to deal with all my shit.

            But if this is what she may want? Would it be worse for me to tell her no? What if by some strange miracle she does want part in this. Would I have the heart to let her see the fierce beast I can become when I need to? No you couldn’t.

            After all she’s been through, she’s seen enough ferocity in her life. I couldn’t dare bring more of it. What kind of hypocrite would that make me? I vowed to keep her safe and away from the violence, I can’t bring her in knowing that’s all she’ll end up seeing. My reasons for the feelings I have don’t matter if she will end up getting hurt.

            Maybe this is what people meant when they said love is a battle between the brain and the heart. The heart wants what the brain knows it shouldn’t have. But sometimes the heart wins...only to be shattered. I may have to shatter my own heart to keep her safe. And she may be the only girl I’ll ever know to be worth it.

            My thoughts looped in this cycle as I sat quietly, watching her rest. Her neck would move, rubbing her face into her arm, or she would let out a sigh and for a moment I would think she was about to wake up only for her to settle back into sleep again. My heart would race, eyes growing wide as I thought of what I was going to do when she finally woke up, only to grow as calm as she did once again.

            Suddenly my phone buzzed, a text from Arin.

            ARIN:

            Break out between Joe and Arnie again. This is the fourth time. You wanna come deal with this?

            Sent: 1:12 a.m. 

            I sighed and looked up at (Y/n), then typed out my reply to Arin.

            YOU:

            Not now. Just toss them out but make sure they know i’m gonna be dealing with them tmrw

            Sent: 1:13 a.m.

            I shoved my phone in my pocket and let out another sigh, linking my hands over my stomach. Then, a sharp inhale, and she was awake.

Your POV

            You looked around through bleary eyes, still waking up, trying to think, and you realized after a few moments that you were not in your apartment. You looked over and there was Dan, sitting in a chair next to you. You rubbed your eyes and looked at him in confusion. “Where are we?”

            “My apartment,” he answered. “Didn’t wanna trespass.”

            After a moment you smiled because you thought that was ridiculous. The way Dan walked around looked like he thought he owned everything, and he was worried about trespassing somewhere that he really did own? Yeah, the apartment had all your stuff in it, but he was still paying for everything. “Well, thanks,” you mumbled, and sat up, hands resting loosely between your legs.

            You looked around, surprised to find that it looked like a completely normal apartment. You hadn’t ever really thought about what his place might look like, but if you had to guess before this, you’d think it would be covered in black tapestries for heavy metal bands, crude artwork hanging everywhere, and beer bottles littering the floor. It was nothing like that at all. There was a brown sofa in the center of the living room, along with a flat screen on the wall, a couple lounge chairs, a small table in the dining room, and other pieces of furniture covered in odd knick-knacks. The art on the wall was colorful, and seemed to be mostly video game or 80’s rock band related. Your hand rubbed the sheets beneath you, flannel. “This isn’t what I was expecting of your place.”

            “You seem to say that about me a lot.”

            You looked over at him, tried to read his expression but you couldn’t. Still, you smiled softly. “Yeah, I… I guess I still just don’t know you very well.”

            He stared into your eyes and stood, keeping eye contact as he sat down at your feet. “Are you feeling better?”

            You looked down at your hands in thought, your still foggy mind going through everything you could remember happening before you fell asleep “I… think so.” You shook your head, “I don’t know, I just…”

            “It’s a lot, I know. It’s okay.” You thought he was smiling, but it didn’t quite reach all of his features.

            Still, you sighed and gave him a warm smile. “Thanks… And thank you for being  so understanding, I know I dumped a lot on you.”

            “Well, I asked you about it, and I’m happy that I know.”

            You moved closer, bending your legs and stacking them on top of each other. You would barely have to move your arm to touch Dan’s you were so close. You picked at your cuticles as you said, “I’d wanted to tell you, I really did. I’d just never talked about it with anyone other than Sheila before, and you and I never really had the chance or the time… Plus, it’s not the best topic of conversation.”

            He shook his head. “I wouldn’t have asked and needed to know if he didn’t make it so clear that he’s going to try and get to you again. I knew that after what you told me he would try, but usually when I knock someone on their ass they don’t get right back up and say they’re gonna be back. I promise next time he’d not gonna have functioning knees to get up.”

            You smirked, chuckling through your nose. “Awfully confident.”

            He shook his head, smile again not quite reaching all of his features. “It’s the truth.”  

            You lightly grabbed his arm, pushing your shoulders together and batting your eyelashes. “And you promise you’ll protect me again? I have to say, even though it was scary, I did enjoy seeing him fall on his ass for once.” You started to pull your hand away, only being silly because you wanted to change the mood, but Dan quickly placed his hand atop yours.

            “Yes, I promise. I told you I would when you first came to me and I always will.” His eyes were locked to yours and for once, you knew you couldn’t have torn away from them no matter how hard you tried. “(Y/n), I promise, he will never hurt you. As long as you're here, you will be safe. No one here will touch you without your permission. No one will intentionally do anything to scare you or make you uneasy. I want…” He trailed, eyes jumping down to your hand which he gently took, holding your palm in his. He looked back up at you, eyes boring into yours. “I want you to know that when you hold my hand, it won't ever strike you, leave a mark, or make you bleed.”

            Your heart was hammering, breath caught in your chest as you stared into his eyes. And just like that, without letting yourself wait to think it through, you raised up onto your knees, wrapped your arms around his neck, and kissed him. As soon as you did realize what you were doing, however, he didn’t give you time to freeze up or try and pull away. Instead, he swept your legs under you and lay you down onto the mattress. He took your wrists in his hands and pinned them gently on either side of your head as your mouths moved together. Warmth was flooding from his mouth down into your stomach. He felt so strong and secure, you felt safe. You felt safe.

            He broke the kiss, panting as he moved down to your neck, giving it a soft bite. The blood in your veins rushed, and you gasped as you felt shivers run down your spine. One of his hands moved to your waist as he moved his mouth up to just below your ear. You hummed softly and smiled, enjoying every moment of this. Was this wrong of you? You’d only known him for a couple weeks, should you be letting him do this? But it was nice, you loved it. The last person to touch you like this had been your ex, and, well, you didn’t want to think about him right now. Dan wanted you to feel like this, you were sure of it. Everything he just said told you so.

            “Dan…” you sighed, forcing all other thoughts from your mind.

            “You know our love isn’t real. Right, baby?”

            Your heart stopped, your eyes popped open, your face immediately flushing up with embarrassment. He was whispering right in your ear, his arms trapping you so you couldn’t pull away. “Everything we do together in front of everyone is just for show. Just so your little problem will go away. I’m just trying to help you, that’s all I want to do.”

            Your eyes watered and you fought to keep the tears from spilling over. “I’d like to leave now,” you whispered, feeling your throat squeeze around the words.

            “(Y/n)—”

            “No, I want to leave.” You pushed his chest and he leaned up and off you. You climbed off his bed and went to the door, not daring to look back. You thought you heard him say something, but it got drowned out in the sound of the door slamming shut behind you.

            You fell against the wall, palm slapping against the dirty white, supporting yourself as you continued to fight against the tears. If you let yourself cry than the full weight of what Dan just said would come crashing down on you, so you fought against it.

            ‘You know our love isn’t real. Right, baby?’

            You had to move. You didn’t know if he would, but if Dan was going to try and catch you, you’d rather he didn’t. You let your hand slide off the wall and bounce off your side, feet moving slowly, then quicker as the thought of seeing Dan again right now filled you. Your apartment was down the hall and around the corner from Dan’s. If you just got there and locked the door, it’d be fine. He couldn’t make you let him in, even if he did own the place.  

            ‘Everything we do together in front of everyone is just for show.’

            As you rounded the corner you caught Holly leaving her apartment. She was in the middle of locking the door behind her. You had to get past her to get to your place, but you knew you couldn’t. Instead, you turned and walked down the stairs to get to the bar. It was quiet, early in the evening. How long had you slept in Dan’s place? You walked out into the middle of the bar, among the tables and looked around. There were a few groups of patrons sitting around, and Brian or the other guys were nowhere to be found, probably getting stuff from the stockroom.

            ‘Just so your little problem will go away.’

            A little problem. It wasn’t a little problem, you knew your ex was much more than a little problem. It was a big problem. A big problem that you brought and shoved onto Dan to deal with. It’s your problem, you should have just dealt with it yourself. Your problem. You’re the problem.

            ‘Just so your little problem will go away.’

            Go away.

            Go away, you had to go away. You were a problem that had to go away.

            Numbly, you took the several strides to the door and shoved it open. Once on the other side you blinked at the harsh gray light that shone through the clouds.

            “I’m making a mistake,” you mumbled to yourself.

            No, I’m not, you thought, and started running.

            The cold wind bit your cheeks, and it took you a couple blocks to realize that you were crying. You passed people walking on the streets, riding bikes, narrowly avoided several cars as you crossed streets. They yelled at you to watch where you were going, some asking if you were okay, asking you to stop, come back. You kept running. You had no idea where you were going, only that you needed to go.

            After what must have been a couple miles you finally stopped, collapsing on the nearest bench with little time to think before your body started heaving with gut-wrenching sobs. Your arms propped on your knees as your head hung in your hands. After a moment you took a deep breath, lifting your head and sniffed. Your tear-filled eyes blinked up at the sky, trying to clear themselves. You had no idea where you were, only knew that the surrounding area was empty of people, which you were thankful for.

            What were you going to do now? You patted your jacket pocket and felt the rectangle shape of your phone still inside. Hopefully it wasn’t dead. But who would you call? Sheila? Sheila. She was your best chance. You stood and moved to unzip the pocket when you were grabbed.

            Arms wrapped around you, one across your chest and a hand grabbed your throat, squeezing so you couldn’t breathe. Your eyes went wide as you tried to gasp in a single breath. The arms pulled you flush with the body they belonged to.

            Then you heard his voice in your ear, “I didn’t know you could actually leave that place. What, did the big bad biker guy scare you off? You know you belong at home with me, don’t you? Nobody can take care of you like I can.”

            You tried to shake your head, tried to do anything to get away, but your vision was slowly growing darker the longer he squeezed your neck.

            “Come on, honey. Let’s finally go home.”

            Just as the blackness completely enveloped your vision, something hard knocked into your skull, and you were out.

            When you woke up you immediately knew you were in your ex’s apartment. The dirty walls, stained carpet, broken blinds, and awful smell threw you off for a moment, his place usually didn’t look like this. You supposed after the three months apart he must have derailed from taking care of his place. But there was the green velvet couch, the wooden TV stand, and posters that you’d come to know so well after two years of being with him. Your heart started hammering.

            You tried to get up, but were yanked back by the rope binding you to his dining room table. It was made of wood, and insanely heavy, you couldn’t have dragged yourself off if you wanted to. But you had to get out of here somehow. Where was he? You looked around but couldn’t see him anywhere. Your mind raced, trying to find something within reach that you could use as a weapon but you found nothing. Then you remembered your phone and prayed that he hadn’t taken it off you. Your hand that wasn’t tied down unzipped your jacket pocket and there it was. Tears almost came to your eyes as you pulled it out and unlocked it. But who should you call? Your mind went right past the police and straight to Sheila again. You didn’t know what she could do, but right now she was the only person you wanted to see. You decided to send her a text instead of calling in case he came back.

            YOU:

            pls help im at my exs

            Sent: 4:54 p.m.

            You sent it off, your fingers shaking as you waited, bleary eyes staring at the screen. You quickly decided to send another, so she wouldn’t think you were just hanging out with him.

            YOU:

            he kidnapped me

            Sent: 4:54 p.m.

            You sniffed and wiped your nose as your leg began jiggling absentmindedly. Your ears listened for anything and everything, but the apartment was dead silent. After a couple minutes with no reply you sent another.

            YOU:

            Sheila pls I don’t know what hes going to do but I know its not going to be good pls help me

            Sent: 4:57 p.m.

            A minute later a reply from her popped up.

            SHEILS:

            oh my god (y/n) who should I get?

            Sent: 4:58

            You grunted in frustration, fresh tears falling as you typed out a quick reply.

            YOU:

            I don’t know pls just hurry

            Sent: 4:58

            Steps from outside the apartment, coming closer. It had to be him. Your ribcage shook as your heart beat hard in your chest. You scrambled to shove your phone back in your pocket and prayed that if Sheila texted you back he wouldn’t be able to hear the vibration. Keys jangled in the doorknob and it opened to reveal your ex on the other side.

            “Oh good, you’re awake,” he beamed when he saw you. He shut and locked the door behind him and took the several strides to reach you. He crouched down in front of you and you could see there was no denying the amount of the force of the punch Dan had delivered to him yesterday. His nose and the surrounding area was a dark purplish-blue, shiny and obviously very painful. His cap was gone, revealing just how greasy his hair was. Your nose crinkled up at the sight of him, and you tried to back away.

            “Oh, look at you… he really scared you, didn’t he?” He reached out to touch your cheek, but you flinched away. Your ex’s face went from concerned to anger in a single second and he grabbed your chin roughly to look at him. “What did you do with him? Hm?” His eyes roamed down to your leather jacket and torn up black jeans. He smirked wryly. “Started dressing like him too, huh? What, did he buy those for you? He really made you his little bitch, didn’t he?” He shoved your face away, nails scratching your cheeks and jaw. “Don’t worry, baby. I’ll make sure you forget all about him soon enough...”

            Sheila burst into the Shakedown and shoved her way to the bar, right to the gray-haired bartender.

            “Where is he?” she demanded.

            Brian’s eyes went wide. “Where’s who?”

            “Dan. Where is he?”

            “Why?”

            “He has (Y/n).”

            Brian’s heart stopped. “Wait, who has (Y/n)?”

            “Her asshole ex-boyfriend, that’s who! He has her. Now where the fuck is Dan?”

            Brian held out his hands in a calming gesture. “Wait, wait, how do you know he has her?”

            Sheila opened her phone and shoved it under Brian’s nose, showing off the panicked texts from (Y/n). “That enough fucking proof for you? Now. Where. Is. He.”

            Brian skimmed the texts, only catching the few words that let him know this was real. “Come with me,” he muttered, and turned away to head to the back of the bar.

            Sheila followed, all the way to the back where Dan was sitting in his booth, hands gently spinning his phone on its corner on the tabletop.

            “Dan—” Brian started.

            “He fucking has her,” Sheila interrupted.

            Dan’s eyes slowly looked up at the woman. “You’re (Y/n)’s friend.”

            “Did you hear me? Her asshole ex has her!”

            Dan’s eyes slowly went wide. “What? No, she… she knows she shouldn’t leave the bar without me.”

            “Well, guess-fucking-what, pal.”

            “How do you know?”

            “Texts. Show him,” Brian answered, gesturing to Dan.

            Sheila opened her phone and handed it to Dan. He read them, and read them again, and again, his heartbeat rising with every terrified word he read that (Y/n) had typed. He stood, and got out of the booth, pacing on the hardwood floor. “No, no, no! She… she wasn’t supposed to leave.”

            “Yes, we know, but she did, so how the fuck do you plan on getting her back?”

            “Where—Where is she?” Dan stuttered, stomping up to Sheila. “Where is she?!”

            “Have you not been listening to me?!” Sheila yelled. “She’s. With. That. Asshole! He has her!”

            It took a moment for Dan to process what Sheila was saying. “Fuck,” he whispered, and scrambled to dig his phone out of his pocket. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.” He swiped on his phone and held it to his ear, his eyes wide.  

            “Dan…” Brian started again. He’d never seen Dan get this worked up, at least not for a long time.

            “No, shut up—Arin. Where the fuck are you right now?... Get to the Shakedown, now… No, right now, do you hear me? She--… She’s gone, do you fucking hear me? (Y/n) she… Just-- He has her, okay? Get here. Right. Now.” He hung up the call and shoved his phone back into his pocket. He covered his face with his hands, taking a moment. Finally, he dropped his hands, swallowing thickly. “Okay. Okay, okay, okay. Brian, I need you to—”

            “Got it,” he answered, and left the room without letting Dan finish.

            Dan nodded, trusting him. Sheila stood by in confusion for a second before stepping up to the Alpha. “What are you going to do?”

            “Get everyone together, then we’re going to that assholes place and getting her back.” He shook his head. “I told her not to leave. I didn’t—When I told her… I didn’t mean for her to do this.”

            “Look, I don’t know what it is that you did, Frankly, I don’t fucking care. What I do know, is that she’s been through too much bullshit with that asshole to come here looking for help and only end up right back where she started. So, if you get her back like you say you’re gonna do, I don’t care what it takes, you make it up to her. That is, if she wants anything to do with you. Do you understand me?” She had moved close, finger pointed and almost stabbing him in his chest. Although the woman was a full foot shorter than Dan he still leaned as far back as he could away from her, terrified of what she might do if he didn’t do this right.

            “Yes, of course. I never meant to hurt her.”

            Sheila held her hand up, a sign that she didn’t want to hear it. “I’m staying until I know she’s safe. Free drinks.”

            Dan nodded. “Free drinks.”

            Sheila turned away and stomped back to the bar.

            Dan rubbed his eyes with one hand, gritting his teeth. Why the fuck did he say what he did? If he didn’t find (Y/n) in perfect condition, or, God forbid, if he found her dead, how was he supposed to keep going?

Chapter Text

Okay guys, I feel awful about this and this is the last thing I’d ever want to do but I have to postpone the update for today until next week. I’m a college student who works and it’s hard to juggle all of that and make time for myself and time for writing. I could give you guys a chapter for today, but it would be short and unfulfilling, and I would rather give you guys a finished chapter that I feel confident about, than half of a chapter that’s not at all finished. Also, I’m sure you all know how big of a deal this next chapter is going to be, so I need this extra time to make sure it’s good more than ever.

I can’t tell you guys enough how upset I am that I have to make you guys wait, this is the last thing I wanted to do, but it’s what I need to do to ensure you guys really enjoy the next chapter. I’m so, so, so sorry.

Until next week! Thank you all for reading and for your patience and understanding!

Chapter Text

            He figured out quickly that you were going to fight him off as best you could, and so tied both of your arms down to the legs of the table before he really started throwing punches. He was surprised when you kicked back at him that first time, his eyes went wide and amused.

            “Got a little more fire in you now, huh?” he’d asked as he squeezed a second length of rope around your wrist and tied it down. “I remember when you used to crumble like an uneven stack of books any time I grabbed you. His dick must have really revved your engine, huh?” And he slapped you hard enough to draw blood in your mouth.

            He continued on like this for what felt like hours, asking you questions, throwing insults at you or Dan, then slapping your face or punching your stomach when all you did was stare back at him in silent defiance. Eventually he slapped you so hard that your neck went sore, and your head hung in the direction he’d slapped it, too tired, too weak to give him a dirty look in response. 

            “You really thought you could leave me? Trade me in for him?” he spat. You stayed quiet, didn’t look up. “Look at me when I’m talking to you,” he growled, and reached forward to grip your throat, making you look into his eyes. “What is it that took you to him? Why wasn’t I enough for you?” His voice was cracking a bit, like he was about to break down and cry. His eyes jumped between yours for a silent moment until he finally scoffed and turned away, scratching your throat as his fingers left your tender flesh.

            You panted, struggling to catch your breath. When you gained it back, what little you could, you watched in horror and confusion as he ripped open a plastic bag, and took out a syringe and small medicine bottle.

            “Where did you get that?” You stared up at him, eyes wide as you watched him stab the needle in the top of the bottle and pull the syringe to fill it. He set down the bottle and tapped the needle, his eyes wide while he watched it.

            Your bottom lip had since broken open from the multitude of slaps he’d given you and was now throbbing. You knew you were going to have a giant bruise there soon, if you didn’t already. You tried to sit up, tried to move away but your body was so sore in places it hurt too much. Your ribs, thighs, arms, everywhere he’d touched he left a mark. A stain. That’d been true for more than just your body for as long as you’d known him.

            “No need to worry about that, you won’t even know where you are in a moment. I’m going to make sure that all you remember is me, and me alone.” He crouched down in front of you and your heart raced. He grabbed your chin roughly, making sure you were staring into his eyes. “I’m going to make you forget every moment you ever had with him, okay? It’ll be all better soon…” He let go of your face and grabbed hold of your left wrist. You tried to free yourself from his grasp and struggled against him, not about to make sticking you with that needle any easier than you could.

            “Is that your plan? Drug me so far out of my mind that I don’t know what’s happening?” You were trying to stall him, trying anything to keep him from doing what you already knew was going to happen anyway.

            “I mean how else am I going to keep you from running away again?”

            You grunted angrily, staring up at him with sad eyes as the needle broke the skin. A tear fell from the corner of your eye as a bead of blood protruded from the puncture, and he pushed the syringe, filling your veins with the liquid inside.

            A whimper escaped you, more tears falling. You didn’t want this. You’d rather he beat you black and blue all over until you were puking blood than have him inject anything into your body.

            He set the needle down on the floor and cupped your face in his hands. “Oh, no… Ssh, ssh, ssh…” His thumb rubbed your cheek as he watched you silently, eyes darting between yours, waiting for the slightest hint that whatever was in that bottle was affecting you.

            “Why can’t you just leave me alone?” you whined.

            He sighed angrily through his nose and pushed his fingertips hard into your face. “Because I love you, baby. I love you, and you left me for an afro on a stick. Don’t you know I’m better than him? Better than he’ll ever be? He can’t love you like I can…”

            ‘You know our love isn’t real. Right, baby?’

            You squeezed your eyes shut and tried to shift away from your ex’s touch. He only started rubbing your cheek gently with his thumb.

            “That’s it, that’s it. All those bad memories of him are gonna go away soon, just push them all away, baby.” He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to your lips, which you sluggishly tried to fight off. Your head was starting to swim, whatever he’d shot you up with was working. “I told you I’d take care of you, baby. Don’t you believe me? I’ll always protect you, I promise.”

            Your brows pushed together as you stared up into his face. You blinked, your vision swimming and suddenly there was Dan, holding your face and telling you he would protect you, just like always. Your face scrunched up and fresh tears started to fall.

            “Dan…” you whimpered, “I’m sorry, I--I’m sorry…”

            Your ex’s face shifted from a loving gaze to one of anger and annoyance. “What?” he spat. “No, no!” He slapped you hard across your face and brought it back to look at him. “Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to? Fucking look at me! I’m not him!”

            ‘I’m not your ex, I never will be your ex.’

            You whimpered, not able to make sense of anything anymore. If Dan wasn’t like your ex why was he hitting you? Why was he acting the way he did, doing everything just like him? “I’m sorry, Dan. Please, no more… Please, I can’t…”

            He gripped the hair at the back of your head hard. “Goddammit, no! No, look at me, remember me.” He grabbed your throat, squeezing, and you struggled to gasp in a single breath. Your eyes went wide as you stared up into his face, confusion replacing your fear. Why would Dan do this to you? After everything he said?

            “D--...Da--...” Your vision grew darker and darker, and your eyes rolled into the back of your head as you finally lost consciousness.

            With the sign on the door of the Shakedown flipped to, ‘Sorry, we’re CLOSED!’ anyone passing by would have thought the inside of the bar was a ghost town. When actually it was teeming with energy, the patrons inside all faced toward their Alpha and his Right Hand, their blood boiling as they thought about the girl they’d all come to love in just the few short weeks they knew her, who she was with, and what that meant.

            Dan sat sideways at the bar, one elbow propped on the table, keeping his head up as he held it in his hand. Arin stood off to the side of him, instructing everyone on what would be done to save (Y/n).

            “We can’t cause too much of a scene,” he informed everyone, eyes scanning the crowd. “This guy lives in a shitty apartment with neighbors who are nosy. We’ll surround the place, make sure it’s secure, then Dan, Brian, and I will go in, grab (Y/n), and deal with that shit stain. If he gets out, it’s everyone surrounding the building’s job to make sure he doesn’t get away. If he does, he’s only coming back, so we’ll get him either way, but we don’t want any more harm to come to (Y/n).”

            Dan balled his fist angrily. “No harm is ever going to come to her again. I’m gonna fucking snap that bastard’s neck.”

            Arin glanced at Dan for a moment then turned back to the group. “All right, let’s get ready. We’re leaving in ten.” He clapped his hands and everyone in the bar moved. Arin turned to his boss, leaning one hand on the bar as he tried to look into Dan’s eyes. “You need to get in control of yourself.”

            Slowly, Dan looked up. “You need to remember who you’re talking to.”

            Arin scoffed. “Cut the bullshit, dude. You may be my boss but you’re still my best friend, and I’m obligated to tell you when I think you’re about to lose your shit completely.” Dan said nothing and Arin let out a sigh. “You’ve never cared this much about a client before, dude. I’m not gonna lie, I like the side this girl brings out in you.”

            Dan’s shoulders slumped slightly. “Fuck off,” he sighed. “We can’t talk about her like that, not now. Not when she’s with--” He grunted angrily and put his head in his hands, elbows slamming down on the table. He could barely feel the sting.

            “Dude you gotta calm down. You being angry isn't doing any good, we need you to have a clear head. At least until we get to him, then you can go all ape shit.”

            He lifted his head, eyes red and strained, “I just got her to trust me, dude. I fucking ruined it.”

            “What did you say that made her run off like that?”

            Dan shook his head sadly, not sure if he was able to repeat the words that caused (Y/n) to be in the situation she was in now.

            “All right, all right, you don’t have to tell me. Just… keep your cool, okay? At least for a little bit longer.”

            Dan gave no response, only stared off into the bar. Arin sighed again and pat Dan’s shoulder, then walked outside. 

            The Wolf Pack roared through the streets on their way to (Y/n)’s ex’s apartment building. The Alpha lead them, his expression hard, working to hide the worry that threatened to etch itself forever in his brow. Never before had he felt the anger at a client’s assailant as he did now. Sure, there were some bad ones, but he’d never known such a strong desire to put one six feet under like he did with (Y/n)’s ex. He fought to keep his thoughts under control, hoping beyond hope that she would be okay, still alive, still breathing, but not letting himself think too far ahead. The thought that he might get there too late was liable to make him turn his handlebars too sharply and end up as a splatter in the middle of the road.

            He couldn’t lie, the moment they pulled up to the ex’s apartment, his heart jumped into his throat, and he shakily climbed off of his bike. He looked up the many rows of windows and wondered what (Y/n) was doing behind one of them, whether she was fighting back, or--

            “Which one is he in?” he asked Arin, interrupting his own thoughts for his own sake.

            Arin climbed off his bike and pulled out his phone. “Fourth floor, apartment 4F.”

            Dan nodded slowly and turned to Brian as he walked up. “You ready?”     

            Brian nodded in response. “You gonna be okay? What we might find in there…”

            “She’s gonna be alright,” Arin interrupted, giving Brian a look.

            “Of course, she will,” Brian responded, looking up the building at the windows.

            Dan glanced back at the rest of the group, all still sitting on their bikes, waiting for instructions. “Well?” he asked. “Get in your fucking positions, we don’t have all goddamn day.”

            Immediately everyone hopped off their bikes and went to stand around the building. Some smoked, others fiddled with their phones or just talked to each other, doing their best to look casual, like they belonged there and were just hanging out.

            “Okay,” Dan let out a long sigh and readjusted his jacket. “Let’s do this.”

            The three of them strode into the apartment building like they owned the place. The manager behind the counter ducked his head as soon as he saw them, immediately recognizing the Alpha.

            They approached the elevator and Dan turned his head over his shoulder to Brian as Arin pushed the elevator button. “Stay here, in case he saw us.”

            Brian nodded once and moved to stand so he could watch the entrance as well as the elevator and stair case. The other two said nothing as they waited for the elevator, when it arrived and let them in, and on the trip up.

            Once they reached the fourth floor Arin stepped out first and began locating the door that lead to where (Y/n) would be. “This way,” he mumbled, and lead Dan down the right hallway, all the way to the last door on the right. They slowed their steps as they approached, not wanting to alert the asshole that anyone was around, and also trying to hear what could be going on inside, but they heard nothing.

            “You gonna knock, or…?” Arin asked as Dan lifted his foot and kicked the door open, sending it smashing into the adjacent wall. “Why’d I even ask?” he mumbled to himself once everything fell silent.

            Dan rushed inside to find (Y/n) there, sprawled uncomfortably along the legs of a wooden table that she was tied to. He crossed the dirty carpet to her in a few strides. He hesitated, eyes darting over her busted lip and swollen cheeks. He knew that under her shirt her stomach would be a mess of blue and purple, and so would her arms and legs. Gently he picked up her head and cradled it in his hands. “(Y/n)?”

            She made no indication that she was awake or even conscious, he was sure that even the sound of the door bursting open hadn’t startled her a bit.

            Arin came back to the table, having searched the apartment for any sign of the ex “He’s not here.”

            “He would just leave her here like this?” Dan spat.

            Arin said nothing, what could he say?

            Dan brought out his switchblade and flicked it open. His eyes shot to (Y/n)’s face, expecting her eyes to pop open and stare up at him in fear, but they remained closed. He set to work cutting the ropes and removing them from her wrists. Once that was done he put the switchblade away and looked over her face once more, brushing her hair away.

            “Take her,” he said, and Arin immediately moved to pick the girl up. “Bring her to the hospital, I’ll be there soon.”

            Once (Y/n) was securely in Arin’s arms he asked, “What should I say happened to her?”

            “Nothing. Don’t answer any questions until I get there. Tell them who you work for if you have to, just…” His eyes landed back on her face and his heart squeezed. “Just make sure they do everything they can to bring her back to me.”

            Arin paused, surprised by what Dan said but finally nodded and left. He hadn’t bothered to ask what Dan was staying at the apartment for, he already knew.

            Once Arin was gone Dan dropped his head and let it hang, the rush of what he just said washing over him, ‘Make sure they do everything they can to bring her back to me.’ He made it obvious to Arin now, and also himself, how he really felt about (Y/n). There was no going back from that now.

             A half hour later; footsteps coming toward the apartment door. They stopped once the person causing the sound noticed the door wide open, nearly hanging off its hinges. Dan listened to the few more hesitant steps forward, and there he was.

            “Hey, babe. Daddy’s home,” Dan said once your ex was in his line of sight. He grinned wickedly and sighed, “Cheesy, I know, but… I figured we’d have a little fun befo—"

            “What the fuck are you doing here?” Your ex interrupted, rushing inside to find you gone, no longer laying against the table in his dining room. “Where—Where is she?”

            Dan sighed and uncrossed his legs. “You know, I don’t think that's something you should be too concerned with.” He stood from the chair he’d pulled into the middle of the room to approach him. Without warning, Dan grabbed your ex by his shirt collar, lifting him off the ground so he was at Dan’s eye level. “How dare you?” he gritted out between clenched teeth. “How dare you do that to her?”

            “You... don’t scare me,” your ex said, the words coming out a bit strangled from the restrictions his pulled up collar was causing.

            “That’s fine, you don’t need to fear anything. You won’t be around much longer for it to matter.” He drove his fist straight into your ex’s gut, dropping him to the floor where he crumpled on his knees and tried to regain some oxygen.

            “You’ll rot in prison for killing me,” he wheezed out. “You won’t win, she’ll always belong to me.” He could barely get the words out as he wasn’t taking in enough air.

            Dan didn't bother saying anything as he reeled his leg back, driving it into the same spot his fist was just seconds ago. His kicks became repetitive and his fists started colliding you’re your ex’s face, feeling his nose and jaw crack under impact. Dan backed off after a few more blows, looking at the man that lay barely conscious below him.

            He growled, “Killing you is too easy, you’d get away with everything you’ve done. You deserve to suffer for the bullshit you did to her.” He crouched down and grabbed your ex’s chin, turning him roughly so he could look into Dan’s eyes. “You’re gonna see me again, pal. I’m gonna become your most frequent visitor. And every time you think that I’ve forgotten about you, that’s when I’m gonna show back up again, refreshing your nightmares and making you wish, just hope and pray, that this time I’ll finally be bored of you and get rid of you. But I won’t. I never. Will. See you soon.” With that he pushed his face away and walked out of the apartment, leaving him to suffer alone. As he walked out of the building Dan made a phone call to an officer he knew on the inside, letting him know that there was a pathetic piece of trash writhing on the floor of an apartment downtown that needed taking care of. Once he’d done that he climbed onto his bike and rode away to the hospital.

            When Dan arrived, he found everyone sitting together silently in the waiting room. “Hey, how is she? Has anyone told you anything yet?” he asked as he approached.

            Suzy stood and placed a hand on his arm. “Not yet, we’re still waiting.”

            Arin stood up next to his wife. “How’d things go back at…?”

            Dan clenched his jaw and grunted out a, “Fine. I called my guy at the station, he’ll take care of him until I get my hands on him again.”

            Arin gave Dan a quizzical look. “You’re gonna go see him again?”

            “He tortured her for a year with his bullshit, he deserves much more than what I already gave him.”

            Just then an older doctor with a white lab coat approached the group. “(Y/L/N)?” she asked.

            “Yes,” Suzy answered, “How is she?”

            “Well, she suffered some internal damage to her abdomen, as well as to her arms and legs. She has a few fractures but no breaks, as well as a lot of bruising. Soreness is expected but she will heal over time. She was also injected with a large amount of the opioid, Fentanyl. It’s possible she may have suffered some hallucinations and could experience some memory loss, but all that we know right now is that she is having some nausea and shakiness.”

            “She’s awake?” Arin asked.

            “Yes.”

            “Can we see her?” Suzy questioned.

            The doctor shook her head. “Not until she’s more stable and we’ve run a few more tests. But it shouldn’t be much longer, I’ll be sure to have a nurse come inform you when she’s ready.”

            “Thank you,” Suzy smiled sadly, and the doctor gave a nod, turned away and left. “Well, she’s awake! That’s good,” Suzy remarked, looking up at Dan.

            “Yeah…” Dan nodded, staring off into the distance for a few moments before turning to look at everyone. “Go back to the Shakedown, I’ll wait here for her.”

            Dan was met with silence as they all looked back and forth at each other. Then Holly leaned forward, “I think I can safely say that we want to stay right here.”

            Ross spoke up, “Yeah, man. Gotta make sure she’s alright.”

            “We’re gonna be here for whatever happens,” Arin nodded.

            Dan wasn’t one to say thank you or show his appreciation to his friends through words, mainly sticking to gifts and paychecks, but he couldn’t hold back the, “Thanks guys,” that choked it’s way out around the lump in his throat. Everyone nodded in response and Dan moved away to stare out a window on the opposite wall, trying to think of nothing and just let the time pass as they all waited to see you again.

            After Dan had stood by himself for a few minutes Sheila wandered over and stood next to him. He found this surprising, it wasn’t every day that people thought they could just come up and talk to the Alpha of the Wolf Pack unprovoked, but then, Sheila wasn’t just anybody.

            “Thank you, for getting her back.” She rushed it out, like she’d been holding it in for a long time. “I mean, you could have gotten there sooner, but…” Dan turned to her slightly, looking at her out of the corner of his eye. She laughed and held up her hands. “Just kidding, just kidding, I know. But, really, thank you. That girl… she’s something special. She definitely helped me through some shit and… I don’t know what I would do without her.”

            Dan’s eyes slid back to the window. “I didn’t do it just for you.”

            Sheila smiled, a small chuckle escaping her nose. “I know, I know. But you didn’t do it just for her either, did you?”

            Dan gave no response and kept his gaze on the window.

            Sheila chuckled again and let out a sigh. “She’s gonna have you wrapped around her finger, tough guy. Just you watch,” and with that she turned away and went back to sit down with the rest of the group.

            One thought echoed in Dan’s mind as he waited out the next hour: ‘She already does.’

            Nobody ate, nobody slept or even really moved. They all just sat there, chatting and trying desperately to make the time go faster. Finally, when a nurse in light blue scrubs came and announced that you were ready to see visitors everyone turned and looked at Dan. He kept his eyes on the outside world, thinking it over. Would you want to see him? What would he say? What would you say?

            “Sir?” the nurse asked.

            “Yeah,” Dan answered. “I’ll go see her.” He turned away from the window and walked over. “Suzy, come with me.”

            “Okay,” she replied, and the two of them followed the nurse through the large double doors, down a couple halls and to your hospital room.

            The nurse knocked on the door, “Ms. (Y/L/N)? I’ve got some visitors here to see you.” She pushed the door the rest of the way open and let Dan and Suzy enter first.

            There you were, a mess of red, black, and blue on top of a bed of white. Your head slowly turned, eyes landing on Dan and Suzy in the doorway. When you recognized the people standing in front of you your face broke, scrunching up and tears immediately began falling.

            “Oh, God, honey—” Suzy gasped, and moved forward quickly to stand by your bedside.

            “No! No!” you shouted, causing everyone to jump. “Get out! I’m—I’m sorry, okay?” you hiccuped, words breaking as you forced them out. “Please, just leave me alone!”

            “I think you need to go, sir.”

            It took Dan a moment before he realized everyone was talking to him. He broke his eyes away from you and looked at the nurse, her stare hard.

            “Why can’t you just leave me alone? Please!” you shouted again.  

            “Dan, just go, okay? It’ll be fine.” Suzy’s look was compassionate, but behind her eyes she wondered what Dan had done to cause this reaction from you.

            Dan took a breath and turned, leaving the room. He went back through the halls, and out the double doors. Several from the group stood and tried to talk to him, but he ignored them all and kept walking. He left the building and went back to his motorcycle, kicked it on and just started driving. He had no idea where he was going, only that he needed to go, so he did.

Chapter Text

            Once Dan was gone and the nurse made sure that you were calmed down Suzy pulled up a chair next to you, worry etched into her brow. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

            “Yeah, I… I am now.” You reached up to grab the Styrofoam cup of ice chips on the table hanging over your bed. Your hand shook terribly when you did, however, and you pulled your hand back in embarrassment.

            “Here, I’ll get it,” Suzy said, and leaned over to grab the cup and handed it to you.

            “Thanks,” you whispered, gently taking it. You poured a few ice chips into your mouth, fighting to control your trembling. After a few moments, and the ice melting to a puddle in your mouth you looked up at the girl next to you. “What happened?”

            Suzy sighed. “You tell me. If you can. All I know is that you left and then your friend Sheila came to the bar and said you were with your ex, that he’d kidnapped you. So we all loaded up and went there. Dan and Arin went inside and found you—”

            “Wait, what?” Your brows pushed together. “But…” You closed your eyes, trying to remember. A foggy memory of Dan crouched over you, holding your face and then slapping you with pure anger in his eyes flashed in your mind. Your eyes popped open. “But, he was there…?”

            Suzy leaned forward. “He went to get you, yes. Your ex wasn’t there when they went inside, but Dan stayed behind and waited for him to come back—”

            “No. No.” Everything Suzy was saying didn’t make any sense. Dan had been there, in your ex’s apartment. But how? “No, Dan was there, he—” Your throat squeezed. “He hurt me, he was there, he—” Your eyes started watering and your voice shook. “Why would he do that? After what he said, after everything he—”

            Suzy grabbed your hand, “(Y/n), no, Dan wasn’t there. It was your ex, it was all your ex. He kidnapped you in the street and took you back to his apartment. Dan was at the Shakedown the whole time. He would never hurt you like your ex did, you know that.”

            You looked up into her eyes and tried to believe her but all you felt was confusion. Confusion and fear. Your mouth hung open, a strangled noise escaping you as tears began falling down your cheeks.

            Suzy shook her head. “No, no, it’s okay. We don’t have to talk about that anymore. It’s okay,” she shushed you and reached over to the bedside table to grab a tissue and gently dab your cheeks around the bandages and swelling.

            “He—He wasn’t there?”

            “No, honey,” Suzy answered, pulling her hand away.

            You closed your eyes, tried to see through the fog, tried to see what happened. “He… My ex, he… He found me in the street, choked me until I passed out and then… Then I was in the apartment, he’d tied me down to the legs of his table…” Your brow furrowed, and you realized you couldn’t remember anything more. “I… I can’t—”

            “You might not be able to remember anything else until you get a little better. Take a break from trying to remember, just relax, okay? Do you want to see everyone else? Sheila’s here. Arin, Ross, Holly? Maybe Brian and Barry?”

            Your eyes lit up, face softening. “Sheila! And Holly, yeah.” You wanted to see the guys, but they were the closest to Dan, and you didn’t want any explicit reminders of him right now.

            Suzy squeezed your arm gently with a smile and whispered that she would be right back. You watched her go, and then let your eyes drift closed again.

            The visions you’d been seeing every time you closed your eyes since you woke up came back. Dan was hunched over you, arm reeling back and forth as blows to your body landed. Then a foggy image of someone filling a syringe, their face a dark grey cloud. Dan, you thought, but that did nothing to clear the fog. Your brows pinched, this person wasn’t wearing Dan-esque clothes anyway, so it couldn’t be him. It dawned on you and you didn’t understand why it wasn’t your first thought, your ex. Suddenly the fog cleared, revealing your ex with a gruesome smile as he filled the needle with the Fentanyl the doctors told you had been in your veins. Had it really been him that whole time? You wanted to believe, but your memory was betraying everything Suzy had told you.

            “(Y/n)?” You slowly opened your eyes to see Sheila’s tear-stained face leaning over you. “Hey, sweetie.” She sniffed, exhale shaking out. “Missed you.”

            “Sheils,” your voice cracked, and you lifted your hands up to her. They shook so you quickly tried to retract them, but she grabbed one and held onto it like she was going to fall through the floor if she didn’t. You smiled, and a tear rolled down your cheek.

            “Oh, no, come on now, I’m already crying, you know I can’t help but cry when you do.” She pressed the ball of tissue in her fist into the corner of her eye and smiled sadly.

            “Thank you,” you whispered, throat tight around the words. “Thank you for—” For what? For getting Dan, like Suzy said was the case? All you knew was that Dan had been there hurting you, how could you thank Sheila for—

            “We don’t…” Sheila rushed out, glancing back at Suzy. She turned back to you with a big grin. “We don’t have to sweat the details right now. All that matters is you’re okay, you’re safe, and that bastard is never going to hurt you again.”

            “Happy to see you’re okay.” Holly approached the bed and rubbed your leg through the blanket, then quickly pulled her hand back like it was hot. “Ooh, sorry, probably don’t wanna… accidentally touch you anywhere that might hurt.”

            “It’s okay, you’re okay. Thanks.” You looked around at the three girls smiling down at you, and for the first time in the last twelve hours, you felt safe once again.

            The Alpha of the Wolf Pack drove his motorcycle an hour outside of the city to a campground in what was called Golden Wing Park. It wasn’t often that Dan drove out there, but whenever he felt overwhelmed, or just needed a breather after dealing with a client’s problem that was particularly stressful, he came out here to sit on the edge of the waterfall and let his mind go empty. Today, however, only one thought was in his mind as he sat on the stone edge, feet dangling over the side, feeling the spray of the water hit his heels: Jump.

            Another realization hit him after he’d sat there for well over an hour and a half: someone was approaching, and he didn’t need to turn and see who it was once the engine of their bike was switched off.

            “Knew I’d find you here,” Arin commented as he climbed off his bike and walked up. “Better watch out, you’re getting predictable.”

            Dan said nothing, only continued to squint out across the water.

            Arin sighed, grunting as he sat down next to his friend, letting his own legs also dangle over the edge. “What are you doing out here, man?”

            “You know what.”

            “Yeah, but over her? What’d she say when you saw her?”

            “Suzy didn’t tell you?”

            “Didn’t ask, wanted to hear it from you.”

            Dan’s lips twitched slightly into a deeper frown. “She—She… yelled at me. Told me to get out, to leave. She begged me to leave her alone, like I’d done something to her, worse than what I did that made her… run off and get kidnapped in the first place.” He sighed angrily, and his head fell into his hands, fingers clawing at the roots of his hair. Jump, jump, jump.

            “Yeah, what did you say to her that made her leave?” Arin was met with silence, but he could tell Dan was on the verge of spilling. “Come on, man. She’s safe, her ex is put away, nothing more can happen to her. Tell me.”

            A groan ripped itself from Dan’s throat as he lifted his head. “I—We—We started to…”

            After a long pause Arin leaned forward, eyes wide. “Yeah?”

            Dan glanced at him and sighed. He’d never talked about current girls in his life with Arin, only past relationships. “We started to… kiss, make out, whatever.” He waved his hands around and kept his eyes away from Arin’s face, though Arin had no trace of the look of surprise or disgust Dan wanted to avoid. “And I had to stop myself. I had to, I’d just decided that I needed to distance myself from her after she told me what her ex did, the horrible shit he did to her for a year. And there I was, pinning her to my bed, and just…” He inhaled sharply, remembering the moment vividly, and wishing it had continued just like that instead of being ruined like he’d had to do. “Anyway, I had to stop myself, so I told her that… everything we’d done together… it wasn’t real, it was all just so her problem—her ex—would go away. I told her that all I wanted to do was help her, and then she…” He lifted his hand and waved it away, indicating everything Arin already knew.

            “Dude,” Arin said.

            “I know, it was a fucking idiot move.”

            “Yeah, no shit. Why did you think that was a good idea? That was the worst possible thing you could have said to her in that moment.”

            “I know that now!” Dan’s eyes were wide, hands held up and out, like he was begging the water in front of him to rise up and swallow him whole. “I realized it almost immediately after I said it, I wanted to stop her but she wouldn’t listen.”

            “For good reason, you were an asshole.” Dan side-eyed his friend and Arin’s shoulders met his ears. “What else do you want me to say? You know I’m right.”

            Dan sighed. “Yeah.”

            “And now you’re wondering how to fix all of this. Well, at least the shit that you did.”

            “Which is all of it.”

            “No, no. What her ex did, that’s on him. All you did was say what you thought was best in the moment to keep her safe, but you really hurt her, man.”

            “What do I do?” Dan’s eyes searched Arin’s. The awkwardness of the moment, the realization that this was the first time Dan was asking for Arin’s advice since they’d met was lost on the both of them then. “How do I—How do I get her back?”

            Arin paused for a moment and looked out over the water. “Be patient with her. He drugged her, so she probably just hallucinated seeing you at the apartment--”

            Dan groaned. “What is up with that? Why would she see me while he was…”

            Arin shook his head. “I don’t know, man. But like I said, be patient with her, don’t force her to get better, to see you like she used to. Be there for her when she needs you, that’s really all you can do.”

            Dan sighed and continued to stare out over the water. The continuous jump, jump, jump that had played in his head on a loop was quiet now, but he didn’t know for how long. He made a silent promise to himself then, that if he couldn’t get things back to the way they’d been, if he couldn’t get (Y/n) back to joking and smiling comfortably with him like she had been, if she thought that she was never going to feel comfortable around him ever again, that he would give her anything she wanted, and then leave. Leave the Shakedown and leave town for good.

            The selfish part of himself that loved her never wanted that to happen.

            It was suggested to you that you remain in the hospital to recover while your multiple fractures healed. So, there you stayed for the next four weeks, the bandages slowly coming off of your face, hands, arms, ribs, and legs. The black and blue bruises eventually changed hue to yellow and brown, then faded away completely. As the marks healed, so did your confidence, and you smiled a little more every day.

            Many from the Wolf Pack came to visit you and keep you company, help you get better by slowly talking and laughing more. Sheila brought romantic comedies and fast food, Suzy kept you supplied with heating pads and comfortable clothes, Holly made you all the tea and warm fuzzy socks you could ever want. When the guys would come by one of the girls was always there to keep it comfortable and not let the mood lag, you were thankful for that. You were thankful for all of them and everything they did.

            You didn’t see Dan for that entire month. You weren’t even sure if you wanted to. At the end of the second week you’d worked it out in your head, the fog had cleared, Dan definitely hadn’t been there, doing all the terrible things to you that you remembered him doing. But the memory of it all remained, and that was what kept you from asking him to visit you. Unknown to you, however, he came to the hospital and sat in the waiting room every day, just in case you asked, just in case he got the chance.

            But you didn’t ask to see him, you eventually decided you didn’t want to, not while you were still in that hospital bed. By week four, when you were able to walk without support from a nurse or one of the girls through the halls, you were ready to get out of that hospital. When you were finally discharged Sheila took you to her apartment to stay for the night. You weren’t ready to go the Shakedown yet, although you wanted nothing more than to be in your apartment, surrounded by everything that was yours and not those pristine white walls and beeping machines anymore, you needed at least one day outside of the hospital before you could go back there.

            That night, while you and Sheila were curled up together on her couch watching the Mindy Project she asked you, “Are you sure you’ll be okay to go back there tomorrow? You know you can stay here as long as you need to, I don’t know why you didn’t just move in here with me in the first pla—”

            “I’ll be okay, Sheils, I promise.” You smiled. “I wanna go back, I really do, I miss being there, more than I thought I would. I’ll be okay.”

            She nodded silently and rested her head back on your shoulder. You sighed and rested your head atop hers, and let the nerves in your stomach settle themselves once again. For now, you could rest. Tomorrow you’d be going back, back to the Shakedown, back to the bar, the Wolf Pack, the girls, and the bikes. You’d be going back to Dan. You’d be going home.  

Chapter Text

            The following afternoon Sheila drove you to the Shakedown. She probably asked you twenty times if you were sure about going back, did you just want to move into her apartment instead, were you in any pain at all? You answered no to all of her questions and otherwise kept silent the whole ride. You were nervous, maybe more nervous than you’d been the first time you went to the bar. But you swallowed it all down. No matter how scared you were you knew the people inside cared about you, and were going to accept you back no matter what. You were safe there.

            ‘You know our love isn’t real. Right, baby?’

            But after everything you’d told Dan, after you’d poured your heart out, let yourself be the most vulnerable you’d ever been with him, he said something like that? When you made the move to kiss him it was because you felt safe again, you ultimately had from the moment he agreed to help you. How were you supposed to trust him, the person who said he would protect you from the very man you ended up back in the hands of, to keep you safe again?

            Sheila pulled into a parking space and you both climbed out of the car. She held your hand as you both went up to the door, with your other hand on the handle you paused and took a deep breath before pulling it open.

            It looked just as it always did, dimly lit and full of bikers. Your first-time feelings that had returned quickly dissipated as you recognized everyone sitting at the tables, at the bar, standing around. You knew these people, you weren’t that scared little lamb anymore. This was a familiar place with familiar smells, and it smelled like home.

            “(Y/n),” Dan said, standing as soon as he saw you.

            When your eyes met his you felt the urge to look away, to leave once again, but fought against it. He hadn’t been the one that hurt you, you needed to remember that. He hadn’t hurt you physically, but he had with his words, and all of those feelings suddenly came rushing back to you. Still, you blinked and set your mouth into somewhat of a gentle smile and choked out, “Hi, Dan.” You lifted your arm halfway and waved. “Hey, guys.”

            Dan was sitting at a table near the bar with Arin, Suzy, and Barry. They all beamed and followed Dan’s lead, standing too. Suzy waved back, and Arin and Barry nodded to you in greeting.

            “It’s—It’s good to see you,” Dan said, a clearing of his throat punctuated his statement. “You look like you’re doing good.” He rubbed the back of his neck and you could sense the awkwardness he felt radiating off of him. This almost felt normal.

            “Thanks, I feel a lot better.”

            Sheila squeezed your hand and whispered in your ear, “You gonna be okay?” You nodded to her and she smiled. “Okay, I’m gonna get going then. Nice to see you guys,” she directed at everybody and gave you a hug. “You call me right away if you need anything.” She pulled back from the hug and looked into your eyes. “Promise me.”

            “I promise.”

            “Okay.” She gave your hand a final squeeze and left.

            You watched as the door swung shut once again and turned back to the inside of the bar. Everyone stood silently, staring at you. “Jeez, is this all you guys are gonna do now? Stare at me? I’m okay. Can I get a drink or something? I’ve had a rough month.”

            And just like that everyone surged forward, laughing and smiling, cheering at the sight of you there, okay, back to the Shakedown where you belonged. Back home. Everyone wrapped their arms around you in a giant group hug, all at once exclaiming how worried they were, how much you were missed and how happy they were that you were back. You laughed along with them, and fought to tell everyone to get off you, that you were actually still a little sore.

            “Alright, alright, come on, guys, that’s enough.” Dan was pulling people back, unhooking hands from your arms, and nudging his way closer to you. “She’s been through enough, she doesn’t need all you dumbasses roughing her up any more.” When he finally stood next to you and your eyes met he shrunk in on himself. “Sorry.”

            “It’s okay.”

            Everyone sighed and shifted, turning back to their conversations, drinks, games of pool or darts. You walked over to the bar where Brian stood, leaning against it with both hands, smiling at you as you approached. “Hey, kiddo. What can I get ya?”

            You beamed back. “Hey, Brian, pour me a—”

            “Actually, could I—” Dan had stepped up to you, hand reaching out. “Could I talk to you for a second?”

            “Dan,” Suzy warned as she stomped up, fingertips touching the back of his arm.

            “It’s okay,” you told her, and looked up at the Alpha. You studied him for a moment, unsure of what to do. Your heart was racing and you fought to not let it show on your face. You felt no anger coming from Dan, so you nodded. Even though you weren’t looking forward to this conversation you knew it needed to be had. “Yeah, sure.”

            He let out a breath he seemed to have been holding for a long time. “Okay,” and he held out his hand past the bar to the back room. You maneuvered around the corner of the bar, not looking at anybody and walked into the empty, more private part of the Shakedown.

            You walked until you reached Dan’s booth, second to last one on the left side of the room. You placed your fingertips on it and turned, finding Dan there, arms hanging awkwardly at his sides. He looked so unsure of himself, so different from the man you met the first time.

            “I just wanted to say… I’m… I’m sorry.” He winced. “That wasn’t very good, was it?” It had come out strained and wavered. It wasn’t often that he said those words, and you knew that.

            You looked up at him, searching his face. “Why did you say that?”

            He took a deep breath and let it out in a shaky exhale. “I realized what I was doing after I started… kissing you, and I needed to stop. I needed to stop myself. I didn’t want to overwhelm you, or hurt you, and… I guess I just ended up doing that anyway.”

            “But I kissed you.”

            “I didn’t mean to let it continue.” You stared at him with wide eyes and he jumped. “No, no! I enjoyed it, I did! I just—Like I said, I didn’t want to, like, overwhelm you.”

            You shook your head. “Overwhelm me?”

            “Everything you said about what your ex did to you, it was wrong of me to try and take advantage of you while you had just relived all of that in telling me.”

            You scoffed, “Dan, I was fine. If I wasn’t fine I wouldn’t have tried to kiss you, ya think? You made me feel…” You stopped abruptly, shoulders raising themselves to your ears as you took a deep breath, gaze down and away from him. “You always made me feel safe. I didn’t have to worry about being hurt again while I was with you.” You shook your head, eyes sliding up to meet his. “I was never afraid of you hurting me.”

            He let out a tiny sigh, shoulders relaxing, only a little.

            “Why didn’t you just tell me what you were thinking? That you were worried you were going to hurt me?”

            He chuckled, “I’m not too good at letting people know what I’m thinking… or how I feel.”

            “But it’s me.” You stared at him, eyes wide, hoping that he would understand, that you had felt that comfort with him, that he meant something to you.

            “I just… I was scared to open myself up to you, to anyone.” He smiled sadly down at the floor, just in front of your shoes. “It’s my favorite thing, watching someone try to figure me out.”

            You scoffed again, “I’m not a game that you can play, Dan. I’m a person, I have feelings that are real.”

            His eyes closed, head tipping back slightly. “I know, I know… God, I didn’t—You weren’t…”

            “What?” you half-shouted, annoyed.

            “You were… you were a client at first, just a girl who needed help, and it was just going to be like that, but you… You were so different. You were actually grateful for everything I was doing.” You looked at him in confusion, and he rushed to say his next words. “Of course, people say thank you, and they pay me, or… whatever, but they never really mean it. They just take my help and they go. They give a quick thank you, spew some other garbage and then they’re gone. But you… you always tried to make sure it sunk in when you said it. You always wanted me to feel it.”

            “Other people don’t do that?”

            He shook his head slowly and you stared into his eyes. They were the most expressive you’d ever seen, they were usually hooded, barely open and tired, but now… now they were wide open, and staring back at you like you were the only person on Earth.

            “Dan…” you sighed, shaking your head.

            “I’m sorry, I--… I didn’t realize that when I said what I said, it’d be hurting you, too. Just tell me, so I can fix this, tell me what you want me to do.”

            Your eyes flicked back to his and that secure feeling you’d come to know that he meant it, he’d always meant it, filled your chest. From the moment you agreed to his help he was going to give you everything you’d ever wanted. But what you wanted now… would he give it to you?

            “And—And if that means that I go away forever, then I’ll do it. I’ll get on my bike right now and leave all of this, the Shakedown, the Wolf Pack, I’ll leave it all, and I’ll never come back. Or I’ll buy you a ticket to wherever you want to go. I just want to fix this because I am so sorry.”

            You closed your eyes tight, shaking your head slightly. “I want…” you started, so unsure, too doubtful. You looked at him, studied the scruff of his beard, his jacket, the holes in his jeans, the triangle of skin left uncovered by his v-neck shirt, his wild and curly hair, and his eyes. You shook your head and took a step forward, wanting to look away but unable to. “I want you to want me.” The room was silent, and you broke it by looking away and rushing out, “And I know you probably don’t, never have, and I know it’s stupid and it’s weird, I mean we’ve only known each other for a little over a month, and I have all of my issues and you’re… you, so I know it could never work, but—but… What?”

            Dan’s shoulders had relaxed, a serene smile lifting the corners of his mouth as he watched you. He took the several steps between you to close your distance, his hands burying themselves in your hair. “(Y/n)…” he whispered, mumbled, so quietly you thought you’d imagined it. “(Y/n),” he said again, and you thought you were going to fall if not for his arms wrapped around you and his body pressed so close to yours. His head dipped, and his mouth was so close to yours as he whispered, “You have no idea how much I do.”

            You smirked, a chuckle escaping you. “This is crazy,” you whispered. “I’ve only known you for a month and a half, and I knew I liked you almost immediately… how does that happen?”

            Dan smiled. “There are some people you meet who you… just have a magnetic attraction to.”

            “And we’re those people? For each other?”

            “Believe it or not, I knew it almost immediately, too.”

            You chuckled softy again. “So, you gonna kiss me, or what?”

            He grinned and pulled you to him to gently place his lips on yours. They were soft, but the kiss was firm, and you could tell he’d been wanting to do this again since the last time. You kissed him back, deepening the kiss, and grabbed the lapels of his jacket to pull him closer.

            The two of you continued like this for several minutes before he pulled away, humming and kissing your jaw softly. “I have a weird question.” His body warm, he panted wetly in your ear, “What do you call me, baby?”

            Your brows pushed together and your eyes fluttered open. “What?”

            He pressed a hard kiss against your neck. “In your head. What do you call me when you think about me?”

            Your mind was drawing a blank as his hands ran up your body, one holding your neck, the other around your waist, both securing yourself to him. Your arms hooked under his shoulders, clinging like you were scared you would fall off a cliff if you let go. You agreed it was an odd question to ask, so specific that you were surprised he had thought of it at all. His name was Dan, but you blushed as you remembered that you did indeed have a special name for him that you used in your head.

            “Alpha,” you whispered, hoping he wouldn’t hear.

            He did, and pulled back to look you in your eyes, lazy smirk playing on his lips. “’Alpha’…” he repeated. He pulled you tighter against him, hips rocking into yours causing heat to flare in your face. He growled gently, kissing the skin under your ear. You gasped. “I like it…”

            You smiled gently. “What… what do you call me?”

            He wasted no time in answering. “’Little Fox.’”

            Your mind jumped to the patch sewn into the back of your jacket. “Predator and prey.” The words tumbled from your lips before you realized you were saying them. That’s how you’d always thought of the two of you, he’d just cemented your thinking.

            You could feel him grinning against your skin. “That’s what we are, what we’ve always been.” One of his hands reached up to bury itself in your hair. He bit the skin where your neck and shoulder met. “I want to eat you alive.”

            “Please,” you gasped. He pulled back and you didn’t shy away from his gaze. “Please.”

            One of his hands reached up to cup your face. “Again… I need to be sure I’m hearing you right.”

            He scared you, but at the same time he filled you with so much adrenaline it almost turned into confidence. You stared into his eyes. “Please, Dan. You’re not gonna hurt me. As long as I’m with you, I’m okay. I want this.” You pushed yourself up, pulling him down so you could whisper into his ear, “I want you to devour me.”

            He shuddered and you grinned. He met your gaze once more before covering your mouth with his, hands grabbing at your jacket, your back, burying themselves in your hair. Then he suddenly froze up and pulled away from you.

            “Are you sure you’d be okay to…” His brows raised, eyes wide and staring into yours.

            You panted. “Yes, yes, I’m sure I’ll be fine. Well, I hope I’ll be fine—Well… Let’s just say I better be fine or else the doctors that treated me are gonna get an earful.”

            He smirked, “Feisty girl, and where have you been hiding all this time?”

            “I only get like this when there’s something I really want and I’m being delayed in getting it.” And with that you balled the collar of his leather jacket in one of your fists and pulled him to the stairwell, where the both of you laughed to each other up the stairs and to your apartment.

            You pulled your keys out of your pocket and handed them over to him. He chuckled and started unlocking your door, but paused as he caught the frown starting to form on your face.

            “Hey, what’s wrong?”

            You shook your head gently. “It’s just… I don’t wanna ruin the mood, and I’m so happy, I’m sure this is just a stupid voice in my head, but… I’m worried that this isn’t real, that—that you’re gonna say it’s just for show all over again, and I can’t—”

            He moved forward, cupping your face in his hands. “Hey, hey, hey, ssh…” His thumb rubbed softly on your cheek and he pecked you on the lips. “I swear to you, I will never, ever do that to you again. If I do, may God strike me where I stand.” He smiled and you let out a chuckle. “I love you, (Y/n).”

            Your eyes went wide. “I love you, too.”

            He chuckled through his nose as you moved up, wide smile on your face and wrapping your arms around his neck. “You do?” he asked.

            “Yes! I love you, I love you, I love you," you mumbled back as you moved in closer to kiss him. He reached back and opened the door, causing the both of you to clumsily stumble inside, laughing between kisses, and shut the door.