The sounds of chairs being moved and the feeling of being crowded stole her from her thoughts. Then all of a sudden there were three other people seated at their table, and the one practically fused to her side had braced his arm over the back of her chair and fisted a hand in her hair in a shifter gesture of ownership. Well shit.

“Hello, Shay,” rumbled Nick, though he didn’t look at her. He only had eyes for the nervous male opposite him. Despite the dark emotions circulating through Nick, his voice was surprisingly even. He couldn’t believe that she’d done this. He’d thought he was making progress, thought she was coming to accept his part in her life. And he’d hoped to God that meant she’d soon let him in—even if it was only slightly. He was fine with letting things move at her pace, despite how much it was killing him not to claim her. But he wasn’t fine with her dating other guys. And if she’d thought differently, she didn’t know him at all.

Shaya chanced a look at Nick’s flawless face, and it verified what his stiff posture hinted at. He was boiling with anger. As he met her gaze, his eyes warned her not to challenge him. Her wolf shrank away—not out of fear, but because she had no intention of taking any blame here; her wolf hadn’t liked being around the other male and had done nothing but growl at him. Both Derren and Kent were lazed in their seats with their arms folded over their chests, glaring at Simon like he had tried to assault her or something.

“Um…is, um, everything o-okay?” asked Simon nervously.

Feeling overwhelmed by Nick and the dark energy spilling from him, Shaya tried to shift away from him, but he growled and clamped his hand around the nape of her neck. When she stilled, he gently massaged her nape, almost as if he was rewarding her. Her wolf relaxed slightly at his touch.

“Why don’t you introduce us, Shay,” said Nick.

She cleared her throat. “Guys, this is Simon. Simon, this is Kent, Derren, and Nick.” Picking up her wine glass, she took a long, comforting gulp.

“Nice to meet you all.” Simon’s eyes danced from her to Nick repeatedly, obviously noticing Nick’s proprietary behavior.

“What do you do for a living, Simon?” asked Nick casually, needing to know every detail about this person, needing to create a profile in his head so he could figure out what the f**k it was that made Shaya want him over her mate. Her mate.

“I, well, I’m a web designer,” replied Simon. Shaya thought he was most likely wondering why Nick’s tone was that of a job interviewer.

“A web designer? Really? I bet that’s exciting.” He ran his hand through Shaya’s hair, because although he was infuriated with her, she was literally the only thing that could ever keep him calm in a situation where his control was being so severely tested. If he didn’t calm down, the human was dead. “Have you always been a web designer?”

“Well, I used to be a librarian when I—”

All conversation halted as Shaya almost choked on her drink. Librarian? No, the universe couldn’t want to play that much of a joke on her, surely. Nick patted and rubbed her upper back.

“You ever been married?” asked Nick.

“Married? Oh no, never.”

“Got any kids?”

“No.”

Seeing that Simon’s expression was begging for an explanation as to why he was being questioned, Shaya went to end this whole thing. “Nick, I—” She gasped as he bit her earlobe punishingly.

Nick continued, still smiling at Simon. “What word would you use to describe yourself?”

“What word would you use to describe yourself?” she snapped at Nick.

He met her gaze. “Pissed.”

The sound of Simon clearing his throat nervously had them returning their focus to him. His smile was anxious. “Um…you two seem…close.” It was obvious to Shaya that he was dying to just ask Nick outright why he was behaving so possessively with her, probably worried he had unknowingly gone out on a date with another guy’s girlfriend. But Nick really had that school principal “don’t speak unless spoken to” vibe going on at the moment.

“Yes, we’re close.” Nick punctuated that with a nip to her neck.

The second Shaya’s head whipped around to glare at him, his eyes cautioned her not to fight him. The stubborn part of her wanted to, but the glint of betrayal in his gaze halted her. As his eyes turned wolf for a split second, Shaya saw that his wolf was just as angry with her. And rightly so, she accepted with an inward sigh. Her own wolf was angry with her, in fact. This was one more date to add to those she’d been on back in California after he’d found and failed to claim her—more betrayal, from his point of view.

“How about you tell me how you two met.”

Simon shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Um, we met this morning in the salon when Shaya cut my…”

The rest of Simon’s words were lost as a sharp pain lanced through Nick’s head. Great. Another headache was coming on. Not that it was particularly a shock, given his current stressful state. He needed to get out of this place now. He sure as shit wasn’t going to leave Shaya behind. “Well, it’s been great talking to you, Simon. Baby, say bye to Simon.”

Not sure if it was a good idea for them to be alone together right now, Shaya cautiously began, “Nick—” But he wasn’t listening. He cupped her elbow, gently pulling her to her feet as he rose to his. His eyes were locked on her like a predator watching its prey that it suspected was about to flee…which wasn’t far from the truth.

A part of her was thrilled about the effect this had had on him—it showed that he cared, that he considered her to be as important to him as she needed to feel that she was, that it wasn’t just all a “mine” thing and there was more to his actions than a sense of ownership. But a part of her was nervous as hell. Not that she thought he would harm her. No, never that. Still, the guy could be unnerving at the best of the times. Now, it was bad.

With his hand caging her wrist, he guided her at a brisk pace out of the restaurant and into the Mercedes. Bracing herself for a typical dominant male explosion, Shaya clicked on her belt and waited. But that explosion didn’t come. Nick calmly started the engine and calmly drove out of the parking lot. Then he calmly drove along the main road en route to her home. And she quickly discovered that the silence was much worse than a rage.

She kept expecting him to begin yelling any second, but he didn’t. He remained silent the entire journey. Pulling up outside her house, he was out of the car before she could say a word, and then he was opening the passenger door for her. But he didn’t look at her. Fine. If he wanted to brood, she’d leave him to brood.