Clementine Crash. Bang. Slam. The sound of a loud, angry voice rang out. More crashing, more banging. I rolled over in bed and looked up at the ceiling. I knew I had to get up and deal with this—go play referee. I hated playing the arbitrator. I rolled out of bed with a groan, shoved my glasses on my face, and padded out of the room. I walked down the hallway to find my brother in the kitchen, slamming cupboards. My father was nowhere in sight. “What the hell is going on?” I snarled. “What do you mean?” Vinny asked. “I heard you yelling at Dad.” “I wasn’t yelling.” He looked at me curiously. The silver flecks had gone from his eyes, but his green eyes were red and glassy once again. “Yeah, you were. You woke me up.” “I didn’t mean to wake you, Clem.” “So you weren’t just calling him an asshole and still ranting about the fact that Murdoch deserved it?” I asked. Vinny looked at me curiously. “Well, yeah, I did. But I was talking to myself, Clem. Dad isn’t even here.” “What?”
Clementine I walked into the salon feeling a little nervous. A kind woman with blue-grey eyes smiled at me. “Hi, I was wondering if I could book an appointment to cut my hair,” I rushed out. I felt the tears in the back of my eyes, and my lip started to wobble. “Hi, honey! Of course, you can. I have time now if you want?” “Oh yes! Please!” “My name is Steph.” She offered her hand for me to shake. I reached out and shook her hand. “Clementine. Clem.” I studied Steph, who was middle-aged and reminded me so much of my mother. She had the same wheat-coloured hair and a short stature with a petite figure. Steph led me to a chair and wrapped a black smock around my neck before running her fingers through my hair. “What would you like done?” “Just shorten it. It usually sits around my shoulders, but my mom got sick, and I got distracted.” “Oh, honey! I’m so sorry.” She reached around and gave me a quick hug, her eyes tearing up ever so slightly before she continued to run her finge
LiamRyan moved just before my fist connected with his face. Dirt and dust kicked up where his feet bounced off the ground. “What the hell, dude?” he growled as he dodged. Lucian didn’t care. He was out for blood. “Lucian, stop!” I commanded. He wasn’t going to. I had no control: left punch, right punch, front kick. Ryan was blocking as Lucian charged forward in my body. “Lucian!” I shouted, wrestling to regain control. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” “Liam! Get control of your wolf,” Ryan snarled as he defended himself. I pushed Lucian back with all my might, just long enough to grit out three words. “Knock. Me. Out.” “You can’t be serious?” Ryan’s arms tried to encase mine, but getting a good hold was proving impossible. Lucian was frothing at the mouth, trying to come forward. “Now,” was the last word I managed to grit out before Lucian took over again. Ryan looked perplexed as he kept defending Lucian’s advances. Suddenly, Ryan’s eyes blazed, and his fingernails changed
Liam Ryan and I nabbed a booth around lunchtime and ordered a couple of burgers with a side of Gary’s infamous poutine. As soon as the beers flowed, we laughed and joked, and it was as if the fight at the training grounds never happened. Ryan’s sister Sophie came in with a bunch of textbooks and one of her friends, Stacey. It was apparent they had come in to study together, but when Sophie noticed us sitting there, that plan hit a roadblock, and Sophie and Stacey joined us. The textbooks were pushed to the side and forgotten as the beer flowed. Sophie was cute. She had light brown hair that waved into the middle of her back, blue eyes, and the warmest smile you’d ever seen. The light smattering of cinnamon-coloured freckles on her nose and over her shoulders popped against her suntanned skin under her white shoe-string camisole. She looked me over with those big blue doe-like eyes, but even I wasn’t enough of a jerk to break the bro-code, no matter how hot Sophie was. Stacey on the o
Clementine “Okay. Sure. Sounds fun.” My heart thumped in my chest. Did I just agree to go to a party? I had never really been to a party before. Shit. Why did I say this sounded like fun? It sounded like the complete opposite to be honest. I looked at the four different sets of eyes staring back at me. Grey, blue, hazel and finally, the warmest shade of brown I had ever encountered. Liam flashed me an excited smile, and I felt my lips form a grin and my face warmed. His smile was contagious. He was contagious. “Okay, give me your number,” Liam said, pulling out his phone. I shook myself out of my daze, and my already warm cheeks now felt like a furnace. “S-sorry?” I stammered. “Your phone number, so I can contact you. About the party.” “Oh, right.” I nodded and wiped my hands on my apron before I picked up his phone and entered my digits. I fumbled the number twice before I entered it correctly, saved it, then handed the device back to him. Our fingers touched briefly, and that
Liam My phone buzzed against the table. And I looked down at it. Clem: 911. ANGRY REDHEAD. And it buzzed again a few seconds later. Clem: Let me know if I need to create a diversion so you can escape. I looked up and over at Clem curiously, then saw who she was referring to. Cassie walked up to the bar and had just started conversing with Clem. Lucian frowned and tuned our hearing over to listen in. “Hi, what can I get you?” Clem asked politely. “A glass of Sav Blanc and you out of my way.” “I’m sorry?” “You’re Clementine, right?” Clementine picked up the bottle of white with poise as she gracefully poured the woman a glass of wine. “I am.” “Good.” Cassie picked up the glass, took a small sip, and then threw the wine all over Clementine. I snarled and jumped out of my seat, then was next to Cassie in a flash. “What the hell is going on?” Clementine removed her glasses which were covered in wine. Her hair and face were soaked. Ryan was behind the bar before I could blink,
Clementine My Friday shift went surprisingly well. And by well, I meant that not one angry patron threw a glass of wine on me. I took that as a win! Ryan happened to be working as well and joined me behind the bar. I could appreciate Ryan’s good looks now that I had no distractions. His eyes were a crystal grey that was ringed in a soft brown. His nose was sharp and angular, and his lips were thin. He had a strong jawline that was cleanly shaven and very straight white teeth. His smooth brown hair had just been cut by his mother, who was complaining it was getting too long—or so he had told me—and was now sitting under his earlobes at the base of his neck rather than at the tops of his shoulders. I never noticed how large he was until I had to stand next to him. He had to be well over six feet tall, and, as my father would say, built like a brick shithouse. I remember his mother saying he was a part of a sports team, and it made me wonder what the game was, because honestly, no avera
Liam I opened Clem’s door and held out my hand for her. “No backing out now, Clementine,” I growled playfully. She gingerly took my hand and frowned before letting go and stared at the house as if it was a murder location in a horror movie. I smiled and shrugged my shoulder in the direction of the house, making her reluctantly take a step toward the party. It didn’t take us long to find Ryan, who was cracking a beer and chatting with another warrior in the squad. He did a double-take when he saw Clementine. “Wow.” He wolf-whistled. “Look how well she scrubs up! Damn, girl!” A splash of pink coloured her cheeks, and she looked mortified. Her dress was amazing; there was no doubt about that. It was a crisp black number that wrapped and hugged her curves, and sat just above her knees, showing off her stunning legs. She looked fantastic, and Lucian had been yipping and panting in my head since the moment I saw her when I arrived to pick her up. However, I didn’t think she wanted to d