Page 111 of Poet & Protector

“It’s not nothing.” He glared at me. “Nev is my packmate and you’re fucking with his life. You need to stop.”

“Nev wouldn’t agree with you there.” I offered him a placid smile. “He’s a fan of the fucking part.”

Beside me Ansel snorted.

Shay grinned and toasted me with his beer bottle. “Nice one, Mason.”

Cosette looked shocked, but Bryn was giggling. Fey didn’t seem amused.

Anger boiled into Dax’s face, reddening him from throat to forehead. I watched, expecting he’d either throw a punch or storm out of the bar. Instead, he laughed. It was a hard, ugly sound. “Nev will agree with me soon enough.”

When I frowned at his words, Dax leaned forward.

“Mason, we all know it’s only a matter of time before you get on your knees for Logan.”

I went very still, stunned that he would go there. And he wasn’t done.

He paused, his mouth hooking into a cruel smile. “When that happens, you and Nev will be over. Forever. You’re finally going to get what you deserve, and I can’t wait to see it.”

A growl of approval rumbled in Fey’s chest the moment the words were out of Dax’s mouth, compounding the shock of his cruelty.

Bryn and Cosette gasped. Shay’s grip on his beer bottle tightened so much, the blood fled his knuckles, leaving them bone white.

Ansel stared at Dax, horror etched on his face. “What the fuck? Why would you say something like that?”

A sickening wave rolled through my body, but I refused to show any reaction. I wasn’t going to give Dax the satisfaction of knowing he’d landed a brutal blow, hitting exactly where I was the most vulnerable. There was no point in arguing with him. He was a bigot. He’d made that all too clear. Nothing I said would change his mind about me and Nev.

But I didn’t have to sit there and let him spew hate at me without fighting back. I already knew the best way to get my revenge.

“Dax, you seem to be spending a lot of time imagining what I do with Nev, or what Logan wants me to do to him.” I kept my tone coy, knowing it would provoke the strongest response. “Tell me, when you’re thinking about us and our dicks, do you have your hand on yours? You know what they say about homophobes.”

I anticipated Dax’s attack. When he upended the table I was already on my feet, muscles braced for the punch that came flying at me. I caught his meaty hand mid-strike. He grabbed a fistful of my shirt and tried to pull me off balance, but I wasn’t giving him an inch.

Ansel leapt across the fallen table to grab Dax’s arm, doing his best to pull the huge Bane away from me. But Dax was fueled by rage and hate; he wasn’t budging. Shay swiftly moved around the overturned table and toppled chairs to stand behind Ansel. His muscles were taut, and he was ready to jump into the fray if Ansel got in trouble.

Fey took a flanking position behind Dax. Her choice hurt. A lot. But I wasn’t going to waste time on her when she’d shown me the ugly truth about herself.

Bryn was halfway to standing as she glared at Fey.

“Can’t deal with the truth, can you, Mason?” Dax bared his fangs.

I scowled at him. “You have no right.”

Ren and Calla arrived at the scene of the unfolding disaster, summoned by the loud crash of the table and shattering of glass. They were the only ones who’d stopped what they were doing when the fight broke out. The rest of the crowd in the bar ignored us; brawls in the Burnout weren’t uncommon.

Dax spat another warning at me: “And you need to learn to keep your mouth shut.”

“Stop being an ass.” Ansel tugged harder on Dax’s arm.

“He’s right, Dax,” Shay said. “What’s your problem?”

“Shut up and stay out of it,” Fey snapped.

Then Nev was there, glaring at Dax. “Knock it off, man. What do you think you’re doing?”

Dax ignored him. He couldn’t ignore Ren’s sudden grip on his shoulder.

“Let him go, get outside, and wait for me,” Ren said. “Now.”