Chapter 7: Stay Away

Zander POV

He stood beside my chair. Great. I needed to be bothered by a stranger. I set my hand underneath my jaw and stared at him unamused.

The guy gave me a death glare and had his arms crossed over his chest. I assumed this was Cleo's fiancé. His testosterone was showing.

How did he know we were even at the café? I found it a little creepy.

We hadn't openly told everyone about this date. I thought her parents were the only ones who knew about our plans. Had someone within our pack spread rumors that reached his pack? I've never seen him around ours, so I knew he was from a different one.

"Ash, what are you doing here?" Cleo's voice sounded up an octave than usual as she asked the question.

She seemed almost scared with her unusual pitch of voice. I wasn't scared at all. He didn't look intimidating. He wore a dress shirt and top of the line jeans and shoes. Ash seemed like someone who thought he was better than everyone else. It was the way he stood up straight and tall.

He looked at her briefly and then at me with accusation written on his face. I tried to ignore his hardened eyes on me and flipped through the dessert menu. I didn't have time to deal with guys like him.

Ash. So, this was the fiancé I had heard things about from other members. People always told me how he had a royal presence to him, but I couldn't see it.

He looked at her and said, "I'm here to protect you from this scumbag. He shouldn't even be with you." Ash quickly looked at me and said, "Look at him. He's an outcast."

Wow this asshole really said that. I really wanted punch him in the mouth but held back. I knew he wasn't worth it, though I couldn't understand why I felt the need to attack him so badly.

Instead I shook my head and looked at him, "You don't even know me man. Don't talk about shit you don't know."

I wanted to make him angry at that point. He deserved to have someone go against him. I couldn't believe a girl like Cleo was with him. Didn't she see he was actually a jerk?

Ash put a hand on the table in front of me and stared me down more. "You better leave Cleo alone or else you'll be sorry."

This guy didn't know when to stop talking. I had to put him in his place. It was too easy.

I laughed and said, "Wow you're threatening me over one little date. I haven't even laid a finger on her." I added, "I don't even want to."

His fist pounded the table and made it rattle. "I'm not joking. I'll really hurt you if you don't leave her alone."

I whistled low and said, "You really think you'd beat me? Someone's confident." I glanced at Cleo and added, "You have nothing to worry about. I don't even like Cleo."

Ash scowled at me and grabbed at my shirt collar. I pulled his hand off of me and left my chair, so I could stand next to him face to face. He was about an inch shorter than my 6'0" height. I doubt it'd be hard to knock him out if I had to.

He moved to be right near my face and grabbed my shirt collar again. What was up with him doing this? I let out an exasperated sigh, and he held my shirt even tighter.

I let out a primal growl and shoved him away from me. He was really getting tiresome. How long would he keep being hostile towards me? I mean, c'mon man.

Ash narrowed his eyes at me and bared his teeth, which started to look more wolf than human. Sometimes our wolf traits came out in human form when we got too angry.

My blood pressure was raised by his behavior towards me. I almost wanted to wolf out there in the café. Though, I knew that was a bad idea. I'd probably be able to kill him in that form.

Ash yelled, "You better not shove me again if you're smart. I'm stronger than you are."

My mouth turned upwards into a crooked grin and I said, "I could take you. You're nothing but talk." I spit on the ground and said, "I bet you've never even won a fight."

His teeth bared and he said, "That's it. You're dead."

Ash ran towards me and knocked me to the ground and raised his fist. He seemed ready to pop a blood vessel when I looked at his face. His wolf looking teeth were still bared, and he growled at me.

I held my fist to be ready to hit him back in his know-it-all face. Suddenly, Cleo was on her feet and attempted to pull us off of each other.

Somehow, she pulled us away from each other and had her mouth turned down into a big frown. Ash was still angry and said, "This is far from over Zander. Next time we meet you won't be so lucky."

He walked away and I sat back down on the chair. Cleo moved to stand next to me and changed her face into a grimace. "I can't believe you two! You're both acting like you're children." Her hands went on her hips. "I shouldn't have had to witness this."

Whoa. She was really going to lecture me on this. It wasn't a big deal. I didn't even get to hit that jerk. I wished I had gotten a few punches in. I wanted to see him running away like the coward he was.

"I wasn't the one who started it. Your boy got on my nerves," I told her after a few more seconds passed.

"I think we're done here. I'm going home."

I smiled at her and said, "Thanks for breaking up the fight. But I did really want to hit his pretty boy face."

She rolled her eyes and stormed out of the café.