average human’s Reviews > Don't Touch > Status Update

But I won’t let her bear shifter mate pretend that he is the one who was wronged. Sure, he got a graze from a bullet, but it’s me who is the true victim.
“Yes, Mr Barnes. Are you okay?” I ask, turning towards the bear shifter with a dangerous smirk. I’m the one standing here barely holding onto myself.
This dickhead gets no fucking pity from me.
“What happened?” Alpha Phoenix demands, his words sending a tingle down my spine.
“Dangerous and Deadly over here thought it would be prudent to tase me,” Orson says, rolling his shirt up so we can see the tiny red marks on his chest.
I’ve got no shame in my actions. It was my petty revenge so that, at the very least, as I spend the entire night reliving what he—and they—did to me, I can at least remind myself that I got my own back.
That I’m no longer a helpless victim.
“Yes, well, that’s what happens when you’re—” I start, annoyance dripping from my words.
But the tiny wolf shifter cuts me off with a snarl, a powerful glare on her face. I’m not here to cause issues with the one woman who could get me kicked out of the pack, so I’ll have to play nice with the Queen of the Pride.
“Meet my mate, Nora Hart,” Alpha Phoenix says, the prideful tone hard to miss. “She’s also Orson’s mate here.”
“You should teach your mate better manners,” I say, directing my words towards the wolf. I’m not a fool, and it’s clear who has the power in this little parlour. “He tried to touch me, despite me repeatedly telling your alpha that wouldn’t be allowed. I even reminded the bear upon pick up about my… preferences.”
Orson sighs, shaking his head, as if my pain is nothing to him. As if, once more, I’m nothing but an inconvenience.
“There were three men at the docks waiting. I had to touch her to move her so I could make sure she was covered whilst the team handled it.”
But what he doesn’t care to understand is that I’d rather let those hunters kill me, knowing I won’t ever need to live another moment like this… than have his touchy brand of protection.
Nora gasps, fear filling her brown eyes as she looks me over for injuries. “Are you okay?”
That’s a question I’ve never been asked whilst the questioner is expecting a truthful answer.
“I’m fine,” I reply. Her eyes dim at the brush off, and as she steps closer to me, I try to make her forget about it. “Honestly, it was quite thrilling. I’ve not seen a dead body in a while, and whilst I certainly would’ve added one of the inappropriate team members to the pile, it was an adequate fight.”
Do they see the trembling of my hands? Can they smell my panic? My words taste sour, my stomach clenching.
“I… right.” Her tone is confused, her hand falling to her stomach as if to reassure herself.
Pregnant, then. That’s nice.
The pit in my stomach grows, and I plaster a smile on my face. “I’m Maeve.”
“Well, Atty introduced me, but I’m Nora.” She grins back at me, reaching out with her hand before gasping and yanking it towards herself so quickly she nearly falls. Panic is etched into her face, an apology in her words. “Shit, sorry. I swear, I’m not usually this stupid.”
“Pregnancy brain?” I ask, trying to keep my tone light and nice. I can be nice, right?
The bear is clearly a fucking cunt, but she seems sweet, and I will do anything to keep this conversation nice and pleasant. I can’t deal with being kicked back to the compound, especially since Atticus Phoenix had the most promising place out of the contenders.
And, fuck me, if I’m kicked out of the pride on day one, Adrian likely won’t let me see daylight until I mate with his nephew and accept my place in his chess game of life.
“You know what, let’s go with that.” Nora laughs, but I can still see her unease about her mistake.
The thing is, I can respect her for stopping herself. Shaking hands is a common introduction, and it’s the least touch-heavy interaction we could’ve had as shifters. But she pulled back. She realised.
She corrected the behaviour and didn’t try to shame me for it.
Tears prick at my eyes as I realise she’s the first person to truly respect my boundaries without acting as if she’s doing me a favour.
“So, where is this security team?” I ask, changing the subject so that I can get more control of myself. “I’m not approving any creeps.”
“Who was creepy down at the pick up?” Nora asks, confused.
Is she not including her mate here? Probably not.
“One of them wolf-whistled,” Orson says, pinching the bridge of his nose as he breaks from his conversation with the alpha. “It’ll be handled.”
We had to make a stop with the enforcers as we entered the pride’s property limits, and as Orson rolled our windows down, one of them whistled at me, winking and suggestively messing with his eyebrows.
It’s disgusting as fuck for the panther shifter to think I’d sully myself with someone as unrefined as him. But it was absolutely disrespectful to Orson, the second in the pride, for this guard to act that way when I’m clearly a guest of his or the alphas’.
Adrian would never accept behaviour like that from any of his staff. It’s interesting that Atticus does.
“See that it is.” I toss my hair over my shoulder and roll my eyes as I try to keep the friendly aura alive with Nora. “What did he expect? That I’d go running like some dog?”
Nora snorts and explains about my security team. “Last time Atty did this, he brought in a bunch of people, and you can dismiss anyone you want. My friend, Ari, is a rare elephant shifter and needs guards at the moment.”
But I don’t care about the security team. I can only focus on the words rare elephant shifter. Tingles race across my body as my eyes widen.
An elephant?
Like an actual elephant?
I so badly want to meet this shifter. I’ve never met an elephant before. Hell, I’m excited about the lion in front of me, never mind an elephant.
These are the kinds of animals I’ve only ever heard about or read in stories. But now I’m here, and they’re real, and I’ll actually get the chance to interact with them.
“You have an elephant here? Like a real one?” I ask, keeping my tone as steady as I can. Atticus’s lips curve up in some semblance of a smile as Nora eagerly nods her head.
“Looks like you’re not the only one who is excited to learn more about the shifters we have here,” Orson says, smiling at his mate.
It seems that I didn’t keep my excitement as contained as I’d have liked. I wouldn’t have cared, except I don’t like that he has anything to hold over me.
Asshole.
I hold back my sneer, though, so I don’t upset his pregnant mate. I’m not an idiot, even if he is.
“I’m aware you need protection,” Alpha Phoenix says with a frown as he turns to me. “However, I wasn’t quite ready for you to be here, so it’s not yet organised. You’ll be staying here tonight whilst we ready the security team.”
“Oh, I’d really rather not,” I say, shaking my head. This house, whilst pretty, puts me on edge, and I really do not want to be close to Mr Handsy and my alpha whilst I panic over my new surroundings.
The flashback earlier was rough, and the only thing that helped was the medication I had taken on the boat. It’s dulling some of the harsher feelings, but I know that it’ll wear off soon.
“I can understand your distaste for that, Maeve, but we need to maintain your safety. During your trial period, you will be escorted everywhere by a security team. Once you are settled here, we’d adjust that—but there were people at the pickup point waiting to strike. We do not budge on safety,” Alpha Phoenix lectures.
It’s like he’s rehearsed these lines in the mirror, and it actually pisses me off so badly at the lack of effort he’s put in.
“Could she stay with Ari tonight?” Nora asks, begging her mate and my alpha.
To my surprise, he tilts his head, considering her request.
That sends red flags my way. “Who is Ari?”
“She’s the elephant shifter,” Nora says.
I nod, trying to hide my excitement. “Permitted they have the space and do not touch me, breathe on me, or⁠—”
“I’m sure they’ll not want to get that close to you,” Orson mutters a little too bitterly for my liking.
He did.
Regardless of my feelings.
Doesn’t he understand that I would rather die than have another man touch me without my permission? And yet… he found himself above that little rule.
Everyone always has a reason, and it’s always more important than my reason to not do it in the first place.
“I’ll speak to Alvie about it,” Alpha Phoenix says. “Ari knows a few things about mythicals, too, so I feel that will work out for you both.”
“She does? Like what?” I frown, not liking the sound of that. We’re pretty reclusive, and as much as she’s rare, she’s still a common animal.
Please, please, tell me she’s got nothing to do with Adrian.
“I’ll let her tell you,” Nora says before her brows draw together. “Do you know Tarun Graves?”
“That pompous-headed fake elephant?” I ask with a scoff as I think about another one of Adrian’s pathetic nephews that I’ve met. He’s even worse than Julian.
Tarun Graves is the most pompous, pig-headed, brutish man I’ve ever come across. He’s never had a single day in his life where someone hasn’t fawned over him or let him believe he’s god’s gift to this earth.
He’s got his head so far up the Tribunal’s ass that he could recite their fucking bylaws in his sleep.
He’s a joke, but, of course, he’s the apple of Adrian’s fucking eyes.
I hate the prick, and the one night we shared under the same roof was enough for me to want to poison him at the dinner table and watch him finally put all those etiquette lessons he’s clearly had since being a toddler to shame.
Then again, the prick would probably excuse himself before dying in the morgue, just to spite me.
He’s a fake elephant shifter, and yet, somehow thinks he’s better than them because he’s a mythical creature. As if everyone at that dinner table wasn’t also a mythical creature.
The Graves family are full of people I want dead, and whilst Tarun has never done anything to me personally, I’d wipe him off the Earth just because I could.
Nora rubs her hands together as if this is the best news she’s heard all day, and I make a mental note to touch base with her and find out what she knows. “You and her will get along amazingly.”
Atticus and Orson excuse themselves to go arrange my stay with Ari, and I follow Nora into her kitchen.
She grabs some brownies from her fridge and offers them out. My heat might’ve ended two days ago, but the hormones have me still craving chocolate and sugar, so I eagerly take one.
It’s always the hormones, just accept that.