Kihyun's Vow - Liam Kingsley Page 0,2
stunningly handsome Asian man at the other end of the bar, looking me over with a somewhat knowing grin. It was unsettling for a moment, until I recognized him. He was the alpha who officiated Shayne and Vince’s claiming ceremony. He’d also spoken with such a calming voice I’d basically fallen into a deep meditation just listening to him.
I raised my beer in greeting, and he nodded in return. I turned back to the bar to order another drink, for Toby. But the minute I got my fresh brew, someone slammed into me and almost knocked it out of my hand.
“Hey now, watch out!” I caught the shoulder of a drunk who almost fell onto me. I helped him get settled on the stool beside me and turned back to my beer, praying he’d keep to himself and let me get back to my grieving—no such luck.
“What’re you drinking, sailor?” He giggled and waved his glass around.
“Just the light stuff for me, buddy.”
“Mm, you want to get onto something a little harder?” He leaned over and tightly grabbed my thigh, way too close to my crotch.
“Hey, nope, no thank you.” I removed his hand and got him set back upright, then I squeezed his shoulder and held his gaze firmly. “Not for me tonight, alright?”
“C’mon,” he said, his voiced slurred. “You’re cute.”
“I said no. Let’s just have a drink—”
“Fuck you!” He lunged again, but this time he shoved me. All of his body weight hit against my chest so hard I almost fell off the stool. He tumbled off his and swayed on his feet.
“Whoa, settle down—”
“Fuck you!”
He swung a sloppy right hook that I easily dodged, but his drunken stagger sent him careening forward. He landed on me and the bar, spilling my drink and smothering me with his whole body for one stinky, sweaty moment. I pushed from beneath and saw someone pulling him up from behind.
Shining brown eyes blinked at me, and a sweet smile emerged on the face of the man who had put in the extra strength needed to get the creep off me. It was the man from the other end of the bar, the one with all that peace.
The tension of the moment melted off me, and the creep did too. He also appeared a little more sober and quite bashful.
Damn. Vince’s lead alpha was powerful.
2
Kihyun
“What’s going on?” Jim Johnson, the bartender and owner of the Cove Brewery, slung his dishcloth over his shoulder and then came around the bar and pushed past me to get to the drunk man who was pouting and rubbing his head like a child.
“Just a little scuffle, no problem.” Hogan straightened his shirt, and my pulse tripled when he flashed his bright green eyes at me.
My wolf, my inner beast, had urged me forward, but not just to break up the fight. The man under the hulking mass of the drunkard was someone I’d had my mind on for years, since the first time I spotted him a bar much like this in Seattle. I knew then, years ago, that he wasn’t just a handsome face in the crowd, but my fated mate.
I prided myself on understanding the rhythms of fate, and when it was the right time to act—and it hadn’t been the right time in that Seattle bar. Nor had it been at Vince and Shayne’s claiming ceremony about nine months ago when I saw Hogan again. His omega human scent had caught in the breeze and made my wolf go wild, wanting me to claim him, but I trusted the universe would bring Hogan back to Timberwood Cove when he was ready for me, and here he was.
The desire to be close to him now was just as strong as it was then. In fact, it was heightened as I caught his scent once more—a deep musk with a hint of wet earth and something caustic like cordite. It was so strong that the stink of beer on the drunk man wasn’t enough to overpower it, and I took a deep inhalation that made my head spin.
“Gary? What’s going on?” Jim asked, snapping at the drunk guy.
“I’d say this man needs a cab home, Jim.” I nudged the owner and motioned to the drunk man he’d called Gary.
Jim eyed him off, and I got a sense that he was looking at one of his regulars. He turned to Hogan. “You causing trouble?”
“Me? He grabbed me—”
“No.” I stepped between them. “He’s not. I saw the