Page 26 of Property of Yak

Consequences be dammed, I grab him by the back of the cut and pull him back. Without hesitation, I plant my fist in his face, his nose crunching beneath my knuckles.

“What the fuck!” Aragon snaps.

“She told you no,” I snap.

Aragon takes a step forward, but before we can outright brawl, brothers grab us, tearing us away from each other.

“What the fuck is going on?” Yooper snaps.

“Your fucking brother hit me,” Aragon tells him, and Yooper turns toward me.

“He wouldn’t take no for an answer. She made it known she wasn’t interested, and he wasn’t having it,” I tell him.

Yooper looks to Julie.

“That true?” he asks quietly.

Her head jerks up and then down. “Y-yes, sir.”

Sir. She called my brother fucking sir. How adorably her.

“Oh, come on. Are you really going to believe this whore? We all know that if the women aren’t claimed, they are free game,” Aragon snaps.

“That’s barbaric,” Julie says only loud enough for me to hear.

“Do you two know each other?” my brother asks pointedly.

I nod. “She’s here with me. I just got caught up.”

He turns back to Aragon. “There you go then. She wasn’t interested because she was already claimed.”

“The bitch didn’t say shit,” Aragon complains. “He can’t just claim dibs for the night.”

I pull out of the guy’s hold and take my jacket off. Without a second thought, I place it over her shoulders.

“There, happy now? It’s visible for all to see that she’s claimed, and I might be easygoing, Aragon, but here’s a word of advice: I don’t share. She’s mine and only mine.” I quip, trying to hide my anger.

I’m not mad at her, per se. I’m mad at the situations she put herself in, and make no mistake, I know she ended up here intentionally. I didn’t miss the way her eyes widened when she saw me.

Now I just need to figure out how the hell she knew I would be here.

“Come on, Yooper. You have to see what’s happening here. This pussy-footed transplant is trying to claim shit when he has no grounds. Besides, she’s not an old lady, so she’s free game. I should be able to have her if I want her,” Aragon hisses.

“That pussy-footed transplant is my brother. You best remember that,” Yooper says darkly.

Julie shifts next to me, her body brushing against mine.

“Let me make one thing clear, Aragon. If you touch her, you will die. Rules of the brotherhood be damned. Understood?” I add.

“A claim has been placed and has to be honored. We all know that, so knock it the fuck off,” Yooper says.

I hear Julie mutter something about cursing under her breath, but I don’t pay her any mind. I have bigger fish to fry than shit she mumbles under her breath.

“Discussion over.” Yooper looks over at me. “Get her out of here.”

“With pleasure,” I tell him, meaning every word.

I grab her arm and pull toward the hall where our rooms are.