Enzo (The Wolves Den: New #1)

7. Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Lunch went well. She laughed with Ven, listening to him tell stories about Enzo and Declyn that brought smiles to her face and a couple of tears because she laughed so hard she cried. He helped her clean up, and now they were standing across the street from the female who had him crushing. It was adorable even though she felt it was a little stalker-ish.

The girl was sitting on the porch and lived in the same neighborhood, just about three blocks away. The porch had sturdy wicker furniture on it and a cute rocking chair, in which she happened to be sitting. There was a book in her hands and a pair of headphones on her head.

Deja shook her head, kids today, and then she smiled.

"Isn't she beautiful?" Ven whispered in her ear.

As far as she could see, the girl had mousy brown hair, and although she couldn't be sure from the quick walk-by she'd done a few minutes earlier, but she thought she saw blue eyes and rather pale skin.

The girl looked up, and it was obvious, at least it was to Deja, that she caught sight of Ven. Her entire countenance changed. Her eyes sparkled and her smile made her look like she could give the women in the Miss America Pageant a run for their money. And her body that looked dumpy now held itself with pride and purpose.

Deja had to turn and look at Ven again. He might be young, but he wasn't stupid, and yeah, that girl was gorgeous.

The young girl's smile disappeared when she caught sight of Deja. Deja moved back and tried to give the universal sign of "I'm the parent." The girl must have gotten it because her smile returned, and the sound Ven made earlier of pleasure returned. It was a low hum.

She was starting to feel weird standing out here watching the two of them until two couples, both around eighteen, walked down the street. The girl on the porch caught sight of them, and her whole body language changed.

"Angel," one of the girls walking down the street called out.

Angel lifted her hand and waved back, but her heart wasn't in it.

"We were coming to see you. I'm happy you're sitting outside," the other girl said.

The two girls and their boyfriends stood in front of the porch, but they never made a move to go up the stairs.

Angel said something, but it was too low for Deja to hear. Turning to take a look at Ven, his face was stormy. Could he hear what she said? Before she could ask, one of the girls said something loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Hey, we're going to a party tonight and wondered if you wanted to come?" The girl tilted her head up to look at Angel. Her body language screamed, "I'm better than you."

"Yeah," one of the boys said, leaning into the girl who just spoke. "We could use a mascot tonight, and you're big enough to play the part."

The kids laughed, and pain shot across Angel's face. Deja shot her hand out to catch Ven before he managed to walk across the street. He stilled, but she could see he was hurting for her.

"Pay him no mind," the other girl said. "You know he can be a butthead at times. Look, there will be lots of alcohol. Are you allowed to drink yet?" Again, they went off into laughter.

"Most of all, we'll all be drunk, and maybe Nate will be there and drunk. If you beg nicely, he might even fuck you, just to see what it's like to be with a fat girl," the other young man said, causing them to laugh more.

Angel got up. The humiliation on her face made Deja want to hurt the youth. They're just children, she reminded herself. Angel turned around and disappeared inside the doorway.

"Come on, Angel," one of the girls shouted. "You can't be a virgin forever."

They laughed and took off down the street. Ven was practically vibrating in her grip.

"Ven? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, Declyn and Enzo told me something about girls and how they act."

"What did they tell you?"

"They said girls, no matter what planet they were from, could be mean, especially when they realized they would never be as pretty as the other girl. I keep trying to tell myself that those two girls could be pretty like Angel if they had more curves." He shook his head and turned to look at Deja.

"They can never be pretty," he said softly. "It wouldn't matter how many curves they got. They're just too mean on the inside."

"You're right," she said softly and pulled him away from the house.

"I wish she would talk to me." He got quiet and followed Deja.

She found herself wrestling with the question he asked earlier. What earth woman would talk to one of them?

We would talk to Enzo.

Deja gave a nod to acknowledge the voice in her head.

Angel would talk to him, Caring and Compassion said.

Two things out of her in one day. Deja almost felt as if her life was making a change for the better.

"You should eat some dinner. You're starting to sound hungry."

Deja came to a stop and stared at him. Would he try to hurt her?

"I would never hurt you. I promise you're nice."

He stood there waiting, his heart buried deep, but she could almost see it through his eyes. He was waiting for her to reject him. If his parents could reject him, why would she want him?

She threw her arms around him and hugged him tight.

"You can't hug me," he whisper-screamed. "I'm a stranger, and girls don't hug strangers 'cause that's scary."

"I'm going to make an exception for you." He pretended to struggle in her grip but stayed right where he was until she let him go.

"Let's go get dinner, and then will you stay so you can walk me to the club tonight? That way nothing can happen to me."

He thought over her words. His face was serious as he weighed them. Finally, he nodded.

"I think that's a good idea. You are very fragile, and Enzo will be upset if anything happens to you."

"Good to know." She turned and started walking home. She, on the other hand, would be upset if anything happened to Ven.

She made dinner then got ready for her day at work. Before she knew it, they were walking out of her apartment.

"Why do you live here?" He looked around; the hallway floorboards were pulled up, exposing nails everywhere. They had to be careful when walking out, so they didn't hurt themselves.

"When I first moved here, this place was nice. As the years went on, it changed hands, and the new landlord didn't care who he let in. He jacked the rent up and then sold it to new owners who see this place as a potential sweet income. I can't even be mad at them because if I had the money, I would have bought and upgraded it. I came up with several excellent ideas on how to make this property better. The thing is, I don't have any place to go, and I have to be out by the end of the month."

"What will you do?"

She just shrugged and smiled it off. There were people in the world worse off than her. She'd find a way; she always did.

They were standing in front of the club.

"Are you allowed in the club?" she asked, worry in her voice.

"Of course, I am." He squared his shoulders, reminding her of a proud teenaged male.

"Are you allowed to drink?"

"Drink?"

"The alcohol?"

"No, I'm limited to water and soft drinks. Cole says he needs someone who can make sure they're still good. That's my job. I heard you say you don't drink last night; maybe it can be part of your job now." He had that calculating look, the one she'd seen in Enzo's eyes yesterday.

"Nice try, kid. I serve the drinks, and you test the soft drinks. No changing jobs."

He gave her a crooked smile and led her up the stairs. They walked into the club; all eyes were on them. Several of the men looked at Ven and snarled.

They snarled. Deja would panic about it later because right now she was stepping in front of Ven and snarling back. A loud, threatening noise came from her. More accurately, it came from the voice in the cage, but she didn't fight it this time. The whole club held its breath as Enzo and Declyn walked out.

"What's the problem?" Declyn asked.

"The boy's in the company of a female," one of the males spoke up. "That's not allowed. First, you take him in instead of allowing him to die as nature intended, and now he breaks the rules and finds himself an Earth female. She's a bit old for him. I'll take her off his hands, or would you rather I just tear him limb from limb?" The male was addressing Declyn, although he made sure to include Enzo in the conversation by making eye contact.

Ven tried to step around her. "Try it and see what happens."

"Ven, don't say anything. I got this one." Deja put on her badass bitch persona.

Declyn and Enzo shook their heads at Ven, stopping him from making a move.

Deja glanced inside of herself to realize the voice in the cage was scary. She looked like an animal and was growling.

Open the door! We claim Ven like a son, and nobody's going to harm him.

She opened the door and went to face the fool who opened his mouth when he should have swallowed his tongue.

"Would you like to repeat any of what you just said? Or do you only threaten kids?"

"Kids? Do you know how old he is?" His voice was sarcastic.

"No, why don't you tell me?" Her sarcastic side said, waiting for an answer so she could pounce all over him.

There was a growl in the room, then he said, "Doesn't matter. The point is he ain't allowed to have a female. He wouldn't know what to do with one. I'll take care of you."

"I think it's time we all got to know each other. I'm Deja, the bartender in training. No one gets to have me. When I pick a male, it will be all on my own. And it won't be you." She stared down the man she was facing. "Ven is off limits. If you touch him, I will kick your ass, no questions asked."

"She's like a wild Fera," Declyn whispered. "And I think she just adopted Ven."

Enzo nodded and smiled. His female was fierce. They had been wrong. They could find mates among the mortals; they just needed to be picky. Good thing more of them had killer curves like her.

"As for Ven not being able to have a girlfriend, that rule no longer exists from this moment forward. He's as worthy of a girlfriend as the rest of you are, except maybe you."

He growled and took a step towards her. She placed her hand in her pocket while growling back at him and came up with her mace.

"Is that what they taught you, to hurt defenseless females?" Her voice was steady as she looked him in the eyes. They were green, and they were glowing with an inner fire. She waited for him to make a decision.

"Just trying to live by the law of the land," he grumbled and backed down. "Sorry, kid."

She took a look around the club and realized that these males were lonely. Yeah, maybe they wanted sex. Okay, who didn't want sex, but they were lonely for the sound of a female voice or even a hug or a touch on the arm. She was going to fix this; she just didn't know how.

"How many of you like plus-size women?" They just blinked at her.

"If you could have a woman with a body type like mine or a body type like hers." Deja pulled up a picture of a slender female on the web. Not model skinny but acceptable in the norms of everyday society and showed it to them. To a male, they picked Deja, even Ven picked her, but she already knew what he liked.

A smile touched her lips; she had an idea.