mara was known for her gentle temperament. her entire life had surrounded the aura of being the quintessential girl next door, the girl you trusted to babysit your kids, tutor your idiot son, the one you could trust in the library after hours. before she had attached herself to the mc, she had never been seen as anything but a sweet natured creature. she’d never had a reason to question if she was anything but until this moment; this heinously humiliating moment that she realized she was not made of sugar, spice and everything nice. no mara was made of blood, bone and right now? barely contained rage. standing at five foot sweet nothing, big blue eyes and a bouncing pony tail, there was no misrepresentation in the damage she could do. she couldn’t. marcus would win from brawn alone. she didn’t have any tricks up her sleeve, she was every bit the pup in the wolf den and very much at the clubs mercy, but that didn’t stop the seething anger from electrifying every nerve she had in her.
she looked immediately to morgan as she was pinned between the president’s chest and the bar top. he would stand a better chance, he could do some damage. and what did he do? love of her life, man of her dreams, ruthless outlaw? he turned his back to her. if mara’s fury could kill in that instant the entire room would be six feet under. she felt tears stinging her eyes as marcus continued to sweet talk, pressing up against her. whether they were tears of embarrassment, anger or some toxic combination, she wasn’t sure. morgan was her old man, he was supposed to protect her, the same way she would have unhesitatingly done for him. mara would have clawed someone’s eyes out to protect morgan, a realization she had in the midst of her loathing. her eyes met marcus’s and she made no move to discourage the look they held.
she could feel every pair of eyes on her, waiting to see what she’d do. this young, nothing, waif of a girl. mara had always thought she was a girl with a lot of common sense, that she knew when it was better to cower rather than attack, she honestly thought she knew that lesson through and through but she proved herself wrong yet again. morgan was a coward, she was an idiot. all things she learned as her hand lashed out, quick as a snake to meet the president’s cheek. the sound was deafening, and she hadn’t imagined what she would do once she did it, so she stood frozen. his cheek reddened as the room seemed to still completely. more humiliating than any of the mortifying moments that had come prior, he begun to laugh. she’d rather he hit her.
as he cackled, like she’d been a kitten that had pawed at him, he moved aside to free her. she could see she had more than a kittens sting by the way his cheek still twitched involuntarily from the strike. she wasted no time, immediately shouldering past him. it took all the self respect she had not to dash out like a frightened mouse, even more still not to look back to see if morgan would follow. instead she walked at an even pace towards the door, ignoring the cat calls of the other members. once outside in the hot florida air, she begun to weep, phone in hand begging for her friend to come and get her and take her home.
with his back turned to the situation acting out behind him, morgan would hear the sound of flesh against cheek, causing him to turn and look discreetly over his shoulder. it was marcus’ laughter that prompted him to turn completely, but while the rest of the room breathed a sigh of relief, morgan looked to mara and although he wasn’t expecting her to look back to him, it still felt like a nail had been hammered through his heart when she walked away without looking over her shoulder.
the door slamming after her tiny frame exited, was what brought morgan back to his senses. looking towards marcus with a stern facial expression, the lower ranking male didn’t say a word, simply turning away from the other and setting off into a sprint towards the door, following mara. “fucking prick” he spoke to himself right before exiting the door and being hit by a wall of warmth and humidity.
his eyes fell on the girl as she walked away from the clubhouse, phone to her ear. morgan knew she was calling someone to come get her, but that didn’t keep him from running after her and placing his hand on her shoulder when reaching her, “mara...—” he paused breathing hard, not just from the running but also from the sheer fear of her reaction.
morgan felt like absolute shit for how he’d reacted when inside, knowing how he should’ve reacted, but also realizing there wasn’t anything he could do about it now. when mara didn’t stop walking at his saying her name, desperation grew within him and automatically making its way to his vocal chords, “please, mara ! stop !”