Sweet Like Candy (MANxMAN)

10 - Older, Smarter, Stronger

Chapter Ten

Antoine's POV

The door chimed loudly, and cold winter air snaked through the empty candy shop. An hour ago I'd closed up, gently pushing out old ladies who all protested for another thirty minutes. Without even turning around, I could already feel who it was. Tobias had that type of presence; solid, warm, slinking.

"Oh, hey honey, nice to see you back," I mocked, scrubbing off syrup from a bowl.

"Where is everyone?" Tobias asked, his voice low and smooth. His face was different than before he'd left, almost paranoid, almost elated. He shut the door behind him, and in seconds the heater devoured the cold air.

"Home," I answered. "Catherine gave me a full-time job on the spot. Her and Cherie left for a family thing. I'm closing up today."

There was no describing the feeling I got when Catherine offered me an actual job. I was surrounded by candy, customers who were loose near the tip jar, and working for the nicest people I'd ever met. Things like this didn't happen to people like me, so I wouldn't finish work until my hands were raw and blistered and the shop was obscenely clean. The only problem? Trying to ignore Sir. Broodiness skulking around. First, he's staring at me like he'd devour me whole and then he's out the door.

"That's a lot of work to clean up." The wooden floors creaked as he approached the counter, leaning against it.

I finished drying off the last plate, adding it to the stack beside the sink. Cleaning off the syrup and sugar had been a bitch, but the work helped me clear my head. "Good thing I have a knack for cleaning up messes."

It was meant as an insult, but Tobias's eyes flashed, and his lips curled. He was undoubtedly thinking about how I helped him clean up his mess earlier. Fucking typical.

"This is supposed to the part where I apologize," he started off. I grabbed an old rag, dampening it with some water and heading for the tables. I ignored him. "But, I needed a minute to go and shift, and I'm not sorry for that. I don't experience anger like you, I experience it until my body is falling apart and everyone turns into something I could sink my teeth into. I would rip someone apart and not even blink."

Goosebumps ran down my skin. I'd been around humans who killed and did things that would make Bundy shudder, but wolves were something else. When your parents wanted you scared and compliant, they didn't tell you stories of monsters under your bed, they told you of the wolves in the woods. And Citadel was home to some of the worst. They weren't just violent, they were calculating, richer than God and just as powerful.

Still, I scoffed. "Oh, poor wolf-man. You're life must be so hard. You turn into a machine of death whenever you want to." I didn't mention how much I craved having that same power, of never being a victim again. Of being able to rip Ace and Warren to pieces, to set fire to their compound. "How do you deal with the hardship of aiming a look at someone and they just immediately do whatever you want?"

Tobias went over to the only table I hadn't cleaned yet, taking a seat in one of the creaking metal chairs. It was almost comical, the big werewolf in the little chair in the girly candy shop.

"It's a burden, but I bare it." It wasn't a burden, especially in a place like Citadel, and we both knew it. The strong ate the weak and nothing was stronger than a werewolf belonging to Brotherhood of Cain.

I went over to the table Tobias sat at, beginning the process of wiping it clean. A big hand paused my movements. The goosebumps on my skin intensified, only this time from excitement rather than fear. "What?" I snarled.