Cyn stuck to her like glue. No way was she letting Tabby go out there by herself. She grabbed hold of Tabby’s arm. “Let’s wait for Gabe.”
Tabby’s eyes had turned golden brown, her Wolf’s eyes. “I have a really bad feeling about this.”
She trusted Tabby’s instincts. They’d sharpened since her friend had gotten pregnant. Cyn pulled Tabby back and away from the door. “Let’s get out of here.”
Glory was already out front, waiting for them. “I was just about to go in to pull you guys out. Gabe wants us to wait out here for him. He also wants to know what it smelled like.”
“It was plastic and metal and…motor oil? Maybe? And something I can’t even describe.”
Gabe pulled up to the curb, lights flashing but sirens silent. He got out of his cruiser and sprinted toward the girls. “All right, Tabby, come with me.” He pulled Tabby off to the side and whispered in her ear. Tabby in turn whispered back.
Gabe paled and pushed Tabby toward the street. “You three, get across the street now.” He then sprinted for the back of the shop at breakneck speed.
Cyn didn’t need to be told twice. She ran across the street and into the dry cleaners. “What the fuck is going on?”
Gabe came running back from around the corner of the building, his expression grim. He leaned into the cruiser, but Cyn couldn’t see what he was doing.
Before too long he was jogging across the street. “Follow me.”
Cyn, Tabby and Glory followed him to the corner. “Listen carefully.” He was talking so softly Cyn could barely hear him. “I think there’s a pipe bomb at your back door.”
“A what?” Cold fury rushed through her. Whoever was after them had gone too far. A pipe bomb wouldn’t just do property damage. The damn things were meant to kill people.
“I’ve already sent for the bomb squad. I want you girls to wait here until I tell you otherwise.”
Cyn clenched her fists. “Tabby, did you scent Cheetah again?”
“No. It was…strange. Not human, I know that.” She rubbed her nose. “It’s really weird. I’d swear I smelled deer.”
Cyn’s brows rose in surprise. “There are deer shifters?”
“No. That’s what’s so strange about it. I could scent deer and charcoal and wool, but nothing else.”
“Was that the scent that you couldn’t describe?” Glory was playing with her hair, twisting the curls around her fingers over and over again. She was scared, and desperately trying not to show it.
“No. Maybe it was the explosive I smelled.” Tabby groaned as a familiar motorcycle pulled up in front of them. “I didn’t do anything.”
The smile in Alex’s face was easy-going, but his dark brown bear’s eyes betrayed his uneasiness. “Tell me my mate wasn’t threatened again.”
Gabe sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “It’s going to be a long day, isn’t it?”
Alex spun on his heel and marched toward the tattoo shop. Tabby raced after him and latched onto his arm. “No, Alex!”
“Come back here so I can explain everything to you.” Gabe grabbed hold of Alex’s other arm. “Look over there. My deputies are starting to clear out the businesses around the tattoo shop. You can’t go over there right now.”
Alex growled but allowed himself to be led away. By the time they were done telling him everything that had happened Alex was sitting on the seat of his motorcycle, Tabby firmly on his lap. Dark five-inch claws had sprouted from his fingertips and drummed restlessly over her stomach. Tabby had her hands over his, trying to hide them as the sidewalk filled with humans. “This is getting ridiculous.”
“I agree. But hopefully this time they royally screwed up.” Gabe nodded toward the street. “Here comes the bomb squad. Maybe now we’ll have some answers.”
Cyn was shaking by the time the heavily padded men came back from around the shop. Between them was a black box, one she assumed held the pipe bomb.
“With any luck those idiots left fingerprints behind.” Gabe’s grin was feral; the Hunter in him had come to the fore. “I’ll call you as soon as I have some news.”
“Since when does Halle have a bomb squad?” Glory tugged hard enough on her curls to wince. “Now what?”
Cyn started across the street. “Now we go back to work.” She ignored Glory’s grumbling. How long would it be before whoever was after them decided to go to their homes? So far they only targeted the shop, but Cyn knew that couldn’t last. At some point or another the bad guys would figure out that the three of them were too well guarded there.
It was time to try and lure them into the open. But how? She couldn’t endanger Tabby or Glory, and if Julian found out she’d turned herself into bait he’d have a cow. Against a human attacker she had every confidence in herself, but she was facing shifters.
She paused, her hand on the knob, the door halfway open. The sound of the bell was still ringing in her ears.
Perhaps it was time she really went out for a bite.
“Bite me.”
Julian stared at his mate and tried to hold back his frustrated groan. He should have guessed the moment she pulled him into the back room that she’d be demanding he change her. He’d seen how pale she was the moment he’d stepped through the door. When he’d gotten news of the pipe bomb he’d raced out of work like his ass was on fire. But instead of trembling and allowing Ryan to calm her like Glory or cuddling with her mate like Tabby, she’d demanded he mate her.
This was not the way he’d wanted to mark her. He’d planned on candlelight, decadent food and a full-on seduction. Instead he was in a dusty back room full of tattoo ink and needles, with nary a soft surface in sight so he could sink into her properly.
She snapped her fingers in his face. “Now, Julian. Let’s get this over with. I have work to do.”
She had to be shitting him. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me. Make with the fang.” She pointed at her neck. “Do I need to mark the spot or something?”
He crossed his arms over his chest and prepared himself for a battle. “No.”
She echoed his movement and almost distracted him. He couldn’t help it if his eyes were drawn to the bounty her arms now hid. “What happened to wanting a taste?”
He hoped his expression told her exactly how he felt about her request, because if he opened his mouth right then he’d say something he’d regret. He had a pretty good idea why she was doing this, which was not a mark in her favor.
Cyn sighed wearily. “I’m not saying we’re going to stop dating. I’m asking for safety.” She waved her arms toward the curtains that hid them from the rest of the shop. “Tabby’s pregnant and Glory is…Glory.” Her eyes pled with him. “Please, Julian. Give me what I need to take care of them.”
Fuck. She was pulling out the big guns. That stubborn determination to protect what was hers was part of her appeal, but it could get her seriously hurt if he didn’t rein her in. “I can’t.” He held up his hand to stifle her immediate protest. “Look, there are things I haven’t told you yet. Becoming like me is different from becoming a Wolf or a Puma, or even another Bear. It isn’t just a bite.”
“Let me guess. It’s a Kermode thing and I wouldn’t understand.”
“Oh, you’ll understand. Trust me. But if I’m going to bite you, it has to be done correctly.” Not in a dusty back room. Not when she was this angry and afraid. If she thought she was hiding her fear from him, she was sadly mistaken. He could smell it pouring from her skin.