“Who are Ben and Ted?” Micah stood and brushed his jeans off.
Julian followed suit but held his hand out to assist Cyn to her feet. “Ben is the Poconos Pack Marshall and Ted is his Second.”
Micah’s hand froze on his knee. “She’s joined another Pack, then.”
“And a Pride,” Julian added.
Micah stared at him, astonished. “A Pride? How the hell did a Wolf wind up in a Pride?”
Cyn shrugged, her gaze darting around the break room as if the shooter were hiding in the cupboards. “Max likes her.”
“And she proved herself to him. He had no problems accepting her, and neither did Rick.”
Cyn grinned. “They share her.”
Micah looked horrified. “How do their mates feel about that?”
Cyn and Julian gaped at him. He could not mean what Julian thought he did. “Are you nuts? Emma and Belle would eviscerate anyone who touched Max or Rick.”
“They share her as a Pack mate, not a fuck toy.” Cyn snarled. “What kind of Pack do you run, anyway?”
Micah had the grace to look sheepish. “Sorry. It’s just…some of the things my dad forced us to do were horrible. Sharing a female, whether mated or not, wasn’t uncommon.”
Forcing someone to have sex with a person who wasn’t their mate wasn’t possible for a male, and tantamount to rape for a female, once the bond was established. The old Alpha had to be one sick son of a bitch to do that. “Your father wasn’t mated to your mother, was he?”
“How did you know?”
“Lucky guess.” Julian flinched at the sound of another gunshot. “Shit. They have to catch this asshole.”
“At least this isn’t a residential area. Even the restaurants close down by six.” Cyn rolled her eyes at him as she stepped around him. She peeked around the curtain, pulling back as another shot was fired. “Yeah. I think we need to stay in here.”
They hunkered down in the break room, keeping out of sight. At least Julian was certain Cyn was safe. She was whistling and tapping her fingers, restless as she never was. She was hating the fact that they were pinned down, helpless to stop the man who’d shot Glory.
Micah frowned curiously at Cyn. “Why are you whistling the Hawaii Five-O theme?”
Cyn blinked and stopped whistling, but her fingers continued to twitch restlessly. “No reason.”
After a few minutes, Micah held up his hand. “Shh. Hear that?”
Julian cocked his head, trying to hear what had Micah quivering with tension.
“No sound.” Cyn closed her eyes and tilted her head. “I can’t hear anything.”
Julian slipped out of the break room. Something was very wrong. “Stay put.”
Cyn took a step toward him. “No.”
“Cyn.” He pressed a hard kiss to her lips before shoving her back into the break room. “You have to stay safe.”
“Ditto.”
He glared at her. No way was she leaving the protection of the break room. “Don’t make me use the voice.”
She blew her bangs out of her eyes and glared back. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t follow your ass.”
“Because I don’t want to watch you die.”
Chapter Twenty
She watched Julian stalk out of the break room and out through the curtain at the front of the shop. “What is he doing?”
“Checking things out, I’d assume.” Micah leaned back against the break table and sighed. “Look, as much as I’d like to get my hands on my dad and kick his ass again, if he’s somewhere with a rifle we won’t get to him before he can take us out. Let me guess. You’ve been playing bait?”
“Yup.” She leaned against the doorjamb. She might not go chasing after her mate, but hell if she was going to cower in the room. “Do you have any idea why your dad would go after Glory and I? If he’s after Tabby, why not just shoot at her?”
“He’s a vindictive son of a bitch. To tell you the truth, I’ve been waiting for him to come after me all this time.” Micah shrugged. “How close are you to Tabby?”
“We’re family.” Cyn shot him a glance. “You’re kidding me. That’s why?”
Micah nodded. “He’ll want her to hurt before he kills her.”
She stared at him, appalled. “He’s done this before.”
“And I found out, took his Pack from him, and Outcast him for it.”
“Why didn’t anyone stop him?”
His answering grin was sour. “He was Alpha. No one was strong enough to stop him. Hell, I’m not sure his Beta wasn’t in on it, but without proof I couldn’t Outcast him. I constantly have to watch him, make sure he isn’t stirring up shit. The Omega was kept constantly drugged, and is just now getting over it with intensive therapy. He’ll never be who he was before he became my dad’s Omega. They broke him. The only thing I can do for him is keep the old Beta away from him, just in case. And the Marshall was a sadistic son of a bitch who died shortly after I Outcast my dad. He challenged me for the Pack and lost.”
“Wow. Makes me glad I’m not a Wolf.”
“Sometimes I wish I wasn’t. Being a Tiger sounds really good some days. No Pack politics, just big-ass teeth and a pissy attitude.” He stood and made his way to the door. “He’s been gone a long time.”
“The front of the shop isn’t that big.”
His brows rose. “Want to check things out?”
“Hell yes.” Cyn pulled aside the curtain and stepped into the main part of the shop. “Julian?”
Julian turned from the front door where he was speaking to one of the cops. “Get back in the break room, Cyn.”
“Did they get him?”
Julian shook his head. “No. They’re following his trail now.” He gestured toward the curtain. “Now get your ass back there, okay?”
“Fine.”
“Yes, it is. It’s a very fine ass. Now keep it behind the curtain.”
Micah snorted a laugh as he followed Cyn back into the break room. “Is he always like that?”
“Nope. He’s having an off day. Usually he’s much worse.” Cyn stared around the break room, restless to be doing something, anything. Fuck, she’d inventory stock if it meant she got to move. “I’m heading in the back for a bit. Let Jules know where I am.” There were no windows back there so Super Bear couldn’t get upset over it.
“Are you sure it’s safe?”
Great. Just what I need. Another over-protective Alpha male. She was the Kodiak. She should be the one out front risking her hide, not Jules. “I think so. There are no windows, and the back door is locked.”
“Maybe I should go back with you.”
Cyn stared at the stubborn set of Micah’s jaw. Nothing she said would dissuade him. “Follow me.” She shook her finger at him as she led him into the stock room. “But I’m putting your ass to work.”
“Fine by me. I’m feeling a little antsy anyway.” He lifted a box off the nearest shelf and peered inside. “I hate sitting and waiting. I’d rather be out and doing.”
“Ditto. I’m supposed to be a sitting duck, but sometimes I wish I was the one duck hunting.”
Micah chuckled. “I know what you mean.” He placed the box back on the shelf and followed Cyn further into the back room. “Do you mind if I ask you something?”
Cyn shrugged. “That depends on the question.”
“Does Tabby’s mate treat her well?”
Cyn stared at Micah and started laughing.
“What? It’s a legitimate question.”
“Tabby’s mate is an overprotective Grizzly Bear who adores everything about her. Even the fact that she calls him sugar.”
Micah paled. “Oh.”