After a pause. “No. Miki take her.”
“No! I swear! I swear!”
The women glanced at each other. Finally, Sara looked at Angie.
“What do ya think, Santiago?”
Fighting the smile of pride she had for her friend at the moment, Angie nodded in agreement. “I say we give her a shot.”
“Cool!” Miki aimed her gun again.
“I meant a chance, psychopath.”
“Damn.”
Victoria removed her foot from Leucrotta, but before the hyena could stand, Sara again crouched in front of her, both her hands buried in the woman’s hair. She pulled her head back, their faces so close they could have been lovers.
“Listen to me carefully. If anything else happens to my friends, there is no place in this universe where you’ll be able to hide…” Sara’s voice dropped impossibly lower, “…from me.”
With that, Sara stood, dragging the woman with her. She put her on her own two feet. Pale, shaking, completely terrified, it seemed amazing Leucrotta hadn’t pissed on herself.
Sara stepped back and Leucrotta moved toward the exit.
“Oh.” Leucrotta’s whole body clenched in fear at Sara’s voice behind her. “And one more thing…”
Slowly, Leucrotta turned. “Yes?”
Sara glanced at her friend. “Angie?”
Angie stepped forward, slamming her fist into Leucrotta’s face. The hyena’s head smashed into the mirror behind her, destroying it as her body dropped like a ton of bricks. She probably wouldn’t be moving for several long minutes, giving both Pack and Pride time to get out of the store and avoid a full-on confrontation. And Angie still owed the bitch for her ruined Louis Vuitton bag.
Sara smiled. “You always had the best right hook.”
“Remember that boxer I dated? He taught me that—and not to use my teeth during blow jobs.”
Miki locked her gun, shoving it back in its holster. “Well that was information I could have lasted a lifetime never knowing.”
They all stared at the television. Twenty male shapeshifters quietly watching The Howling.
“If shifting was always that painful,” Conall muttered more to the couch he lay sprawled across than to anyone else, “I’d never do it.”
“Who put this piece of shit in anyway?” Zach demanded.
“No one. It’s on cable.”
Zach lifted his head off the floor. “Then why the fuck are we still watching it?”
Conall pointed across the room. “Because the remote is over there.”
They all looked at the simple electronic device. At the moment, it looked miles away.
“Well who the fuck put it way the hell over there?”
Ban’s hand shot up. “Sorry. That was me.”
Zach laid his head back on the floor. “Damn hillbillies.”
“We prefer the term redneck,” Nik muttered.
They all fell into another sleepy silence, until Alek’s head snapped up. “Y’all smell that?”
Conall jumped up as the banging on the door started. By the time he reached the hallway, they all stood behind him. He pulled the door open and six Pride males pushed past him. Big. Well-dressed. Boring.
“Where are they?” the lead one roared.
Zach crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Where are who?”
The lion, fangs bared, stood in front of Zach. He was taller than the wolf, but Nik was impressed the Alpha didn’t back down. Instead, Zach looked kind of amused.
Ban nudged Nik. “Look, it’s the pretty kitties.”
One of the lions glared at Ban. “And look what we have here…alley cats. Why am I not surprised to find them hanging out with the dogs?”
Alek growled low, but Nik kept him under control with a hand on his shoulder. “Now, now, Alek. You should never attack a man brave enough to wear those shoes.”
“Where are our females?” the leader demanded again. “I got a call saying they were coming here.”
“Coming here?” Zach shrugged. “Sorry, don’t know anything about it. But tell me, do you lose your pussies like this all the time?”
Fangs burst from gums and bodies began to shift. The lion tackled Zach the wolf. Conall, shifting quickly, went after them. Nik watched another lion go for Conall, and his Southern sense of honor wouldn’t allow some lion pricks to abuse his hosts, so he shifted and threw himself at the big gold beast. But his weight shoved them all through the open door and out onto the stairs.
They fell in a mass of snarling, snapping claws and fur. He felt fangs sink into his hind leg, but it lasted only a second as Ban grabbed the lion by the scruff of the neck and tossed him away.
Nik landed on the back of another lion, pushing him off Zach. They rolled a few feet trying to get a good hold, but instead crashed into a gorgeous set of legs.
“Dude! The new shoes!”
Nik and the lion looked up to see a group of women calmly watching them. In fact, someone had pulled out a bag of chips and started sharing.
Angie reached down and brushed the top of her shoes. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to get cat hair off anything?”
She shook her head, grabbed some shopping bags and headed toward the house. “See you ladies later. I’m exhausted.” She turned on those gorgeous heels. “And don’t forget. All of you are coming to Sara’s birthday party. Right?”
A small woman, who smelled like lion but based on her clothes and height alone simply couldn’t be, nodded. “Absolutely.” She looked at Sara. “Perfect time to solidify the truce, don’t ya think?”
“Sure. Whatever. Wanna see the bikes?” Sara walked off toward the garage, female lions and wolves following behind her.
Miki started to follow, but Angie called her from the front door. “Get your ass up here, Kendrick.”
“I wanna go—”
“No. Because apparently we have no impulse-control during this breeding process when it comes to that mouth, now do we?”
Stomping around the male lions, wolves, and tigers at her feet as if they were stuffed toys, Miki headed up the stairs. “I can’t tell you how much I hate that fuckin’ psychotherapist voice you put on.”
“Well, when one is dealing with a nut…”
The door slammed shut behind the two human females while the shifter females disappeared among the motorcycles.
The males stared at each other, eventually withdrawing claws and fangs from vital organs. A little blood spilt but not much.
Nik wondered what they’d do next. Fighting seemed kind of wrong now that the females had a pact. But he didn’t have to wonder or worry long. A small group of deer ran past heading deep into Pack territory and they all took off after them, leaving him and Conall.
Conall, not about to leave his pregnant mate alone with lions swarming over his territory, turned and trotted back to the house. Nik, however, had no such worries. Angie seemed to have quite a way with handling cats. Hell, she handled him, didn’t she?
No, he had other plans for the delectable Ms. Santiago. And they definitely involved those shoes.
Nik padded around to the back of the house. She’d left the window open, so he took a step back and jumped. He cleared the windowsill easily, landing without making a sound.
He turned toward the bed and she was already there. Waiting for him. Naked. A sheet pulled up between her legs and covering her chest.
And the shoes. She still had on the shoes.
She watched him quietly, inhaling a deep breath. When she released it…it came out as a sigh.
He growled. Teasing hellcat.
Angie watched tiger-Nik stand at the foot of the bed, staring at her. When she’d sighed, she’d thought for sure he’d shift and tackle her by now. But he didn’t, he just kept staring. Yet once again the mere thought of Nik was making her all squirmy and hot.