Nika moved down the bar to pour him his drink. When she returned, she put it in front of him and told him how much it cost. Giving her another of his cold smiles, he fished some pound notes out of his pocket and put them on top of the bar.
As she went to pick them up, he stroked his hand down the length of her arm, caught her by the wrist, and said, "Keep the change. From the number of empty tables here, I can see you need it."
She pulled her arm away. "It's a slow night."
"Do you run the pub by yourself?"
"I'm the owner, but I do have an employee who is the cook." Nika felt the need to let him know she didn't work here totally alone.
"I guess I'll have to come back sometime and try the food."
"Lee is a great cook."
Not liking the way he continued to look at her—as if he was the hunter and she the prey—Nika left him to drink his beer. Keeping herself busy by wiping down the bar top, she felt his gaze following her every move. Unlike when Garrick did the same thing, this guy's stare made her edgy. Even though she welcomed the sight of new customers, she wished he'd hurry up and drink his beer so he could leave.
Luckily, he did just that. Once he walked through the pub's front entrance, Nika retrieved his dirty glass and found a large tip sitting next to it. She picked up both and pocketed the money. At least the man had tipped well.
Chapter Ten
Garrick sat in his car in the pub's parking lot as he practiced inside his head what he was going to say to Nika. He'd spent most of the time perfecting his speech while he'd been hunting, except for when he'd taken down a couple of his prey.
As prepared as he ever would be, he got out of his car and crossed the mostly empty lot to the pub's front entrance. There was only one car parked there, other than his. When he reached the door, he drew up short. His nostrils flared. A faint, acidic scent wafted around him. Breathing deeply, Garrick opened the door and walked into The Old Sow. The scent grew much stronger.
A low growl pushed out of his throat. Even though the scent wasn't that of a werewolf, Garrick recognized it. He had to fight to stop himself from going wolf with anger. Somehow, Nathan had found a way to mask his true scent. Whatever he did, it left an acidic smell behind wherever he went.
Needing to see how far into the pub the scent went, he followed the faint trail.
He'd just about reached the bar when Nika came out of the kitchen with Lee on her heels. Garrick barely kept it under control while he watched her walk the other man to the entrance and say goodbye.
Once the door shut behind Lee, Nika walked over to join him. "You came," she said as she drew nearer.
"I told you I would."
She stood in front of him, and the smell of Nathan's acidic scent masker grew even stronger. His eyes went wolf and his claws pushed through the tips of his fingers, despite his best efforts to remain calm. With a low, wolf-sounding growl, he tried to zero in on where, exactly, Nathan had placed the scent, but Nika quickly jumped away.
"Garrick, y-your eyes. They look like an animal's. And are those . . . claws?"
Her face had gone white, and he heard her heart racing, but he ignored the signs of her fear. "He was here. He put his hands on you," he said through a growl.
"He who?" Nika asked. She kept backing toward the pub's entrance. "I don't know who you're talking about. What the hell are you, Garrick?"
The door flew open behind Nika and slammed against the wall. Nathan, along with three other werewolves, walked in.
"Yes, Garrick, why don't you tell your mate what you are? Better yet, why don't you just show her instead," he said.
Nathan nodded to his men, who shifted into their werewolf forms. Nathan grabbed Nika from behind. Garrick had no choice but to shift as well. The three large werewolves attacked him at the same time. He only had enough time to see Nika's look of horror at the sight of him before they were on him. The sound of her screams filled his head as he tried to fight them off.
Garrick used his teeth and claws to defend himself, but he couldn't get in a blow that would buy him enough time to will his sword into his hand to take out the werewolves permanently. The one behind him jumped onto his back, sinking his teeth into his shoulder, while the other two attacked him from his sides. He howled in pain.
He was strong, but the three beasts were the size of Brand when in werewolf form.
Bleeding from numerous bite and claw marks, Garrick soon lost his footing, and the three overpowered him and took him to his knees. He couldn't shift without sustaining even greater injury from his attackers, so he stayed in his werewolf form and glared at Nathan. "Let her go," he said in a voice that was gruffer than his usual one.
"It's me you want. Take me, but leave my mate alone."
"Oh, I intend to take you with me," Nathan said, wrapping his arm around Nika's head and yanking it to the side at an awkward angle. "But I wouldn't dream of separating you from your mate. She comes with us. Let's see how you'll like being mated to one of your prey."
Nathan shifted into his werewolf form and sank his teeth into the left side of Nika's neck where it met her shoulder. Garrick howled. Nika screamed again, then passed out, slumping against Nathan's furred body. Enraged, Garrick fought to free himself, to get Nika away from the pack leader, but the other werewolves were too strong.
Nathan shifted back to his human form and lifted Nika into his arms. "This is when you take a rest, warrior."
The three pounded on Garrick with their large fists until he lay battered and bloody on the floor. The last thing he saw before he lost consciousness was Nathan carrying Nika out of the pub, then darkness closed over him.
Unceremoniously dumped into the back of a cargo van, Nika came to. She quickly regained her senses, but before she could even try to make an escape, the man who had been at the pub earlier—now her captor—climbed inside and grabbed her by her wrists. He pulled out a length of rope from his jacket pocket and bound her hands as the three other men—who were no longer furry—shoved what Garrick had become into the van next to her. She flinched when his wolf-like head brushed up against her.
Her captor laughed. "What's the matter? Don't you like your mate now that you know what he truly is?"
"And what would that be?" she asked in a shaky voice.
"A werewolf."
"Like you?"
"He's nothing like me," her captor spat. "I'm what a true werewolf should be. I'm not like your mate over there, who was given immortality and the ability to shift by his Anglo-Saxon god, but denied the bloodlust a true werewolf should have." He pulled out what looked to be a small, black sack. "Enough talking."
Easily controlling her with one hand, her captor yanked the sack over her head.
He then secured her bound wrists to something inside the van. Nika tried not to panic as the van bounced. She heard a bit of scuffling, the doors slammed shut, and then . . .
silence. Sensing her captor had left, she pulled on her wrists. The sound of the van's engine turning over roared through the tiny compartment, and they started to move.
Nika struggled to free herself, but whatever they'd tied her to didn't budge. The van hit a bump, sending a shooting pain to where her captor had bitten her.
Sitting, unable to see anything, Nika forced back the tears that threatened to spill over. Tears weren't going to help her situation one bit. She couldn't fall apart. She had to forget that her world had suddenly become the stuff of horror movies. And that there were people who shifted into creatures that would give her nightmares probably for the rest of her life. She would not let herself freak out. Not even with the realization she'd been sleeping with one of those creatures.