She unconsciously looked at Lulu, appealing for help, only to find Lulu gazing at her with speculation and a hint of amusement in her expression. No help there.
“Chad,” she hissed, “you can let go.”
He dropped her arm and placed his arm around her shoulder, tucking her close. This must be what a football feels like. At his action, some of the men wandered off. Others gave her the once over, then met Chad’s look, stare for stare. Tired of the foolishness, she elbowed him in the side, jerked loose, and reached inside of the car for her things.
One of the men let loose with a piercing wolf whistle.
“Damn, look at that ass,” someone commented.
Tameka snapped upright, almost hitting her head on the roof of the car. She searched the men, eyes narrowed. “Who said that? Who did that?” she snapped.
She couldn’t tell which of the men made the comment, but the culprit who whistled still had his fingers to his lips. She marched right up to the big, burly fellow with the overgrown, sandy blond hair and got right in his face. “Do I look like a dog to you?”
“No, but you damn sure can be my bitch,” someone in the crowd said.
Tameka’s gasp was drowned out by the vicious snarling coming from behind her. The man she’d confronted paled.
Distracted and just a bit concerned, Tameka turned to see what he was looking at. She thought she would have noticed a dog in their midst, and from the sound of it, a rather large one.
Mona suddenly appeared on her right and Lulu on her left.
“Let’s go inside and get out of this heat.” They took hold of her arms and all but dragged her to the door.
“Wait! I need my stuff. And what’s going on? Why is that man taking off his shirt? Ow, Lulu. Watch the arm. You’re stronger than you look.”
The last was said as Lulu lifted her off her feet and carried her into the shop, calling out orders as she went. “Betty, call Alex and tell him to get down here, NOW!”
“Kiesha’s closer,” Mona said.
“But she’s pregnant. Call Alex,” Betty said.
In the background, Tameka could hear snarling and growling, mixed in with meaty thuds. Sounded like a pack of dogs fighting. She never got the chance to see if her supposition was correct. Lulu dragged her to the storeroom door and opened it.
“Don’t you worry about a thing. Here, check and make sure I have all you need for tomorrow. There’s a long line of men wanting haircuts and you wouldn’t want to run out.” She thrust Tameka inside and slammed the door shut.
Once she caught her balance, Tameka spun around and immediately tried to turn the knob. It wouldn’t budge. “Lulu, open this door! What’s going on out there?” Bam! Bam! Bam!
She pounded on the door. Finally, she gave it a good, hard kick.
She laid her forehead against the door and gave it a couple of thumps. “Why did I come here? These people are crazy!
Check the supplies. Hmph! All I need to cut hair is a pair of clippers. She knows that.”
Not one to continue to bang her head against a stone wall, she realized she wasn’t getting out of this room until Lulu got good and ready. She rubbed her throbbing arm.
Dang, that woman was strong.
Chad was in the midst of a three-on-one fight when a surge of metaphysical power forced him to his belly. Two of the shifters he’d been fighting with shifted back to their human form and laid there panting. The third one was paralyzed like him.
“What the hell is going on here? Fighting in the street like animals, in broad daylight were anyone can see. HAVE YOU
LOST YOUR MINDS?” The last was said in a roar.
Chad had only been a part of the Raven pack for two years, but he’d never seen the Alpha this pissed. Alex Wolfe looked close to changing himself. His short black hair stood up on end and his normally black eyes glowed gold with power.
He looked around. He wasn’t the only one watching the Alpha closely. In addition to his own, there were at least three other groups that must have been fighting as well.
“Woman…mate,” one of the shifters gasped out.
Chad’s wolf growled, hackles raised. If he could have moved, he would have attacked, in spite of Alex.
“Chad.” That’s all Alex said and Chad shifted back to human.
“Mine,” he growled.
“Have you marked her?”
“Yes.” It came out guttural. His wolf was still close to the surface.
“She hasn’t accepted,” a male shifter protested. “He’s not marked. That means we still have a chance.” Chad snarled, pushed up on his forearms, and felt his eyes change and jaw elongate.
Alex looked at him sharply. “Stand down.” Chad subsided, but it was extremely difficult. His wolf fought him all the way. It knew what it wanted and wasn’t going to let anyone take her away.
Lulu came to the door. “Alpha,” she greeted him.
“Ms. Lulu,” he said, nodding his head respectfully.
“The woman they’re fighting over is human,” she continued.
Alex closed his eyes and swore under his breath. Then he pinned Chad with a stare. “You marked her, knowing she was human?”
“Mate,” was all Chad could say.
Alex’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “A true mate?”
Chad didn’t know what he was talking about, but it didn’t matter what he didn’t know. He said what he did. “Mine.” Alex studied him for a minute, then sighed and shook his head. “You have no idea what I’m talking about, do you?” Chad rose to his knees, but kept his head lowered. “She belongs to me. That’s the only thing here that really matters.” Alex pulled out his cell phone. A quick push of the button then, “Kiesha, I need you to come to the salon. We have a situation…human female…newly mated…she doesn’t know.” He rolled his eyes. “The barbershop. Come now. Fuss later.” He flipped the phone closed.
“You and I need to have a talk,” he told Chad. “The rest of you,” he looked around, “go home. This one’s off limits.” The shifters grumbled as they put their clothes back on, some of them casting angry looks at him before leaving. Chad dressed as well, wondering what happened now. The alpha was supporting his claim, which surprised him. But even if he hadn’t, Chad wasn’t giving Tameka up. They’d have to kill him.
A tentative knock sounded at the door before it slowly opened. “Tameka?”
Having passed ticked minutes ago and now seriously pissed off, Tameka stayed where she was, arms crossed, seated on a box at the back of the storeroom, non-responsive.
A beautiful, plus-sized, bi-racial woman with golden-brown hair and a protruding stomach entered the room, stopping when she got a good look at Tameka’s expression. “Damn, I told them you’d be pissed. What the hell were they thinking?” The unexpected empathy loosened her tongue. “That’s what I’d like to know,” she growled.
The woman came further into the room. “I know you’re angry—with good reason, might I add—but they meant no harm.
If you give me a chance, I’d like to explain. My name’s Kiesha, by the way.”
Tameka’s temper began to calm in the face of the understanding Kiesha was displaying. “By all means, explain away,” she said with a wave of her hand.
Kiesha sighed. “There’s no way to do this but to just blurt it out. You’ll think I’m crazy as hell but believe me, I’m not. The reason they hustled you in here away from everyone and locked you in was to get you away from the fight brewing outside.” She sat up straight. “What fight? The men?” Kiesha snorted. “Those men, as you called them, are werewolves, and they were preparing to tear each other limb from limb for the right to claim you.”