I kick around but don’t find much more. Just a crumpled piece of paper advertising a midnight auction with ‘fresh merchandise’. There’s no address, but a picture-of the old theater building I just left.
Coincidence? I think not.
I pocket the flyer. The sun’s still pretty high in the sky, but won’t be for long. I need to call Jordy. I won’t be back before dark-I have another errand to run. It’s been a few days, and I’ve found enough to report to the vampire king. Not enough for him to pronounce a sentence, but he’ll want to know about the secret vampire club, the auctions, the blood on the green room floor. He’ll be pissed if he finds it out another way.
A coyote trots by, its yellow eyes flash at me, but it doesn’t seem too nervous around me.
Overhead a hawk circles, shrieking.
Cold sweat breaks out on the back of my neck. Something tells me to get out of here.
I slow jog to my bike. Once I’m on the highway back into town, my bear relaxes.
Until I pass a familiar national park sign. I got so consumed by the hunt, I went deep into wolf territory. Not usually a problem, except I ain’t exactly the wolves’ favorite person right now.
Sure enough, when I motor by a gas station, two bikes come alive and turn onto the road after me.
As soon as I get back into a decent service area, my phone goes berserk, vibrating like it’s trying to dig a hole and escape my jean pocket. It’s annoying until I remember the only one who knows this burner number is Declan. My body goes cold. Jordy.
I pull over and yank it out. “Is Jordy all right?” I snarl.
“Grizz? Is that you?” Parker asks.
“No, it’s the fucking pope,” I bite out. My vision blurs and I have to loosen my hold on the phone before I crush it in my grip. “Where’s Jordy?”
“She’s right here,” Parker says quickly. “She’s all right.”
“Put her on.” I can’t think straight until my bear knows she’s safe.
“Grizz?” Her voice greets me, breathy and worried. “Is everything okay?”
My body unclenches. “Fine. What’s going on? Why do you sound scared? Did they hurt you?” I shake, ending on a roar.
“No, Grizz.” I relax as she sounds relieved. “I’m fine, really. The guys are great. I’m just worried about you.”
“Me? I’m fine. Nothing’s wrong.” I lie. The two bikes have stopped behind me.
“Declan says Augustine will be mad at you for taking me. He’ll hurt you.”
“It’s okay, Kit. No one’s gonna hurt me.” Damn those Stooges for scaring her.
Behind me, the two bikers haven’t moved. Their orders must be to scout and report back. I wave at them.
“Come back soon,” Jordy says.
“Soon, Kit. I got one more stop, but it’ll be after dark, okay? Be good.”
“I will. You want me to put Parker back on?”
“Yeah.” I wait until Parker says my name and order, “Take Jordy to the movies. Watch two in a row and buy her anything she wants. I’ll pay you back.” I hang up on him before he can agree.
Behind me, a distant roaring is getting closer. I turn on my bike but it’s too late. A bunch of motorcycles tear up the road behind me. In seconds my bike is surrounded. I’m hemmed in, three riders deep. They’ve all got their knuckles tattooed with the phases of the moon. Wolves.
I reach in my jacket for my flask before I remember it’s empty.
On either side of me, the riders draw aside their leather vests, showing guns.
“Bring a gun to a claw fight?” I scoff. “Not fair.”
“All’s fair in war,” the biker mutters back.
“This war?” I ask.
In front of me, Trey turns bright eyes on me. “It’s whatever you want it to be, grizzly. Our alpha wants you to come in for a little chat. We can do this easy or do it the hard way. It’s up to you.”
I rebalance my bike. Shifters all around three deep. Twelve, at least. Better odds than the cat pack, but these guys aren’t a bunch of pussies.
“Well?” Trey demands.
“What’s it gonna be?”
I look left and right, calculating.
“Oh please,” the biker to my right mutters. “Please choose the hard way.”
Fucking wolves. Always spoiling for a fight, especially when they’re in a pack. I could take them, I know I could, especially if I had the juice. But I’m all out.
“I guess I have time for a chat,” I tell Trey. I wanted to talk to Garrett, anyway.
The big wolf nods. “All right then. Ride out.”
I follow them to their pack’s headquarters, a nightclub on Congress Street called Eclipse. It’s not open to the public yet, which means the wolves can use it as their clubhouse. I park my bike with the rest of them and follow Trey inside. As my eyes adjust to the dimmer light, some wolf fuck takes a swing at me, knocking me in the ribs.
“What the hell?” I bark. I expected a meet with their pack leader, Garrett, not a fucking ambush.
Another wolf swings at me, and then another.
I punch back, defending myself, jogging in a loose circle.
They’re not serious about hurting me. I can tell because the attacks are slow, measured. One by one. It feels more like sport fighting. Roughing me up.
Fine. They can rough me up if that’s what they need to do. Piss all over me to measure the lengths of our dicks.
I catch the whiff of a scent that makes my hackles rise but I can’t see where it’s coming from because I’m too busy defending myself.
“He doesn’t look that big to me.” The stomp of heavy boots on the floor makes me turn toward the scent.
Bear.