Page 6 of Bad Moon Rising (Dark-Hunter 17)
Without a word, she put the pad in her pocket and turned away.
Fang had to catch himself to keep from following after her.
Vane handed him his beer, interrupting his attention. When he looked back, the female bear was gone.
"You okay?"
Fang nodded at Vane's question. "Just tired."
The moment he started to sit down, the bearswan was back. They all shot to their feet-something that was ingrained in them. Wolves protected their women stronger than any other Were-Hunter kind. Loyal and deadly, they were trained from birth to show respect to females, regardless of species. The fact that this bear was related to the ones who owned the bar made her even more honored.
The bearswan pulled her pad back out. "My name's Aimee. I forgot to take your orders."
Aimee . . . it was a beautiful, soft name and perfect for her. Even though he didn't repeat it out loud, he knew it would roll off his tongue like fine whisky.
"Steak," Vane said. "Rare as possible."
She jotted it down. "I assume you each want a couple?"
Liam adjusted his chair. "Yes. Please."
Aimee nodded and she bit back a smile over the most favored request of their Katagaria clientele. All animals loved their meat that was only barely warmed by their human cooks who couldn't quite figure out why they had so many orders for it. "All right, two dozen house specials. Any chance one of you might want to live dangerously and try a vegetable?"
"Do we look like rabbits to you?"
Vane smacked the blond-haired man to his right on the shoulder. "Knock it off, Fury."
The wolf looked pissed, but reined himself in. As wolves, they all deferred to the alpha, even when it galled them to do it. Of course, they would also fight to the death at his command. No matter how much they fought among themselves, at the end of the day they were always united against any outsider. It was what made them so dangerous.
Wolves never fought alone.
They fought as a pack. Rabid. Cold. Lethal. And together they could kill just about anything that lived . . . or even those that didn't.
"Do you have anything sweet?"
Aimee turned her attention to Fang at his unorthodox request. Bears loved sweets, but wolves usually stuck to meat. "You have a sweet tooth?"
"Not me. It's for our sister. She's burdened and has been craving sweets."
This time she did smile as warmth seeped through her. "And you want to take something back to her?"
He nodded.
What a nice thing to do. It was something her-she froze at the stab of pain that thought caused. Even now that memory was razor-sharp and cut her to the quick. She always did her best not to think about Bastien and Gilbert. Still, they snuck into her thoughts many times a day. "You got it. I'll toss in a couple of meats and treats for her."
"Much obliged."
For some reason she couldn't explain, Aimee wanted to stay and talk to the wolf. If for no other reason than to listen to the deep timbre of his voice when he spoke. There was a slight lilt to his speech that said he'd lived in England at some point in his life. It was really seductive. . . .
What is wrong with me? I hate wolves.
They were loud. Obnoxious. Smelly and always looking for trouble.
Yet there was something about this one that was compelling. And the fact that he thought of his sister . . .
At least he had a heart. That alone put him miles ahead of the others of his kind.
As she left them again, she couldn't resist looking back. Now he was smacking at Fury while Vane was separating them like a parent with two young sons.
Aimee shook her head.
That right there was why she didn't care for wolves. Something about canines, they were always nipping and sniping at each other and anyone dumb enough to come near them.
As she headed for the kitchen to hand her orders over, a boisterous group coming down the stairs made her pause. She cursed inwardly at the sight.
Jackals. Two females and four males. They must have teleported into the top floor that was reserved for that sort of activity-it was an area shielded from humans so that they'd never suspect what Sanctuary really was. To them it was just a club.
To Were-Hunters, it was neutral ground where none could be harmed.
And if there was anything she hated more than wolves, it was those canine cousins-the jackals. If being a jackal wasn't bad enough already, these were also Arcadian Sentinels and by the look of them they were on the hunt for someone.
Sighing heavily, she glanced back at the Katagaria wolves, wondering how they'd react to the Arcadian jackal presence.
The last thing they needed was for a vicious fight to break out between a clan of Sentinels and a pack of Strati, especially Strati with young to protect. That made them even edgier and more violent than normal.
She started back to the bar, but her path was cut off as one of the jackals teleported in front of her. He raked her with a sneer of disgust.
Aimee narrowed her gaze on him. "You can't use your magick in here. There are too many humans to see it."
He smirked. "I don't take orders from animals. Now tell me where Constantine is or we're going to tear this bar down."
Aimee refused to be bullied by anyone. "We are protected by the laws of the Omegrion, which you're obligated to follow. All are welcome, even your putrid selves, and none can be removed by force."
He grabbed her arm. "Fetch Constantine, or I'll make boots out of your hide, bear."
Aimee twisted her arm out of his grip. "Don't touch me, or I'll mount your jewels to the wall over your head."
The jackals surrounded her. "We don't have time for this. He's here. We can smell it."
Aimee raked him with a sneer of her own. "You need to get your head out of your sphincter and stop smelling your own underwear 'cause the only jackals here, buddy, are you."
"Is there a problem?" For once she was grateful to hear Dev's deep growl.
Aimee looked past the leader's shoulder to see Dev with Colt, Remi, and Wren. Papa was making his way toward them too. "Yes. And I think it's time for our friends here to find an exit."
Dev reached for the leader who spun on him so fast, she barely saw him move. With one fluid move, he had Dev flat on his back on the floor. Dev reached up and froze as the jackal held a Taser at the ready.
It wasn't the pain of a possible hit that gave them pause. One jolt and they'd lose control of their human forms for hours. For that matter, any hit of electricity would have them flashing from human to animal and back again.
Something that was hard to explain to human clientele who tended to get a little wigged-out whenever they saw it.
Aimee looked around at the number of humans in the room. They needed to dispel this as peacefully as possible.
And quick.
The leader looked past her and gave a subtle nod.
All of a sudden, the man behind her grabbed her hard and held a knife to her throat.
The leader's gaze glittered like ice. "Now take us to Constantine or I'll have your head."
Aimee passed a scared look to Dev who knew what she did.
They couldn't give them what they didn't have.
This was about to get bloody and she was going to be the one they drew first blood on.
