Cullen didn’t know what to think. He didn’t keep up with town talk as a rule. But this news about Sarah and Will Shaw? How had he missed that? And to think Dennis Larsen had been pawing at her and she’d had to put up with it?
“She’s full of it,” Mike tried to bluff.
This asshole spreading lies about Sarah is the end of enough.
“Well, that was interesting,” Burke Chastell growled. “I can’t believe I ever listened to your bullshit. You know, Mike, from what Sarah said, it sure doesn’t seem like she trying to steal your women’s husbands or sleeps around. Not like your clan leaders. This just confirms what I’d already thought about Larsen.” Burke snorted, then murmured something to his wife and brothers, and the four of them stood. “We’re leaving. Mac,” he said to the man behind the counter. “Make sure Sarah gets her tip.”
The cats left, as did some of the bears, while everyone else remained in place. Whispers grew into excited chatter. Yet another juicy piece for the gossip mill, Cullen thought with disgust.
Having had his fill, he stood and pulled Mike to his feet.
“What the—”
Cullen slammed his fist into Mike’s face before the idiot could finish his sentence. Lightning fast, he dumped the scalding pot of coffee over the man’s crotch and then shoved Rob on his ass before he could land a punch.
“This is why I stay away from the clan. You guys are dicks.”
He left the yelling behind and followed the route Sarah had taken. Cullen tossed a few bills to Mac. “Sorry for the mess.”
Mac scowled at the crowd behind him. “Don’t mention it. Next meal’s on the house.” He raised his voice. “Raptors, out of the place. Now!”
Cullen didn’t wait around to watch. He strode through the back door, only to see a golden eagle flying away in the distance.
Sarah wipedat the useless tears on her face and threw clothes haphazardly into a ragged suitcase.
“I cannot believe this backwater town. I made a mistake three years ago and I’mstillpaying for it. Of course Burke never wanted to go out with me. He probably thought I’d give him a disease.” She hiccupped, wanting to die with embarrassment.
For years she’d had a crush on Burke Chastell, a catamount Shifter with killer good looks. He didn’t seem to mind that she had no family, only the clan she belonged to. Like her, his parents had passed away years ago. But unlike Sarah, he had two brothers to raise.
She respected his loyalty to family, and to making his ranch a priority. He didn’t seem the type to listen to town gossip. But then, she didn’t know Burke as well as she might have wished. It seemed anyone she was even remotely interested in took a giant step away from her. Now that she thought about it, Mike Shaw might have been the reason.
The ass. As if she’d ever sleep with him. He was no better than his damned brother.
She swore at thoughts of Will Shaw, but she couldn’t help remembering the past, as much as she wished to forget it.
Will Shaw was one of the few Ac-taw who’d gone away to college. After he returned, he’d seemed so worldly, so unlike the high school football captain who’d left Cougar Falls the town hero. When he’d asked her out on several dates, she’d been in heaven. None of her peers appealed to her. The raptors she knew were bent on conquest and considered her a prize to be won. But Sarah wanted a real man, not a boy bent on adding her notch to his bedpost.
Though twenty-one at the time, she was a young twenty-one, innocent and naïve of the tricks men could play. Before long, she’d fallen in love with Will. After a few weeks, she’d gifted him with her virginity, and apparently, her reputation. Not three days after he’d professed to love her forever, he introduced the town to hiswife, a shy Shifter from a respectable family, who he’d met and married while in college.
The jerk had knowingly seduced Sarah, and then bragged about it to his friends. She’d spent years trying to overcome that humdinger of a mistake. Ignoring the whispers and stares of those in her clan, she’d tried to focus on the present. But it seemed no one would let her. And really, why would they? Will Shaw was a favorite among his peers. Sarah was pretty and a hard worker, but she didn’t have clan-leader blood in her veins.
Not like Dennis Larsen, another jerk who couldn’t keep it in his pants. The sheer hell of it was that he knowingly broke his wedding vows time and time again. Yet she, a woman who’d been lied to, was cast as the town whore who’d sleep with anyone.
She felt foolish for crying, but the humiliation just wouldn’t stop. Now everyone knew the truth, if they chose to believe her. If her situation weren’t so pathetic, she’d laugh. Sex with Will hadn’t been terrible, but it hadn’t been pleasant. She’d lost her dignity, for what? A sweaty screw in the backseat of a Mustang?
I’m leaving this town. There’s nothing else for me here. No family, no clan.
No clan.
The idea of facing life without the support of other Ac-taw was daunting, but Sarah had come to the end of her rope. If her friend Julia could live outside of Cougar Falls, so could she. Granted, Julia was having some problems at the moment, but she’d survived life outside the town—among humans—for over a year.
Despite her bad track record with men, deep down Sarah wanted a family. A mate to love and laugh with, children to raise with tender affection. Her children would never want for acceptance.And just how the hell am I going to find a husband here, where everyone thinks I’m no better than a slut?
She wiped her face again and packed enough to last a week. She’d spend a few days elsewhere, to sit and think about where to go and what to do.All alone, like I’ve always been, while the Dennis Larsens and Will Shaws of the world bask in their own power and popularity.
Laughing at her bad luck before she could cry again, Sarah headed out the door with her suitcase in hand just as Jenny Larsen and four of her cronies arrived.
“Once a slut, always a slut,” Jenny said with a sneer. She towered over Sarah at an impressive six feet. A bald eagle when shifted, the woman was a threat on every level.
Shit.
Thinking fast, Sarah forced a grin. “You know, this town just keeps on giving.” She threw her suitcase at the others and shoved Jenny as hard as she could. In a flash, she ran inside the house and locked her door.
She stripped down to nothing and raced to a back window. Shoving it open, she shifted into her animal soul and sped into the sky, aware of five birds of prey hard on her tail.
