“What kind of trouble you got going on?” He knelt down in front of Tak and then peered up at me with a quizzical stare. “Is he the one who broke your window? Remind me never to piss you off.”
“No. At least, I don’t think so. I know him. He’s not from around here, so there’s no one I can call to collect him off the street. Will you help me put him into the car?”
Joe stood up. He was a lanky guy with dark-rimmed glasses, but you couldn’t judge a book by its cover. Bears—especially grizzlies—were dangerous, regardless of their human appearance. “Are you sure you want to do that?”
“I can’t leave him here.”
“You should probably call the Council and let them take care of it.”
Tak couldn’t have damaged my window. Committing an offense against someone who shared a contract with his tribe would shame his father. I wasn’t sure what Tak’s relationship was with Lakota, but turning him in didn’t seem right.
“Help me,” I pleaded, unlocking the door with my key. “I still have to run inside and lock the back entrance. Do you need me to leave you the key to the store?”
Joe scratched his chin. “You have a hole the size of Jamaica in that window. I shouldn’t have any trouble getting in. Don’t worry. We’ll take care of everything. Believe it or not, this kind of thing happens all the time. Immortals have a lot of enemies, but mostly it’s just a bunch of rowdy kids running off the leash. I’ll keep a lookout. My father will call when the job’s done, so make sure you keep your phone turned on.” Joe heaved the large black-and-grey wolf in his arms and scooted him into the back seat. He didn’t recoil in fear but neither did he handle him gently. Had Tak tried to snap at Joe, I might have had to deal with a pissed-off grizzly on top of everything else, and they were known to kill our kind.
I slammed the door. “You’re a lifesaver.”
Joe brushed the fur off his shirt. “You might change your mind after you get the bill. Guarding property costs more than labor.”
“You can’t put a price on peace of mind. Can you do me a favor?”
“What’s that?”
I looked left and right. “If you see anything suspicious, can you let me know? You’re probably right about it being a bunch of kids horsing around. You know how mischievous boys are.”
“I sure do. Just last week, a couple of shitheads who belong to a den of lions took a baseball bat and smashed out a few windshields, including mine. They think because there isn’t a juvie for Shifters, they can do whatever they want. Nobody goes to jail for vandalism, but that doesn’t mean they’ll get off scot-free. Karma has a way of bitch-slapping the wicked, especially when you fuck with an immortal who has nothing but eons of time to plot his revenge.”
If what Joe said was true, I wondered what I’d done to anger the spirits. Perhaps I hadn’t yet paid the price in full for the sins of my past.
Chapter 8
Dragging a humongous wolf from the parking garage to my apartment building took a Herculean effort, and while I hoped that someone would walk by and volunteer to help, the only person I passed was a Mage who gave me the evil eye before getting in his Porsche.
Not everyone liked Shifters.
And as it so happened, not everyone liked pinheads who drove sports cars either.
Tak wouldn’t wake up—probably for the best. His wolf weighed a ton, but not nearly as much as his human counterpart. I could never have dragged Tak to the apartment all by myself.
Once the elevator reached our floor, I grabbed his hind legs and pulled him down the hall. Sweat beaded on my brow and behind my neck.
“Why did you have to be the biggest wolf in all the land? What do they feed you guys up in Oklahoma? Buffalo?” Tak was a mighty wolf, and my legs were about to buckle from the whole affair. “Don’t you dare make me regret this.”
“You need help?” a man called out.
I glanced over my shoulder at Nash, the pizza delivery guy and also a hero in the making.
He set down his red thermal bag and jogged over. “Is this Melody?”
My eyes settled on the red sauce stain on his white shirt. “Don’t trouble yourself. You have food to deliver,” I said, out of breath.
He lifted the hind legs and took over. “A little hair never hurt anyone.”
“Thanks.” I wiped my forehead and stole a second to catch my breath.
When we reached my apartment, he set the wolf down while I unlocked the door and switched on the light.
“Right there is fine.” I stepped aside to let Nash drag the wolf inside.
