But what was the best thing to do with a young man, who had more attitude than smarts?
I knew the answer. I needed to put him in his place. I needed to make him feel small, because then his ego would crumble, and he wouldn’t be able to handle the awareness that maybe he wasn’t all that and a bag of chips.
“No way, Yogi. And she isn’t going with you, either.” My voice was a razor, ready to slice. Challenging him, mocking him, not backing down for a second.
“Yogi? Because I’m a bear? That’s insulting.” He looked me up and down and jerked Tilly backward with his arm still around her neck.
“Would you prefer Winnie?” Okay, so I was poking the bear—metaphorically speaking—, but I was hoping he’d get riled up enough to release Tilly and come after me. I had an ace with scales and wings up my sleeve.
“Screw you. The only reason you can shift into whatever you want to be is the fae blood inside you.”
The insult I had on the tip of my tongue so I could keep him talking died. Shock and confusion made me ask, “What?”
He snarled at me. “And you’re too stupid to know.”
I preferred naive.
I glanced at the two women next to me. Tabi winced and gave me an apologetic look, and my stomach flipped a bit. So, I was the fae shifter they were looking for. That… whew. That was a lot. I’d have to think about what that meant—when my daughter was safe.
“No one ever called me smart,” I told him, locking his gaze once more.
“A fae who can’t even control hergreatpowers,” he mocked me.
But I didn’t care what he said. Not right then, anyway. I wanted my daughter out of his arms. And I wanted to kick this little shit in the ass. One way or the other, both of those things were going to happen.
A movement drew my eye. Esther did this finger crossing sign. Which, although I wasn’t entirely sure the meaning of, told me she had some kind of plan up her sleeve. So, hesitating for only a moment, I moved slowly away from her. Cam glanced at the other ladies for a second, but then his focus returned to me, and he moved to keep Tilly between him and me, and his gaze on me. Esther, slowly, carefully, began to slide behind him which told me I needed to keep his focus on me.
“You think being a bear is so tough. Do you have any idea what I am? Do you have any idea what a shifter with fae blood can do?” I made my voice as low and threatening as I could and was relieved when I saw a flicker of doubt in his eyes.
It was only there for a split second. “Apparently, nothing, you old bag of bones.”
“Don’t call my mom old!” Tilly said, but her voice lacked the bravado she was likely hoping for.
His arms tightened around her, and her eyes widened.
My heart was in my throat as I tried not to look at Esther. “Who’s really the dumb one?” I asked him, trying to grin. “You’re taking on a fae shifter. You know that, right?”
He glared. “You didn’t know you were a fae shifter until I told you. I could see it in your face.”
“But Ididknow I was powerful. More powerful than any shifter my pack has seen before.”
“I don’t believe you,” he snarled, but there was something in his eyes that said he did, in fact, believe me.
Esther made it around behind him, and before I could process her plan, she kicked his knee to the side, and he went down. Tabi was suddenly on his other side, and Tilly took off, running straight into my arms.
“I got you,” I whispered into her hair, clutched her tightly, then pushed her away, behind me. “Go to the car and get out of here!”
“Mom?” She looked so lost, so uncertain.
“I wasn’t kidding when I said I was dangerous,” I told her. And I must have sounded convincing, because she nodded and ran.
“That was stupid,” Cam said, trying to climb to his feet.
Tabi punched him in the gut, then she got him with a boot to the chest. Esther shook her head as Cam rolled to his feet, squaring off with the women, who looked more than ready for this fight.
Me? I didn’t know. I had this instinct to wait. To not focus too much on the young man in front of us. Because as much as I wanted to break a few of his teeth, something was there, in the back of my mind, whispering to stay alert.
“You really want to do this?” Cam puffed, his eyes blazing with anger. “Take on a bear shifter?” He growled the last part. “Because I might not like you, but my beef isn’t with you.”
