He scoffed at my look. “They are more beast than human.”
“That’s what most of humanity says about us,” Angel said, getting to his feet and tugging me up after him. “Let’s go meet our backup.”
“You’re not going to make me stay out here?” I was surprised I didn’t get more of a fight from him.
“You’re not a toddler, Jude. But know I’ll be sticking to you like glue the whole fucking time we’re inside,” Angel said as he headed toward the door, heavy footsteps crunching our way from outside.
15
Whatever I expectedfrom a group of werewolves, it wasn’t at all what they were.
No Hollywood glamour, no tragic loners brooding in the moonlight. These were predators—the kind that made your hindbrain screamrunbefore you’d even registered the claws. The ones in wolf form stood taller than Kerry at full stretch, their fur a living map of scars and strange colors. Storm-cloud gray, rust-streaked brown, one pitch-black with ghostly stripes like a tiger’s shadow. The bipedal ones were worse. Not quite wolfmen, but wrong in ways you couldn’t unsee. Jaws too pronounced, hair shaggier than an eighties rock band, pupils glowing amber in too-narrow eyes, and nails like dagger tips.
The leader, a hulking male with salt-and-pepper hair and muscles to rival any cartoon superhero, sniffed the air. His gaze landed briefly on me, and if Angel hadn’t been right behind me, I might have taken a step back.
His gaze flipped to Angel. “Mate.”
“He can tell from way over there?” I asked. “Is there some supernatural arrow pointing at us?”
The big man chuckled. “Smell like cum and cat.”
I blinked and gazed wide-eyed at Angel. “We haven’t done anything all week, and I’ve showered. A lot.”
Angel sighed heavily. “Rook,” he held out his hand. “Glad to have you as backup today. Can one of your people look at the other transport?”
The big man accepted Angel’s handshake and nodded at the other truck. “Gnomes?”
“Gnomes,” Angel agreed.
“Fucking beasts,” Rook spat. “Mose and Bark will fix.”
“Thanks.” Angel pointed to the apartment building. “Do you know who cleared that?”
“Vampires,” Rook said, his gaze landing on Victor, who kept to our backs as if he didn’t want to get closer to the werewolves.
Bobby groaned.
“Why is that bad?” I whispered to Bobby.
“Vampires don’t care much for mortals,” Victor said from his spot beside the door.
“We’ll need to sweep the building,” Wade said, popping out behind us. “There are notes from the clearing team that make me think there still might be regular humans in there.”
Angel sighed.
“We guard back,” Rook said. He waved his giant paw at the building. “You search for tinies.” He grinned at me, revealing very canine-like teeth. “You like tiny.”
“Hey now,” I said. “I’ll have you know I’m perfectly average sized.”
“Most men don’t advertise that,” Kerry snickered. Bobby laughed. Wade hid his chuckle against his shoulder.
“At least he’s not embellishing,” Ezra grumbled.
“You’re all assholes,” I told them.
“I do like tiny,” Angel agreed, giving me a wink.
“Rude! I’m not tiny.”
