Her hand came to my forearm, and I couldn’t help but notice that her long fingernails looked like talons. Inside my vampire shrieked in outrage, not liking that another unmated woman was touching me with such familiarity.
“Come join us anytime. Maybe we can grab dinner next time.”
Suddenly Ruby was beside us, looking distinctly tense for someone who’d spent the last ninety minutes doing yoga.
“Cassie’s not available,” she whisper-shouted. “Back off.”
She pulled my hand away from Jeannie, and it took everything in me not to laugh. She might not be sure about us being mates, but she seemed sure about not wanting any other woman getting too close.
After yoga the team assembled in a large classroom to watch game tape of their last game with tonight’s opponent. I sat at the back of the room with my laptop, reading the reports Wanda had sent over this morning. She’d compiled a thorough write up not only on every player and coach on the soccer team that the United States sent to Paris for the International Games, but also all the players who were in contention and didn’t get chosen for the team, and every player on the teams the U.S. team beat.
Unfortunately nothing really stood out to me. Or to Wanda, because if she had a theory, she would have shared it. I looked over to where Ruby was sitting next to her friend Eleanor. The wolf leaned close to whisper something in her ear, making my mate laugh. I didn’t make a sound, but Eleanor must have sensed my animosity because she turned around and gave me a big smile.
The team was in the locker room suiting up for their game when I got the message to call Lois. Since I was alone in the hallway I called her right back.
“What’s up, boss?”
“The stalker hit another player. Someone from the Vancouver team had someone waiting for them in their hotel room here in Seattle. The player started screaming her head off and the perp ran off.”
“How do we know it’s the stalker and not some other rando?” I asked.
“Asshole was in the middle of spreading pictures on the bed, along with dead rose petals and another threatening message. Still trying to terrorize them more than hurt them it seems.”
“Did they get a description?”
“They were wearing a ski mask of course. But we pulled the security camera and saw that they scaled a downspout on theway up and jumped from the balcony to make their escape. From the seventh floor. Ran away completely unscathed.”
“Seventh floor?” The implication of that hit me fast. “So it’s a supe. Cat shifter I’m guessing.”
“That’s my thought too, Weatherby. Any supe could make that jump, but not with as much grace and ease as we saw on the video. Definitely feline. And it’s the first damned break we’ve had in this case,” Lois said. “We’ve made an arrangement with the League, there’s a Sapphic Security agent on every human player who also went to the International Games.”
“But not the shifters.”
“Well we both know they don’t need it. That damned feline isn’t going to take on another shifter unless they’re completely crazy. Besides, no self-respecting shifter is gonna agree to be babysat.”
“Yeah. Well, I’ll try to keep an eye on Ruby’s wolf friend at least.”
“Don’t let her catch on, she’ll rip out your throat,” Lois boomed. “Any wolf worth her salt won’t appreciate that.”
“Unless I tear out hers first. Besides, I can be stealthy.”
“Yeah, sure Weatherby,” my boss said skeptically. “You do that. Martha and Teresa are watching the Vancouver team’s locker room, and they’ll go back to the hotel with them. We’re spread kind of thin this week, so I called in a favor with the bears. Alexeiis available and should be there in five minutes. I’ll let you two idiots figure out what the cover story is.”
Alexei was the youngest of three bear shifter brothers we occasionally worked with. Trained by the Belarusian military, they’d worked in their home country for years before being recruited by the CIA. They’d retired a few years ago to open a restaurant here in Seattle, just up the street from Angie’s mate’s bakery, but they did contract work for Sapphic Security as well as some unnamed government agencies. We’d all pretty much adopted them as brothers.
“Okay, thanks Boss.”
I slid my phone back in my pocket with a sigh.
“Was that the big wolf?”
I looked up at the sound of a familiar accented voice.
“Alexei!” I said, pulling the giant bear shifter into a hug. “It’s been a minute.”
He frowned. “A minute since what?”
The bears didn’t always catch American idioms.
