“Did you know I can force you to shift and then make your pelt into a rug?” I snapped.
“That went dark fast,” Talon observed dryly. Talon was one of the newest members of our pack. He’d come from a pack a few jumps down the ley line. Wasn’t getting along with their alpha, which was not surprising. I’d accepted him because he was one of the strongest shifters I’d ever come across, almost as strong as me, but his smart mouth frequently threatened to get him in trouble.
“It is possible that I’m a little more irritable than usual due to the fact that my fated mate is standing a hundred feet away from me and I can’t claim her,” I grumbled.
“You think?” Talon snorted, then quickly moved back a few steps. “Alpha Heir,” he said, inclining his head and exposing his neck in a show of submission.
Alpha heir. A dark lance of pain skewered me at the reminder. My grandfather, the man who had raised me, was fading. He was ninety, looked no older than fifty, and had lived a long, honorable life, building up our pack and surviving the death of both of his sons. Our healer was the only thing that was keeping him alive, but he didn’t have much longer. Maybe months.
And I was about to royally piss him off. I had no other option. He’d made mating arrangements for me, but my wolf had scented my fated mate and would not be denied.
I focused my attention on Daphne. She pulled her purse out of her pocket and answered a call. Even in my human form, my senses were enhanced. I craned my neck and focused my attention on what she was saying, and all other sounds faded into the background.
“You’ll be half an hour late?” she said with dismay. “Miranda, they won’t hold the reservation! They’ll cancel! Yes, of course I want you to have fun. But it’s my birthday, and you knew...okay. Sure. Fine. Yes, I’m mad. And my feelings are hurt. Goodbye.” She hung up abruptly and shoved her phone into her purse. She glanced at the Lush Life Spa, shook her head, and climbed into her car.
“Those Iron Claw assholes are getting closer,” Talon observed. “Haven’t killed anyone in a while. Just saying.”
My only answer was a low, irritated growl. I needed to focus. The Iron Claw pack was about to make its move.
Daphne’s mother’s house, and the bar where she worked, were in a densely populated area. It would be hard to kidnap someone from there. The spa was on the outskirts of town, in an area with very little traffic, which meant less chance of human witnesses. They were going after her now.
And I was going to hand them their furry tails.
Four
Daphne
Daphne’s car pulled out of the lot. Earl’s white van shot out of a side street and they took off after her.
“Move,” I said to Talon and Gage. My pickup truck was parked right next to the hedges, and we piled in and followed the van as the van followed Daphne.
Daphne, who wasn’t having the greatest of luck, came to a red light almost immediately.
The van’s doors flew open and all three of them leaped out in wolf form.
They could have just rammed their car into hers and run her off the road, but the Iron Claw pack were sadistic bullies. Their wolves like to draw things out and toy with their prey.
As they surrounded her car, magic crackled in the air and the mist came up. A giant wall of white fog appeared a few hundred feet away on the road ahead of us. They were tearing open the veil between her world and ours.
We pulled up behind them and I turned off the ignition. “Stand back unless I need you,” I told Gage and Talon. “And I won’t need you.” Talon let out a low groan of disappointment. Too bad. It sent a stronger message if I took on all three of those royal derps on my own.
“Alpha Heir,” they both said in acknowledgment.
I shifted in one smooth motion, my clothes shredding as my wolf exploded through my skin, fur standing on end.
Duke jumped on the hood of her car. Daphne was sitting stock-still, eyes wide with shock, as Earl slammed his enormous wolf body into the driver’s side of her car, rocking it.
I sailed through the air and knocked him off. We hit the dirt with a thud, rolling over and over. He ended up underneath me, with my slavering jaws inches from his throat.
I flashed a quick glance over at the car where Daphne sat staring at us, eyes saucer wide. Yep. She’d just seen a bunch of human men turn into wolves, and this was clearly a first for her.
Last night I’d talked to her as if she knew what she was—half shifter. As if she knew that I was her fated mate. I could tell she felt it. I could smell her arousal and hear the sped-up thumping of her heart. But from her reaction, it was clear she knew nothing of our realm. Very strange. I’d have to find out more once I had her safely home with me.
Earl yelped and whined underneath me. Duke and Royal raced toward us, and as they did, Daphne threw her car into reverse. She was getting the hell out of there.
She suddenly started accelerating toward me. She wasn’t fleeing—she was helping me. She slammed into Duke and sent him flying through the air. He landed on the grassy side of the road with a yelp and a howl of pain.
Her car screeched off the road and I heard a tire pop. The vehicle came to a shuddering halt. She twisted around to stare at us and seemed unhurt.
