the McKenna party from the rest of Starlight’s patrons, and for that, Veronica was thankful. There could be up to twenty packmates together in one room; there was no way to tell how this was going to go.
Veronica stopped just inside their private area. About twenty people—some she knew, some she’d never met—turned her way. They were standing around a long table, hovering with their hands on the back of the chairs, looking as if they were waiting to be told where to sit.
“Thank you, everyone, for being here tonight,” Veronica announced, clasping her hands in front of her. “I have good news and bad news.”
A few people groaned. Those were probably the wolves. She tried not to roll her eyes as she continued. “The bad news is that Leah and Jake aren’t coming tonight. There was some sort of plane trouble, but they caught a different flight that’ll land around midnight. They want to thank everyone for being here and supporting them, and promise to see you tomorrow morning at the wedding.” She twisted around, making sure to make eye contact with each person in the room. “The good news is that dinner and drinks are on them. Let’s have a great time, get to know one another better, and in two hours we’ll meet on the top floor for the rehearsal.”
A group of rugged-looking men slid into seats directly in front of them, all except for Logan, who waited for Veronica to find her place first. A handful of women Veronica recognized as bridesmaids sat together on the opposite side of the table. A few of the women were Leah’s high school friends, but others Veronica had never met. Writing friends, maybe? They were glammed up in dresses of all colors and styles, and the men were striking in black and gray suits. But beneath it all, Veronica knew they were wolves in designer clothing. It was too bad she didn’t know which from which.
“Here you go,” Logan said, pulling out a chair on the end for her.
“Thank you.”
Sitting next to her, Logan leaned close and whispered, “Calm down and take a deep breath. No one’s going to get stupid tonight.”
“Promise?” She laughed and tipped back the sparkling water in front of her. “Because I really don’t need the stress.”
“Excuse me.” A guy at the end of the table snapped his fingers at the waitress, attracting Veronica’s attention. He looked to be thirty, though who knew how old werewolves really were. “Three vodka tonics for me and my friends. There’s an extra dollar in it for you if those drinks come with a shake!”
As the guys erupted into laughter, Veronica exhaled heavily and stared straight ahead. “One of your
Logan leaned back so he could see around her. “Nope. Must be relatives of yours.”
“Leah’s the only relative I’ve got. Everyone else here is either a friend or member of Jake’s family. Ugh, those guys reek of beer. I can smell ’em from here. Who comes to a wedding rehearsal blitzed?”
“Idiots looking for trouble.”
Veronica blew out an exasperated breath.
Logan unfolded the menu in front of him, but didn’t cast a glance at his options. Instead, his gaze went to the four men situated around the far end of the table. His lips twitched and his jaw clenched. And then his gaze returned front and center. “I don’t know who brought the moron crew, but those guys sitting at the head of the table, and wrapping around the other side…I claim them.”
“Oh,” Veronica said, not really knowing what else to say. His packmates didn’t look how she expected them to. They seemed…completely normal. Handsome. Classy, even.
As the waitress brought water carafes for the center of the table, a couple daiquiris for the bridesmaids, and three vodka tonics for the idiot bunch, Veronica forced herself to focus on whether she was going to order fettuccine Alfredo or chicken Parmesan. She was so hungry she could almost taste the roasted garlic now…
“Hey sweetness,” one of the guys with the vodkas yelled too loudly. “I wrote my phone number on the back of that dollar bill. Just for you.”
“They must be Jake’s friends from college or something,” she said. “Have to be.”
After the waitress circled the table collecting orders, Logan swiveled around in his chair so that he was facing Veronica. “Do you want me to take care of them now, or wait until they do something worth dragging them out?”
Veronica shook her head and stared at the end of the table, where Logan’s packmates were sitting…and talking quietly among themselves. It was an odd scene: Jake’s friends acting like fools and the wolves minding their own business. It wasn’t what Veronica expected and took more than a second to wrap her brain around.
“I’d rather not make a scene,” she said, but it was too late.
One of the bozos clumsily pushed out his chair. It toppled. Thunked to the floor. Laughing in a string of drunken hoots, the idiot fell to his backside and dragged the tablecloth along with him. Dishes and glasses on the far side of the table slid to the floor, crashing into a clanging pile.
Logan braced Veronica’s shoulder as she pulled her hand to her mouth to smother a gasp. The idiot’s friends helped him up, but they weren’t the only ones to put hands on him. Two of Logan’s packmates had swept behind the idiot and clutched him by the scruff of his collar.
“No, no, wait!” Veronica said, before the scene went horribly wrong. The guy was drunk and acting foolish, but he didn’t know who he was messing with. If he pissed off the packmates, they’d be unable to control themselves and the restaurant would have a handful of wolves trampling over guests and tables alike.
The whole thing went haywire, and Veronica was powerless to stop it.
“Get your hands off me,” the drunk gritted through clenched teeth.
“You apologize to the ladies for ruining their dinner and I’ll let go.” The packmate hoisting him by his collar raised him high. He radiated power. “Do it.”
The idiot’s buddies puffed up, their shoulders pulling back as if readying for a fight. The ladies across the table gasped and whispered, but Veronica couldn’t tell if they were worried about their dates or admiring the show of chivalry from Logan’s packmate.
“I’m sorry,” the idiot said, doing a quick scan around the table. “Now get your hands off my threads.”
The packmate glanced at Logan. Logan must’ve nodded behind her, because he released his grip on the idiot and turned back to his seat. He didn’t make it two steps. The idiot took a cheap shot, and kicked right between the packmate’s legs. He groaned and hit the carpet, clutching his family jewels.
There should’ve been screaming. Fighting. Clawing. Wolf hair flying through the room as every packmate shifted to avenge his friend.
Instead, Logan stole behind the drunken fool and snatched his arms, twisting them behind his back. The guy seemed to be fighting, squirming, and spitting, but he wasn’t getting anywhere. In fact, once Logan had a hold of him, it looked like the guy was barely able to move a muscle. Logan’s packmates followed his lead, holding the other idiots in the same arresting maneuver.
“I apologize for the scene here tonight,” Logan said calmly, holding the idiot with one hand. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to take out the trash. We’ll return shortly.”
As they left the private room, the remaining bridal party returned to their seats and started talking again like nothing had happened. A waitress and busboy cleaned up the mess and re-set the table. The tension in the room deflated and the air returned to Veronica’s lungs.
It took her a couple seconds to register what had just happened.
Despite some idiot’s cheap shot, Logan’s friends held it together. They didn’t shift. They didn’t fight back. If someone kicked Jake in the crotch, and Leah were here to see it, she would’ve come unglued and rightly so. Likewise, if someone hurt Leah, Veronica would’ve jumped down his throat. Yet these
The packmates had a greater rein on their self-control than she’d given them credit for.
She couldn’t help but feel that the monsters in the room weren’t the ones who could shift into howling canines. The monsters were the men who should’ve known better. The real men were the ones who did.
Damn it, she’d been prejudiced against every werewolf she’d ever met simply because one had attacked her sister. She’d dated men who were pigs, hung out with guys in high school and college who acted like imbeciles.
