Cynful

“You mean there might really be Alligators in the sewers?”

Every shifter in the room stared at her like she was nuts. Alex actually looked insulted. “Limit that pool to mammals, please.”

“Like werebats? Or wererats? Oh! What about—”

“No.” Julian sounded stern, but he couldn’t completely hide his amusement from her. “There are no werebats, wererats, weremoles, werevoles or werehamsters.”

“And thank God for that.” Alex shuddered in disgust. “Seriously. Werehamsters?”

“What about weredolphins?”

“N— actually, now that you mention it, I’m not certain. I’ve never met one. Have you?”

The others shook their heads. “They’re a legend,” Tabby added.

“Sort of like wereorcas. If they did exist they’re more than likely extinct now. None sit on the council, I know that much.” Alex replied. “None of this has anything to do with you having your face smashed. Did you get a look at your attacker?”

Julian growled under his breath. “Good question.”

“Nope. Shadows, shattered glass, pain. Tabby with a lime green Mohawk in Wolf form. That’s about it.” She shrugged; there wasn’t much more she could add. She didn’t have the nose Tabby did. “There was a blur as one of them ran away. I could barely see it, though.”

Gabe stroked his jaw. “Cheetah, maybe? I hear they can be pretty damn fast.”

“I did get a scent of cat shifter in that alley, and it wasn’t of the local variety.” Tabby exchanged a worried glance with Alex.

“Could be.” Alex was at Tabby’s side again, his arms around her protectively. He cradled her close, his huge hands resting naturally over her belly. “We need to figure out what the hell is going on.”

“Before someone gets seriously hurt.” Gabe took out his pad and pen.

“Someone was seriously hurt. Cyn’s jaw was broken.” Julian’s anger didn’t affect the gentle way he stroked her shoulder.

Gabe peered at her face in concern. “Shit. Are you all right?”

“Yeah.” Cyn patted Julian’s knee. “Super Bear fixed me up.”

Julian stared at where her hand rested on his knee. “Why yes, of course you may.”

Before she could ask what he meant Julian had her in his lap, and looking mighty smug about it too. “I didn’t ask to sit in your lap.”

“Yes you did. You patted my knee and said let me sit in your lap.”

She stared at him while behind her the hyena twins began to laugh. “You are so full of it. You know that, right?”

He grinned. “Yup.”

“Well. That’s good. So long as you’re aware of it.”

Gabe choked out a laugh and closed his notebook. “Okay. I’m going to go sniff around the parking lot, see what I can find. Ladies, please. For the love of all that is holy, be careful. Someone is out to get you, and until I catch them you’re vulnerable.” Gabe ignored Alex’s rumbling, warning growl and pointed toward the front door. “Park on the street if you can, under bright lights. Gentlemen, keep an eye on them—and yes, that’s an order from Halle’s Second.”

Julian stiffened. “Is it an order from one of the Northeastern Hunters?”

Gabe nodded firmly. “Yes. It is.”

Cyn gasped as Julian’s fangs descended. Her sweet, funny teddy bear morphed into a lethal predator, right in front of her eyes.

Since when were fangs hot?

If those sons of bitches came near his mate again Julian would rip their arms off and heal the holes shut. After all, it would be hard for even a Cheetah to run down a human woman if it only had two legs.

“Oh my God! What happened here?”

Glory stepped into LA Tattoos, her eyes darting between all of them. Her gaze kept returning to Julian’s mostly white hair and obvious fangs, her skin paling as the implications hit her. “Who’s hurt?”

“No one, not anymore.” Cyn rubbed her jaw, and Julian bet she could still feel the painful blows like an echo. She took a deep breath and filled Glory in on what had happened.

“Who called Glory?” Julian muttered.

“I did.” Ryan stepped into the shop behind Glory, his expression mutinous. “She deserved to know what happened.” Julian agreed with him. If they went after the human females, then Glory needed to be ready to protect herself as best she could.

Glory looked ready to come out of her skin. “What the fuck! How did this happen? Shouldn’t one of you have been here? It’s not like Ryan isn’t here trying to sniff my butt twenty-four-seven.”

“I’m not here twenty-four-seven,” Ryan replied. His tone was mild but his gaze was hot with anger and fear. “You’re not here that much.”

Julian bit back a groan. Did the man ever want to claim his mate? Maybe he was a closet masochist, because he sure liked taking a beating from Glory.

“Please tell me you’re not sitting in the bushes at night outside my apartment.” She looked horrified, and Cyn didn’t look much better. Having a possessive Grizzly hanging around outside your home was enough to put anyone off. Hell, he wasn’t certain he liked the idea either.

Ryan smiled grimly. “I have night watch.”

Julian rolled his eyes even as Alex nodded. “Tabby would kill me if anything happened to you two. I don’t care how cute you are or how much you pout, you’ve got security round the clock.”

“I agree.” Julian ignored the glare Cyn shot him. There was no way he was going to allow his mate to be in danger again. Didn’t she understand how precious and rare she was? “Who picks them up and drops them off?”

“I will.” Alex shrugged. “One of the perks of being your own boss. I can come and go a lot easier than you nine to fivers can.”

“And one of the perks of having your cousin be your boss is he understands when I take time off to protect our mates.” Ryan tried to take Glory’s hand, but she stepped away from him. He solved the problem by picking her up and holding her against his hip like a cranky two-year-old.

Yup. Glory was going to kill him. The look on her face did not bode well for the Grizzly’s health. The way she eyed her piercing gun gave him a clue as to how she’d do it.

Glory, in the tattoo parlor, with the gun.

“We just want you three to be safe while we figure out what the fuck is going on. You can’t protect yourselves the way we can, not from shifter attacks.”

“Although if it were humans bothering you like this we’d still rip their heads off and bowl with them.” Ryan swatted Glory’s hip absently when she struggled to get down. “Stay still, sweetheart. I don’t want to drop you.”

“Drop me. Feel free, you Neanderthal.”

Ryan and Glory exchanged a heated glance. Ryan shrugged. “It’s your ass.”

She landed with a shriek and a thud. “Ow.” She rolled to her hip and rubbed her ass, wincing.

“Told ya.”

“Children, play nice. Or do I have to separate you?” Julian wagged his finger at Ryan. “Stop playing with your mate, Ryan.”

“But I like playing with her, Julian. She’s so shiny and squeaks when you squeeze her.”

Glory squeaked in outrage.

Julian turned to Glory. “Please, for the love of the ancestors, be the adult here and stop torturing him.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and humphed, turning away from both Julian and Ryan. What she had against the mating he had no idea, but sooner or later the Grizzly was going to snap and she’d find herself over his knee, bitten and spanked.

He eyed her, wondering if maybe that wasn’t exactly what the little brat wanted.

“Jules?”