Daniel made his way to the men’s room, did his business, and then exited. He was walking down the dark hallway that led back to the main room when he saw two shadowy figures ahead.
“Please … sir, you can’t—” a pleading voice cried.
“I’ll do whatever the fuck I want,” came the gruff reply. “I’m a paying customer.”
Daniel’s hackles rose and his inner grizzly let out a guttural sound. His protective instincts were sounding an alarm, and he strode toward the two figures. “Excuse me,” he said. “Is he bothering you, miss?”
His shifter vision immediately adjusted despite the darkness, and the larger of the two figures—male, of course, stinking of cheap cologne and liquor—whirled around to face him. “Wha—who the fuck are you?”
Ignoring the man, he looked to the woman pressed up against the wall. Much like many of the girls here, she was scantily-clad, and her face was caked with makeup, but the wide, frightened look in her eyes made her seem much younger. “S-sir, you should go back to the main floor.” The tension and fear rolled off her in waves.
The man’s face turned up into an evil grin. “See? Me and Candy here are conducting business. And you should mind your own.”
Daniel huffed. “See, normally I do mind my business. But you know what I hate the most?”
“What?”
“I hate bullies.” He unleashed the barely controlled anger within him, grabbing the man by the collar, and slamming him up against the wall. Candy let out a squeak and turned, dashing away from them.
The man struggled, but it was no use. Daniel’s shifter strength allowed him to lift the man off the ground. Opening his mouth wide, he bared his teeth, letting his incisors grow out, his eyes glowing with the presence of his inner bear.
“What the—” His eyes went wide. “You’re one of them!”
He let out an inhuman growl, then dropped the man, who crumpled to the ground. “You bet,” he said, looking at the pathetic man in disgust. “Now get the fuck out of here. If I see you approach any woman here—I’m going to hunt you down and make you regret it.” Not bothering to look back at the man, he marched out.
By the time he entered the private room again, he and his bear had sufficiently calmed down. In fact, the mask of calm he put on his face belied his earlier rage. He hated losing his temper, but he also couldn’t stand it when strong people took advantage of weaker ones. And just because the young woman chose to work at a strip club didn’t mean she was fair game.
“You all right?” Gabriel asked as he came over to the buffet to pile a plate high with food.
“Yeah, I’m fine. How’s the groom?” he asked, looking slyly over at Damon. The chief’s back was turned to them as he hunched over while fiddling on his phone. “Does he feel as miserable as he looks?”
Gabriel guffawed. “What do you think?”
According to Gabriel, Damon had been strong-armed into this outing, as he didn’t want to be away from his mate and future wife, Anna Victoria. Daniel could understand, even though he didn’t have a mate himself. His parents were fated mates, so he knew how special that could be. Damon would not only have no interest in any other woman around, but it would also pain him to be away from her. “Remind me again why we’re here?”
The lion shifter huffed. “I owe Anders a huge favor, okay? I’ll tell you more some other time. But right now, keep him distracted so he doesn’t shit on either Damon or me. I promise, this will all be over soon.”
Daniel knew the “secret” plan of course, which was one of the reasons he’d consented to come here in the first place. “All right.” Taking his plate of food, he wandered back to the mini-stage in the center of the room and sat down next to J.D., munching on wings, pizza, and french fries.
About fifteen minutes later, the DJ’s booming voice interrupted the playing music over the speakers. “And now we have some special entertainment just for the groom,” the disembodied voice of the DJ announced.
The strippers all stopped dancing, picked up their cash from the floor, and disappeared through the curtains at the rear of the stage.
“Hey!” Anders protested as he waved a fistful of bills. “Where are you going?”
“Anders, c’mon,” J.D. said as she jumped to her feet. “Let’s go to the main room.”
“Main room? But we were having fun in here,” Anders complained.
Daniel followed J.D.’s lead. “Sounds like a plan.”
J.D. hooked her arm around the tiger shifter’s. “Dude, I think I saw a bachelorette party out there. Bet they’re a lot of fun. And looking for some company.”
“Really?” Anders’s face lit up. “Well then, what are we waiting for? You can be my wing woman, McNamara.”
J.D rolled her eyes as she led him out of there, Daniel right behind them. As he followed the two, he couldn’t help but feel like someone was watching him. Turning his head, he looked around, but there were too many people around them to pinpoint anyone looking at him. His grizzly seethed, yowling at him to investigate. Normally, he would have followed his bear’s instinct, but they were in a strip club, not deep in the mountains. So instead, he sat next to J.D. at their new table, which was right by the stage.
“Yeah, baby,” Anders exclaimed. “Right by the action.” He glanced around and saw the group of women at the table next to them, which, based on the crowns and sashes they wore, was the aforementioned bachelorette party. “All right! this is better than being trapped inside
