The throbbing pain stiffening my fingers tightens my response. “Yes.”
Aric is a revered pureblood and the strongest of his kind. His reputation alone cautions supernaturals against offending me. Ted, being new to Tahoe and naïve to Aric’s power, doesn’t understand he’s about to cross a very dangerous line.
He bends to meet my face, his lascivious grin cutting lines into his narrow face.
“Just because you’re related to the alpha by marriage doesn’t make you anything special. If you want the truth, it’s your sister Taran I wanted. She’s as hot as the fire she casts with her magic. If she wasn’t mated to the second in command, I would have fucked her harder than you did that vamp.” He pushes off the door. “Now, run away, little girl. Keep living your lonely and pathetic life. Maybe next time, you’ll appreciate the piddly scraps thrown your way.”
Angry tears threaten to fall and sizzle across my burning face. His tirade struck almost every insecurity I possess.
Some beings make an art of out of inflicting pain. Ted should run a master class.
I square my shoulders. “It’s one thing to not take rejection well,” I say. “It’s another to be cruel to spare your ego.”
Ted shrugs. “Not cruel, chérie. Honest.” He straightens to his full height to look further down his long nose at me. “You’re lucky,” he says. “I don’t usually waste my time with weaklings like you.”
I blink back the tears I’m tired of shedding. “No, you’re lucky I don’t throw you out the window.”
This really makes him laugh.
He stops laughing when I do, in fact, throw him out the window.
My force, the cool name my bubbly sister nicknamed my telekinetic power, funnels from my core and propels Ted and his might-mighty ego across the room. What remains of the boarded window explodes into shards of glass and splintering wood.
Ted lands with a thud, and plenty of swearing, three stories below with leftover window bits raining down on him.
I turn the knob and step into the open stairwell of Ted’s apartment building, pausing when a warning pokes at me and reminds me I’m not alone.
The door shuts behind me with a creak. I look down the hall. To my right, only quiet awaits, the only signs of life from the reflection of a T.V. against a window. My way out is a different story.
A were, bear I believe, rests his back against a wall, speaking to what might be a cougar. I’m not like my sister Celia, whose inner tigress can scent a predator, or like Taran, who can distinguish supernaturals by the magic that surrounds them. I’m not even like Shayna. Since her mate’s werewolf essence began residing inside her, she’s learned to differentiate weres by instinct.
I do well enough, reaching out with my gift to discern the inner beasts lurking within them. The density of their musculature and the way they move and command their stances are very telling. Each characteristic mimics their animal counterparts. I’ve met many weres across the globe and have studied their traits closely. I’m certain I pegged them correctly. The others who appear, though, don’t give me the time I need to distinguish them, and their collective power caution that now is not the time.
Weres ease out from their homes, joining those lingering along the stairwell. Some are male, most are female. They watch me closely, trying to pin what and who I am.
My sisters and I are different from any race of human or supernatural on earth. According to our wolves, we give off unique magical aromas that place humans and preternaturals on guard. While I understand, I don’t enjoy the attention.
I adjust my purse against my side and walk forward with my head high, feigning confidence I wish came naturally instead of merely skimming the surface of my ivory skin. The purse was a new purchase to go with my blouse and skirt, efforts to look nice for someone I believed was decent.
Ted fooled me. We had dinner just a few blocks away, our conversation was pleasant and polite. There was no flirting and absolutely no sparks. I was sure we’d call it an early night so, his suggestion caught me by surprise. “Will you join me for a drive along the lake, chérie?” he asked. “It’s the perfect night to take in the moon and sky.”
I agreed and didn’t give much thought when he told me we had to return to his apartment to fetch his keys.
There were no keys. No drive. No sky. Only nakedness and more sex organs than anyone should ever need.
“Hey, baby.” The cougar steps into my path, the silky way he moves mesmerizing. This isn’t someone who sleeps alone much. “Now that your done with that fool Ted, let a real man show you a good time.”
I start to tell him no, when the bear interrupts. He mashes out the cigarette on the sole of his ratty sneakers and pulls the cougar back by the arm. “Don’t go there,” he tells the cougar. “That there is Aric Connor’s fam.”
I don’t see well in the dark. Not like Celia and the wolves do. But I do notice the cougar blanche.
He edges away with his hands up. “Sorry, uh, ma’am, I mean, miss. I didn’t mean any disrespect.”
“It’s all right,” I say. My chin trails down as I walk past them, only to snap up when that dark presence returns.
The weres growl in that way they do before something meets a gruesome and vomit-inducing death. I can’t see their faces with their backs to me, but I recognize they’re seconds from charging. The muscles lining their broad shoulders clench and their knees bend. They’ll pounce and maul whatever is out here and anything that gets in their way.
A few feet down where the T.V. casts light against the window, another were throws open his door and steps out. I can’t tell what he is, not from this distance.
