Shelly Laurenston: The Mane Squeeze

“Who was that on the phone?” Mitch demanded.

“Uh…Dee-Ann.”

“You’re calling other women when you’re hooked up with my baby sister?”

“But Dee-Ann’s my—”

“I don’t care! You’re with my sister now, scumbag. And I may have promised Sissy I’d back off, but—” he motioned between him and Brendon “—don’t think for a second we’re going to let you get away with anything when it comes to our baby sister.”

Dee shut off her phone completely and put it back into her front jean pocket. She took another glance around and popped the trunk on the old Ford she’d taken from a junkyard and managed to get running. She pulled the wolf out and placed him over her shoulder. Slamming the trunk closed, she headed to the nondescript door in the middle of the alley. She’d already picked the lock and now she went down the stairs deep into the bowels of the tunnels.

Once she’d traveled as far down as she could, Dee stepped away from the stairs and lowered the body onto the floor. She crouched beside him.

The wolf opened his eyes, glared up at her.

“Names,” she said. The last one she’d said that to, the bar owner, he’d given her names of the dealers he got his product from. Of the ten names he listed, only one had been shifter. Only one had been Dee’s concern. The rest would be handled by others.

Funny, this hadn’t been how this was supposed to go down, but in her line of work it was all about rolling with the unexpected. Like Lock MacRyrie. She’d been surprised when the road to Ross had led to one of the best friends she’d had in the military. For a brief moment, she’d thought about bringing him back into this life. They’d always been an excellent team. But, no. That wouldn’t do for the bear. He’d done his service to his country and his kind. Now he deserved exactly what he wanted: a deadly feline who liked to skate.

And what did Dee deserve? Doing what she did best: Protecting her own and fixing problems. She was real good at fixing problems.

“Names,” Dee said again when Jay didn’t answer her.

He told her one name. It wasn’t easy for him. The doctors had had to wire his jaw shut and his head was covered in bandages from what Lock had done to him Halloween night. His face…not much better. Those were scars that wouldn’t fade. But he told her one name because he’d only sold one. One that had yet to be picked up. And that night at the party Ross was about to move from selling names to handling the product himself. Amazing what desperation would make a man forget—like how hard it was to capture and keep shifter females.

“Thank you kindly,” Dee said when he finished. She stood, her mind already turning with what she should do next. She’d have to call in some help because that one…that one whose name he sold would be a problem.

“What…about…me?” she heard him ask.

Dee looked at him over her shoulder. For days she’d watched the man and Donna McNelly. For days she’d watched those two argue, fuck…fuck, argue until Dee had seriously considered removing her own eyes. For that torture alone, he should suffer, but there were bigger issues. Bigger mistakes he’d made. “You betray your kind? What do you think should happen?”

“Just…names. Just—”

“I know. Just crossbreeds. They’re still us. But don’t you worry none…you’ll be gettin’ what you deserve.”

She walked back to the stairs, but before heading up, she stopped. She listened. The hyenas who ruled these tunnels crept closer. She could hear them, smell them. And they could smell her…and Ross’s blood. She looked back at him one more time and smiled. “It won’t last long,” she promised.

Then, before she went up those stairs, she yelled out, “Dinner!”

She made her way out on to the street, closing the alley door, the screams and hyena howls left long behind. She headed down the street, but stopped at the corner when a limo pulled up in front of her. After a moment’s hesitation, she got in.

“Well?”

She stared across the seat at the man who’d hired her. Who’d offered her a chance to continue doing what she did best. She loved her cousin, but working security? Getting a regular paycheck and clocking in and clocking out every damn day? Not exactly her style. “You were right,” she said. “He did sell her name before he tried to grab the other one.”

“I’m guessing he needed the cash. Besides, after meeting her I can see why he tried to bring in the feline instead. The other would have been much more of a challenge.” Niles Van Holtz, Alpha Male of the entire Van Holtz Pack and head of the simply named Group, the protective arm of the Board, took a sip of bottled water.

“Want me to bring her in?” she asked.

“No. We’ll use her as bait instead.”

“She’s a wild card. Never know what she’s gonna do next.”

“I could say the same about you.”

Dee grinned. “Look at you. Tryin’ to sweet-talk me.”

The wolf smirked, glancing out the limo window. “Why did you bring Ross here? You could have expired him at the hospital.” And she had to fight real hard not to laugh at the fancy way he’d put that rather than just saying “killing” like any self-respecting predator. “It would have appeared that he died from his injuries.”

And Lock MacRyrie would have spent the rest of his life thinking he’d killed that wolf in an ugly fit of grizzly boar-rage. No. Dee-Ann wouldn’t do that to the man who’d saved her life more than once. She wouldn’t let that rest on his giant shoulders. Seeing him happy and in love was a wonderful thing. Dee wouldn’t be the one to take that away from him now.

She didn’t, however, mention any of that to Van Holtz. “Figured it was better he disappeared, since he was healin’ up and all. Scumbag dealer disappearing, no one will think much about it.”

Van Holtz shrugged. “As you like. I was just curious.”

Reaching into a small fridge, he pulled out another bottled water and handed it to her.

She took it, nodded. “Thank ya kindly.”

“And what about that girl you picked up? Abby something?”

“She’s safe.”

“She’s a coyote-wolf and barely sixteen.”

“And she’s safe.” And, in a few years, sly little Abby would be the one in the back of this fancy limo, haggling for this job. But until then, she needed to be cared for like any pup, no matter the breed…or the mix.

“So are you in, Miss Smith?” he asked.

“Not sure. Don’t much like feelin’ hemmed in.”

“We’re not the military. And, as a boss, I’m quite hands off.”

“Except the Unit’s been keepin’ an eye on me. Even following my friends around. I don’t like it.”

“You won’t have to worry about them once you’re with us. They just want to make sure you haven’t snapped your bolt.”

“Who would be my contact here?” Dee asked, doubting Van Holtz himself, who hailed from the West Coast, would do that job.

“You’ve already met him.”

Dee thought a moment, then couldn’t help but give a little sniff. “That kid ?”

“Ulrich is hardly a kid. Actually, I think he’s only three years younger than you.”

And a little too damn pretty for her to trust her life with. “He’s the best you can do?”

“He’s the best. So are you in or out?”

She shrugged. “In.”

He grinned. “Are you always this enthusiastic?”

“Pretty much. Like my daddy.”

“He was one of our best.”

“He still is.”

Van Holtz nodded and said, “Welcome to the Group, Dee-Ann.”

Dee-Ann looked out the window to watch the city move by. She didn’t know if it would be her home forever, but it would do for now.