Dodge didn’t like talking about pack business with someone from the outside, particularly when the other person was an alpha who could rightfully try to sentence Silas to death for what had happened that morning. Only his faith in Evershaw’s willingness and ability to defend the pack let Dodge keep talking. “The human caught sight of Silas and flipped out. She panicked and ran. Now we’ve got to talk to her before she runs her mouth.”
A low growl started in Rafe’s chest, and a muscle in his jaw jumped as he ground his teeth. “She’s fully human? Nothing – else?”
“Far as we know, one hundred percent human,” Dodge said. He’d heard that Rafe’s mate wasn’t entirely human, which made him sensitive to how much the magical community was involved in shifter business. Although Dodge didn’t know if that would be a help or a hindrance in their particular situation with Lawson.
“Anything else we should know about? She lives on my territory, so if she starts making a fuss, she’s our responsibility.”
Dodge didn’t like that one bit. Not at all. Rafe was an all right guy, as far as up-tight alphas went, but Dodge didn’t like his pack – bunch of young kids, slick and inexperienced but too confident. And Rafe’s sister was mated to a lion, and who knew what kind of trouble that meant? He studied his cigar and wished he could have scented more of the architect’s perfume in the air. “She might have seen Deirdre working magic. We don’t know for sure.”
Rafe cursed and ran a hand through his hair. “God damn it. What the fuck is Evershaw doing over there, letting this kind of shit happen?”
Dodge let his expression settle into a dangerous mask, so the other wolf would know he was serious, and leveled a calm gaze at the guy. “Probably best you don’t talk about my alpha like that. It’s our problem, and we’ll fix it. I won’t be on your territory a moment longer than I need to be.”
A growl answered, and Rafe’s eyes glinted gold as he bristled, responding to Dodge’s challenge with the necessary posturing. Dodge didn’t back down, but since Rafe no doubt wanted to avoid an all-out brawl on his own turf, he didn’t push it much further. “Get the fuck off my territory in the next thirty minutes. I see you over here again without a head’s up, you’ll get your ass kicked. Got it?”
Dodge snorted and tried not to laugh. “If you say so.”
Rafe grabbed a fistful of his shirt and looked like he wanted to fight, regardless of whether they were bystanders. “Listen, jackass –“
“No one’s here from your pack,” Dodge said, biting off each word. “You don’t know a goddamn thing about me, mate, so don’t bite off more than you can chew by throwing the first punch. I won’t start the fight but I’ll damn well finish it, hear me? I’ll take care of my business with this girl and get the fuck off your territory. Talk to Evershaw about everything else.”
He managed to stay calm, at least, although his wolf howled to get free and show the bastard why Dodge would have been a better alpha. He held onto control with his fingertips as red flashes filled his vision and started to distract him from the reality surrounding them. Dodge struggled with his own control, enough that he figured Evershaw would eventually have to bail his ass out of jail for pummeling Rafe O’Shea into a puddle on the sidewalk.
But Rafe shoved him back, all his teeth showing in a warning, and snapped, “You have twenty minutes.”
He stormed off, still growling, and said something to a hulking bruiser that had accompanied him. No doubt the meathead was there to verify Dodge went on his way in twenty minutes. Dodge turned his attention back to the apartment building, carefully straightening his shirt and jacket, and checked his cigar. Son of a bitch knocked the coal off. He muttered and carefully re-lit it, then leaned against the building behind him so he could look even more like he had zero fucks to give. Let the meathead report that back to the O’Sheas.
Dodge stayed right where he was for twenty-three minutes, just to make sure BloodMoon pack knew he wasn’t going to be intimidated, even by their alpha. But he called Evershaw to warn him the O’Sheas might end up pretty pissed off, and damn well enjoyed making his own alpha’s life a little more difficult.
He grinned as he enjoyed every minute of the cigar. There was a lot to be said for not being the boss.
Chapter 9
Percy
Afew hours of physical labor, dragging plants and trees around, actually helped smooth out my nerves. By the time I got to the sanctuary, half an hour south of the city, most of the rest of the staff had left for the day. There were only a few zookeepers and large animal handlers, the maintenance staff, the manager, and the occasional construction worker, but apparently none of them felt the need to assist with moving the massive delivery of flora meant for the leopard enclosure.
But Geordie had, indeed, left a hand-truck to help me move all the plants.
It also made me feel a lot better to curse him – very loudly andverypersonally – each time I stubbed my toes or dropped a bucket on my foot or wrenched my back. I wasn’t afraid of hard work, but I also wasn’t physically conditioned for throwing around hundreds of pounds of dirt and trees.
If only Mr. Muscles himself, Dodge, was there to help. He could have managed to relocate everything in record time.
The thought stopped me in my tracks and made my cheeks heat. I pressed my hands to my lower back so I could stretch, trying to put aside any temptation to call him. Not that I had his number. I didn’t even know his last name – or if Dodge was his last name. Or first name. Or nickname, for God’s sake.
I pulled off my work gloves and stumbled over to sit heavily on an overturned wheelbarrow. I’d worked through dinner and managed to get most of the plants taken care of, but it left me out in the middle of nowhere with a growling stomach and nothing to fill it. Charging Ms. Bridger for the extra hours would help take the edge off my irritation, even though it was all Geordie’s fault. I wondered if I could approach her about the manager and see whether there was a different interlocutor I could work with at the charity. Clearly we would never get the enclosures completed in time for the newest arrivals if none of the other staff helped.
I rotated my neck, trying to relieve some of the pressure in my shoulders, and exhaled. Definitely time to go home. I could call Ms. Bridger tomorrow and give her a progress update, and try to work in that there was trouble brewing with some of her employees. Not that it was really my place to complain. I adjusted my ponytail and pushed to my feet, hobbling a little as my thighs screamed in protest. It was going to be one of those nights where I’d lifted so much stuff I wouldn’t be able to raise my arms up to wash my hair in the shower.
I turned off the lights in the area near where the leopard dens were and headed for the main big cat house. I liked to say good night to the cats, though the tiger was a nocturnal beast and was usually there to rub up against the glass when I walked by. They were the reason I was willing to work so hard. It didn’t really matter if Geordie was a total dick to me. At the end of the day, big cats, wolves, bears, and other massive predators would be saved from miserable lives in zoos and sideshows and carnivals. It helped ease some of the tension in my chest as I trudged across the dark field toward the big cat house.
A few lights bobbed across the area, like flashlights carried by people, and I slowed, frowning. There shouldn’t have been anyone else at the sanctuary so late. Everyone who’d been there when I arrived had checked in with me before they departed, so I damn well knew I was the last person inside the fence.
My heart beat a little faster. What if people broke in to get a look at the animals, or to mess with them? I’d asked Ms. Bridger and Geordie about increased security to keep people out, but they’d been more focused on keeping the animalsin.
Part of me wanted to sit down and cry. It was just a really shitty day and getting worse with every passing minute. I couldn’t make it to where I’d parked my car behind one of the big containers they used for offices without potentially running into whoever carried the flashlights. I eased closer to one of the storage sheds and fumbled for my phone, thinking I could... do what? Call the cops and wait thirty minutes for someone to show up? Hope that whoever was roaming around the property didn’t end up hurting the animals or releasing them or getting eaten?
A rough voice muttered, “Over here. I already told you,over here. The tiger.”
