“I don’t like her. And I’m in the mood for a good fight.”

“No more Guinness for you,” Blayne said, snatching the half-drunk glass away from her friend.

“Do you want to lose that paw, canine?”

“Be nice!” Blayne bellowed.

It was grudging, but Gwen settled down even while the rest of the predators around them watched Blayne closely. Sure. The drunk tigon is no threat, but the sober wolfdog—watch out!

Annoyed by the hypocrisy, Blayne tossed the glass onto a tray held by a passing waitress before dropping onto the couch next to Ric. Relaxing back, she realized Novikov was still standing there. And—still staring.

“Sit,” she said, motioning to an empty spot on the U-shaped couch. And yes, she did expect him to take the spot she pointed out. Especially since he didn’t seem to be one of those purposely contrary types. But what she didn’t expect was to suddenly have a tight bear-cat ass shoving its way between her and Ric.

Once Bo had forced his way between Blayne and Van Holtz, he felt much better. He didn’t appreciate the way the wolf and Blayne had sat so close together, Van Holtz’s arm around the back of her portion of the couch. A little too proprietary in Bo’s estimation. So he sat between them.

Blayne squeaked a little as she moved out of his way, and Van Holtz hit the floor since he’d been sitting right on the edge. The wolf glared up at him and Bo gazed back, sipping his beer. He figured that was the end of it until Blayne punched his shoulder.

“Apologize,” she ordered him.

“For what?”

“You knocked him on the floor. Are you really that rude?”

“It seems that the answer to that would be yes.”

“I’m fine, Blayne.” Van Holtz managed to get to his own big wolf feet without any help from Bo. “I think I’ll get another drink. I’ll be back.”

He walked off and Blayne hit Bo again.

“What now?”

“This is your fault.”

“What’s my fault?”

“Ric being upset.”

“It’s not like he ran off to the girls’ room crying.”

“Would you care if he had?”

“Other than to laugh? Probably not.”

Blayne turned on the couch to face him, pulling her legs up so she sat on her knees. “How can I help you if you act this way?”

“Help me? Help me with what?”

“Help with you.” She waved her hand around his face. “The poor, pathetic, lonely, rich superstar athlete that you are.”

Bo glanced over at the grizzly and tigon sitting across from them. “She’s serious,” the tigon mouthed to him, making Bo sigh.

“I’m a good person,” Blayne said earnestly, pressing her hand toher chest. “And because I’m a good person, I have friends. And I want you to have friends. But that won’t happen if you go around knocking wolves to the floor. Wolves are not to be toyed with just because you can.” She held up her finger, “Hold that thought,” and spun around on her knees so that she faced the back of the couch. “Hey, Dee-Ann!” Blayne screeched across the club. “Dee-Ann! You’re not leaving already are you? Sit here! Here! We still have room! Dee! Annnnn!”

With his left ear ringing, Bo watched as some She-wolf stalked off into the crowd while Blayne returned to her original position, facing Bo. “Now . . . where was I?”

“If I want to be a good person like you, I can’t toy with wolves just because I can.”

“Right!” Again she pressed her palm to her chest, appearing superbly innocent. “I’m here to help you. Let me.”

“Dee-Ann, wait!”

Dee-Ann kept walking until a strong hand grabbed her arm, pulling her back. “Please.”

“I’m done, hoss. I am done.”

“It’s not that easy and we both know that.”

“Find somebody else. I can’t deal with her.” She tried to walk out the front exit, but Van Holtz pulled her down a hallway and into a private room, recently vacated from the heavy scent of feline sex still lingering.

“You can’t walk away from this,” Van Holtz told her once he’d closed the door. “Blayne needs you.”

“What that wolfdog needs is heavy medication.”

“Look, let’s just talk. Okay? For a second.”

Van Holtz sat down on the couch, and Dee said, “Whoever was on that couch before ya just fucked there.”

The wolf stood right back up. “So we’ll stand.” He took a breath. “You can’t let her get to you like this. You know Blayne. She just wants everyone to have a good time. To be happy.”

What would make Dee-Ann happy was Blayne Thorpe’s head over her daddy’s mantel right next to the twelve-point buck he’d taken down in his younger days. That would make Dee-Ann happy. Continually discussing one pain-in-the-ass wolfdog, however, would not.

Lord, if they were all like Blayne, Dee-Ann wouldn’t help one of them. But thankfully, they weren’t all like Blayne. In fact, she’d been meeting some real interesting ones lately. Hybrids with real potential who didn’t waste her time by being idiotic and embarrassing in public.

“Don’t need Blayne Thorpe to make me happy. Just need her to shut her mouth and wait quietly to be snatched up by scumbags. Don’t think I’m askin’ too much here.”

“I think we both know it won’t be that easy.”