“Yeah. Why?”

“Everybody’s psyched about seeing you. Right, guys?”

Miki laughed when she heard chanting from the other end. “Mi-ki! Mi-ki! Mi-ki!”

“Okay. Okay. I’ll be there. And you’re all idiots.”

“Meet us at Patty’s Pub.”

“When?”

“Anytime after ten. We’ll be there until closing.” Of course they would. Her Seattle friends were the hardest drinkers she knew. “Don’t flake out on us, Queen of Despair and Pain, ruler of the dark underworld known as Texas.” Miki closed her eyes. Her friends were such geeks. Which meant she was a big ol’ geek herself because they often called her their queen.

“I said I’d be there. Don’t pressure me.”

“All right, my lovely. See you then.”

She hung up her phone and hooked it back to the holster on her hip. Then she wrapped her arms around her body. She was freezing. It got cold at night in Northern California. Why couldn’t Sara’s Pack live in Southern California where she heard it was warm all the time?

Miki headed back up the street toward the club. As she passed an alley she stopped. She had to. They’d called her name.

She stared into the deep recesses of the dark alley and Miki heard it again. A female voice. A couple. Calling her name. She faced the alley, but didn’t enter. She wasn’t about to. She wasn’t stupid. Instead, she’d go back to the club and get Sara and Zach.

But a hand suddenly grabbed her arm. “Don’t leave.”

She looked up into the face of a woman…or a man…or a she-male. To be honest, she really didn’t know. Pretty but androgynous. Yet with a grip on her arm that caused Miki some serious discomfort.

“Let me go.”

“Don’t leave, sweetness. We were just ready to get the party started now that you’re here.”

That’s when she tried to drag Miki into the alley. Miki remembered taking a self-defense class once and she never forgot the instructor’s words. “Never let them take you to a secondary location. Never.”

To Miki that alley was a secondary location. No fucking way would she go in there. Reaching up she grabbed the woman’s hair—this was a woman, right?—and yanked so that they both stumbled back slamming into a parked car. The car’s alarm went off while Miki yanked the woman’s hair again. Then she did it again until she ripped hair from the heifer’s head. The woman let out a screech that would have freaked Miki out if she wasn’t busy trying not to get taken to the secondary location. Of course, the returning yelps from the alley just spurred her action.

With hair still gripped in her fist, she punched the woman in the face. Then used her steel-toe Docs to kick her in the groin. Man or woman, she knew that would hurt. As the woman dropped to theground, Miki snatched her arm away and ran.

* * *

“What do you want, Einarr?”

“Can’t a man just come and see his cousin?”

“No. And you know Zach doesn’t want you here.” Especially after what happened last time. Wolf blood still stained the walls from that little get-together.

“A lackey for that Irish Wolfhound. How do you look at yourself in the mirror?”

Conall rolled his eyes. They’d been having this conversation for over ten years. It was a boring conversation just as Einarr was a boring man. Truly, the only thing his cousin had inherited from their Viking ancestors was his name and his viciousness. Other than that, he wasn’t much of a Viking or a wolf. Just a petty little asshole.

“Move, Einarr.”

And to his surprise, Einarr did. Yet Conall never took his eyes off him as he left the bathroom.

Once he made it back to the main bar, he realized they were all over the place. Víga-Feilan wolves. Not good.

Conall walked up to Kelly. “Where’s Zach?”

“The office, maybe. I really don’t know.”

Conall headed off to the office before things spiraled out of control. This was why Zach was Alpha. Left up to Conall, he’d snap his cousin’s neck as human and start a Pack-Pack war just before being shipped off to prison. Probably not a good idea. At least for the moment, it wasn’t a good idea.

* * *

Miki slammed her way back into the club, to the backstairs, and right into the arms of one of the wolves guarding the door.

“Hey. Hey. Are you okay?”

Miki looked behind her. She didn’t see anyone following her. She took in huge gulps of air and tried to calm herself down.

“I better get Sara.”

Miki grabbed his arm. “Don’t you dare!”

She had enough problems. Involve Sara and all hell would break loose. “I’m fine. Really.”

“You’re bleeding, honey.”

Miki glanced down at her forearm. There were four deep gashes across it. Great. Paw marks.

“I’ll take care of it. I’ll be fine.” She headed up the stairs, stopping at the bar to get her leather jacket from behind it. She slipped it on and headed to the bathroom. Thankfully, she didn’t see Conall or Sara. She could only imagine how the two of them would blow this out of proportion.

She went in search of the women’s bathroom, finding it pretty easily. How could she miss it? It was actually marked “Bitches”. She went in as some females came out. She went to the sink and caught her reflection in the mirror. Except for being a little sweaty, she still looked in control. Good. She slid the jacket off one arm and ran her forearm under the cold water, wincing from the pain, but thankful the cuts weren’t too deep.