Leucrotta didn’t answer, just stared at the pair.

Sara looked at Victoria. “I don’t know, Vic. I’m not sure she’s hearing us clearly.”

Giving a dramatic intake of breath and quick shake of her head, “I think you’re right.”

“Fine.” The two women stood. “Deal with it, Mik.”

Miki stepped forward and for the first time Angie heard Leucrotta’s voice…as she begged for her life.

“Wait. Wait!”

“Too late,” Miki aimed the gun at her face.

“No! No! No!”

Victoria ground her foot into the back of Leucrotta’s neck. “I don’t think I heard the right words,” she bit out between gritted teeth.

“We’ll stop! I swear it!”

Victoria looked up at Sara, “What do you think, Sara? You believe her?”

After a pause. “No. Miki take her.”

“No! I swear! I swear!”

The women glanced at each other. Finally, Sara looked at Angie.

“What do ya think, Santiago?”

Fighting the smile of pride she had for her friend at the moment, Angie nodded in agreement. “I say we give her a shot.”

“Cool!” Miki aimed her gun again.

“I meant a chance, psychopath.”

Smiling, “Damn.”

Victoria removed her foot from Leucrotta, but before the hyena could stand, Sara again crouched in front of her, both her hands buried in the woman’s hair. She pulled her head back, their faces so close they could have been lovers.

“Listen to me carefully. If anything else happens to my friends, there is no place in this universe where you’ll be able to hide…,” Sara’s voice dropped impossibly lower, “from me.”

With that, Sara stood, dragging the woman with her. She put her on her own two feet. Pale, shaking, completely terrified, Angie was surprised to see Leucrotta hadn’t pissed on herself.

Sara stepped back and Leucrotta stepped toward the exit.

“Oh,” Leucrotta’s whole body clenched in fear at Sara’s voice behind her. “And one more thing…”

Slowly, Leucrotta turned. “Yes?”

Sara glanced at her friend, “Angie?”

Angie stepped forward, slamming her fist into Leucrotta’s face. The hyena’s head smashed into the mirror behind her, destroying it as her body dropped like a ton of bricks. She probably wouldn’t be moving for several long minutes, giving both Pack and Pride time to get out of the store and avoid a full-on confrontation. Plus, she still owed the bitch for her ruined Louis Vuitton bag.

Sara smiled. “You always had the best right hook.”

“Remember that boxer I dated…he taught me that…and not to use my teeth during blow jobs.”

Miki locked her gun, shoving it back in itsholster, “Well that was information I could have lasted a lifetime never knowing.”

***

They all stared at the television. Twenty male shapeshifters quietly watching “The Howling.”

“If shifting was always that painful,” Conall muttered more to the couch he lay sprawled across then to anyone else, “I’d never do it.”

“Who put this piece of shit in anyway,” Zach demanded.

“No one. It’s on cable.”

Zach lifted his head off the floor, “Then why the fuck are we still watching it?”

Conall pointed across the room. “Because the remote is over there.”

They all looked at the simple electronic device. At the moment, it looked miles away.

“Well who the fuck put it way the hell over there?”

Ban’s hand shot up. “Sorry. That was me.”

Zach laid his head back on the floor. “Damn, hillbillies.”

“We prefer the term redneck,” Nik muttered.

They all fell into another sleepy silence, until Alek’s head snapped up. “Y’all smell that?”

Conall jumped up as the banging on the door started. By the time he reached the hallway, they all stood behind him. He pulled the door open and six Pride males pushed past him. Big. Well-dressed. Boring.

“Where are they,” the lead one roared.

Zach crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Where are who?”

The lion, fangs bared, stood in front of Zach. He was taller than the wolf, but Nik was impressed the Alpha didn’t back down. Instead, he looked kind of amused.

Ban nudged Nik. “Look, it’s the pretty kitties.”

One of the lions glared at Ban, “And look what we have here… alley cats. Why am I not surprised to find them hanging out with the dogs.”

Alek growled low, but Nik kept him under control with a hand on his shoulder. “Now, now, Alek. You should never attack a man brave enough to wear those shoes.”

“Where are our females,” the leader demanded again. “I got a call saying they were coming here.”

“Coming here?” Zach shrugged, “Sorry, don’t know anything about it. But tell me, do you lose your pussies like this all the time?”

Fangs burst from gums and bodies began to shift. The lion tackled Zach the wolf and Conall, shifting quickly, went after them. Nik watched another lion go for Conall, and his Southern sense of honor wouldn’t allow some lion pricks to abuse his hosts, so he shifted and threw himself at the big gold beast. But his weight shoved them all through the open door and out onto the stairs.

They fell in a mass of snarling, snapping fur. He felt fangs sink into his hind leg, but it lasted only a second as Ban grabbed the lion by the scruff of the neck and tossed him away.