Bad Moon Rising (Dark-Hunter #18)(3)
Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon

"Steak," Vane said. "Rare as possible."

She jotted it down. "I assume you each want a couple?"

Liam adjusted his chair. "Yes. Please."

Aimee nodded and she bit back a smile over the most favored request of their Katagaria clientele. All animals loved their meat that was only barely warmed by their human cooks who couldn’t quite figure out why they had so many orders for it. "All right, two dozen house specials. Any chance one of you might want to live dangerously and try a vegetable?"

"Do we look like rabbits to you?"

Vane smacked the blond-haired man to his right on the shoulder. "Knock it off, Fury."

The wolf looked pissed, but reined himself in. As wolves, they all deferred to the alpha, even when it galled them to do it. Of course, they would also fight to the death at his command. No matter how much they fought among themselves, at the end of the day they were always united against any outsider. It was what made them so dangerous.

Wolves never fought alone.

They fought as a pack. Rabid. Cold. Lethal. And together they could kill just about anything that lived . . . or even those that didn’t.

"Do you have anything sweet?"

Aimee turned her attention to Fang at his unorthodox request. Bears loved sweets, but wolves usually stuck to meat. "You have a sweet tooth?"

"Not me. It’s for our sister. She’s burdened and has been craving sweets."

This time she did smile as warmth seeped through her. "And you want to take something back to her?"

He nodded.

What a nice thing to do. It was something her-she froze at the stab of pain that thought caused. Even now that memory was razor-sharp and cut her to the quick. She always did her best not to think about Bastien and Gilbert. Still, they snuck into her thoughts many times a day. "You got it. I’ll toss in a couple of meats and treats for her."

"Much obliged."

For some reason she couldn’t explain, Aimee wanted to stay and talk to the wolf. If for no other reason than to listen to the deep timbre of his voice when he spoke. There was a slight lilt to his speech that said he’d lived in England at some point in his life. It was really seductive. . . .

What is wrong with me? I hate wolves.

They were loud. Obnoxious. Smelly and always looking for trouble.

Yet there was something about this one that was compelling. And the fact that he thought of his sister . . .

At least he had a heart. That alone put him miles ahead of the others of his kind.

As she left them again, she couldn’t resist looking back. Now he was smacking at Fury while Vane was separating them like a parent with two young sons.

Aimee shook her head.

That right there was why she didn’t care for wolves. Something about canines, they were always nipping and sniping at each other and anyone dumb enough to come near them.

As she headed for the kitchen to hand her orders over, a boisterous group coming down the stairs made her pause. She cursed inwardly at the sight.

Jackals. Two females and four males. They must have teleported into the top floor that was reserved for that sort of activity-it was an area shielded from humans so that they’d never suspect what Sanctuary really was. To them it was just a club.

To Were-Hunters, it was neutral ground where none could be harmed.

And if there was anything she hated more than wolves, it was those canine cousins-the jackals. If being a jackal wasn’t bad enough already, these were also Arcadian Sentinels and by the look of them they were on the hunt for someone.

Sighing heavily, she glanced back at the Katagaria wolves, wondering how they’d react to the Arcadian jackal presence.

The last thing they needed was for a vicious fight to break out between a clan of Sentinels and a pack of Strati, especially Strati with young to protect. That made them even edgier and more violent than normal.

She started back to the bar, but her path was cut off as one of the jackals teleported in front of her. He raked her with a sneer of disgust.

Aimee narrowed her gaze on him. "You can’t use your magick in here. There are too many humans to see it."

He smirked. "I don’t take orders from animals. Now tell me where Constantine is or we’re going to tear this bar down."

Aimee refused to be bullied by anyone. "We are protected by the laws of the Omegrion, which you’re obligated to follow. All are welcome, even your putrid selves, and none can be removed by force."

He grabbed her arm. "Fetch Constantine, or I’ll make boots out of your hide, bear."

Aimee twisted her arm out of his grip. "Don’t touch me, or I’ll mount your jewels to the wall over your head."

The jackals surrounded her. "We don’t have time for this. He’s here. We can smell it."

Aimee raked him with a sneer of her own. "You need to get your head out of your sphincter and stop smelling your own underwear ’cause the only jackals here, buddy, are you."

"Is there a problem?" For once she was grateful to hear Dev’s deep growl.

Aimee looked past the leader’s shoulder to see Dev with Colt, Remi, and Wren. Papa was making his way toward them too. "Yes. And I think it’s time for our friends here to find an exit."

Dev reached for the leader who spun on him so fast, she barely saw him move. With one fluid move, he had Dev flat on his back on the floor. Dev reached up and froze as the jackal held a Taser at the ready.

It wasn’t the pain of a possible hit that gave them pause. One jolt and they’d lose control of their human forms for hours. For that matter, any hit of electricity would have them flashing from human to animal and back again.

Something that was hard to explain to human clientele who tended to get a little wigged-out whenever they saw it.

Aimee looked around at the number of humans in the room. They needed to dispel this as peacefully as possible.

And quick.

The leader looked past her and gave a subtle nod.

All of a sudden, the man behind her grabbed her hard and held a knife to her throat.

The leader’s gaze glittered like ice. "Now take us to Constantine or I’ll have your head."

Aimee passed a scared look to Dev who knew what she did.

They couldn’t give them what they didn’t have.

This was about to get bloody and she was going to be the one they drew first blood on.

CHAPTER TWO

"Stay out of it, Fang," Vane said under his breath.

His anger snapping, Fang narrowed his eyes on the Sentinels surrounding Aimee. "It’s a threatened female."

"She’s not one of ours and we need the bears on our side. You break Omegrion sanctuary laws and they’ll refuse to help us. Ever. They’ll refuse to help Anya."

Fang heard those words and he was willing to abide by them. His sister was the most important thing. . . .

Until he saw the knife.

Vane cursed as he saw it too. Anya or not, it wasn’t in their nature to let that go and since the bears seemed to be in over their furry little heads . . .

Vane’s hazel gaze locked with Fang’s. "I have the ass**le in front, you take the one with the woman."

Fury lowered his head in agreement to their suicide run. "We’ve got your backs."

Vane inclined his head before they teleported to the fight.

* * *

Aimee considered the consequences of head-butting the jackal holding her. But he kept the knife tight to her throat, preventing it. She’d cut her own jugular if she even tried. She looked at her brothers and father, all of whom were standing back, too afraid to move for fear of causing her harm.

Tears of frustration welled in her eyes. She couldn’t stand being helpless. The bear in her wanted to taste jackal blood regardless of what it cost her. Even death. But the human side of her knew better.

It wasn’t worth the chance.

The jackal grabbed her by the hair and pressed the knife even closer. "Tell us where Constantine is. Now! Or else her blood flows like the mighty Niagara."

Papa opened his mouth, but before he could speak something snatched the knife away from her throat.

Aimee cursed as her head was snapped back and her hair wrenched. Unbalanced, she fell to the floor and landed on her stomach. Sounds exploded all around her as the jackals were quickly and painfully brought down by the wolves. Rubbing her throat where the knife had been, she looked to the jackal who’d been holding her.

Fang had him on the ground, slamming his head repeatedly against the floor as hard as he could. It was as if he were possessed by something that demanded he kill the jackal with his bare hands.

Blood covered both of them.

"Fang!" Vane shouted, pulling him away. "He’s out of it."

Growling, Fang rose only to kick the jackal in the ribs. "Cowardly bastard. Pull a knife on a woman." He started back for his victim, but Vane caught him.

"Enough!"

Fang shrugged his brother off before he turned to her with a look so anguished and tormented that it stole her breath. What demon had its spurs sunk deep into his soul? Something tragic lay behind that kind of pain.

It had to.

He turned for the jackal.

Vane spread his arms out to capture him. "He’s down. Let it go."

Growling in true wolf fashion, Fang pushed past his brother. "I’ll wait outside."

Before Vane could catch him, he got one last kick on the jackal’s head on his way to the door.

Fury laughed at Fang’s action as he twisted the arm of the jackal he held. "I really should break you in two. It might not brighten your day, but it would definitely make mine."

Vane shook his head at Fang’s actions and Fury’s words. Turning to Papa, he made his way slowly toward them. "Sorry we broke the covenant." He held money out to Dev. "We’ll leave and never come back."

Papa pushed the money back toward Vane. "You don’t have to leave. It was my daughter you saved. Thank you for what you did. So long as we have shelter, you have shelter." That was the highest honor a Were-Hunter could bestow on another. It was their oldest saying and only offered to another species as a show of eternal friendship.

No, more like kinship.

Vane seemed abashed by it.

Aimee watched as her family took the jackals from the wolves and led them away, no doubt to give them an even harsher ass-whipping out of sight of the humans.

"Are you all right?" Remi asked her as he helped her to her feet.

She nodded.

He glared at the one Fang had thrashed, who was still lying on the floor in a bloody heap. "Good, ’cause I’m going to skin me a jackal when he wakes up."

Aimee folded her arms over her chest. "I think the wolf already did."

"Yeah, but it’s not good enough. I’m going to add my own head pounding to him. That boy will have bear nightmares for the rest of his life . . . which just might prove to be a lot shorter than he ever dreamed."

Normally Aimee would have smarted back at him, but right now she was as shaken as the rest of them. It was rare anyone got the drop on her family, especially Dev, who was renowned for his fighting prowess. Never in all these centuries had she seen anyone pin him before.

A little beating on the jackals might go a long way in ensuring this never happened again. "What about the humans?"

Papa jerked his chin toward the tall blond who was walking around the crowd. "Max is wiping them even as we speak. It’s why they didn’t scream or move when the jackals attacked you. He heard the commotion and popped in."

She let out a relieved breath. Maxis was a dragonwere who had the ability to replace human memories. It was one of the reasons they kept him here even though it was hard to accommodate his large dragon form. His talents came in handy at times such as this and it meant they didn’t have to kill humans who witnessed things they weren’t supposed to know about.

"Should we go get Fang?" Keegan asked Vane as they started past her.

"Let him calm down first. We don’t need him starting another fight."

Aimee held her hand out to Vane. "Thanks for the assist. I really appreciate it."

He shook her hand gently. "Anytime."

She smiled up at him and gestured with her thumb toward the kitchen. "I’ll go put your orders in and have them out shortly."

Her father inclined his head to Vane. "And don’t worry, it’s on the house. Whatever you wolves need, just let us know."

"Thank you," Vane said as he led his wolves back to their table.

Dev grinned at her. "Never thought I’d say this about any canine species, but I think I like that group."

Aimee didn’t comment as she headed to the kitchen where her mother was waiting.

Her features stern, Maman stepped aside to let her pass. "Constantine sits on the Omegrion as their Arcadian Grand Regis. I don’t know him well, however I think we should find him and tell him where his friends are being kept-just to level the field a bit since they seem so eager to meet up with him."

It was a subtle way for Maman to say that she wanted the jackals dead and to be able to justify it to the Omegrion should anyone question her. After all, if the jackals were hunting Constantine so ferociously, it was only fair he know about it.

Aimee might have argued it was a harsh sentence, but given what the jackals had done to her, she was in the same sporting mood as her mother. "I’m sure Dev can arrange that."