Lee came out, showed off the bra and the new shirt before she retreated back to put on the next round of clothing.
She had four tops, two bras, seven sets of panties, three pairs of jeans, some socks, shoes and the wedges. Her bracelet glowed briefly as she scanned it over the checkout at the counter. She was wearing the white shirt and jeans with the flats and felt a lot better than she had when she arrived.
Teal was smiling with personal pride. “Now, we will drop your purchases off at the hostel and continue the tour. You are going to be in the large-predator hostel, is that all right?”
“It’s fine. It is what I am, after all.”
Teal chuckled, “You aren’t like most of the lionesses that have come through the Crossroads.”
Lee grimaced. “I was raised in a fundamentalist lion compound. We have many restrictions that keep the young females under control.”
“And yet you are here.”
“I know. I hate that control, but I am afraid of what I will do if I let go and do what my instincts are screaming to.” Lee had never been this open with anyone before, certainly not a stranger.
After Leandiir checked in at the hostel, Teal was almost hopping with eagerness. Lee sensed that the enthusiasm was not Teal’s usual method of dealing with newcomers.
“You have seen the shop, there is the café which is open around the clock. The bed and breakfasts are down that lane and the bar is up and on the right.” Teal practically hauled her to the bar.
The scents and sounds overwhelmed Lee as they entered the building. Bodies writhed on the dance floor and many were huddling together in booths. Teal hauled her to the bar itself. “Chuck! Chuck!”
The graceful, bald man covered in sinuous tattoos came toward them. “Teal, fancy seeing you in here.”
Lee blinked when she looked at his face—the serpentine eyes were unmistakable.
“Chuck, this is a new arrival. Lee. Lee is a little shy, and I would appreciate it if you could keep an eye on her.” Teal’s voice was low and direct.
Chuck looked at Lee, and she returned his stare until she grew uncomfortable with the confrontation and looked away.
Chuck smiled, “I will keep an eye on her. No one will bother her.”
“Well, let some bother her, or her time here will be of extreme duration.” Teal grinned.
Lee turned to Teal, “Thanks for looking out for me.”
“It was no trouble. Now, stay here, try and relax, and Chuck will take care of you. I have to get back to the centre before Tony comes looking for me.” Teal gave her a gentle hug and left the bar.
Lee turned back to Chuck and sat warily on one of the barstools.
He smiled, showing sharp needle-like canines. “What can I get for you?”
“I don’t really know. I don’t get out much.” Lee blinked as she realised that it was the absolute truth. She didn’t get out much. Friends were not allowed, nor were full-time jobs with any serious content.
“Long Island iced tea it is.” He collected a few bottles and began to mix the contents together in a glass.
The ice jingled gently as he passed the glass on a neat black coaster. “So, you are here to find a mate?”
“Yes. I have a time crunch. My father is trying to make a match with one of his work cronies, and the man is completely unsuitable.”
Chuck kept his hands busy cleaning and tidying behind the bar, but his attention was completely on her.
“How is he unsuitable?”
“I have never wanted to be a plural wife. I don’t want to be part of his pride, working for him and bearing his young.”
Chuck frowned. “Plural wife?”
“Yes, I was raised in a small community where plural marriage is common. I have never wanted it for myself or my siblings.”
“So, tonight something came to a head, did it?”
Lee sipped at her drink and let the tension in her shoulders relax a little. “Yes, it did.”
Chuck nodded and kept working. It was the last personal question that he asked her. The rest of the conversation involved him pointing out likely males around the room and asking her opinions on them.
* * * *
Jim Barnes watched the dark-haired woman with his bartender and took in her slumped shoulders, timid movements and lack of eye contact. She was passive, submissive and completely unsuitable for him as a mate.
Knowing that she was not the one for him, he kicked himself for not being able to look away from her, in the gleaming white shirt that made her a beacon in the dimness of the bar.
It was coming up on Chuck’s break, so he was going to take the opportunity to meet this mouse and find out what the draw was for him.
Hundreds of women made their way through his doors, but this was the only one who had had his inner tiger pacing behind his eyes. At first glance, she was attractive, she had curves that sent blood pooling in his groin, dark gold eyes and deep chestnut hair. It was unusual colouring for most prey species, but his human brain was telling him that this woman was prey. His tiger disagreed.
Give him five minutes and he would find out.
Chapter Three
Lee narrowed her eyes at the clump of coyotes and the strange chemical tang that was coming from their table. She frowned as she ran through her mental catalogue of known street toxins and came up empty.
Two of the coyotes approached a table of young women, smiling and laughing, one of them told a joke that involved waving his arms around and everyone stepped away from the table. There. His friend slipped in and dosed the redhead’s glass with whatever she was scenting.
“Chuck is on break, I am Jim.” A voice broke through her surveillance.
“Pleased to meet you, I am Leandiir, but call me Lee.” She absently extended her hand and was surprised when a large, warm masculine hand shook it.
It pulled her attention to him, and she blinked into a hot gold gaze.
They locked gazes and instead of her normal passivity, her lioness rose roaring to growl at him.
He blinked and smiled. “That was a surprise.”
She bit her lip and looked away. The woman who had been dosed was being escorted out the door by the two coyotes. “Please excuse me.”
He opened his mouth and closed it in surprise, but she barely had a chance to register it before she was out the door after the trio.
She slipped out of her shoes and turned her legs into her lioness limbs. Walking silently down the streets after the trio, she increased speed as the young woman began to stumble.
The coyotes pulled their victim into the dark alley.
Lee broke into a silent run.
The coyotes pulled at the woman’s clothing, and when the woman cried out softly in protest, it was all Lee needed.
She formed her claws and pulled the coyotes from her, clawing each across the face so she could find them later.
The men cried out in pain and scuttled backward.
Lee moved to their victim, a fox by the scent of her.
The woman’s eyes were rolling in her head and a dark flush was moving across her chest.
“Miss, can you hear me?”
A thin whisper of sound came out, “Yes. So hot, everything is dark. Help me.”
Lee heard the crunch of feet on gravel behind her and whirled to defend the young woman.
Jim was standing and staring at her in surprise. “Is she all right?”
“No, she has been dosed with something, and I don’t know what it is.”
Lee got to her feet with the young woman in her arms. “Is there a medical facility or a healer nearby?”
“Chuck can help. Come with me.” He started to walk back to the bar. “Can you carry her?”
“She doesn’t weigh anything, but can you carry my shoes?”
He hooked the strappy wedges on two fingers. “This feels wrong.”
“Suck it up, buttercup. She is getting hotter.”
Jim blinked in shock and led the way back to the bar.
Lee watched her patient carefully. The girl was flaring with colour, and Lee was worried.
They entered the bar and the music stopped. Jim called out, “Chuck, we need help.”
Chuck came running, and a crowd gathered around the woman with the torn clothing and erratic breathing.
Jim pushed two tables together.
Lee put her patient down but stayed nearby.
Chuck looked at her. “What did she get dosed with?”
“I don’t know. It was in her drink, smelled like a cross between pheromone and chemical.”
A girl who was with the young woman brought the glass forward. “This is the drink.”
Chuck sipped at it before Lee could stop him. He swirled the drink around in his mouth and nodded before he spit the drink on the floor. “Got it.”
He opened his mouth, raised her arm and bit down.
The patient gasped and arched her back, a low moan broke from her and a flexing shudder rippled over her skin.
Jim asked, “Do you know who it was?”
“Coyotes. I marked both their faces.”
Chuck winked, “How?”
“Claw marks. They should be fairly obvious.”
Chuck nodded. “I injected her with a flushing anti-toxin. She should be fine in a couple of hours. Jim, I am going to warn Tony and Teal.”
Jim nodded. “We will take her to my office.”
The woman whimpered and shifted away from Jim when he reached for her.
Lee raised her hand, scooped the woman up and nodded to him. “Lead the way, please.”
He led the way to his office. Lee deposited the woman on the couch and found a clean bar towel that she soaked in the office bathroom. She knelt at the woman’s side and sponged all abraded and lightly clawed areas while murmuring quietly.
“You have attended a woman in this condition before.” Jim crouched at her side.
“Yes. The area I live in is notorious for abusive men. I am a nurse at a local women’s health centre. I have seen worse, far worse, unfortunately.” Lee kept her attention focussed on the woman, but when she looked over to Jim, his face had a considering expression.
“You went after those men not knowing what they were. That is impressive.”
She shrugged. “Not really. I have seen coyotes before. They have their own way of moving, as do other species. I need to use that awareness in my work. If a husband comes in with a pregnant spouse, I need to know how he will react to the birth before he does. It eases the way when they are crossbreeds.”
“So, you also act as midwife?”
“When I have to and never on the books.”
She got up to wring out the fabric, but Jim handed her a fresh wet cloth. “Thank you.”
The woman blinked, and Teal came through the door. “Oh, no. How is she, Lee?”
“Whatever Chuck did was effective. Her skin is coming back to normal, her breathing has eased and she should be waking up in a few minutes.”
“You seem very sure, Lee.” Teal touched the woman’s hand, and the frown crease between her eyebrows relaxed. “And you are correct.”
“You have a healing ability?”
“No, just a grip on the status quo. I can simply feel if someone is well or not with a touch. It helps me with my work here.” Teal smiled.
“Do you know who she is?” Lee’s head came up as there was a knock on the door.
Jim leaned back and watched her, gesturing for her to answer.
Lee opened the door, and a young wolf male was standing there. “Hello?”
“Is Sara all right?” He gave off all the hallmarks of a beta, but she could see the worry radiating from him.
“The young woman is Sara?”
He nodded.
“She will recover.” Testing a theory, Lee moved to close the door and the male went from beta to protective alpha in an instant. His arm came out to slam against the door, and Lee grabbed his arm, forcing him to his knees.
“I have to see her. We were supposed to meet here, but I had to file a report with my pack leader.” He winced and tried to free his arm, but she wasn’t having any of it.
“So, why are you here now?”
“I heard about what happened the moment I entered the bar. Chuck told me not to come up here, but I wanted to see her.” He grimaced and went silent.
Jim’s voice washed over her. “Let him go, Lee. He will be fine. He needs to see her.”
Lee released him and backed away. Her claws had come out to pin him, and she retracted them when he rushed past her.
Jim’s hand gripped her arm and kept her from going to her patient. “Leave him. Teal will watch them. They need to be alone.”
Lee hesitated as he hauled her out of the office and closed the door. He wrapped an arm around her waist and escorted her down the stairs to the bar. “Let me buy you a drink.”
“Why are you being nice to me? When we first met, I saw contempt and pity in your eyes.”
“Let’s just say that while you are stunning, you improve on further exposure. Now, shall we get that drink?”
Chapter Four
The first step off the stairs and into the bar had her greeted by a cacophony of applause and several whistles.
“It appears that I am not the only one to appreciate your worth, Lee.” Jim leaned down and whispered it in her ear, bringing her the scent of his hair and the musk of his skin.
She looked up and his hot gold eyes were glowing with interest. While Lee had hoped to get the attention of a large male to help protect her, she wasn’t sure what to do now that she was eye to eye with one.
“Um. Thanks. Now, that drink?” She tried to shift away from him and looked down at her shirt. “Damn.”
“What?”
“I got blood on my new shirt. I just bought this.” She sighed. There were slashes of coyote blood and the darker press of red from Sara’s wounds.
“The colour combination just looks abstract. No one would guess that you had held yourself back from gutting those twisted little buggers.” Jim escorted her past her adoring fans and back to her seat on the barstool.
He left her and took Chuck’s place behind the bar. The serpent raised his hands and went to attend to other patrons.
“So, do you have any preferences?”
Lee jumped as Jim’s words came to her. “What?”
His lips quirked in a flirty smile. “Do you have any preferences for alcohol? Do you have any favourite drinks?”
“No. I enjoyed the Long Island iced tea earlier. What else is there?”
He sighed, “Why don’t I just use my instincts?”
She blushed. “I have found that instincts usually cause more harm than good.”