The Mane Event

by Shelly Laurenston

  He wasn’t at all sure about the dog thing either. Irritating little bastards. Dez had made it clear, though. Love her, love her dogs. He actually picked up dog shit for her.

  He pushed his mane of blond-brown hair out of his eyes. Within twenty-four hours, his hair had returned to its standard length. It took him all of puberty to grow the first round, but once there it didn’t like to go.

  Mace sighed and looked at the clock next to Dez’s bed. Where the hell was she? A shower shouldn’t take this long.

  He hated waiting. It was the lion in him. He didn’t wait to eat. He didn’t wait to go out. He didn’t wait for anything if he didn’t have to. True, he could leave without her. But that wasn’t going to happen. Not with him having the best time he’d ever had with a woman. Cranky bitch that she was, he liked her as much as he loved her. So, for once and without any direct orders from a C.O., Mace would wait. He would wait for Dez. Christ, what was his life coming to anyway?

  A tongue swiped at the fingers he had resting on the carpet. Great. Playful dogs. They’d started liking him. In typical dog fashion they found a way to make this work. Even if they forced him to like both of them.

  He growled and the dogs yipped back. He almost smiled. Grudgingly.

  “Are you being mean to my dogs again?”

  Mace looked up, about to tell her he had just been considering what pieces of her dogs would taste good with barbeque sauce, when he pretty much stopped breathing completely.

  He barely noticed the black jeans she had on or the black leather boots. No, it was that black leather bustier that had his full attention. Clearly created specifically for her, because no way could something off the rack from a fetish store have done those magnificent tits as much justice as the bustier she now wore. Tight and form fitting, it tied up the front, showing a healthy amount of cleavage that simply called to him. The bustier fit over a black leather top with long leather sleeves that molded to her strong arms and scooped nicely off her shoulders. Her tits practically defied gravity in that outfit. She didn’t need a bra, and he could make out her tight nipples through the leather. The light brown skin she showed looked satiny and soft. For some reason he found her outfit almost as hot as when she stretched out in front of him completely naked, and at the moment she barely revealed anything. He wanted to rub himself up against her until he was purring and she was coming.

  She’d even put on a little makeup for the occasion and brushed her hair until it fucking gleamed. No one had a right to be this pretty, least of all the woman holding onto his heart like she held onto one of her many guns. One good squeeze and she could blow his whole life apart.

  “Christ, you haven’t said a word. Is this outfit that bad?” He still didn’t answer her. Not with him fantasizing about her, that bustier, and those damn handcuffs. He wondered how many times he could make her scream his name.

  “Okay. I’m changing.” She turned to walk away.

  “Don’t you dare.” She stopped, clearly surprised by his order. And it was an order. “Get my ass over here.”

  She smirked. “What? You think you’re going to give me orders when we’re not—”

  “Now.”

  What a demanding son of a bitch. Yet she did exactly what he told her to. Of course, she only seemed to operate that way when she knew some kind of sex would be involved. Otherwise, she made the man work for it.

  He lounged on the bed like a lion sunning himself on a rock in the Serengeti. With crossed arms, she stood in front of him.

  “What?”

  He watched her with those gold eyes. “I like that top.” At least she guessed that’s what he said since he growled more than spoke.

  Dez ran her hands down the front self-consciously. The bustier had been a guilty pleasure buy. One so expensive she saw it more as an investment. She didn’t do the S & M thing. Yet she did like their wardrobes. Very few people knew that. Somehow, though, she didn’t mind showing that side of herself to Mace. Although she never expected to see that expression in his eyes. It went way beyond desire to something else altogether, and Dez had no idea if she were ready to handle that.

  She cleared her throat. “I’ve only worn it once. The cop bar down the block from the precinct just doesn’t seem the right place for this thing.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Some guy buy it for you?”

  “What do you care?”

  He slowly pulled himself up until he kneeled on the bed in front of her. “Answer my question.”

  “No.”

  He watched her closely, then leered. “You bought it for yourself, didn’t you?”

  “Are we going or not?” She started to walk away again, embarrassed he picked up on her thing about leather so quickly, but he grabbed her arm and hauled her up against him.

  “You did. Didn’t you?” He brushed his lips against hers. “My kinky little puppy.”

  “I hate you.”

  He kissed the bare flesh above the swell of her breasts. “You wish.”

  Her hands snaked through his hair. “God, I do.” She breathed desperately as he bent her back. She wanted to hate the man, but he continued to make her ache in all the best places. No man had ever gotten to her like this before.

  “I thought…we were…going…”

  He gripped her tighter. “Fuck ’em.”

  “No. We’re going out.” She pulled away from Mace.

  Surprised and none too happy, he made a grab for her. She jumped back to the door.

  “We’re going out.”

  “I don’t want to. Get over here.”

  Oh, she liked this. For once, she had the control—and without handcuffs. It sure did feel good.

  She shook her head. “I’m going out now. Wearing this top. You can stay here with the dogs or you can come with me. Your call, cat.” Then she slipped out into the hallway and down the stairs.

  Mace crossed his arms in front of his chest and silently seethed. This had been a bad idea. He knew it as soon as they arrived at the Pack’s hotel. The whole group had been waiting outside for them, and as soon as Dez stepped out of the cab, every male wolf eye turned to her—and those tits. In general, it hadn’t been a bad evening really. A good dinner, some drinking since they didn’t drive in, a couple of clubs, dancing with Dez, and a few near fistfights made for a festive Christmas Eve. But the male wolves were clearly into Dez, and as always she was clearly oblivious.

  Now they sat in Dez’s favorite coffeehouse a few blocks from where she crash-landed in his lap a few nights ago, talking and drinking espresso. Mace probably wouldn’t be so annoyed if Dez sat near him, but she sat near Sissy Mae, and the male wolves suddenly found a reason to sit near the pair. He glanced at Smitty, who seemed to be seriously enjoying himself since, for once, the wolves were ignoring his sister.

  His friend turned to him, and they both knew in a few more minutes Mace would start kicking some dog butt.

  Dez put her hands over her ears. “We are not having this conversation.”

  “But you know I’m right,” Sissy whispered.

  “You are not right. You are very, very wrong, and I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

  “No, I’m not. I think you’d look lovely in white.”

  “You do know I’m the one person who can shoot you and make it look like justifiable homicide?”

  Sissy Mae shook her head. “But you love me.”

  That was it. Dez stood up. “I’m going to the bathroom.”

  “Okay. We can talk about china patterns and the right bouquet when you get back.”

  Like a dog with a bone.

  Dez walked to the back of the coffeehouse until she got to the bathroom. She went into the stall and took care of business quickly. She wanted to get back to Mace. She found it quite entertaining watching him get jealous.

  She washed her hands, dried them, and headed back to Mace and the Pack, but she stopped when a small hand grabbed her leather jacket and tugged.

  Dez turned to see a small child standi
ng behind her. Tears poured to the floor and she pointed to the back door. “Please,” the little girl whispered, her head down. “I think my brother’s hurt and I can’t find my parents.”

  Dez crouched down next to her. “It’s okay, honey. Show me. And then we’ll go find your parents, okay?”

  The child led Dez outside as she marveled at how fucking irresponsible some parents were. It was well after two A.M. These kids should be in bed, not hanging out at a coffeehouse while their parents did whatever they did.

  Dez followed the child to another small child, lying faceup in the alley. Dez snapped her phone off her hip and flipped it open as she touched the child’s face. She had just punched in 911 and was about to hit TALK when the child’s eyes snapped open and he smiled. Dez blinked.

  Jesus Christ, are those fangs?

  Then Dez watched the ground rush up to meet her.

  Mace’s phone vibrated against his side. He pulled it out of its holster and glanced at caller ID. He rolled his eyes as he flipped the phone open. “Yeah?”

  “Mace?”

  His sister sounded panicked. She never sounded panicked. She didn’t allow that particular emotion. “What is it, Miss?”

  “Um…I’m sorry to ask you this, but I was just talking to Shaw and we got cut off.”

  “Oh…kay.”

  “It was the way we were cut off, Mace. I’m afraid something’s happened to him.”

  Mace caught Smitty’s eye. “Do you know where he was?”

  “That’s what really has me worried. He told me he was at the Chapel. Mace, that’s hyena territory.”

  “Yeah, I know. But didn’t you tell him what I told you about Doogan?”

  “I never got a chance. He didn’t come to the house last night. He hates all the social events.”

  A man after Mace’s heart. “I’ll go over there and see if I can find him.”

  She sighed. “Thank you.”

  Mace closed his phone. “Want to go babysit Shaw?”

  Smitty grinned. “Hey, our first job.”

  Even when human, Smitty’s tail always seemed to be wagging.

  Mace looked around, noticing for the first time Dez hadn’t come back from the bathroom. “Sissy, where’s Dez?”

  Sissy frowned. “She never came back from the bathroom.”

  “How long has she been gone?”

  Sissy thought for a moment. “A while.”

  Not the answer he wanted.

  Of all Dez’s experiences, being flung down a flight of stairs by a small child had never been one of them.

  She hit the ground, and pain shot through her left arm.

  She tried to get up, but the giggling little bastards kicked her back to the ground. They wrapped a rough, heavy cord rope around her throat and proceeded to drag her across a concrete floor.

  Dez fought to breathe, desperately pulling on the rope, trying to loosen it before it choked her out or snapped her neck. But she couldn’t get her fingers under the rope. As she started to black out, they stopped. Dez shook her head to snap herself out of whatever abyss she’d been about to fall into. Then she pulled herself to her knees. She had her hands on the knot at her neck when another hand grabbed the rope and yanked it taut. She grabbed at the hand holding the rope and looked up into the viciously torn face of Anne Marie Brutale.

  The woman sneered at her. “I’m going to have such fun with you, human.”

  Mace picked up Dez’s phone. Her last attempted call still blinking, waiting for her to hit SEND. 911. “You smell ’em?” he asked Smitty.

  Sissy Mae stood next to her brother. “They smell young.”

  Mace closed his eyes. Not good. Anything but that. Anything but hyena children. He could see it now. They lured Dez out here by pretending to be innocent kids. As a cop, no way in hell would Dez ignore them.

  Smitty cast around until he locked onto the scent. He followed it to an unlocked metal door. He walked over to it and threw the door open. The scent of hyena sucker punched Mace and made him want to retch. Nothing smelled as bad as their markings. He glanced down. The stairs seemed to go on forever. But he could smell Dez. This is where they’d taken her. He had to go after her, no matter what the cost.

  “I don’t have to look to know there is at least one Clan of hyenas down here. Maybe two. I can’t ask you guys to go with me. But—”

  Mace turned around and found the entire Pack had already shifted. Their clothes tossed all over the alley floor. They were just waiting for him. He would have smiled if he wasn’t terrified for Dez.

  He didn’t waste another second. He shifted, shook off his clothes, and bounded down the stairs—his Pack following him.

  “I was so excited when I heard you and your cat were walking around the Village like you owned it. I sent my cousin’s children to go get your dumb human ass.”

  Dez pushed herself into a sitting position, the wall against her back. She was in a long hallway, but she didn’t know where. A healthy guess would say she was under the Chapel Club. If she hadn’t been fighting for her life, she’d marvel on the hyenas’ use of underground tunnels.

  Dez glanced up and saw exposed plumbing, sturdy and within reach. Plus, there were doors all along the hallway, including a janitor’s closet.

  Anne Marie held up Dez’s gun still in its holder. “Nice weapon, Detective. You ever been shot with it?” Dez didn’t answer. “But where would the fun be in that, right? I wanna feel your flesh rip under my hands. Taste your blood on my tongue. We’re going to have such a party, you and me.”

  Dez loosened up the rope on her throat with one hand while gathering the rest in the other. “Sorry about your face. Did Gina find out about what you and Doogan did to Petrov? Or was that cause of me?”

  “Do you have sisters, Detective?” Dez nodded. “Then you understand. At least a little. I was trying to protect the family. First she brings in that idiot Petrov, then she lets you into our club, reeking of lion, and she thinks I’m going to let that go? Because she wants to find out who whacked her fuckin’ cat boyfriend?” Anne Marie stood in front of her. Dez pushed herself to her feet and stared the crazy bitch in the eye.

  “But I’ll deal with her later. Because first…” Anne Marie whispered, “first I’m going to hurt you.”

  Dez knew she had only one chance, so she might as well make the best of it. She headbutted her. Anne Marie stumbled back, caught off guard by Dez’s sudden attack. Dez pulled the noose over her head while she advanced on Anne Marie. Once close enough, she punched her. A right cross to the jaw. Anne Marie stumbled back several more steps, then Dez grabbed the brutalized side of the woman’s face, digging her fingers into the torn flesh. She got a good grip on her cheek and spun the howling, screaming woman around, slamming her face-first into the wall.

  The air changed around them—Anne Marie’s scent becoming stronger, her body shifting. Dez looped the rope around Anne Marie’s throat and tightened it at the moment the woman’s body began to change. Dez knocked her to the ground, one foot flat against her back to hold her in place. She lifted her other foot and brought it down hard against Anne Marie’s hand, breaking all her long nails. She did the same to the other hand.

  Anne Marie howled in rage, completing her shift so she could tear Dez apart. But as hyena, her body would be no bigger than either of Dez’s dogs. Dez had never done to one of her dogs what she needed to do now, but it was time for her to try it.

  Yeah. It was time to take Anne Marie Brutale on a Nature Walk.

  Mace stopped at the bottom of the stairs, the Pack surrounding him. Why the hell did he smell lion? He glanced at Smitty and realized he smelled it too. After another moment, he realized he smelled Shaw as well as Doogan and his brothers. Like he had time to deal with that little problem. This was starting to get freakin’ complicated.

  He glanced down the long dark hallway and realized they were in one of the infamous hyena tunnels. He knew if he followed this tunnel, it would take him back to the Chapel Club. Growling, he sprinted
into the darkness, Smitty and his Pack behind him.

  Thankfully her left wrist wasn’t broken. It hurt like a bitch, but if it had been broken, she would never have been able to swing Brutale around like one of her dogs.

  As soon as Anne Marie finished shifting, Dez gripped the rope tight and swung Brutale up and into one wall. Her hyena body bounced off, but Dez used the momentum to hammer her into the opposite wall. This time she stunned the beast. Heard the air “woosh” from Anne Marie’s lungs.

  Using the few precious seconds she now had, Dez tossed the end of the rope over one of the exposed pipes above her head, right by the janitor’s closet. She grabbed the end and yanked down.

  She pulled until Brutale hung there. A good four feet off the ground. Satisfied Anne Marie wasn’t going anywhere, Dez tried the door of the janitor’s closet. Locked. So she kicked it in. The door, not particularly strong, splintered and burst open. She walked in and spotted what she needed immediately. A large, heavy shelf case stood on one side of the room. Dez reached down and tied the end of the rope around one of the shelf legs. She made sure it was tight, and the bottom shelf prevented the rope from sliding up. With the rope taut, Brutale would continue to hang until someone let her loose.

  Dez grabbed her gun and ran down the hall, forcing herself to remember that Brutale would never have let her live either.

  Mace stopped beside the hung body of a hyena. He rose up on his hind legs and sniffed her. He smelled Dez faintly and knew she’d done this.

  He followed behind Smitty and the Pack, but stopped when he saw what they were looking at.

  The hallway split off into four directions. And they smelled Dez all over.

  Sissy Mae sent several of her females down one tunnel. Smitty sent a few females, including his sister, and a few males down two other tunnels.

  Mace took a step toward the last tunnel but stopped when he knew someone watched him. He saw a pretty little girl, no more than eight or so, staring at him. She looked up at the hyena hanging from the pipes; back at Mace; and, with a heart-stopping smile only hyena children seemed to possess, suddenly turned and screamed, “Giiinnnnaaa!”