by Sadie Hart
He should go back, he reminded himself. Turn it in. Call in a tip to Enforcement and tell them one of their Hounds had bailed. Except he wasn’t supposed to be tailing her and he couldn’t give himself away yet. Not when he was just getting started. A shudder worked its way through him, the dog in his gut whimpering.
Besides, he needed her.
Lennox Donnelly was one of the best. If she joined him, most of Shifter Town Enforcement would follow. He needed her. All he had to do was fix her.
Show her what she already knew.
Show her what lions were really capable of. What they’d already done. Once he’d reminded her, she’d help him.
He paused. The cold trickle of excitement slipped down his spine. Maybe they’d make it bigger this time. His tongue wet his lips with anticipation, a wild grin splitting his face as he picked up speed, heading for the highway overpass to the white Honda parked underneath.
Seeing how easily she’d nearly derailed his plan, he knew it had to be bigger this time. Much bigger. One lion, one ex-rogue, and a petty bar brawl...it wasn’t nearly enough.
He slipped behind the wheel, the ignition turning over as he started the car, his hands shaking now. He knew what he had to do. It would have to be good, really good to keep Lennox from figuring it out but he could do it.
She wasn’t going to see it coming.
***
The flash of Metro’s neon blue sign illuminated the parking lot as Lennox angled the car into an empty slot at the back of the lot. Tegan caught the flick of a muscle in her jaw, tense. Kanon snored in the front seat and Tegan grinned, stretching forward to lean between the seats.
“I envy his ability to do that.”
“What? Sleep in the car?” She shook her head, but she didn’t smile. “Wake him up. I’ll meet you guys inside.”
She reached for her door and Tegan noted the tremor in her hand. Jumpy. His eyes narrowed. She looked more like a woman planning an escape route that someone who honestly thought they’d be proving their innocence tonight. “You all right?”
Lennox paused, one hand on the door. She dragged her bottom lip between her teeth. “Yeah. Ready to get this over with and go home. This is already taking longer than I thought it would. Just wake up your partner.”
“We’re not lying,” he said softly as she slipped out of the car. Lennox didn’t pause that time. Instead she strode straight towards the entrance at the other end of the lot and the pounding pulse of music throbbing inside the building.
Tegan snagged hold of Kanon’s shoulder and shook him awake. “Let’s go.”
He didn’t give Kanon a chance to catch his bearings. Tegan was out of the car and after her. He doubted she’d driven all the way out here not to give them a chance, but if she called in another Hound, Tegan doubted they’d be as willing to listen.
He hadn’t really expected Lennox to give them a shot.
Tegan caught up with her just as the bouncer cleared her ID. Jerry waved him through with a grin. “Hey Te, where’s Kanon?”
He forced a smile. “Trying to catch up.”
Then he slipped into the crowd behind Lennox and slowly angled his body around hers to steer her towards the bar. Her lips thinned a little, but he led her straight for the curve of marble countertop, pulling out a stool for her. Lennox neatly sidestepped and gestured to it. “Have a seat.”
She yanked out her own stool, a predatory flash in her eyes.
“All right, big girl can take care of herself. Gotcha.”
Tegan straddled the stool as Lennox took the one next to him, her head lifted as she surveyed the club. Tegan started to call Tristan over when a hand slipped down his back. “Hey handsome.”
Definitely not Lennox. Perfectly manicured fingertips dug into his chest as a blonde woman sidled up to the bar. He recognized her. A regular who normally spent her nights trying to lure Kanon, him, or some other poor schmuck home with her. Her nails dug a little deeper, the tips sharpened into claws, and he could smell the cat on her. Not lion, but something.
“Name’s Lia, wanna play?”
Kanon gave a low chuff from behind her. “I thought we were here on business only.”
“We are,” Tegan said and carefully unhooked her hand from his shirt. “Sorry sweetheart, maybe another night.”
Lennox leaned against the bar. “Was she here that night?”
“What night?” A big, burly teddy bear of a man said and Tegan grinned. Metro’s owner, Tristan Hale, leaned against the other side of the bar, chin resting on his knuckles as he focused those dark almond eyes on Lennox. He knew Tristan would recognize a Hound in his club in an instant.
“And for the record, she’s got meow tattooed over her ass,” Tristan said. “Though rumor has it she’s a good lay.”
Tegan laughed. “Not your type either, eh?”
“Mine, maybe. If she didn’t reek of desperation. Caro’s though, no. She likes her women with more...everything.” Tristan tapped his temple. “Especially in the brains department.”
Lennox leaned forward against the counter and cleared her throat, Tristan’s attention immediately jumped back to her. He grinned, but it didn’t reach his eyes. The merry amusement he’d had when looking at Tegan faded fast. Tristan never had liked Hounds in his bar. “Didn’t know you boys did dogs.”
“They don’t.” She flipped open a black leather case, her Shifter Town Enforcement badge flashing in the dim fluorescents.
“I already knew that, girl, just by the smell of you. Mind telling me what you’re here for?” Tristan waved towards her badge. “And you can put that away. No reason to scare people. I’ll answer your questions without the threat.”
“I’d like to ask you a few questions about last Wednesday night, if you were here.”
“About what?”
“The fight between Mr. Reyes here and one of the Idaho Hounds, Nick Jensen.”
“Couldn’t tell you the dog’s name, but I know the fight.” Tristan said, just as a rich, smoky laugh filled the air behind them.
Tegan turned to see Caro as she appeared behind Kanon, an arm wrapped around his shoulders. She smooched a kiss on his cheek and leaned over to give Tegan one too. “You mean the fight where your dog shows up and sucker punches Kanon?”
“That’s what I’m here to find out. I’d like signed statements from witnesses willing to give written testimony on what happened that night. Mr. Reyes has already been brought up on charges. I don’t like to arrest innocent men.”
“And you drove down here on the chance that Kanon might be innocent?”
Lennox stiffened at the slight mockery in Caro’s voice. The she-wolf didn’t trust a Hound any more than the average shifter, but Tegan found himself wanting to step between them anyway. Lennox had come this far on a lark. She didn’t deserve the mockery for it.
“Caro,” Tegan said, his voice soft with the edge of a growl.
Lennox lifted her head a notch, unyielding. “After both of them assured me that there would be witnesses here to back up their statements, yes.”
He watched as Caro took that bit of information in. The scorn fading to surprise in Carolyn Hale’s eyes, then finally, she gave a slow nod. “I’d be willing to give a statement on what happened.”
Tristan gave a gruff assent from behind the bar. “So would I.”
He shrugged. “Here’s the deal, these two boys, they’re damn good men. I’ve never had trouble with them. I wouldn’t have even reported the fight if it hadn’t been a Hound on the other end, and when I reported it, I made it clear it wasn’t Kanon who started it.”
“We both witnessed it, as did Aibileen, one of our waitresses. She’s working tonight too. She’ll be willing to testify. Though it does make me wonder what happened to our last report.” Caro didn’t bother to hide the sarcasm there, or the roll of her eyes as she glanced over her shoulder at Tegan.
“You’d have thought this would all already be in the initial report.” She kept her voice sugary sweet, when Tega
n knew exactly what she was thinking. Since when was Enforcement on their side? Tegan watched as Tristan pressed a hand to the small of Caro’s back before ushering both his wife and Lennox towards the back room. He flashed a grin over his shoulder. “You boys have fun; we’ll put the dog to work.”
If Lennox heard, she didn’t look back. Kanon gave a low rumble of laughter from Tegan’s side. “Works for me.”
Tegan caught Kanon by the hand and tugged him off the barstool after him.
“Me too.” A wicked gleam flashed in his eyes as Tegan pulled his partner close. “Might as well get some time on the dance floor.”
Kanon leaned in to ghost a kiss across his lips. “Think I’m safe?”
The whisper tingled across Tegan’s mouth, a faint echo of the warmth left from Kanon’s kiss and he leaned in to steal a second. “I hope so.”
But at least here, they had a running start from the Idaho Hounds if for whatever reason Lennox didn’t believe them. And Tegan had no problem bailing. He wasn’t about to lose Kanon over something stupid. “If not, we can live in the woods. Eat deer for the rest of our lives.”
“I’m gonna miss TV.” Kanon winked, pulling him closer. They swayed together under the slow pulse of the beat, but Tegan felt the uneasy prickle of hair lifting down the back of his neck. Kanon’s head dropped to rest on his shoulder. “Why do I feel like I’m still waiting for a silver bullet?”
Tegan’s stomach knotted. He didn’t know. He kept waiting for the crack of a gunshot to sound over the music. For Hounds to howl as they burst into the club. He pulled Kanon tighter and they circled again. The song droned on, a soft melody that hummed through the air. Soon Lennox would have her statements and it would all be over, as if nothing had happened. Her tension from the car had already lifted, he’d felt it the moment Tristan and Caro had agreed to give their statements. It had been simple.
Tegan stumbled over a pause in the music.
That was why.
It was almost too easy.
Chapter Three
Lennox leaned back in the rickety chair, the twin statements drafted out longhand in front of her. It was about as good as it got. She wouldn’t even have to call for backup. She’d be damned, but the lions had been telling the truth after all. That wasn’t exactly something that happened every day.
“You mentioned a third?”
Tristan nodded. “Aibileen Walters. The boys can show you to her. She’s working the tables tonight, but I’m sure she’ll be willing to give you a statement. She’s worked here almost as long as I’ve had the place open and knows them both well. Everyone here does.”
Lennox glanced down at the signatures at the bottom of the paper, both signed with Ridgemont Pack Alpha shortly following their names. “Please tell me she’s not a wolf.”
It wouldn’t do to have everyone be from the same pack. They may not be lions, but the more variety she had in her testimonies the better.
Tristan shook his head. “Snake.”
That would do for neutral enough. In a shifter bar, she wasn’t going to get a human statement, and the two other pack members that had been with Nick that night had corroborated his story. Lennox would have to see if they broke under Torres and Bree later, but at least testimony from a few other shifters working the club that night would temporarily let Kanon off the hook.
“And by all means, stick around and have a few drinks.” Tristan stood and placed a beefy hand on her shoulder. She tilted her head up to look at him, his soft brown eyes almost tender as they stared down at her. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned running this place, it’s that you Hounds don’t relax enough.”
Caro gave a low laugh. “Hell, she’s the first halfway sane one we’ve seen in a long time. Always wound too tight.”
Lennox smiled. “Most of us live for our jobs.”
Which was true enough. The packs were family, and Lennox loved a good job. She liked to have a cause to work for, and up until Tegan had strode through that door she’d been loving the idea of tackling another lion and shuffling his ass off to jail.
It was a challenge and one Lennox loved.
“Yeah, well the rest of us free spirits live for the simpler things in life. Laughter, song, a good drink, and occasionally,” Caro paused to wink, “A good lay.”
The woman patted her shoulder and headed back out to the club. There wasn’t much Lennox could have said to that so she shook her head and rose. Extending her hand to Tristan, she rustled up a smile. “Thanks for your time.”
“Any time. Though, I have to say, I’d much rather next time be on more pleasant circumstances.”
He ushered her back out from behind the bar. The rainbow of flashing lights skidded over the dance floor but Lennox spotted the pair of lions at the far corner, writhing against each other in time with the music. Kanon’s hand wrapped tight around Tegan’s hip, they were drawn together from groin to chest, their heads cradling one another as they danced.
Her throat went dry.
She could see the flex of muscle down Tegan’s back, the way Kanon’s fingertips played over the grooves as they swayed together. Tegan tilted his head a little and Kanon’s lips found his pulse. Just a quick nip of teeth a little too long to be human but her knees weakened.
“You should take my advice,” Caro said from behind the bar.
Lennox twisted to face her, heat scalding up her neck but the blonde haired woman held out a beer. Her soft, pink lips curled in a genuine smile. “Have a drink, get some nerves, and take the rest of the night off. Might as well. You got what you were coming for.”
She gestured towards the papers in Lennox’s hand.
“There’s no harm in getting a little extra.”
Except, she didn’t do lions, or bad boys, or anything the two of those men stood for. Hell. She definitely didn’t do two men. One woman, two men, it always ended in a nasty scrap. She’d seen it happen one too many times. Lennox liked her relationships uncomplicated. Good guys with good, stable jobs and in no other relationships.
Still, she took the beer. One drink wouldn’t kill her and she still needed to find the snake. “Thanks.”
Draining a gulp, Lennox headed for the pair of dancing lions, this time writhing faster with the hip hop beat pouring out of the speakers. Off limits as they were, they sure as hell were good eye candy.
Lennox shook her head and lifted the bottle to her lips again, freezing as a cool wisp of magick floated across her face. She twisted in place to look around, half expecting to see another Hound. Nothing. Probably a witch then. They weren’t unpopular in shifter bars, since shifters were more likely to tolerate a magick user than the average-Joe human. She shook it off and continued striding towards the dancing men at the far end of the bar.
They didn’t notice her, their eyes closed as they moved together, laughing grins stretched over their faces. She didn’t miss the wrinkles of relief tucked around the edges of their closed eyes or the looseness of their muscles as they danced.
Hell. She didn’t miss much of their muscles either. Rather, she noticed every damn one. Kanon had a nice ass too. Lennox took another swallow. Liquid courage by all means tonight.
“Enjoying yourselves?” The question slipped out before she could second guess herself, and they both jerked their heads up at the sound of her voice.
They didn’t, however, stop dancing.
“You get what you needed?”
“Just need one from the snake and I’m good to go.”
Kanon turned, dropping one arm from Tegan’s back and he reached for her. “Aibileen’s on duty ‘til three. You can dance a few rounds before then.”
His grin turned wicked then. All pure, sweet, sensual sin and Lennox thought about running. Dodging right back out to her car and leaving them both stranded here.
Yeah. Some big, bad Enforcement Hound she was.
Kanon’s hand found her waist, curving gently over her hip and Lennox lifted an eyebrow. Daring, without moving. She was not going to run.
She was a ridgeback and one of the top Enforcement Hounds in the country. Lennox Donnelly didn’t run.
Tegan’s hand slipped around her other hip.
Lennox swallowed. Besides, backing up now would definitely be showing fear.
They eased closer and her back locked up as a shiver skated down her spine. The pair of them were built like tanks. Muscled, gorgeous, tanks.
Kanon bumped her shoulder with his. “You should dance with us.”
“Yeah,” Tegan whispered.
She sucked in a hard breath, “I don’t think that’d be smart.”
“Why?” Tegan nudged her hip with his, his arm sliding around her waist. “Kanon’s off the hook, innocent. We’re here with a good chunk of the night left to spend. Why waste it?”
“Wanna bet if we were Hounds she’d already be on the dance floor?” Kanon’s eyes locked with hers, accusing, even as the words came off light. But he was right. If she’d been off duty and one of the Hounds had asked her to dance...why not?
“Discriminating,” Tegan murmured, his lips curved into a soft smile as he laid a kiss against the edge of her jaw. She jumped at the touch, but there was nowhere to go.
“No. You’re just in my space.” Her voice shook a little as she said it.
“Then back up.” Another kiss.
“Unless you like us in your space.” Kanon’s gaze dropped to her lips just as Tegan kissed the swell of her neck.
Lennox tightened her grip on her beer and tried to think of what to say, but she kept staring at Kanon’s eyes, his gaze locked on her lips and she wanted him to kiss her. As stupid as it was, it wasn’t like he was a criminal anymore and she wanted to try a lion.
“Lennox,” Tegan whispered. “You gonna back up yet?”
She swallowed, shaky. “No. But I might smash this bottle upside your head.”
She felt them both pause, Kanon’s gaze lifting to meet hers. Reevaluating. She had a choice. Tuck tail and run or stand and fight.
She’d always been more of a fighting kind of woman.
Lennox pressed her beer bottle into Kanon’s free hand, grabbed hold of his shirt and yanked his lips down against hers. Kanon’s kiss was exactly like she’d imagined. Hard, dominant. Hot. He kissed feverishly, furiously, and she stretched up on her tip toes to meet him completely. Her tongue sparred with his, desperate, wild. A little like the Hound who’d just tossed out the rule book.