“After seeing you slam my father’s head with that door?”

“That was an accident . . . so maybe you shouldn’t smile about it.”

“Can’t help it.” He kissed her, feeling nothing but hope at the way her body kind of melted into his. When they finally stopped, Ric pressed his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. The She-wolf let him stay that way for several minutes until his soul had calmed, his desire to shift and run until he hit Jersey throttling down to a tolerable hum of awareness.

“Come back to my place when you’re done,” he told her.

“All right.”

He stepped away from her, knowing he had to let her go. “Come inside and tell me what’s going on first and I’ll give you a set of keys for my apartment.” Something he’d forgotten to do earlier.

She smirked. “Keys? What do I need keys for?”

“So you can at least pretend you’re not breaking and entering?”

“If you’re going to be particular about it.”

Laughing, Ric headed to the alley door. “Come on.”

“Yeah. Give me a minute.”

“Sure.”

Ric reached for the door but stopped and faced Dee again. He returned to her side and stared at her.

She blinked. “What?”

“Dee-Ann,” he told her, “it’s me.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Do I really need to call your mother about this?”

She snarled at him. “Sometimes you are just mean! ” She slapped the cigarette back into his hand. “How did you know anyway?”

“I could see it in your eyes when I came back over. This cigarette was going down. How long?” he asked and she knew what he meant.

“Since I got home from the Marines and Momma caught me smoking behind the barn. She slapped that cigarette from my hand and threatened bodily harm on her only child—all while crying.”

“It was the crying, wasn’t it?”

“Of course it was the crying. There’s some things I simply can’t tolerate. Wild dog howling, zebra, Teacup”—Ric threw his hands up at that—“and seeing my momma cry.”

“Since my mother also would be destroyed by her youngest taking up smoking again, we’ll make a deal.” Ric crumpled the cigarette in his hands until it was nothing but bits of paper and tobacco. “If we think about starting up again, we’ll call each other.”

“And chat about it like girlfriends?”

“Only after we talk about what Prada is coming out with in their latest fall shoe line.” When she only stared at him, Ric quickly added, “I’m kidding. I’m kidding. I don’t wear Prada. They make my ankles look fat.”

She turned away from him, walking to the door.

“I saw that smile, Dee-Ann. You can’t hide it from me.”

CHAPTER 16

T hey’d handpicked their teams. Three from each group, the people they most trusted when it came to skill set and the ability to keep their mouths shut. Plus, the order was they were to call no one.

Not their mate, their best friend, their mom. No one.

Only the three supervisors who’d put the team together knew anything and they weren’t telling even their own bosses.

Using a tip from Desiree’s ASPCA contact, they’d come to this warehouse out in an industrial area on Long Island, not far from Malone’s home off the Meadowbrook State Parkway. Something that annoyed the She-tiger immensely.

It was nearly ten by the time they parked their vehicles and made their way down the street, keeping to the shadows. The felines took to the roofs; the grizzly, wolf, and coyote that Dee brought stayed close to her; and the three cops—two wolves and a fox because she was such a dog person—Desiree had rounded up circled behind the warehouse to come in the back way.

Dee, Malone, and Desiree went toward the front. Dee would admit she’d been a little worried about bringing Desiree along. She was the only full-human among them, but once she had her bulletproof vest on and more weapons than seemed authorized by the NYPD, Dee stopped worrying.

The girl was a Marine down to her toes and that’s all Dee needed to know.

Using hand signals, Dee motioned for Desiree to head left, Malone right. She went straight for the front door, still using the shadows. She could hear the cheers and yelling coming from the other side, but it didn’t block out the howls, roars, and whimpers. She was a few feet from the building when the door opened.

Dee dashed off to the side as a man walked out, already reaching for his zipper so he could unleash and piss in the first bush or open car window he could find. Dee waited until he’d passed her before she grabbed him from behind, twisting his head and snapping his neck. She pulled the body back and dropped him off to the side. She went back into the shadows and inched up to one of the windows, working hard to peer through all the dirt. She saw about fifty full-humans making up the bloodthirsty viewing crowd and another fifteen armed men, keeping everyone in control. They all surrounded a makeshift pit where a fight raged between what appeared to be a feline hybrid and a canine mix.

Standing by a set of stairs that led to the roof were two more men. One was counting the entry money and another was watching him, smoking a cigar. And she knew that was the one she wanted.

Deciding she’d seen enough, Dee crouched low and indicated with hand signals what they were about to face. Both females nodded, and Dee moved in front of the door. It opened again, an armed male coming out this time. She caught him by the face, shoving him back into the building. She raised her automatic weapon and shot through him. Most of the audience bolted for the back door—where Desiree’s team waited. So Dee wished them good luck on that .