T he hyenas were sent packing once the Shaw brothers joined the fray. Lion males always loving a good hyena slap-fest. The rest of the softball game went off without a hitch, the Kuznetsov Pack eking out a win, and the group returned to the house relatively unscathed, considering.

Hannah, still pissed off, had headed right to her room, slamming her door behind her. Abby trotted after her. Dee could hear her scratching at Hannah’s door until she was grudgingly let in. Dee guessed it was grudging by the annoyed sigh that she heard before the door slammed shut again.

Honestly, Abby really was more canine than human based on the level of abuse she was willing to take.

Ric had left the game before the last inning even got underway, and when they all finally made their way back to his house, he already had the barbecue pits going and poor Stein pulling together side dishes for dinner in a few hours.

Yet as soon as everyone was back, they all split off again. Sissy and Bobby Ray took a chunk of the Pack off for some hunting; a large group of the wild dogs slathered sunscreen on their pups and took them down to the beach for a few hours before dinner; Mitch and Brendon Shaw passed out in lounge chairs by Ric’s pool, under big protective umbrellas, snoring away; Blayne went running because “I have so much panicked energy after that hyena fight, I have to do something! ”; Novikov did lap after lap in the pool; Gwen and Lock took a nap in their room . . . with the door closed (didn’t really sound like they were napping, though); and Dee-Ann wandered around Ric’s house being nosey.

She simply couldn’t help herself, though. Dee had never been inside a place like this before.

Well, she’d never been invited inside a place like this in the daytime . . . without a weapon, a target, and specially designed night-vision eyewear that prevented her eyes from being seen in the dark.

Moving through the house, Dee marveled at all the space. So much room to get lost in for a social predator. Personally, Dee didn’t need all this indoor space. She didn’t need square footage. She needed acres. The three-bedroom house her parents lived in was more than enough for Dee because the house was surrounded by thirty or so acres of land. Acres that were part of a bigger Smith territory that Dee was free to run and hunt on as well.

And God help her, but some days she missed that territory more than she had a right.

Still, it was so strange being an actual invited guest in a place like this. Dee didn’t get invited to much unless her family was throwing the party, but Ric treated her like an honored guest. It made her feel special.

Taking her time, Dee explored the entire house. Funny, it was Ric’s first time staying at the place and yet the entire house had been furnished. Even his bookshelves were filled, and each of the large, flat-screen TVs had collections of DVDs nearby for random viewing. She thought of herpitiful apartment with no furniture and the growing family of steroid-using vermin and she wondered how Van Holtz managed to be so put together.

Dee headed up the stairs and down the long hallway. She could hear laughter and chatter coming from behind the doors and she smiled. She might not always feel comfortable being part of all that, but she did enjoy having it around, knowing that the people she cared for were happy and relaxed.

She passed a set of wide double doors, stumbling to a stop when one of them opened.

“Hey,” Ric said.

“Hey. Thought you were downstairs torturing your cousin.”

“That got boring. What are you doing?”

“Wandering around, being nosey.”

“Did that get boring yet?”

“Well—”

“Good.”

He caught hold of her forearm and yanked her into the bedroom, slamming the door behind them.

“Honestly,” she said when he pulled her into his arms and began walking her over to the big bed, “you have to be one of the horniest wolves I’ve ever known.”

“I can’t help myself. I’ve been waiting months to get you into my bed. Now that I’ve got you here, I’m not in the mood to let you go.”

“Don’t you have some cooking to do?”

“I don’t need to start working the grill for another hour.” He dropped them both to the bed, Ric on top of her.

Dee looped her arms around his neck. “A whole hour, huh? Now what do you think we can do for a whole hour?”

Ric jerked awake when he heard the banging on the door. “What?”

“Are we doing this or not?”

“Doing what?”

He could hear Stein sighing on the other side of the door. “Cooking food for these hungry, whining people.”

Ric glanced at the clock next to his bed. “But we still have—damn!” He sat up quickly, not realizing that Dee had been asleep on top of him until she rolled off and hit the floor.

“Dee!”

“I’m all right.” She sat up, scratching her head. “I love getting tossed out of bed like that. Makes it seem all dirty and wrong.”

“I’m sorry.” Ric slipped out of bed and helped her to her feet. Not that she needed the help, but he loved touching her. “I’ve got to get dinner on—”

“I know.” She began picking up her clothes. “Go on. I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Not spun glass, Van Holtz.”

“All right. All right. No need to get that tone.”

Ric dashed into the shower, scrubbed himself clean, and quickly put on clean jeans and a T-shirt.