“Did you check the yard?” Cella asked her mother.

“We haven’t searched it, but I’m sure I’d spot that many people standing in our backyard from the dining room window.”

Cella looked at Dee-Ann, and they both jumped from the stone wall and ran around the house to the backyard.

Her parents’ house was surrounded by Malone family homes on both sides and in the back. So Cella assumed that the badgers must have just snuck out that way rather than going through the front. She decided to ask the uncle who lived behind her parents first, since she could see him in his backyard taking out the trash. But as Cella ran across the yard, she felt the earth go out from underneath her and used the power of her legs to launch her body across the yard. She landed a good ten feet away and spun around to see that Smith had not been so lucky.

Cella ran back, stopping at the edge of what she realized now was a pit in her parents’ backyard. A pit Dee-Ann Smith had fallen into face-first.

Crouching, Cella looked down at the poor She-wolf just getting back to her feet. “Are you okay?”

“Why is there a pit in your backyard, Malone?”

“There wasn’t.” She gestured with an arm wave. “Look behind you.”

Smith did. Then, with her arms thrown up, she exclaimed, “They burrowed out of here?” Dee-Ann looked at Cella. “Burrowed?”

“Clearly this whole thing doesn’t sit right with the honey badgers, either.”

“Or Vic. He and that giant panda went through here, too.”

“Any suggestions where we go from here?”

Smith held up her finger, and still facing Cella, she jumped up and back. A skill only the She-wolf shifters seemed to have.

Landing on the side of the pit, Smith stood and lifted her nose to the air. She sniffed a few times, then headed over to Jai’s house, on the right side of Cella’s. Jai and her family were the only people unrelated by blood or marriage to the Malones allowed to live on this street.

When they reached Jai’s backyard, they found her, Blayne, Bo, Gwen, and Lock sitting at the patio table drinking big mugs of hot chocolate.

Smith stopped in front of the table. “Where are they?”

“Where’s who?” Blayne asked, looking particularly sweet. Something that Cella was certain was only going to piss Dee-Ann off.

Smith took an aggressive step. “Now listen to me, poodle—”

Bo slammed his fist on the table, which was thankfully made of stone rather than wood. “Tone,” he snarled at Dee-Ann.

The She-wolf’s eyes narrowed, and Cella quickly stepped in front of her while Jai softly excused herself, picked up her mug of hot chocolate, and went back into her house. She stood by the open sliding-glass doors so she could watch the entertainment, but she was a mountain lion.She wasn’t about to get into the middle of a predator fight unless she absolutely had to.

“We’re all friends here,” Cella reminded everyone. “So let’s calm the hell down.” Cella took a breath. “We just want to know where we can find Livy and Vic. We really need to talk to them.” The small group, three of which were hybrids, stared at Cella but didn’t say anything. “Are you really not going to tell us?” Cella demanded. “I’m your coach,” she reminded Bo and Lock.

“But you’re not asking as our coach,” Bo said. “Our coach doesn’t care because Vic and Livy don’t play for her team.”

“You guys, we just want to help.”

“Then leave them alone,” Lock suggested, his shoulders hunched. “I’m sure if at some point the honey badgers need you, we’ll all know.”

Yeah, but that was kind of what worried Cella. Because by the time they knew anything, it would probably already be too late.

CHAPTER 31

Livy woke up in a strange bed and she knew she’d been placed there, because she would have put herself either under the bed or in one of the kitchen cabinets.

The last thing Livy remembered was sitting next to Vic in his SUV. Her body had been exhausted and she’d felt safe, so she’d gone to sleep. And based on the sunlight peeking through the blinds, she must have slept through the night.

Naked, Livy slipped out of bed. When she stood, she immediately felt how tight her muscles had become. Especially in her right shoulder, where she’d been hit many times as the gunmen had attempted to reach her head. That was the only thing that had saved her life. No clear head shot, which was the surest and quickest way to kill a honey badger.

Starting with her neck and shoulders, Livy proceeded to stretch out all those muscles. Moving down her body until she could easily bend over at the waist and touch her toes.

Livy let out a relieved sigh. It felt good to move. Hell, it felt good to breathe. She was even looking forward to shooting Blayne’s wedding. Then again, how could she ever think to complain now? It had been MacRyrie and Novikov who’d saved her life. Their timing had prevented the head shot she’d known was coming; Novikov’s fame among the Eastern Europeans had distracted the gunman while Livy got to her feet.

Of course, her behavior after she got to her feet might be considered an overreaction by most people, but by honey badger standards, Livy was just being true to herself. She felt a little strange about it, but she didn’t feel guilty. She would never feel guilty. She was just grateful she hadn’t had to deal with the cleanup. She hated cleaning up.

Still bent over at the waist, Livy wiggled her fingers and attempted to stretch a little farther down.