“…but we’re still not certain about weredolphins and wereorcas. What do you think?”

Julian knew he’d scared the hell out of Cyn, but it was all just too much. First Glory was shot, then Marie, but the vision of Cyn lying dead in his arms had been the final straw. He just couldn’t contain his fear.

Hell. If Ryan and Alex found out he’d cried he’d be forced to turn in his man card. He’d be getting Judy Garland movies every Christmas for the rest of his life.

“Are you serious?” Micah’s jaw seemed to be permanently unhinged if the way his mouth remained open was any indication.

Julian barely heard the shattering of glass, the cracking sound of the gunshot. All that registered was the sudden flaring pain radiating from Micah. The Marietta Alpha staggered and grabbed his bleeding shoulder. Without thought Julian extended his power toward the wounded man, beginning the process of healing. It was a through-and-through, thank the ancestors. The only concern would be infection.

“Down!” Cyn grabbed him and tossed herself on top of him, breaking his connection to the healing path. Micah fell to the ground as outside the shop the world erupted, cops shouting for the shooter to show himself. All the cops surrounding Cyn were Pumas; Julian didn’t think he’d be getting away.

“Jesus. You weren’t kidding when you said someone was trying to kill you.” Micah crawled toward them, his expression a mask of pain.

“No shit.” Julian pushed Cyn off of him. Where the hell did she get off covering him? It was his job to protect her, not the other way around. “We need to get out of here.” He began crawling on his belly toward the back of the shop, heading for the employee area and the back door.

“Aren’t you the one who said ‘sit tight’?” Cyn was following him closely even as she questioned him.

“The shooter has to be out front still. No way can he get past the Pumas guarding you. But in front of those windows he can take more shots at us.”

“He’s right. My dad was always one hell of a hunter. Don’t trust that he’ll stay put, either. He’ll be running for the hills, hoping to get another shot at you on a different day.”

Julian pushed aside the curtain and made his way into the break room. “Do you think he’ll go after Tabby?”

“If he figures out she’s not in town? Yes.” Micah held the curtain open for Cyn, dropping it when she was safely inside.

“Rick can keep her safe. Ben and Ted won’t allow anyone to touch her, especially since she’s a Pack mate.” Julian listened, waiting for the cops to come in the shop. Eventually they’d have to tell them whether or not they’d caught the son of a bitch.

“Who are Ben and Ted?” Micah stood and brushed his jeans off.

Julian followed suit but held his hand out to assist Cyn to her feet. “Ben is the Poconos Pack Marshall and Ted is his Second.”

Micah’s hand froze on his knee. “She’s joined another Pack, then.”

“And a Pride,” Julian added.

Micah stared at him, astonished. “A Pride? How the hell did a Wolf wind up in a Pride?”

Cyn shrugged, her gaze darting around the break room as if the shooter were hiding in the cupboards. “Max likes her.”

“And she proved herself to him. He had no problems accepting her, and neither did Rick.”

Cyn grinned. “They share her.”

Micah looked horrified. “How do their mates feel about that?”

Cyn and Julian gaped at him. He could not mean what Julian thought he did. “Are you nuts? Emma and Belle would eviscerate anyone who touched Max or Rick.”

“They share her as a Pack mate, not a fuck toy.” Cyn snarled. “What kind of Pack do you run, anyway?”

Micah had the grace to look sheepish. “Sorry. It’s just…some of the things my dad forced us to do were horrible. Sharing a female, whether mated or not, wasn’t uncommon.”

Forcing someone to have sex with a person who wasn’t their mate wasn’t possible for a male, and tantamount to rape for a female, once the bond was established. The old Alpha had to be one sick son of a bitch to do that. “Your father wasn’t mated to your mother, was he?”

“How did you know?”

“Lucky guess.” Julian flinched at the sound of another gunshot. “Shit. They have to catch this asshole.”

“At least this isn’t a residential area. Even the restaurants close down by six.” Cyn rolled her eyes at him as she stepped around him. She peeked around the curtain, pulling back as another shot was fired. “Yeah. I think we need to stay in here.”

They hunkered down in the break room, keeping out of sight. At least Julian was certain Cyn was safe. She was whistling and tapping her fingers, restless as she never was. She was hating the fact that they were pinned down, helpless to stop the man who’d shot Glory.

Micah frowned curiously at Cyn. “Why are you whistling the Hawaii Five-O theme?”

Cyn blinked and stopped whistling, but her fingers continued to twitch restlessly. “No reason.”

After a few minutes, Micah held up his hand. “Shh. Hear that?”

Julian cocked his head, trying to hear what had Micah quivering with tension.

“No sound.” Cyn closed her eyes and tilted her head. “I can’t hear anything.”

Julian slipped out of the break room. Something was very wrong. “Stay put.”

Cyn took a step toward him. “No.”

“Cyn.” He pressed a hard kiss to her lips before shoving her back into the break room. “You have to stay safe.”

“Ditto.”

He glared at her. No way was she leaving the protection of the break room. “Don’t make me use the voice.”

She blew her bangs out of her eyes and glared back. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t follow your ass.”

“Because I don’t want to watch you die.”

Chapter Twenty

She watched Julian stalk out of the break room and out through the curtain at the front of the shop. “What is he doing?”

“Checking things out, I’d assume.” Micah leaned back against the break table and sighed. “Look, as much as I’d like to get my hands on my dad and kick his ass again, if he’s somewhere with a rifle we won’t get to him before he can take us out. Let me guess. You’ve been playing bait?”

“Yup.” She leaned against the doorjamb. She might not go chasing after her mate, but hell if she was going to cower in the room. “Do you have any idea why your dad would go after Glory and I? If he’s after Tabby, why not just shoot at her?”

“He’s a vindictive son of a bitch. To tell you the truth, I’ve been waiting for him to come after me all this time.” Micah shrugged. “How close are you to Tabby?”

“We’re family.” Cyn shot him a glance. “You’re kidding me. That’s why?”

Micah nodded. “He’ll want her to hurt before he kills her.”

She stared at him, appalled. “He’s done this before.”

“And I found out, took his Pack from him, and Outcast him for it.”

“Why didn’t anyone stop him?”

His answering grin was sour. “He was Alpha. No one was strong enough to stop him. Hell, I’m not sure his Beta wasn’t in on it, but without proof I couldn’t Outcast him. I constantly have to watch him, make sure he isn’t stirring up shit. The Omega was kept constantly drugged, and is just now getting over it with intensive therapy. He’ll never be who he was before he became my dad’s Omega. They broke him. The only thing I can do for him is keep the old Beta away from him, just in case. And the Marshall was a sadistic son of a bitch who died shortly after I Outcast my dad. He challenged me for the Pack and lost.”

“Wow. Makes me glad I’m not a Wolf.”

“Sometimes I wish I wasn’t. Being a Tiger sounds really good some days. No Pack politics, just big-ass teeth and a pissy attitude.” He stood and made his way to the door. “He’s been gone a long time.”

“The front of the shop isn’t that big.”

His brows rose. “Want to check things out?”

“Hell yes.” Cyn pulled aside the curtain and stepped into the main part of the shop. “Julian?”