Bound to the Tribe (Bound to the Pack, #2) (6 page)

Fortunately Liam didn’t want to dance either, at least not this kind of dancing. He apparently knew how to waltz and he stared once at the dancers and shook his head, frowning. We ended up having a wonderful time just sitting at our table and talking.

Well, I talked. He just kept staring at me and telling me how beautiful I was. I could have listened to that all night without getting tired of hearing him say it.

I had never really cared to dress up before, but it seemed like it was worth the effort if it caused him to act like this. He obviously wanted to take me right then and there, but couldn’t with the growing crowd, and it was driving him even more crazy.

Teasing him all day had brought me a pleasure all my own.

One surprising side effect of not dancing with Liam was that any time he left to get another round of drinks or to use the bathroom, someone would inevitably appear next to me as if by magic. Sometimes more than one would approach me together.

They were all obviously shifters and they all asked me to dance, though I always declined. They would nod, smile, and walk away.

Many came back again and again.

I was surprised at how polite they all seemed and, as crazy as it was, I found myself actually enjoying the attention. It seemed like a game and I found myself laughing when I said no to one of them for the fifth time.

They would always melt back into the crowd like fog in the sunlight when Liam was on his way back. It made for an interesting night.

Kris had come over at one point to tell me that I was the talk of the club. One of the few humans there and looking positively gorgeous. I couldn’t help but laugh at that, but Kris told me it was the truth so I just shrugged and kept laughing. I was apparently doing
something
right.

Kris and Troy eventually came back to sit with Liam and I, having danced off their stress and worry, apparently. Troy and Liam even seemed to have forgotten their mutual dislike of each other, they were sharing stories and laughing instead of trying to one up each other.

A short time later a female shifter approached Kristen smiling widely. Kris stood and hugged her, then listened as she spoke. I was too far away to make out what was said but it was apparently good news.

After a hug goodbye, the shifter left and Kris sat back down, smiling. “They’ll look around for a safe place for us to go to ground. We should know where in a day or two.”

“Excellent! This calls for a celebratory round!” Troy stood and went to get yet another round of shots from the mousey bartender. I had a fit of giggles that turned into a gasping for air laugh when I thought about a were
mouse
then realized he
was
one.

Once that image took hold I couldn’t stop laughing.

As the night went on well past midnight and the crowd kept growing I noticed more and more variety in the patrons. It seemed that this was a popular destination for shifters from all over, not just the locals.

I saw a few foxes, some rabbits, even what looked to be a pride of lions. A group of cougars came by and Troy studiously ignored them. I thought I even saw a sloth.

Over in one corner was what looked to be a gang of shifter punks that stood out like a sore thumb, having put zero effort into dressing up for the night. Kris verified what my new found sense had told me; they were coyotes.

Coyotes apparently weren’t well liked, an open area around them kept them apart from the crowd they stood in. The bubble of space even moved when they did.

I thought no more of them until I came face to face with the lot when leaving the bathroom. They were all standing in the way and staring at me, it made me extremely uncomfortable. None of them were particularly large or muscle bound, but having a dozen or so in my way was intimidating.

“Excuse me.” I tried to find a path through them all.

“What’s the hurry babe?” One grinned a toothy smile.

“Please, just let me through.” Something felt off. I was in danger, I wanted to get back to my friends.

“Now now, what’s the rush? We just wanna...” He looked me up and down, licking his lip. “Talk.” His smile was positively evil.

“Yeah, well, I don’t.” I tried to force my way through but they wouldn’t budge.

One finally pushed me back towards the wall and laughed. “Is that any way for you to talk to your betters, bitch?” The first one scowled at me and I felt real fear creeping up inside. “And here we was, gonna let you take care of us all! Where’s your gratitude, eh?”

They were all leering at me and I felt terror rising. They had drawn a small crowd but nobody seemed willing to help. I didn’t recognize any of the faces, but I thought I saw someone going for the exit, hopefully to fetch the bouncers. I had to stall them somehow, give the bouncers some time.

“Listen, my mate...” I saw stars as his slap caught my cheek. It was more surprising and insulting than painful and my fear was suddenly falling away, replaced by anger as I straightened and glared at him.

“We don’t give a rat’s ass about your sad little mate, right? No more talkin' from you less we tell ya to. Now. How we see it is simple.” The whole pack of them grinned in unison, choreographed out of a nightmare. “You came to our club, obviously looking for something.” His leer said enough. “Imagine your luck that you managed to get
all
of us!” That grin turned my stomach, but my anger was still overpowering any fear I felt.

The coyote before me turned to nod at one of the others, before pointing to the bathroom door. “Clear it out.”

Taking the opportunity, I brought my leg straight up between the scrawny shit’s legs. The bulge of his eyes was priceless.

I didn’t even see him move but felt a double slap that left my head spinning. He leaned forward as I shook my head, trying to clear it. “Oh, you gonna pay for that one, girl. Yes, you very much will.”

I opened my mouth to yell for help but he was too fast. His hand clamped over my face and slammed me back against the wall hard enough that my teeth rattled. I felt tears welling up as his fingers dug into my cheeks, lifting me up off the ground with one hand as the rest of his gang closed in around us.

“We’ll have a use of that mouth of yours soon enough love, but first...” He leaned in, eyes full of dark promises and opening his mouth to display inhumanly sharp teeth.

Then he was gone.

His hand no longer holding me up, my heels hit the floor and I stumbled back against the wall, using it for support as I regained my balance.

I looked around in a panic. The scene was frozen in time like a photo. All the remaining coyotes were staring in shock at the massive form of Liam, his face contorted in pure anger.

Breathing easier for the first time in what felt like forever I followed his gaze to the crumpled form of my attacker. The coyote’s leader was now lying a good ten feet away, shattered and unmoving.

All hell broke loose.

The rest of the gang charged at Liam while the crowd flew back to get out of the way. I saw the bouncers pushing through the unyielding mob, trying to get to us, but they wouldn’t make it in time.

Liam simply stood in the center of it all with the gang punching and swinging at him. Their shouts were loud enough to drown out the music thumping in the background. He looked calmly down at me as if he couldn’t even feel the fists pummeling him.

Between the alcohol and his anger he probably couldn’t.

“Are you all right?” he called over the din.

I shook my head, unable to find my voice. Whatever I was right then ‘all right’ was not it.

Thinking he had been angry before was a mistake.
Now
he was angry, rage etched across his face. He turned that fury onto his attackers, unleashing a whirlwind of extreme violence on the coyotes around him.

Every swing of his clenched fists was followed almost immediately by the muffled thud of a falling body.

Within seconds the last of them lay on the floor at his feet. Most groaned and twitched, but the first still lay in that same twisted position. He was out cold, maybe even dead.

I didn’t really care which.

The bouncers arrived and looked around at the destruction appreciatively as a few other employees arrived and began dragging the gang outside one by one. The tiger bouncer looked at Liam, nodded respectfully, and grabbed the ankles of two of the unconscious shifters and dragged them away.

“You know, that was some amazing action.” The bear shook Liam’s hand. “If you’re ever looking for human work, I think you’d do well as a bouncer.” With that he grabbed two of his own coyotes to drag out.

Kristen and Troy forced their way through the gathered crowd and attempted to comfort me, but I wasn’t really able to focus on their words as Liam walked over. He tread on floor and shifter alike, uncaring, as he made the most direct path to me as possible.

Without saying a word he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into his chest protectively, possessively. I began to shake as the adrenaline and emotions of the encounter ran through my body. He held me till I calmed enough to function on my own.

Stepping back I found the bartender at my side, handing me a full glass of an amber liquid before smiling apologetically. “Drink up, it’ll help,” he gestured at the glass, then looked to Liam. “I’ve never seen anyone move so fast. Word had barely reached us that the coyotes were up to something before you put them down. Couldn’t have been much more than a minute tops, start to finish.” He patted Liam on the back, gave me another smile, and turned to head back to his post.

A minute? It had felt like an eternity.

Kris walked over with the woman from earlier, she was looking down at the last of the gang as they were being dragged out. “Thanks for that,” the woman said. “We’ve been having some minor trouble with them for months now, but couldn’t ‘officially’ do anything. The local tribe keeps this place open to all, regardless. I just run the place.” She nodded to Liam. “The house will cover your table’s tab. Thanks.”

Kris took my arm as her friend left, barking orders at a few of the kitchen staff who were taking the opportunity to goof off. The next thing I knew I was sitting at our table again, the glass I had been given was mysteriously empty.

“It’s probably about time for us to head back to our hotel.” Kris was watching me, concerned.

“Good idea, and I’ll be fine. I just had a scare.” I smiled at her to show I was ok, it didn’t ease her concerns.

“At least you’ve got enough alcohol in you to help.” She looked over at Liam. “You’ll need to take care...” her voice trailed off into a sigh. Liam was staring blankly at nothing, eyes glazed over, mouth drooping, and swaying in his chair.

He was shit faced.

“Right,” she sighed as she stood. “Well, let’s get some sleep at least. We’ll see how you guys are in the morning.”

The ride back to the hotel was somber. Kris was fretting over me the entire ride as Troy attempted to get her attention fruitlessly, eventually giving up and sulking. Liam’s head bounced against the passenger window causing the cabby to glare at him with every whack.

I was definitely starting to feel the alcohol.

When we arrived at the hotel we said our good-nights in the elevator, Liam swaying dangerously, his eyes blinking independently of each other.

Thinking I’d have to carry him to the room somehow, I was surprised when he made it all the way there on his own. He leaned against the doorjamb and closed his eyes as I unlocked the door. Hopefully he wouldn’t just drop inside when I opened it.

Watching him warily as I stepped inside, I had no warning before, for the second time that night, a hand closed over my mouth.

Screaming uselessly, I looked around in a panic and found several extremely large well-dressed men, no, shifters, situated around my hotel room.

One of them stepped forward and addressed the very drunk Liam. “Liam, you are summoned. We have been sent to bring you and the human back for judgment by the council.” The shifter’s voice was firm, confident.

Liam looked up from the door frame, took in the scene, my struggling against the shifter behind me, and summed up the night perfectly.

“Well. Fuck.”

Liam

W
aking up was a slow ordeal.

Mainly because I truly didn’t want to. The closer I was to consciousness, the more aware I became about how truly uncomfortable I was.

My head was filled with a dull throbbing ache, my stomach kept doing flips, and my mouth felt like I had eaten a beach. My entire torso mysteriously felt on fire as well. What had happened?

Inhaling slowly, deeply, I caught the scent of Jen immediately, then two shifters that smelled somehow exotic. I couldn’t place their scent and that worried me.

I was also able to verify my suspicions; we were in a car. Jens scent was a mixture of both worry and relief as I sat up straighter and rubbed the sleep from my eyes.

Or at least, I attempted to.

I was restrained in ‘shifter shackles.’ A mixture of leather and metal that ran over my shoulders, under my legs, and had my forearms bound to the chest piece. Attempting to shift while locked inside one of these would cause severe injury, possibly even death.

I blew out a sigh and tried to clear my head. There were no memories of how we ended up here, in fact, there seemed to be huge gaps in my recollections of events at the club.

“How are you feeling? Are you ok?” Jen asked quietly, sliding closer and smelling strongly of the concern that was etched on her face. What did I look like to get that kind of reaction from her?

“I feel terrible.” Talking was difficult through the desert that was my mouth. “What happened?” Trying to find a comfortable position in the shackles was pointless, so I gave up. They hadn’t needed to make it so tight.

“You were in a fight at the club,” Jen watched me with worry, “You took a lot of hits but didn’t seem to care at the time.” She reached out and touched my side lightly, I suppressed a wince.

“That would explain why my chest feels as it does.” I was likely bruised from neck to waist. “How did we end up here?” I looked out the window in a failed attempt to get my bearings.