Prey (The Boys of Wrath #1)

1. Books & Bikers

Chapter one

Books coffee and books. All my life, I knew I wanted to own a bookshop, and coffee is my second love, so it only made sense to combine the two. I also sell witchy stuff, but it’s not my main thing, mostly just hard to find items rather than your everyday spell use stuff.

Emmett, the manager of The Cauldron, and my best friend, is already here getting the coffee bar set up for the day. I see a few boxes set out along the shelves lining the walls which means we finally got the book shipment we’ve been waiting for. Thank the Goddess. They were two weeks late getting here because the other truck with the original shipment was involved in an accident.

“Good morning, Emmett,” I say as I set my bag down on the back counter. Reaching over, I pluck the coffee out of his hand that he just made me, looking at him over the rim of the cup. “How was your date night?” I ask, wagging my eyebrows at him. I take a sip and groan. Goddess, I love coffee.

“Shas, I swear to all the Gods, that man is going to be the death of me. I can’t keep up sometimes,” he says with a dreamy look on his face. He’s tall, with mocha skin, shoulder length dreads, and the prettiest green eyes I have ever seen. He’s a panther shifter, hence the green eyes. All the girls that come in the shop lose their shit when they see him, but he has a boyfriend and won’t give them the time of day.

Josiah chooses that very moment to walk in and Emmett blushes and wipes his hands on a towel and goes over to hug him. “We were just talking about you, Jo,” he says with a smirk.

Josiah winks at me over Emmett’s shoulder and I snort. These two love bugs give me hope for the future, though it does make me a little lonely when I think about my own love life these days, or lack thereof I should say.

My ex and I split two years ago now and it was a mutual breakup. I found out he was cheating the same day he decided to tell me he had found someone else. Coincidence? I think not. So, I mutually kicked his ass out of my apartment. I don’t know why I ever counted on it working anyway. He never even introduced me to his parents. I roll my eyes at my own na?veté.

Downing the last of my coffee, er…Emmett’s coffee that I stole from him, I push off the counter. Time to unload the boxes and open the door for the day. After grabbing the scanner for the books, I walk over to the door and turn the sign on in the window.

The first box is mostly some Magic for Dummies type stuff. How-to guides on spell casting and making potions. I don’t sell a lot of these, but enough to keep them stocked. Moving down to the next box I see the dark romance has come in. Yes! I have been waiting for these.

Hearing the front doorbell, I look up to see a guy in a hoodie come flying through the door. He looks sketchy as fuck and keeps looking behind him like someone is chasing him, so I stand and make my way over, pulling on my magic a bit just in case I need it quickly.

“Can I help you?” I ask.

“Do you have a bathroom?” He looks around as if he’s searching for it.

“We do,” I say slowly and then lie, “but it isn’t open yet. It’s temporarily closed for cleaning.”

No way am I letting this guy in there. He’s a human, and looks like he could be on drugs, maybe? The last thing I want is some guy OD’ing in my bathroom. Us supes have our own form of a police department, but they are useless. The Enforcers are corrupt, and something like a human OD’ing in the bathroom of a supe business usually doesn’t go over well. They always try to blame the vamps or magic. Then things get taken to the Convocation, which no one wants. We all live mostly peacefully together since supes came out twenty years ago, but there’s still a lot of fear.

He growls and smashes his hands into the sides of his face, almost as if he’s hitting himself, then turns and books it out of the shop and down the road. I follow swiftly behind and look out the door. What the hell was that about? Letting my magic flow back inside me, I head back in just as Emmett and Josiah come out of the back hallway.

“Was someone here?” he asks, sniffing the air. Wrinkling his nose, he says, “Um, was it a sick person? Because it smells really foul in here.”

Times like these make me so glad I don’t have a shifter’s sense of smell.

“I don’t know, honestly, he looked like he was on drugs. Asked to use the bathroom, and I told him it was closed for cleaning,” I say rolling my eyes.

In all actuality these two were probably in there. They really can’t resist sneaking off for a quick make out sesh like a couple of teenagers. We’re both thirty so we haven’t been teenagers for a long time.

“Hmm,” he says. “I don’t like it. I’ve got a weird feeling about it.”

Hearing the doorbell again, I turn to see two huge guys in biker helmets and riding gear come through the door. Taking their helmets off, they both sniff the air. What’s with all the sniffing today? That guy must really have a different scent than usual.

Both are tall. Like over six foot six or seven. One has long dirty blondish brown hair and blue eyes. The other has straight black hair pulled back in a bun and brown eyes, with a close-cut beard. They’re both the hottest men I have ever seen in my life, and my stomach flutters a little.

That’s when I notice the patches. Wrath MC. The Boys of Wrath. Unofficial enforcers of the supe community. Biker gang. Club? I’m not really sure of the correct term. When the supe police do nothing, which is a lot, these guys pick up the slack. If the Boys of Wrath are after you, it’s a done deal.

Everyone around here knows who they are. I hear Emmett whistle low as he and Josiah step up to either side of me. Shaking them off, I step forward. For some reason, I’m not scared. I probably should be, but I don’t feel a lick of fear. Huh.

Blondie says gruffly, “Where did the guy go that was just here?”

“Not sure, he came in, asked to use the bathroom. I told him no and he ran out and to the left. It was about five minutes or so ago. What do you guys want with him anyway?” I ask.

“None of your business, witch,” Blondie says, with a sneer.

Well, okay then. I know not everyone likes witches, but that was a little harsher than I usually get.

Tall, dark, and handsome steps forward, scowling at his friend. “I’m sorry, we just need to know if he said or did anything while he was here other than that?”

“No, well, when I told him no, he beat himself on the side of the head a couple times, which I thought was weird. I figured he was just an addict trying to get a fix or something. He was a human,” I say.

Nodding, he says thank you and they walk out, putting their helmets back on and head in the direction the hoodie guy went.

Emmett looks at me with his eyebrows almost to his hairline. “What?” I ask.

“Well, it may just be me, but I sensed a little bit of a change in you when those two walked through the door,” he says smirking.

Oh Goddess, please save me from these shifters and their damn noses.

“Em, we’ve talked about this before. You are my best friend, and I love you to the ends of the Earth and beyond, but we do not talk about what I smell like, when I see a hot guy, out loud,” I say with a stage whisper.

Josiah chuckles and kisses Emmett, then hugs me and heads out the front door. He usually stops for just a bit before he goes to work at his law office. He keeps weird hours because a lot of his clients are vamps. They can be out in the sun, but they are weaker, so most of them sleep during the main daylight hours and move around when the sun is getting ready to go down. The very old vamps don’t have this problem.

Once he’s gone, I head back over to the boxes and resume scanning and shelving. Em follows me, clearing his throat.

“What? So, they were hot? Blondie was a total dick though, so,” I say with a shrug.

“You really need to get out a little. You haven’t dated since Logan. It’s been two years already, Shas,” he says softly. “Just because he cheated doesn’t mean everyone will.”

I don’t want to rush. Being a witch means I have a much longer lifespan than a human, so it’s not like my clock is ticking or anything. I honestly don’t even know if I ever want to have kids. I can be a childless cat lady the rest of my life and be just fine with that. I’m lonely. But not lonely enough to chase after Blondie, or risk being cheated on again. Tall, dark, and handsome might be another story though, for a quickie.

Sighing, I turn to Em, gesturing at one of the fluffy couches we have in the sitting area. I have tried to make this place as cozy as I can. Lowish lighting—you still gotta be able to see to read—lots of plants, medicinal herbs, and a few cats lounge around. I have knick knacks on the shelves. There are soft, bean bag chairs, even fluffier rugs, a few tables in case someone wants to work on their laptop, and we offer free wi-fi to customers. Not to mention wall to wall books. We even have a rolling ladder.

Speaking of cats, as soon as we sit down, Loki comes running toward me. Black, fluffy, with gray eyes, and the meanest kitty in the world. Not to me, never to me. Anyone else though? Forget about it. We had to put signs up because too many people were getting bit or scratched. He hardly even lets Em touch him and we’ve been friends since long before Loki and I bonded. He’s my Familiar, so no way I’m not letting him roam around here. Not like I can stop him anyway, since he can pop in and out whenever he wants. Just one of the many ‘not normal’ things he does.

Curling up on my lap, he purrs loudly while I stroke him.

“I know you worry like a mother hen, but I’m okay, I promise,” I say, trying my hardest to show Emmett that I’m serious. He’s been talking to my mother and grandmother too much, I think. I’m pretty sure my grandmother has been combing the Covens trying to find someone to set me up on a blind date with. No, thank you.

“I just want my best friend to be happy. Not that you aren’t content, but I want you to have love too, is that too much to ask?” he asks me. “Josiah makes me happier than I’ve ever been, and I just want you to have that too.”

Laughing, I pick Loki up and carry him to the counter. Em follows, leaning against the counter. I’m gonna need some more coffee. It’s been a weird morning already. Settling Loki in his bed, I turn to make another cup of coffee and ask Em, “What do you think about the weird guy? What did he smell like?”

“Best I can describe it was like something rotten. Not like food rotten, or dead person, but more like the rotten smell in the woods from wet leaves and dry rot. Those two clearly smelled it too, because they were tracking him with it. Lions have a great sense of smell anyway, then add shifter genes and those two are probably some of the best trackers around,” he said nonchalantly, looking at me from under his eyelashes.

Wait. Did he just say lions? Then that means…no way. “They were the President and Vice President of the Wrath MC?” I ask incredulously.

“Yep,” he replies, popping the p and cackling like this is the best entertainment he’s had in weeks. Which I know is a lie because he was just making out with his boyfriend in the customer bathroom.

Groaning, I pour my coffee, adding peppermint mocha flavoring and creamer, with just a touch of sugar, topping it with whip cream. I take a sip. Once I drink this, I should feel a little more able to process all of this.

A couple of human girls in their teens walk through the front door and Em chuckles as he walks off to greet them. Finishing my coffee, I go back to work and try not to think about the two lion shifters that I don’t need to have anything to do with.

I am not successful.