Chapter Fifteen
Freid
We might not all be living under one roof, but we spent nearly every night together, and our relationship grew by the day.
Trust not just on Penn’s part but all of us.
To know that we could call on one another at any time and our mate or mates would be there for us.
I’d used that just this evening when my car broke down on the way to Animals.
“I’ve got a blown radiator, Ty,” I said. “Tow truck on the way.” I called him because he was coming from roughly the same direction as me.
“Well, that sucks.” He never minced words. “Do you want me to pick you up where you are or where they are taking your car?”
“Fortunately, I managed to limp off the freeway, so if you don’t mind, I’ll let them take the car and wait for you here.” I gave him the coordinates and hung up.
“I was almost to the club,” he said when I climbed into his car fifteen minutes later. “Glad you caught me because you know how easy it is to miss a call in there when it’s loud. Live band tonight, I think.”
“Thanks for rescuing me. I’m very frustrated, as you can imagine.” Bay at the moon and bite a mechanic on the leg frustrated.
“Where did they take it this time?” he asked, pulling into traffic. “Not that same guy, I hope?”
“Since the repair was still under warranty, I could have, but…I sent it to the guy you recommended.”
“Good idea. Ask for your money back, too.” Ty drove up the on-ramp and merged into the lane. “No way the same problem should have happened two weeks later.”
“Oh, I plan to ask. I doubt he’ll be very willing to return it though.”
“Lucky you’re an attorney. He isn’t going to want to be sued.”
I chuckled. “He’s probably been in court more than me. But I’ll get it. How was your day?”
We chatted idly while Ty navigated the evening traffic. In an urban area like San Diego, the only time the roads were truly moving fast was late at night/early in the morning. At this time, people going out for the evening as well as those who worked late were fighting for space in the lanes.
We parked at Animals only a few minutes late, and I sent a quick text to Penn to see if he was already there and where. “No answer. He must be inside.”
Ty climbed out of the car. “We’ll find him. Just like the first time.”
We could follow his scent. Smiling, we strolled up to the line and found our way in. As regulars, we got to skip the worst of it, so it wasn’t long before we were inside. And yes, his scent tickled my nose almost immediately. “He’s not in the bar.”
“No.” Ty tipped his head back and sniffed. “Not in any of the other main areas either, I don’t think? It’s kind of muffled, like he’s behind a wall or something.”
We worked our way around the walls, trying to pick up a direction and continuing to text him. My wolf was antsy and demanding, and from Ty’s rigid stance, his beast was no better.
“Where could he be? My tiger is clawing me.” It wouldn’t be physical damage, but having been subjected to something similar from my wolf, that didn’t make it hurt any less.
“I don’t like this at all. Every other time we’ve met somewhere, if he was there first, he made it to the door to find us almost instantly. Plus, it feels off. Like he might be in some kind of trouble.”
Ty rose on tiptoe to see over the crowd. “I’m going to try calling. Texting is usually better, but maybe there’s something wrong with the system.”
I got it. There had been times when a phone call didn’t get through but a text did.
Could the opposite be true? I watched him dial and hold the phone up to his ear, finger blocking the other one to try to shut out the noise.
After a moment, he softly cursed. “Rang then went to voicemail. Where could he be? The only thing I can think of is outside in the shifting spot, but I didn’t scent him before we came in. He has to be somewhere in here.”
“But where haven’t we looked?”
The words were no sooner out of my mouth than a kangaroo shifter bounced past me. In human form, but they still had a spring in their step, and were shouting, “Let me through. I just had three schooners, and it wants out.”
My jaw dropped and I faced Ty. Together, we said, “The bathroom.”
The nearest of which was not anywhere close to where we stood and also not the direction the kangaroo was hopping. “Should we stop him?” I asked.
“No. If he makes a mess, they’ll bounce him and clean it up, but something is wrong with our mate.
” Ty darted off, and I charged after him.
Penn was in the building, and he for some reason was unable to receive our calls or texts.
My wolf made an attempt to push through, but I forced him back. I’ve got it for now.
He snarled.
The bathrooms nearest our location lay down a short hallway and as we approached, the sound of raised voices brought my hackles up with them.
The sight that met us when we turned the corner changed concern to rage.
Penn, our omega, stood pressed against the wall, his eyes wide and an expression of fear twisting his lips.
Three dingo shifters, similar in frame to him but larger, stood in front of him, their words hateful and loud.
How. Dared. They.
Ty darted between Penn and the three of them. I followed, shoving one of them aside in the process. He growled. I snarled and he shifted away. Good. “Want to tell us why you are menacing our omega?” I asked.
“Yours?” The tallest of the three, clearly an alpha, took a step toward me, but I didn’t move. “He’s an omega of our pack. Go away and let us deal with what’s ours.”
He called our omega a “what”?
“You know the laws, and you can see the marks. He’s ours. Just go about your business.” Ty was magnificent in his anger, but the dingo alpha and—I supposed—his betas sneered at us.
“Sounds like these two want to challenge us,” the alpha said. “Is that the case?”
Ty glanced at me and shrugged. “I hadn’t thought about it until now. How do you feel about it, Freid? Want to be alphas of a pack? We can take these three out and step into our rightful roles. A pack all ready for us.”
“Convenient.” I shared my best toothy smile. “All right. I’m in. Let’s do this.” I unbuttoned my shirt and tugged the hem out of my pants.
As Ty kicked off his low-heeled boots, the three bullies stumbled back. “Something wrong?”
“I-I just remembered,” the alpha muttered. “No fighting at Animals or they won’t let you back in. You go on a list.”
Now, I shrugged. “That’s all right. If we’re going to be taking over your pack, we’ll be too busy to run around at night anyway. Hey, how do you manage? We are going to need some information before we move. I presume the alpha house goes with the job?”
“That’s not funny,” he whined. “We are not going to do anything to upset the owners of Animals. They have ways of retaliating.” Turning on a heel, he dashed down the hall and disappeared, his minions behind him.
“Omega, are you all right?” I asked as Ty said, “We’ve got you.”