Hour of the Lion, Cherise Sinclair [good story books to read TXT] 📗

her boots. The last few days had been brisk and dry, and she‘d hiked the forests by day and snooped around the town at night. Without any results. Damn sneaky furballs.

As she reached downtown, she noticed an awful lot of people around. Had she missed a parade or something? She nodded at Angie, the owner of the diner and smiled at Warren from the hardware store.

When she spotted Calum and Alec across the street, all the blood in her veins carbonated and fizzed like a dropped Pepsi. Dammit. The bastards had haunted her dreams. Alec‘s lazy grin, Calum‘s penetrating gaze. Alec‘s leisurely stride almost concealing a powerful fighter‘s movements. Calum‘s silent prowl.

She wasn‘t the only one attracted to the men either. Women flirted them up in the tavern and—Vic frowned as a frigid-looking blonde stopped to talk with them and trailed a hand across Calum‘s chest. Who the hell did she think she was?

Another woman with huge breasts stared at the two men assessingly, as if she wanted to pull out each guy‘s dick and weigh it on a scale. Maybe Vic should inform her that, having rubbed against Alec‘s package, she would vouch for him in the size department.

When Vic‘s gaze shifted to Calum‘s crotch, she caught herself. You"re losing it, Sergeant.

Scowling, she crossed the street to Books. 'Afternoon,' she greeted Thorson.

He sat on a stool behind the tall counter, head bent over an open book. 'To you,' he rumbled, not looking up.

Vic headed for the science fiction shelves. A SF craving could be worse than needing chocolate and harder to satisfy. But only a few minutes later, she was back at the front.

'Hey!' She shoved the new Honor Harrington book under his nose. 'I‘ve waited months for this release.'

The corner of his mouth rose an infinitesimal degree. 'Then this is your happy day.

Congratulations.'

He took the two books for the barcode scanner.

'Speaking of happy days...' Vic leaned an arm on the counter and frowned out the window.

'What‘s with all the strangers in town? Is something going on?'

From the sudden stillness in his face, she had her answer. Definitely something. He gave a token glance at the street. 'Just city folks here to look at the leaves.'

'Oh, well, that explains it,' Vic said politely and took her books.

'Enjoy your reading,' he said, equally politely.

Vic managed to suppress the urge to shake him until his secrets spilled out like coins from a vending machine. This place was getting to her. Overseas, everyone was against her and she knew it. Here... Here, she‘d gotten sucked into their lives. Jamie‘s hugs, Calum‘s hand wrapped around her arm, Alec‘s teasing. What if the two men were shifters? Hell, they probably were shifters. She didn‘t know whether to go forward or to pull back.

I don‘t want to pull back.

As she stepped out the door, she saw Alec and Calum talking with yet another woman. Vic‘s free hand closed into a fist. The hefty blonde wouldn‘t look nearly so pretty with her nose squashed all over her face.

The visual was satisfying; the urge was not. Vic sighed and shook her head. Neither man was stamped with a 'property of Vic' sign.

'I hope you‘ll honor me tonight,' said a man‘s voice.

Vic turned. Three Yuppies wandered down the sidewalk, one man on each side of a butt-ugly brunette, another guy a step behind. The men were focused totally on the woman.

Vic spotted a group across the street with one woman and four men, all giving the woman the devoted attention of starving dogs circling a bone.

Was this a test of a new pheromone perfume? Spray it on and every man in the area will be at your feet? 'I want some too,' she muttered.

*

Vic never had figured out what was going on. After consoling herself with her new book, Vic ventured out as usual after sunset. Hands in her jacket pockets, she sauntered here and there, scuffling through the leaves on the sidewalks. The surfeit of people had disappeared from Main Street. She kept walking…and wasn‘t it odd she ended up at The Wild Hunt?

Even odder, the sign in the window said, 'CLOSED", but cars filled the parking lot. It looked like a party, and Calum hadn‘t invited her. She sniffed indignantly, trying to ignore the I‘ve-been-left-out ache under her ribs.

She paused. Should she walk on? Did she really want to discover the answers, considering she‘d begun to think they might be unpalatable? Nonetheless, it was her duty. Move out, sergeant.

As she crossed the lot, she noticed they‘d lowered the window blinds. Usually Calum only put them down to block the glaring afternoon sun. Well, hell, snooping might be tougher than she‘d figured. She tilted her head, trying to hear what was going on. Generalized babble, laughter, an occasion shout—nothing ominous.

The scuff of a footstep spun her around.

"Well, now, here‘s a pretty female." A tall, bulky man in his thirties circled a car, his eyes intent upon her. Another guy with flaming red hair and freckles walked behind him.

Caught like a first-year spy. Embarrassment heated her cheeks and deepened her voice.

"Um. Good evening."

"And to you, miss," the redhead said. "Are you unaccompanied?"

"I—"

"Not for long," the tall man said. "My name is Duke, that‘s Tim, and let‘s just say that you‘re with us." He grabbed her hand and pulled her to his side.

She could have flattened him, but here she‘d found the perfect way to get inside.

As they entered the tavern, Tim leaned in to brush her hair away from her face and audibly sniffed.

Now that was just rude. She wasn‘t wearing perfume. Did she stink or something? She scowled at him.

He took a step back. "A bit slow getting started, huh?"

"There‘s no hurrying a female," Duke said, keeping his arm around her.

A few paces into the boisterous room, Vic gawked like a new fish on the first day in combat.

As she studied the milling people, she realized there were a lot more men than women. The women were sitting on the bar, on the tables,