Page 26 of Mated
I pivot again, fist tight around the demon's cash.
The woman is thick, with long black hair to her bubble ass and a full chest pushing at her blood-red tank top. She sports nails done in the same shade of red, and the button on her shorts is undone. And I’m pretty sure she isn’t wearing underwear.
As she walks over, the demon makes a sound of longing. I look at him. “Really? Because the red-head and I aren't enough?” I ask.
He grins, unrepentant. “Demon, remember?”
I roll my eyes.
The dark-haired girl glowers at me. “So you do fucking speak English?” she snaps.
With a sigh, I hold my hand out. “Nisha.”
The glare never fades. “Were you ignoring me, bitch?”
I start to let my hand drop, but the red-head, Daisy, grabs it. “Welcome to Silver Rock. What pack are you from?” she asks, big green eyes bright under the sun.
“She's not.”
I wince as Tanner's voice cuts through the crowd. Turning slowly, I find him pushing through the others, his chiseled jaw hard enough to bounce a fucking quarter off of.
“Hey, T,” I try.
The demon laughs his ass off next to me. Tanner scowls.
Damn. Him and the dark-haired bimbo in one go.
This was seriously my best idea ever.
Tanner grabs my arm and hauls me through the others to a patch of shade near the rear of the basin. I don't have to turn to know the demon followed. Regardless of his cavalier attitude, he hasn't gone farther than ten feet from Tanner. Not bad back-up for a demon.
“What the fuck are you doing here, Nisha?”
I wrench away. “You said I needed to figure out if I wanted to go rogue or join a pack. I was kind of in the area.”
His eyes narrow. The silver is faded now to a turbulent winter sky.
I glare right back. “Fine. I fucking followed you. So sue me.”
He growls. “Silver Rock just happens to be the pack land that adjoins your running trail. Or did you forget that part?”
“And you're doing such a stellar job of looking into things aren't you, that you can’t possibly use the help?”
The sound pouring from him increases until my nipples peak and gooseflesh marches over my skin. He leans into me. “I am doing this the only way I know how. It's been years since I was on Silver Rock land. A lot of the shifters are new. So how would I make myself liked amongst a bunch of shifters that don't know me?”
My face heats. “You work through the crowd by becoming one of them,” I grumble.
He is doing the exact same thing I am. Seeking information with the only assets he currently has. Men are not a talkative bunch by nature, but you treat them with respect and bro out a bit and they are friends for life. That is something working at the station taught me.
I wince. “Sorry.”
He exhales in one long, frustrated push. “I get it, Nisha. Really I do. You want answers. So do I. Whoever attacked you has to be stopped, but I'm not liked among the higher-ups here. This is the easiest way for me to get the answers we both need.”
That feeling in the pit of my stomach worsens. I jumped to conclusions. And stopped trusting the only other shifter I know on a first name basis besides Daisy and the hot alpha, Callus.
“You’re right,” I say and he stares at me like I grew a second head. I snort and wave it off. “I can admit when I'm wrong,” I tell him. “But now that I’m here, let me help.”
He starts to shake his head.
