Page 7 of A Wolf's Treasure
Ryanne pulled her date to a halt, never taking her eyes from the newcomers. Something about them was setting off a red flag. They weren’t acting like just a normal group of guys who were out for a night on the town.
She searched out the green-eyed shifter. He was leading his dance partner over to a table, one eye on the new guys even as he smiled and nodded in response to whatever the woman was saying. His jaw lifted and his nostrils flared, scenting the air. A second later, his entire body stiffened as his muscles visibly locked down.
Her instincts had been correct. These men were trouble.
She turned her attention back to the new group. They were spreading out, eyes scanning the club. She watched the way they moved, how carefully they placed their feet with each step, how alert they all were to every tiny sound, every movement of the people around them. The largest one stopped at the edge of the dance floor, his nose in the air.
Shifters. They were shifters. Predators seeking out prey. And by the way Green Eyes was watching them, they weren’t local. Which meant they weren’t of his pack.
This did not mean good things for her.
Ryanne’s mind raced. There was a back door. By the bathrooms. Her date forgotten, she turned and started walking that way, keeping her steps slow and steady. It would do no good to run in an enclosed space like this. If she did, they would be upon her in a fraction of a heartbeat. And, somehow, she got the sense they wouldn’t give two wits about the humans in their way.
She didn’t know if they were there looking for her specifically, or if this was just some kind of messed up coincidence, but either way, if they found her here, her remaining time in this world would not be long.
And she wouldn’t be the only casualty.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the green-eyed wolf heading in her direction and felt a flare of panic. Had she been wrong about him? Maybe he did know these shifters and she’d been a fool to think he didn’t know who or what she was. Maybe he’d been planning this the entire time, and she’d played right into his hands by following him. By being so easy to find. Perhaps he’d just been stringing her along, waiting for her defenses to be down. Waiting for backup to be available because he knew she wouldn’t be easy to catch.
Or easy to kill.
She’d been a stupid fool. And now, all would be lost.
The sound of breaking glass caught her attention. Ryanne whipped her head toward the sound just in time to see a human male, his face red with anger, hit another male in the jaw with his fist. What looked to be a beer bottle was smashed at his feet.
Before she could foresee what would happen, others jumped into the middle of the melee. Fists cracked into bone. Bodies were thrown into the crowd. Females screamed and covered their heads, trying to get out of the way.
And the path to the backdoor was effectively blocked.
Ryanne dodged a chair leg just before it hit her in the head and tried to find her own way through the tornado of flying fists and bar stools, each man intent on taking out his aggressions on another and not caring in the slightest who might be in his way. But it was no use, the entry to the hall was completely blocked.
Spinning around, she tried to see if she could sneak out the front. But keeping in the spirit of things, more fights had broken out, and there weren’t enough bouncers in the world to stop this group once they’d gotten started. Unsurprisingly, her previous escort was right in the middle.
Ryanne took a calming breath. There was no way she could make it out unnoticed. Not without bringing attention to herself as being something “other”. She started eyeing the vents high on the walls, wondering if she could possibly get into one without drawing notice.
Someone grabbed her around the upper arm, and Ryanne looked up into a pair of glowing green eyes.
“Come with me, lass. I can get ye tae safety.”
Ryanne fought against his hold. “I’m perfectly capable of saving myself,” she said. She didn’t raise her voice, but she knew she didn’t need to.
“I ken that. But ye dinna want tae bring attention tae yerself.” He shoved off a man who stumbled into him in a distracted manner, throwing him back into the pile. Then he bent down to speak directly in her ear. “I dinna ken what those three want with ye, but ye’d been spotted right before th’ fight broke out.” He threw up an arm and easily blocked a punch that missed its intended victim and came straight toward them.
“Dammit,” she said out loud.
“Aye,” he agreed. “I swear I will no’ harm ye, lass. But we need tae go. And we need tae do it now.” Without waiting for her to decide, he pulled her into his hard body, tucking her against his side.
One arm around her and one held straight out, he used it like a battering ram to force a path through the chaos. But to Ryanne’s surprise, he didn’t head toward either door. Instead, he made his way back to the bar. With a brief, apologetic smile, he crouched down and slipped an arm beneath her knees, lifting her up and over the counter and dropping her unceremoniously behind it. Then he placed one hand on the dented, wooden surface and hoisted himself up and over.
As soon as they were both behind the bar, he pulled her down out of sight. “We need tae get ye out o’ this place.” He scrubbed a hand over his mouth, and Ryanne found herself eyeing the masculine shadow of his beard. “Preferably without those shifters seeing us,” he added.
“Why are you helping me?” she asked. Because she still wasn’t certain this wasn’t some sort of a trap.
Those glowing green eyes swung back to her. “Why have ye been following me?”
“I don’t know,” she told him honestly.
He gave her a small smile. “Aye. Me either.”
