Page 3 of Wicked Stranger

Neither of them acknowledged each other with a greeting but continued to glare at each other.

“With that out of the way, can we please decide what to do with the waking beast that tried to eat Raina and me?” Bruce snorted in disgust.

Zane quickly glanced away from those blue eyes to see the wolf moving. Without thought, he fisted his hand, knocking the beast out again. “Problem solved,” Zane mumbled, then took out his phone and texted something before putting it back in his pocket. He then glanced back at Raina with a smirk.

“You’re welcome.” He said just as sarcastically as she had just done.

CHAPTER3

Raina sat on a log, quietly watching the strange man who had just saved her and Bruce’s life. He was handsome in an outdoorsy kind of way, but his manners were absolutely horrid. His black hair hung past his shoulders; the cut of his hair was wildly uneven, hanging in his face, and if she was being honest, it worked. She had noticed the left side of his square jawline was terribly scarred, with one jagged deep groove going up to the corner of his silver-colored eye. And his eyes, she had to admit, were mesmerizing. Raina had never seen eyes that color, and his lashes were something most women paid for, long and black. Holy crap, this rude ass man was sinfully handsome.

“What in the hell are you doing out in the middle of the woods alone?” He growled, snatching her attention away from his good looks and back to his bad manners.

“My car broke down, and I couldn’t get a signal on my phone, so I started walking.” Raina started to explain, then frowned. “Wait a minute. I don’t have to explain myself to you.”

“That ain’t nothing,” Bruce said with a roll of his eyes, then pointed his paw at her. “She was daring that huge furball with teeth to eat her. Then hoped it would choke and—”

“Bruce,” Raina warned, but knew Bruce would ignore her.

“Called it a mangy nasty hunk of fur butt-licker.” Bruce finished with a cat-like grin.

Raina looked at him, surprised. “You heard that?”

“Yeah, and I was impressed.” Bruce gave her a nod of approval.

Rolling her eyes, Raina caught what she thought was a grin on the man’s face as he stared at her.

“You got a death wish?” The man Bruce introduced as Zane snarled at her. Okay, she had thought wrong. No way that there had been a smile on the man’s face. She doubted he even knew how to smile.

“I live in New York. Every day is like having a death wish though the evil there isn’t as…furry.” Raina glanced down at the still knocked-out wolf, then back at Zane where, once again, she thought she saw a hint of a grin.

“Did you text Thorne?” Bruce asked, poking the wolf with his paw.

“Yeah,” Zane replied, finally glancing away from Raina to look down at the wolf. “He look familiar?”

“Nope.” Bruce walked around the wolf, staring down at him but staying far enough away just in case it woke up. “Definitely a Shifter though.”

Raina also looked down at the wolf. She knew all about the paranormal world. Having a friend like Wicked, she learned a lot of things and was relieved to learn that the Boogie Man was still just a way for parents to scare their kids, which seemed a tad bit morbid.

Zane’s eyes shot to hers. “Bruce.” He warned.

“Ah, Raina knows all about us,” Bruce said, then snorted. “I think if she didn’t, she’d be freaking the hell out by a talking cat, don’t ya think? She’s a friend of Wicked.”

“You’re a witch?” Zane glanced at her, looking her up and down, which weirdly sent goosebumps up and down her body. Those eyes of his were very dangerous.

“Some would say that.” Raina snorted, then shook her head. “No, I’m just a plain boring human.”

This time Bruce was the one snorting. “Boring is not a word I would use to describe you, and some could definitely say she has a little…witchin her.”

Raina started to disagree with Bruce but grinned. “True.” She agreed with a chuckle. Hearing the distant ringing of a phone made Raina gasp. “My phone.” Raina's eyes widened as she headed toward the sound but was stopped by Zane’s strong grip on her arm.

“I will get your phone as soon as Thorne gets here,” Zane grumbled as if that was the last thing he wanted to do. One thing about Raina was she didn’t like to be a burden to anyone, especially grumpy ass men who didn’t know how to appreciate someone trying to help them.

“Don’t do me any favors,” Raina grumbled back, snapping her arm away from his grasp. “I am capable enough to get it myself.”

Zane stepped in front of her. “I said wait.”

“And I said—”

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