Page 10 of Kiss My Sass

Hmm. Imagine that.

Thor placed the empty water glass on top of the cases of beer his drenched Pack mate was still holding and walked away to mull things over. Perhaps he’d commune with the spirits tonight, see if they had any advice for him. It wasn’t his favorite pastime, and it took fuck all out of him, but he needed to proceed with caution.

Could be he was mistaken, and Nica wasn’t his fated mate, after all. But judging from the way his cock turned to steel behind the tight denim jeans he often wore every time he saw her, he doubted he erred in his assessment. As if to emphasize the fact his cock also disagreed, the damn thing thumped inside his jeans, filling with lust at the mere mention of her.

Yep. He really fucking doubted he was wrong. He needed to bide his time until she had a spare moment. So, Thor kept busy most of the night, working the front door, just business as usual. He didn’t mind checking IDs and making sure the supernatural members of the mixed crowd Serious Moonlight attracted knew he was there to keep the peace. As the Pack Enforcer, it came with the territory.

Dire Wolves had a reputation for being tough, and sometimes folks liked to challenge them just on the off chance they might win a fight. Not that it happened very often. Still, his senses were on high alert, the Demon Wolf inside him riled for whatever reason.

More than likely it had to do with the fact that Sheila, his redheaded Pack mate, and his Alpha’s cousin, was teaching Nica how to tend bar. Sheila was mated and devoted to her man, but she could flirt with the best of them. Still, she was a spitfire and could hold her own where Nica was shy around most men.

He was concerned Sheila was going to push her outside her comfort zone, so he waited, poised to intervene. But he shouldn’t have worried. Nica was holding her own. Pride, the likes of which he never felt for anyone, sprung inside him like a well.

Go on, girl. Show ‘em how it’s done,his Demon Wolf growled.

The curvy little goddess was grinning and pulling beers on tap with almost zero foam to the praise of their patrons. She was wearing a pair of skintight jeans strategically cut to show tantalizing swatches of smooth, unmarred skin. On top, Nica wore one of Serious Moonlight’s famous logo tees, the deep V revealing her fantastic cleavage, making Thor’s mouth water, and drawing the eyes of the male customers at the bar.

Grrrr.

It was part of the deal with bartending, but those guys could fuck right off if they wanted to keep their eyes inside their heads. They served mostly Shifters, so when one male leaned over, checking out her ass as he bent over to grab something from the cooler behind the bar, Thor sent a snarl his way. The young male blanched, sat his ass back down and treated Nica like she was his Sunday school teacher after that.

Good, but let’s bite him, anyway, growled his Wolf.

But Thor knew better than to throw his weight around. Saying he was a big man was like saying Texas was a big state—at the very least, it was a bland way of describing something that sizeable. The Lone Star state was the second largest state in the country after Alaska. It was fucking vast.

In the same sense, Thor was not simplybig. He was the biggest motherfucker in the bar, including a couple of Grizzly Shifters and that fat-headed Lion mate of Sheila’s. Leo was okay, but what was with that fucking hair? The man used more conditioner than all of Thor’s sisters combined, and he’d grown up with three. They were all spread out now across the world, mothers, the lot of them, and happy as little mated clams. But he’d still bet Leo used more hair product than any of them.

It had been a while since he’d checked in on them, and he made a mental note to do that. The line outside was growing, and he calculated the numbers before allowing the next group in. There were legal limits to how many they could have under their roof at one time, and Thor was highly conscientious of that.

He growled at a group of underage Bears, turning the rascals away by pulling his top lip away from his teeth, revealing enormous fangs. Those cubs couldn’t run away fast enough. The next trio were of age, and female, even better for the bar. It might be sexist, but it was the business. Women brought in men, which added up to a packed house, and that added up to paying customers. Sure, their money was mostly made on the market, and gods knew, the Pack had plenty. But there was something about making Serious Moonlight a success that meant a lot to each of them.

Thor didn’t think it would happen, but Derrick had been right about all this. Settling down, growing roots, making a home. Thor had to agree. For the first time, he found contentment in a patch of land. Blue Valley was turning out to be ideal. Now if only he could have a conversation with a certain curly haired beauty, then maybe, just maybe, his Demon Wolf would be okay, too.

Tonight’s band was thumping, some local Wolves singing country rock with a little hip hop thrown in. They were pretty good, but he just wasn’t paying enough attention to really judge. There was a sizeable group of normals amongst the crowd of mostly Shifters, but they were all right, too, seeming to just want to have a good time.

Thor kept an eye on everyone. It was his job, but there was more to it than that. As a Seer, he picked up on auras and inklings, things the Spirits were trying to tell him, messages, and warnings. It was like he was always on, constantly reading from ten different books, in ten different languages. He had to pay attention not to lose track of one or the other.

It was a unique dance he did, keeping steady, maintaining balance. Keeping watch over the Pack and those who meant the most to him was a most sacred duty. For years, he assumed that was why he was not mated. How could he focus on one and the other at the same time? It worried him, even now.

When he wasn’t watching Nica, of course. She was so damn pretty. Far as he could tell, she didn’t seem to know it. Her heart-shaped face was free of makeup, save a little lip gloss. He never really liked artificial things, and Nica was anything but fake. She was more beautiful than anyone he had ever seen.

Thor was a spiritual guy, and he wasn’t all that fond of fake things and materialism. Didn’t matter to him if a person lived in a mansion or a cardboard box, he made up his mind about someone based on how they acted. So far, Nica had been sweet and kind, patient, and hardworking. She was a good one. He could tell.

Suddenly, her head snapped towards him, and Thor froze, thinking he’d been caught staring. But she wasn’t looking at him. Her gaze was fixed beyond where he stood a few feet away from the front door and his usual barstool perch. Her face blanched, and those blue eyes he’d been obsessing over widened with fear. That’s when he smelled them.

Feathers.

Thor turned and spotted them immediately. Six tall, thin Shifters, Crows he was betting, walked into the bar, fanning out and taking up way too much space as far as he was concerned. His Demon Wolf snarled deep inside the metaphysical plane where the beast waited to be called.

Enemies, the animal growled.

Yes, Thor agreed.

Animosity and anger seemed to roll off the males in waves, but it would take a fucking tsunami to knock Thor off his substantial feet. The one in front looked the most dangerous. That had to be the Crow King, Thor assumed. He had a broody expression, muddy eyes, long black hair, and a big nose.

Good. Easy to break, the Demon Wolf inside him snarled.

They advanced, but Thor stopped them, positioning himself in front of the leader. One of the lackeys held their IDs, but Thor did not give two shits about that. He ignored him, focusing on the so-called King. Thor’s Pack bonds lit up, and he felt his Pack mates easing next to him, Cole on his left, and Weylin on his right.

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