room playing pool with a bunch of Chaz’s buddies. Seth and his cronies swaggered in, trying to look tough in their piercings and leather jackets. Mostly they looked like teenagers trying too hard to be cool. We ignored them, getting on with our game, chatting amiably as we took turns at the two pool tables. The foosball game across the room was free, and the four troublemakers headed over there, not bothering the rest of us—probably because there were three times as many of us as there were of them. A few too many for them to pull anything obnoxious.
I sat on the edge of one of the chairs lining the room while I waited for my turn, talking quietly with Paula and Kimberly. They were a lot nicer and more willing to chat than I’d thought they would be. Turns out they were both fascinated with my job, about as much as I was fascinated with the fact they were Weres, and we were having a great time swapping stories between turns.
“How long have you been doing the P.I. thing?” Kimberly asked, sipping her beer. Chaz kept glancing over, clearly listening in, but I wasn’t quite sure what he was so concerned about. Aside from the comments earlier, she and Paula seemed nice enough.
“Since a few months after I graduated from NYU—about six years ago. My friend Sara put up most of the collateral, and together we started H&W Investigations.”
“Wow, that long? I’m surprised Chaz has let you keep doing something so dangerous for so long.”
I frowned at her, not liking that turn of phrase at all. “‘Let me’ do it? It’s not his choice; it’s mine. Besides, I’d been at this since long before I met him, and the type of investigative work I do isn’t as dangerous as the books and movies make it out to be.”
“Oh,” she said, her brows furrowing in confusion. “What sort of investigations do you do, then? I thought I heard something about divorce cases and cheating spouses—”
“You’re up, Shia,” Chaz cut in, stepping aside and leaning casually on his pool cue.
“We’ll chat more later,” I promised, excusing myself. I rose, studied the layout for a moment, and bent over to line up and take a shot. “Five solid, corner pocket.”
“You’ll scratch if you take that shot.”
I threw an annoyed glance over my shoulder, not liking Seth’s amused smirk as he eyed my backside. “Who asked you?”
“Nobody. I’m just saying.”
“Fuck off,” I muttered, ignoring him again and concentrating on my shot.
“You’ll mi-iss,” he singsonged.
“Shut up,” somebody muttered from the other table. Chaz growled softly, low in his throat, eyes narrowed in anger. Seth raised his hands and took a step back, still smirking.
I gritted my teeth and took the shot, pleased when the cue ball hit and the five slid smoothly into the corner pocket. Stepping back, I gave Seth my own smart-ass smirk, though I didn’t keep it up for long. Taunting Weres is never a good thing, even when you’ve got a bigger, badder Were there to protect you.
“Nice shot,” he acknowledged, turning away. I fought back the urge to stick out my tongue at him, and just returned my attention to the game.
We continued for another set, and by the time we were done, the smell of dinner drew us out toward the dining hall again. It was early but, as everyone would be furry tonight, it wasn’t a bad idea for us to eat while the sun was still up.
Seth stayed behind, but it was unnerving how he and his buddies watched us go, mostly keeping an eye on me or Chaz. Nobody else seemed concerned, but I had to wonder what was up his sleeve. When he saw me staring, he blew me a little kiss. I curled my lip in distaste and pressed closer to Chaz, doing my best to take no notice of him as the others were doing.
Mrs. Cassidy had made a few dishes in bulk to feed the Sunstriker pack. Everyone had turned out for this little get-together, and the few members of the pack who hadn’t been present to fight against Alec Royce and the Moonwalker Weres had come along for the ride this time. Some of those I hadn’t met were too young or too old to fight. Others were just new to the pack, strays like Ethan who had been taken in and one or two who had left other packs to join this one. There were just shy of