He whipped out his cell phone and dialed the number of the Mercury Pack’s Beta female. Ally was working the bar tonight, and as a Seer, she could heal physical wounds.
She answered on the fourth ring, but he didn’t bother with greetings. “Ally, I need you in the greenroom.” He ended the call just as fast and pocketed his phone, wanting to keep his hands free in case the little cat needed him. Right then, she still didn’t seem to require help. It was kind of surreal to see a creature so small and fluffy acting like . . . well, like that.
He noticed the gun and swore. He picked it up, and yeah, it smelled of the jackal. Rage blew through him yet again, and he took a carefully controlled breath.
Did it surprise him that Mila obviously hadn’t let the weapon stop her from defending herself? No. Just like it didn’t surprise him that she’d obviously caught the jackal off guard. He’d learned a lot about Mila’s kind from Madisyn. There was no warning with a pallas cat. No posturing or hissing. They just struck—no care for whether they were facing someone who was stronger, bigger, armed, or even part of a group. Nope, they straight up wouldn’t give a shit.
He heard footsteps just before Ally, Jesse, and Harley came skidding into the room.
“Dear God,” said Ally, wincing at the noise level. He didn’t blame her. As the cat thrashed, bit, hissed, and snarled, the jackal screamed and cursed and condemned it to hell. “I heard all the hissing and yelling in the background when you called,” Ally went on, “so I brought Jesse and Harley, figuring something bad was going down.”
“What led to the fight?” asked Jesse.
Dominic shrugged, hating the feeling of helplessness that came from being forced to watch while Mila’s cat was hurt. “Haven’t got a clue. I also don’t understand why the jackal hasn’t shifted. It could be that she’s latent, or it could be that she’s hoping to retrieve this to end the fight.” He showed them the gun. “Any of you recognize her?”
Harley blew out a breath. “Kind of hard to say, since I can’t see her face. But I don’t recognize her scent.”
“Neither do I,” said Jesse, looking just as eager to intervene as Dominic was.
“She came to the bar earlier and ordered a martini,” said Ally. “At least, I think it was her.”
The cat let out a little yelp, and Dominic spat a curse. He took another steadying breath, reminding himself that, with their thick hides and overabundance of fur, her kind were hard to hurt.
“I don’t like that Mila’s in pain right now,” said Ally. “But I have to be honest, I just love watching pallas cats fight. Even while scratching and biting like a critter of pure horror, they’re still somehow immensely cute.”
They all jerked back as the jackal tripped, fell, and bashed the back of her head on the glass coffee table. Her arms slipped to the floor as her body went limp. Dominic could hear her heartbeat, so he knew she was simply out cold.
Sides heaving, the little cat detached herself from the jackal and backed away, her teeth bared. Eyes still locked on her enemy, she pitched forward and swiped at the female again and again. Made a series of rumbly sounds, as if trying to provoke the jackal, but the woman didn’t stir.
Blood matted the cat’s coat, and Dominic thought he could make out some welts, scratches, and puncture wounds—with all that thick fur, he just couldn’t be sure. There was blood near the black stripes on her cheeks and over the little dark spots on her forehead, and he wondered if the jackal had clawed at the cat’s face to make her let go.
Wanting the feline healed, Dominic cast a brief glance at Ally. “Maybe you—”
The cat’s attention snapped his way. Ears flat, she curled her upper lip, baring long, bloodstained fangs. Green eyes—their pupils round rather than vertical—glared at Dominic with an unblinking, crazed stare. And, honest to God, his fingers itched for holy water. Shit.
CHAPTER SIX
Hey there,” said Dominic, his voice low and gentle.
She let out a long, fierce, pissed-the-fuck-off hiss. And he got the feeling that the cat wasn’t just upset by the attack. She was angry at having her fun disturbed. He’d seen the same expression on his Alpha female’s face when he’d interrupted her downtime. Taryn was batshit