Addie (Pack of Misfits #1) - Raven Kennedy Page 0,60
no better than Curb.
That thought really makes me sick when Curb pinches the thigh of one of the waitresses that walks by and pulls her in so that he can stick his hand up her skirt. She flinches, but stands stock-still until he laughs at her discomfort and smacks her on the ass. “Go on. Those beers ain’t gonna serve themselves.” The human female flees as quickly as she can without running.
Behind us, the shifter is pounding into the naked female on the table, causing lewd noises to fill the air. I’ve never wanted to leave a place as much as I wish I could walk out of here right now.
“So, first thing’s first,” Curb says, clapping his hands together and redirecting our gazes. “What kind of animals are you boys?”
“Coyotes,” Penn says, coming back up and setting more beers on the table. I take one and pretend to drink from it, but I’m too pissed off to swallow anything down.
Curb nods, obviously pleased. “Coyotes. Shoulda guessed. We’ve got a couple of those. Wolves and bears, few mountain lions. Bobcats, too. You should fit right in,” he says, picking at his teeth with his long fingernail. “If you get in, you’d be coming in at the bottom of the pack, but you’ll have the chance to work your way up in rank. You’ll all have to prove yourselves first, though, before we’ll take your application to join seriously. You’ll have to complete a task to show your loyalty and demonstrate your strength before we’ll accept you into Rockhead.” His eyes light up when a thought comes to him. “Come to think of it, I might have the perfect task.”
“What’s that?” Penn asks.
Curb looks around the bar, and when he spots who he’s looking for, he hollers, “Hey, Drag! Get your ass over here!”
I watch as a big, bald, ugly motherfucker stops his game at the pool table and comes striding over. “Yeah, Curb?”
Curb nods at us. “New recruits. I want you to use them to help you with that bitch, Addie.”
All three of us tense. Blood pounds in my ears enough to drown out the exhibitionistic sex still going on behind me. Addie was right. They attacked her, and they’re going to try it again. My coyote growls inside of me, and it takes every ounce of willpower I have not to shift. If I lose control, Curb will know something set me off, and the last thing I want is for him to have the upper hand. Every drive inside of me is now focused on one thing—protecting Addie.
Drag looks us over with consideration. “Yeah? That might work. She don’t know them.”
“Exactly,” Curb says with a nod.
I open my mouth to question him, but Penn stops me by speaking up first. “What’s the story on her?” he asks, his tone even and steady despite the hard lines around his eyes.
Drag sneers. “The bitch needs to be put in her place.”
Herrick’s hands grip the edge of his chair hard enough to splinter it.
“Oh, yeah? What for?” Penn asks nonchalantly.
“Let’s just say she stepped over the line and disrupted a job,” Curb answers vaguely.
Drag snorts. “She did more than that. It put a taint on our whole damn pack when the bitch was born. No surprise that she ran off when she came of age. She always was a weak little freak. Too bad, I would’ve liked to have taught her a lesson or two in the challenge ring,” he says with a sick smirk on his face. “But we all knew that she’d fly away like a fuckin’ coward. That’s what prey do. They run from us preds. That’s what makes them prey.”
“At least now you have a chance to chase her again,” Curb says with a laugh, clapping Drag on the shoulder.
Drag’s eyes light up like that’s the best news he’s had in months. But my mind is stuck on one word. Again. Apparently, I’m not the only one.
“Again?” Herrick asks. “You’ve had problems with this female before?”
“Remember the yearly challenges we have for the shifters that come of age?” Curb replies. “Well, Aderyn Locke was one of those. A prey born in our pack. She had no place here, and she knew it. She refused the challenge and decided to run, of course. No fuckin’ surprise there, although Drag here was sore as shit about it,” he says, cackling when he sees Drag’s pissed off face. “She joined up with those misfit freaks. Fits right in with them.”