was focused on me, and only me. A lesser being might have crumbled beneath the pressure, been reduced to a quivering pile of ash.
But I had been burned countless times before.
“You…” The alpha shifter glared at me through the swollen mask of bruises decorating one side of his face. Parts of his beard had been torn out, one patch clear down to the skin. There was blood in the hair; I could smell it. For all his reserve, Logan had done a decent job. “I ought to have known you were creeping around here somewhere. They told me you were a coward.”
“Oh, did they?” I smiled, hiding the chill of rage that rocketed down my spine. “I’m afraid you’ve been misinformed.”
“What the hell is going on here?” the head bouncer from the club bellowed. He was a mountain of a man who might have willingly wrestled a bear, shifter or otherwise. He grabbed two of the pack by their thickly muscled shoulders. “Actually, you know what? I don’t give a rat’s ass! You’re out, all of you!”
It was at this point that Logan materialized again to help herd the unruly group out the front door, including their Alpha. The rest of the club patrons who hadn’t already run out, stood their distance and watched us. I marched after them outside into the icy night.
I felt a little sorry for whoever ended up with the thankless task of cleaning up the mess at the club, but not sorry enough to regret a single moment. Collateral damage was a necessary, perhaps even an integral part of the way business was done in certain shadowy circles in Anchorage.
I would know. This place was my city. Mine, and no one else’s. I had worked hard to keep it as mine for a long time. And I would do everything to keep it that way, and out of the hands of these intruders from Seattle.
“What kind of bullshit do you think you’re pulling?” The alpha lumbered to his feet, drawing up to full height. He was taller by a significant margin, and clearly thought the difference signaled an advantage for him. He moved up into my space, deliberately casting the bulk of his shadow over the spot where I stood. “Anchorage is going to be under new management real soon. I’d pack my bags if I were you.” By the time the last word left his lips, less than two feet separated us on the snowy asphalt.
“I’ll paint the streets with grizzly blood before I let that happen.” It took every ounce of willpower I had not to clench my fists until my knuckles hurt. “Don’t ever forget who was here first.”
The alpha shrugged. He grinned again. The patches of skin showing through on his chin and jaw had slowly begun to shrink as new hair grew over. His teeth lengthened. Massive, cruel claws sprouted from the tips of his fingers. The seams of his shirt swelled near to bursting.
“Someday soon,” he snarled, “it’ll be like you never existed.” He dropped his jaw open wide and let out the beginning of a grizzly bear’s primal roar. The back of his shirt ripped under the pressure of four hundred extra pounds of muscle.
“If that’s a challenge, I accept.” My whole body tensed in preparation for a wild fight. Behind the alpha bear, others had begun their transformations, though they were somewhat less intimidating. Shifting did nothing to counteract the effects of alcohol.
The alpha was on his hind legs, briefly silhouetted against the pale wash of moonlight spilling across the lot. One great paw arced downward toward me, claws poised to maul. I dashed in to meet him, but before I had the chance to connect, he faltered in his swing. A tortured gasp left his lungs, eyes widened, and he suddenly struggled for breath. A moment later, the shifter alpha crashed to the ground. His eyes bulged from their sockets. I watched the fur thin and gray, giving way once more to skin that now bore a sickly pallor.
“What are you doing to me?” he wheezed. The veins stood out on his neck and forehead.
At his back, his friends had scattered. There was only one figure standing behind him now. Logan’s face betrayed as much as the calm surface of a lake when he withdrew his open palm from the alpha’s back. Two black wings had sprouted from his shoulders, spread wide to help him channel the ethereal forces of life and death that he controlled.