"Are you insane?" he snarled at the wolves. "She's one of the Peltier bears."
One by one the wolves turned human. Except for Fang and the one he fought.
"Stefan!" Vane snapped in anger.
Instead of standing down, Stefan went for Vane. Fang caught him in a vicious hold on his throat as the two wolves continued to fight and writhe. Aimee cringed at the savage anger that said the two of them hated each other passionately. Old memories surged as they growled and snapped, tearing at each other's flesh. The sight of it sickened her.
"Stop it!" She blasted both of them with her powers.
Fang yelped as a blast hit him hard in his tail. Sharp and stinging, it sent him reeling. He hated being injured and for someone to get the better of him. . . .
It spun him into a level of pissed off like nothing else could. Furious, he snapped to human form even though it was hard to hold it.
"What the hell are you doing?" he asked as he limped toward her, his rear cheek still burning.
Aimee narrowed her glare on him. "I don't like fights."
"And I don't like getting stung on the ass."
She didn't back down or back off. "Well, if you'd stopped when Vane told you to-"
"I don't take orders from a woman I was fighting to protect."
She held her hand up as if declaring war on him for those words. "Well, macho you. For the record, I didn't need your protection."
Fang scoffed at her misplaced bravado. "Yeah, right. They were about to take you down."
"I seriously doubt it."
Fang closed the distance between them to stare down at her as fury stung every part of him. He wanted her to fully understand the danger she'd stupidly put herself into. "This isn't Sanctuary, little girl. You're invading our territory and we have burdened females. What were you thinking? We kill you out here and no one blinks."
She screwed her face up in disgust. "Oh, get over yourselves. Like I give two snots about your den." She pulled out his sunglasses and shoved them toward him so hard that it forced him to take a step back. "I just wanted to return your property. So go stuff yourself."
Fang was stunned as her hand struck him in the center of his chest. Instinctively, he cupped his sunglasses as she vanished, no doubt to return home.
The only problem was, he didn't know what stung most. Where she'd shoved him on his chest, smacked him on the butt, or the blow she'd just dealt his ego.
"How did that bitch find us?" Stefan ground out between clenched teeth.
Vane gave him a droll stare that said he shared the same opinion of Stefan that Fang had-that Stefan was a first-rank moron. "She must have followed our scent."
Fang didn't speak. He was still too stunned at her anger toward him when all he'd been trying to do was make her understand the danger. How could she not know better? Had Stefan not called in for reinforcements and Fang not realized who it was they were grouping to attack, Aimee would have been torn into pieces.
Another few minutes . . .
His stomach churned over the images in his mind.
Vane snapped his fingers in front of his face. "Dude? You okay?"
Fang shoved at him. "Of course I am."
Stefan came forward with a grimace on his face. "What did the bear want with you anyway?"
Vane caught Fang before he could approach the wolf to attack and forced him away from Stefan. "She-"
"We don't owe him an explanation," Fang snapped, interrupting Vane. "He can kiss my hairy ass."
Stefan rushed at him.