She jotted it down. "I assume you each want a couple?"
Liam adjusted his chair. "Yes. Please."
Aimee nodded and she bit back a smile over the most favored request of their Katagaria clientele. All animals loved their meat that was only barely warmed by their human cooks who couldn't quite figure out why they had so many orders for it. "All right, two dozen house specials. Any chance one of you might want to live dangerously and try a vegetable?"
"Do we look like rabbits to you?"
Vane smacked the blond-haired man to his right on the shoulder. "Knock it off, Fury."
The wolf looked pissed, but reined himself in. As wolves, they all deferred to the alpha, even when it galled them to do it. Of course, they would also fight to the death at his command. No matter how much they fought among themselves, at the end of the day they were always united against any outsider. It was what made them so dangerous.
Wolves never fought alone.
They fought as a pack. Rabid. Cold. Lethal. And together they could kill just about anything that lived . . . or even those that didn't.
"Do you have anything sweet?"
Aimee turned her attention to Fang at his unorthodox request. Bears loved sweets, but wolves usually stuck to meat. "You have a sweet tooth?"
"Not me. It's for our sister. She's burdened and has been craving sweets."
This time she did smile as warmth seeped through her. "And you want to take something back to her?"
He nodded.
What a nice thing to do. It was something her-she froze at the stab of pain that thought caused. Even now that memory was razor-sharp and cut her to the quick. She always did her best not to think about Bastien and Gilbert. Still, they snuck into her thoughts many times a day. "You got it. I'll toss in a couple of meats and treats for her."
"Much obliged."
For some reason she couldn't explain, Aimee wanted to stay and talk to the wolf. If for no other reason than to listen to the deep timbre of his voice when he spoke. There was a slight lilt to his speech that said he'd lived in England at some point in his life. It was really seductive. . . .
What is wrong with me? I hate wolves.
They were loud. Obnoxious. Smelly and always looking for trouble.
Yet there was something about this one that was compelling. And the fact that he thought of his sister . . .
At least he had a heart. That alone put him miles ahead of the others of his kind.
As she left them again, she couldn't resist looking back. Now he was smacking at Fury while Vane was separating them like a parent with two young sons.
Aimee shook her head.
That right there was why she didn't care for wolves. Something about canines, they were always nipping and sniping at each other and anyone dumb enough to come near them.
As she headed for the kitchen to hand her orders over, a boisterous group coming down the stairs made her pause. She cursed inwardly at the sight.
Jackals. Two females and four males. They must have teleported into the top floor that was reserved for that sort of activity-it was an area shielded from humans so that they'd never suspect what Sanctuary really was. To them it was just a club.
To Were-Hunters, it was neutral ground where none could be harmed.
And if there was anything she hated more than wolves, it was those canine cousins-the jackals. If being a jackal wasn't bad enough already, these were also Arcadian Sentinels and by the look of them they were on the hunt for someone.
Sighing heavily, she glanced back at the Katagaria wolves, wondering how they'd react to the Arcadian jackal presence.
The last thing they needed was for a vicious fight to break out between a clan of Sentinels and a pack of Strati, especially Strati with young to protect. That made them even edgier and more violent than normal.
She started back to the bar, but her path was cut off as one of the jackals teleported in front of her. He raked her with a sneer of disgust.