Bride turned to see two women entering the store.
Vane stepped back while she greeted them. They began to browse, but their eyes kept returning to Vane, who moved to stand near her counter.
Bride busied herself rearranging a necklace display. She could tell Vane wanted to talk to her, but when those two customers left, three more came in.
Vane watched while Bride showed her merchandise to the women. He really wanted to get this over with, yet the last thing he needed was an audience when he told her that he was a werewolf.
More customers came in.
Oh, this was getting bad.
He could use his powers to make the women leave, but he didn't want to interfere with her business.
"I'm going to wait outside for a bit," he said to her while she rang up a sale.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"Fine," he said. "I'll be out in the back."
He headed into the storeroom, then out the back door that led to the courtyard.
Damn.
"It's okay," he breathed. He would have plenty of time to talk to her later. He just wanted to get this over with as soon as possible.
"Vane."
A cold shiver went down his spine as he heard the low, gravelly voice inside his head.
He stiffened and went to the gate to see a sight that made his entire body go cold. Coining up Iberville was one of the last animals he expected to see.
It was Fury in human form.
Equal in height to Vane, Fury had shoulder-length blond hair and eyes that were one shade darker than turquoise. He wore his hair pulled back in a ponytail and tight blue jeans with a long-sleeved black shirt.
The wolf approached him with a deadly, carefully measured stride. Power and strength bled from every molecule of his body. This was one of the few wolves Vane had never sought to fight.
Not that he didn't think he couldn't take Fury. He was sure he could, but Fury wasn't the kind of wolf who fought fair. He was much more likely to tear your throat out while you were sleeping.
There was an amused glint in the wolf's eyes as he stopped by Vane's side and glanced to where Bride stood inside her store.
"You're being careless, adelfos."
"We're not brothers, Fury. What the hell are you doing here?"
His smile turned crooked, evil. "I wanted to warn you that your father knows you and Fang are alive. I was one of the ones chosen to kill you two."
Vane went rigid.
"Relax," Fury said. "If I wanted you dead, I would have attacked by now."
"Why haven't you?"
"I owe you, remember?"
It was true. He had saved Fury's life back when the wolf had first joined their pack. "You waited a long time to pay up."
He shrugged. "Yeah, well, some things take time."