Laughing delightedly, Amber’s eyes sparkled.
“It’s nothing,” Nikki insisted.
“Yeah, sure it is,” Amber said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you have that look on your face about someone.”
“A look? What look?”
“You know, that look people get when they’re interested in someone and don’t want to admit it. The look you get when you start falling for someone.”
Nikki rolled her eyes, praying that she wouldn’t start blushing. “You’re impossible, did you know that?” she groused.
“I know,” Amber said in a singsong voice, beaming. At Nikki’s scowl, she started laughing again. It wasn’t until her gaze slid away to look down the street that her smile faded and the laugh died. Her jaw tightened.
“What?” Nikki asked.
“Hoo boy.” Amber’s eyes narrowed at something in front of them. “Brace yourself. We’re about to have some unwanted company.”
Nikki followed her friend’s gaze and barely suppressed a groan. She recognized the group strutting toward them. They were the pack members who didn’t want the women to learn how to fight, thinking that was only for the men. She had caught them jeering at her on more than one occasion, laughing their asses off, making fun of her behind her back. For the most part,she had managed to avoid them and go about her life. She didn’t think she was going to be that lucky this time.
The men caught sight of them and shifted their trajectory, heading straight toward them. The one at the front of the pack, a burly shifter named Rick, leered down at them with a disdainful sneer.
“Look who we’ve got here,” Rick said. “A couple of our female warriors. How’s the training going? Think you might be able to take on a rabbit by the end of the month?”
“Knock it off,” Amber snarled.
“Yeah, you know, maybe she’s right,” another one, a dark-haired shifter named Alek, chimed in. “They probably should be trained. I mean, think about all of the sandwiches they’ll have to fight when they’re in the kitchen.”
A roar of laughter echoed through the group. Nikki shrank back, looking down at the ground.
“I told you to back down,” Amber repeated.
“Aww, are your feelings hurt?” Rick said. “Why don’t you do something about it? With all that training, you could probably knock me down flat.”
“I’d love to,” Amber spat. “But honestly, I don’t think you’re worth the effort.”
More laughter. It sounded like an earsplitting cacophony in Nikki’s ears. She flinched again.
“Good excuse,” Rick said. “It’s cute. At least you know you can’t go up against a real threat.”
Nikki watched Amber stare up at them defiantly, hands on her hips, looking nearly the part of a warrior princess. A rush of admiration ran through Nikki at the sight of her friend, alongwith the faintest hint of jealousy. Why couldn’t she stand up to people like that?
Despite Amber’s stance and the rage radiating off her, it wasn’t doing anything to impress or deter the other shifters. They leered at her, chuckling with malicious amusement.
“It’s cute, isn’t it?” Alek said.
“It’s something. Personally, I don’t get the point of training women when we still have to come to their rescue,” a third man said, gesturing at Nikki with a brash laugh. “Case in point. She couldn’t fend for herself when that guy came to town to snatch her up.”
“That’s enough,” Amber snarled. She stepped in front of Nikki, who couldn’t seem to find her voice.
Another roar of laughter clanged and reverberated in her ears. Nikki kept her gaze on her feet, her fingers flexing in frustration. What she wouldn’t give to be able to stand up to them like Amber was right now.
“At least she’s got a pair on her,” one of them jeered. “It’s cute, isn’t it?”
“It sure is something,” another said.
“Knock it off before I lose my patience,” Amber said.
Nikki still couldn’t find her voice. Her gaze strayed down to her shoes as more heat flooded her face in some combination of anger and shame. She gritted her teeth, but she remained embarrassingly mute.
