Page 20 of Claimed

“And onion rings!” Chase says with excited eyes.

“Just follow this street for a couple of minutes by car. The hotel is right on the corner of the block. It’s the tallest building in town, you can’t miss it. And Yum Yums is right across the street.”

“Thanks for all your help,” Maddox says, offering a hand to Dante.

He shakes it and nods. “My pleasure. It’s always nice seeing new folks join our town. Oh, but I should warn you. Not everyone is as welcoming as me. I’d recommend keeping your distance from the vampires and demons.”

Did he just say vampires and demons?!

I know Gage had mentioned them in one of his books, but I hadn’t actually considered that other species existed outside of shifters. And what the heck was an earth elemental? Could she move dirt or something?

“Thanks for the warning,” Maddox says. Dante says goodbye, then jumps in his jeep and takes off down the road, leaving us all staring after him.

Maddox turns to face us as he asks, “So what does everyone think?”

“It feels safe so far,” Chase says, glancing down the street.

Maddox nods before giving us his plan. “Let’s stop at the hotel to get rooms for the week, then we’ll grab some food. If we’re still feeling optimistic after that, we’ll go see the realtor, Peggy, to find out what’s available.”

He looks at the forest, then frowns. “I should have asked Dante to introduce us to the town's wolf pack alpha. I need to ask permission to stay here.”

“Maybe someone at the hotel or diner will know,” Hunter suggests.

“Good idea,” Maddox says as he motions for us to get back in the SUV. “And keep your ears open for anything that could help us with the stuff going on with Cherry.”

“I’d like to check out the library,” Gage says as I jump into the SUV and take a seat on Chase’s lap this time. “That’s assuming they have one.”

“We’ll ask at the hotel,” Maddox says as he climbs into the driver’s seat.

Twenty minutes later, after securing two adjoining hotel rooms, we’re sitting in the diner in a large corner booth, with me in the middle, in my wolf form.

I glance around nervously. People glance our way, but they seem more curious than anything, and none of their gazes linger. Do they not find it strange that I’m in my wolf form?

I want to ask my guys, but of course, I can’t shift.

A woman in her fifties walks up to our table with a pen and pad of paper, and a big smile on her face in greeting. I can tell she’s supernatural, but I don’t think she’s a shifter. I’m not sure what she is, though. “Good afternoon, I’m Grace. You all must be new to town. I don’t recognize you.”

“Yes,” Maddox says with a nod. “We just arrived twenty minutes ago.”

“Oh, so brand new then! Visiting or staying?” she asks curiously.

“Hopefully staying,” he replies, and her smile grows bigger as she glances around.

“We’re always glad to have new faces around here,” she tells him. “Can I get you guys drinks to start?”

The guys already know what they want, ordering an obscene amount of food. Grace doesn’t even bat an eye at it, and I realize she’s probably used to it. She doesn’t even throw any strange glances my way.

It makes me a tad uneasy about how smoothly everything’s going so far.

“Hi,” a man says, suddenly stepping up to the table and gaining all of our attention. The second I realize he’s a wolf shifter, I press into Bain’s side, and he quickly wraps an arm around me and lets out a small growl.

The man’s eyes grow wide and he holds up his palms. “Hey, no hostility needed. I just saw you come in and wanted to say hi. I have no interest in your mate.” He avoids looking at me and keeps eye contact with Bain as he speaks, clearly knowing he’s the biggest threat.

“Sorry, we just arrived and we’re still a little jumpy,” Maddox says, trying to smooth it over.

The man looks at him and nods, his hands slowly lowering until he can push them into his pockets.

“I’m Cody. As I said, I saw you come in, so I figured I’d come say hello.”