Page 7 of The Enforcers: KANE

Rachelle stood her ground, not bothering to point out that the shiny red dress was a stage costume, and she was now wearing faded jeans that were definitely not too good for anybody.

“Back off, Eddie,” she said. “Go call a cab, go home and sleep it off. I don’t want to hurt you.”

Eddie kept coming. Idiot.

“Hurt me? A little thing like you?” He gave a high-pitched giggle. “That’s cute. You’re real cute, honey. We’re gonna have a good time together.”

This time Rachelle did roll her eyes. Did any guy really think, just because they told a woman it would be fun being with a drunken asshole who didn’t care if she liked him or not, that she’d suddenly go, Oh yeah, what was I thinking, you totally make me hot now?

Eddie reached for her, going straight for the boob grab. Rachelle grabbed his wrist and twisted her body, and in seconds Eddie was on the ground, wondering what the hell hit him.

“Hey,” he protested. “That wasn’t nice.”

“I’m actually not that nice,” Rachelle told him in a soft voice. She turned to get into her car.

She didn’t expect Eddie to be one of the nasty ones. He climbed to his feet, quicker than she would have thought, and a knife blade flashed in his hand.

Really? Rachelle thought. This was getting annoying now.

She dodged the blade easily—Eddie might be nasty, but he was still drunk. Definitely not one of Selina’s crew.

But he was pissed now, and he had a height and weight advantage. She was stronger, but she had to protect her vulnerable spots and also try not to permanently damage Eddie. Which would be harder now that he’d pissed her off.

She was shifting her weight, looking for an opening, when a feral snarl came out of the darkness. A huge wolf sprang out of the shadows, teeth bared.

Eddie’s eyes went wide and the blood drained from his face. The wolf landed in a crouch and growled deep in its throat, terrifying golden eyes fixed on Eddie. It paced forward, slowly, its eyes never leaving him.

Suddenly, the wolf lunged, snapping at her attacker with his huge teeth. Eddie dropped his knife with a terrified yell and took off running. The wolf chased him at an easy lope until Eddie made it unsteadily to his car and locked himself inside. It stood for a minute, watching him peel out of the parking lot, then turned and trotted back toward Rachelle.

Shifter, she thought immediately. The wolf was clearly just trying to scare Eddie, not attack him. No wild wolf would act like that. Not to mention how big it was—almost four feet tall at the shoulder.

It wasn’t surprising, really. This whole place was full of shifters, and half the security team were wolves. They didn’t know that Rachelle was anything but a singer—and a human. The surprising part was that he was running around in wolf form, out here where people could see him.

The wolf stopped about twenty feet away from her, far enough not to be threatening. Rachelle eyed him curiously.

“Thanks,” she said. “Not that I can’t handle drunken idiots, but I appreciate the backup. You going to change back, or are you keeping your Clark Kent identity a secret?”

The wolf just stared at her, head slightly cocked. There was something familiar about him…

No way.

She’d only ever known one wolf shifter well enough to be allowed to see him shift to animal form. And this one…same markings. Same white ruff at the base of his neck. One slightly bent ear that had been damaged in a fight.

It couldn’t be.

“Hunter?” she whispered.

The wolf froze, its golden eyes going wider in shock. For a moment they stood on the gravel, staring at each other, and then it turned and vanished back into the night.

Chapter 4

Back in the woods, Kane shifted back into human form and crouched under the tree where he’d left his clothes.

No, no no no. He put his hands on the sides of his face and squeezed, trying to keep his head from exploding.

It couldn’t be her.

Raven had been Rachelle’s street name, just like his had been Hunter. But plenty of women were called Raven. All these years later, so far from Seattle…he’d never for a second thought that this Raven could be his Raven—the little orphaned girl he’d protected and then abandoned.