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He knew what happened around here sometimes, and he couldn’t get enough of the fact that I had a weakness. It was his only retribution since I’d been more powerful than him and I’d become alpha when Hauser had died.
“That’s gotta sting. The all-powerful alpha can’t even keep the riffraff out of his own backyard.” Cal sneered.
“Watch your mouth,” I warned. “You have no idea what’s been going on here while you’ve been out on your bender, emptying stock in half the town bars and probably fucking their women, too.”
Cal shrugged. “I reserve the right as the former alpha’s son.”
“You don’t deserve shit,” I scowled.
Dagger glanced at me. I was biting back my temper. I was already on edge after the attack, and Cal was just the right person to tip me over into rage again.
Cal didn’t let my words get to him at all. He grinned and drank his drink as if he didn’t have a care in the world. That was what pissed me off about him—hedidn’thave a care in the world. He wasn’t alpha, but he had a good place to live. He was a dick, but no one was out to kill him, and he lived happily ever after, completely satisfied to stew in his own filth and amount to nothing.
“You won’t believe who I came across,” Cal said, still rocking on his chair.
“We don’t really care who you came across,” Dagger said.
“You know Lennox? The bear who lives by the creek? Yeah, he showed his face in Owen’s Pub when I was there, looking for some honey,” Cal continued, as if we’d both begged him to tell us more.
Dagger glanced at me when Cal talked about Lennox.
“The old bear hasn’t changed one bit. He’s still as fucked in the head as he used to be. Hangs around with this panther, who calls himself Rex. Like a fucking lapdog.” Cal laughed at his joke and took another sip. “Get this, they were talking about their close call one night with a rabbit shifter.”
Dagger and I both stilled and stared at him.
“I thought that would get your attention.” Cal grinned slyly, enjoying the fact that our attention was fully on him now. “So, I know all about you rubbing shoulders and claiming possession of a rabbit shifter, so naturally, I’m interested,” Cal continued. “What with Inigo biting it, succumbing to his prey. Literally.” He snorted with laughter.
“What did they say?” I asked. “About the rabbit.”
“Oh, they were just talking about how they were hunting that night, looking for a way to get off. You know how panthers can get when they’re wired—looking for something to fuck, easy prey. God, panthers are so pathetic.”
I frowned. “What did they do to her?”
“Well, nothing,” Cal said with a shrug. “I mean, Inigo is gone, right? So clearly, their plans didn’t work out.”
“What were theyplanningto do to her?” I asked.
My ears started ringing. I already knew the answer to that question.
“Come on, asshole, you know how it goes. When a guy sees some pussy he wants badly enough, he takes it. Inigo and Rex were always out there, looking for some tail to make their own, and a rabbit shifter is rumored to give you extra power.”
Fuck. They were going to take her against her will.
“I imagine they wanted to do to her what you’ve probably already done,” Cal said smugly.
I saw red. I moved around the bar and kicked the bottom of Cal’s stool before I knew what I was doing. Cal tumbled backward with a yelp—Ihatedit when he rocked on my chairs, breaking my shit, and he wouldn’t stop. Like a stupid teenager.
Cal hit the floor, his alcohol spilling out of his glass and splashing in his face, and he gasped for air.
Before he could move, I was on top of him. I grabbed him by the collar and jerked him up so my face and his were only inches apart.
“Let me get this very clear. No one in my town forces themselves on a woman.”
“Come on, man, it’s not like it’s a big deal. They just need a little encouragement sometimes. You know what they can be l—”
Before he could say anything else, I clocked him in the face.
“What the fuck, man?” Cal sputtered.
