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WaitingForYou143
Automatically, she clicked through, blocking the new email account too. It unnerved her that he had her personal information. Over the past year, she had gotten hundreds of threats, solicitations, warnings, and ultimatums from naturally private wolf shifters who didn’t think she should be putting supernatural business onto a public site. But this was different. Those were always limited to her business accounts and towards her carefully selected anonymous persona as the sole news channel for wolves in North America. PackNewsOne was her baby, less than a year old, and she had taken care to make sure no one knew who ran it.
“…give me a chance, sweetheart, I promise, I’ll make it worth your while…”
She didn’t even glance at the guy still steadily hitting on her, his words only background noise. Thankfully, the bartender slid her regular gin and tonic over, and she took a big gulp as he laid the note down.
“I almost forgot the note attached to the shot. Didn’t open it. Ready to close your tab for the night, or you want another?”
“Close it up. Card’s on file.” Her words trailed off as she opened the note. She had expected to see some silly pickup line or a phone number. Instead, there were only three words scrawled across it.
See you soon.
It could be nothing, or it could be everything. Was it a coincidence? Someone messing with her?
She crumbled the note into a ball and shoved it into her purse before nodding her thanks to the bartender and hurrying away.
She had only gone a couple of steps when her admirer hopped off his own stool, chased after her, grabbed her by the arm and spun her around. But she didn’t have any more patience for him.
With a swift punch to his throat, he released her, gasping for air. But because he was still slightly reaching for her, she pulled her fist back again before thinking it through. Poor kid was too earnest, too fresh, and even as she felt the crunch of his bone under her knuckle, she felt bad for the second hit to the nose. But not that bad.
His weight hit the ground, and he lay there unconscious, blood from his nose trickling down onto the floor. She sighed and rubbed her forehead as she contemplated walking away and going straight to her room. The email and the note had her on edge, but she still needed to check her downed camera. She had just turned to leave when two of the regulars from the tour came around the corner laughing.
“Shit, we didn’t take a bet on if she would knock him out or not. He lasted longer than we thought though. Hey, Bai. You got to meet our newbie, Todd.”
“Shit, Blaine. Did you send him to bother me? I should have known. You little shit-asses are always up to something.”
She cracked a smile at them, unable to help herself. The pack from Nebraska had been on the tour with her since last spring season, and they were notorious pranksters, always goofing off and laughing.
“Hell, yeah. He barely turned eighteen last week, and they let him join us. Probably just to get him away from his mama. Pretty sure he’s still a virgin. You gotta admit, he should have known better than to listen to us.”
“Yeah, and how did he get drunk as a skunk?”
Blaine looked sheepishly at Dave, then grinned. “We bought a keg and taught him how to do keg stands in the parking lot before we came in.”
“Y’all are gonna get kicked out by security. You know they don’t play with you idiots.” Still, she couldn’t help but smile. They were fun, good-natured, and didn’t mean any harm. Girls flocked to them during these parties, and as the months went on, the numbers in their friend group slowly dwindled as they each found their fated mates. Might as well get it all out now. “So, tell me what you said to poor Todd.”
It was Dave who chuckled. “Told him you were a newbie too, and real shy. He only needed to go over and be confident and not let you out of his sight. That you were a sure bet to help him pop his cherry.”
She snorted at that. Despite her love of fucking a variety of men, she drew the line at the parties, and everyone knew it. She had practically become celibate this past year, and she was feeling it lately.
“So, we took bets on how long he would last before you made him cry or punched him. Didn’t think you’d actually knock him out though. That was a nice hit. You got an arm on you. You sure you don’t want to take me up on my last offer?”
She rolled her eyes, then stepped over Todd, who still lay motionless on the ground. “I’m sure, Blaine. You cornhuskers couldn’t handle me. Pick the poor kid up and teach him right, or I’m not going to be the only one knocking him out.”
“Aw, Bai, you’re the Golden Unicorn around here. You know there’s a long-running bet on which week you’ll find your mate and get swept off your feet. Your time is coming, Bai. Then you’re gonna regret never getting a taste of alllll this before you’re locked down forever. I’ll wait for you.”
She rolled her eyes as Blaine did a mock dance, lifting his shirt to show off his abs and then blew her a kiss. They leaned down to pull Todd up together, and she went to find her tilted camera.
He wasn’t joking, and she knew it. She didn’t know who started it, but PackNewsOne had done a special over the leaked bets on some long-timers. She was a top contender each week, and even though she had loved the attention before, it was getting old now.
The nagging voice in the back of her head, and the beast in her heart, reminded her exactly why, but she ignored it. She refused to give in. Unconsciously, she touched the necklace Ava had spelled for her, making sure it was still there disguising her distinct scent.She knew her mate wouldn’t be at these mating parties, but it made her feel safer to keep it on. Especially with the ominous emails she’d been getting lately.
By the time she found the correct misplaced camera, the dance floor was looking sparse, and end-of-the night slow jams played softly. Using the dim lighting, she quickly adjusted the micro-camera hidden in a planter, and she almost didn’t notice the folded paper underneath it.
Fuckity fuck fuck.
She plucked the paper out of the dry dirt, careful not to look too suspicious. She told herself it was just a stray piece of trash, but the pounding of her heart didn’t lie. It was too coincidental. She folded it into her palm without looking, then casually strolled away before anyone noticed her.
