3

At the word, his men leaped to action. They moved so damned fast, I could barely register what was happening. Blurs of motion, screams and growls, the shimmering, angry flash of their red eyes. The last thing I remembered was a searing pain in my sides, followed by an explosion of pain at the back of my head. After that, everything went dark.

2

NICO

“B

ro, I’m not going out,” I said, leaning back into my couch.

“Come on,” Sebastian moaned. “You’ve got to. It won’t be the same without you.”

I laid my head back, already exhausted. I didn’t go out often. It wasn’t really my scene. I’d been trying to beg off this little excursion for days. Sebastian had gotten more persistent all day, though. He was wearing me down, and he knew it. There was blood in the water and he was circling, ready to snap me up and drag me out for an evening of debauchery that probably wouldn’t end until the sun came up.

“You don’t need me to have a good time.”

Sebastian flopped down on the couch beside me. “Nico, you’re my best friend. How the hell am I going to have a good time if you aren’t there?”

“I really wanted to turn in early tonight.” The argument was as limp as it sounded. I almost never went to bed early.

Sebastian glared at me with a pretty hilarious look on his face. It was the closest he could ever get to looking pissed at me. “You’ve forced my hand.” He put on a faux regal look and stood, pointing down at me. “Nicolas Lorenzo, I command you to come out, get drunk, have fun, and maybe if we’re lucky, bring a hot chick home to bang. I command this as my birthday present.”

“Are you being serious right now? Commanding me? Who the hell are you? Queen Elizabeth?”

“Did you get me a birthday present?” Sebastian asked.

I laughed and rolled my eyes. “What? I didn’t realize you were turning seven. I haven’t gotten you a present since we were in fucking middle school.”

“Ha!” Sebastian pumped a fist. “There it is. Since you’ve neglected to give me a present for, like, two decades, you coming out will be the gift. I’ll call it a wash.”

“One night out is the same as twenty birthday gifts?” I asked, already knowing the argument was over.

“Well…you’ve got to buy me at least six beers tonight, but yeah.”

I huffed out a sigh. “Fuck it, fine. Let me get dressed.”

“Hell, yeah,” Sebastian said, pulling his phone out. “I’ll call the guys.”

The rest of the guys showed up and we piled into Sebastian’s massive suburban, then went out for dinner first. He wanted to go to this t***s place downtown because he’d “heard you can pull tons of tail out of that place.” The food was freaking amazing, and he hadn’t been wrong about the ladies. The place had a little salsa dance club attached to it, and there were tons of ladies out having a fun Friday night.

We were in the middle of a platter of roasted octopus, prawns, and Spanish sausages when a whole crew of chicks rolled up to our table. They were hot, yeah, but a little young for my taste. Barely legal college students, if I had to guess. They were literally all over my guys.

“Hey there, sexy,” said a brunette with her tits almost falling out of her top, pulling a seat up next to me. She slid a finger down my chest and grinned. “Shifters are hot.”

I grabbed another shrimp and popped it into my mouth. “Yeah, thanks…uh, same to you.”

Sebastian leaned in and whispered into my ear. “Bro, what are you doing? She’s hot, and she’s throwing herself at you.”

I glanced back and gave him a look that told him I wanted him to shut up. The brunette was joined by a redhead with smaller boobs but an ass that made even me look twice. She sat with her friend. “Meg? Who’s the hot guy?”

I forced myself not to roll my eyes. Definitely college girls. They were both already three sheets to the wind and trolling for guys. I’d seen it a hundred times. Once the alcohol flowed, all inhibitions went out the door. If I were a different kind of person, I’d most definitely take advantage.

“Nico,” I said, introducing myself.

Redhead furrowed her brow and grinned. “Oh my gosh, even his name’s hot. Meg, let’s go get this guy a beer. Be right back, babe,” she said to me as she took her friend by the arm and hauled her toward the bar.

Sebastian grabbed my arm and shook it in excitement. “Holy shit, man. I swear, if you get a three-way on my birthday and I don’t, I’m gonna be majorly pissed. Can I at least video it?”

“Dude? Seriously?” I winced in disgust. “I’m almost old enough to be their father.”

“You’re thirty-five, not sixty-five, no matter how much you try to be an old fart.”

The girls returned with a beer, which I took with a nod of thanks. I downed it in four heavy gulps. Shifters didn’t get drunk the way humans did. It wasn’t that we couldn’t, but our bodies ran hot. We burned the alcohol off two or three times faster than humans. I’d have to chug at least three times as much as a human to get drunk. I almost never did. I usually only drank because I liked to.

Redhead glanced at her friend Meg and bit her lower lip. They exchanged some unspoken conversation with their eyes. Meg turned away, face flaming, laughing and nodding. Redhead put a hand on my thigh as our server dropped the check for our food off.

“So…” Redhead said, leaning in close. “My friend and I think you’re, like, really fucking hot. Have you ever been with two ladies at the same time?” She glanced over at her friend, then back to me. “We’ve never shared a guy before, so maybe it’ll be a first time for everyone?”

I sighed and glanced around the table. All the other guys were doing their best to keep the shit-eating grins off their faces. I had a regular hookup I could call anytime I was in the mood. Taking home some random women didn’t appeal to me.

I reached down and took her hand gently. “You and your friend are gorgeous. I’m just not looking for that kind of fun tonight, ladies.”

I let them down easy, but they still looked dejected and left without another word. It could have been worse—they could have made a scene, called me an asshole, or thrown a drink in my face. As it was, I kinda felt bad; it looked like they’d spent quite a while working up the courage for that little proposition. Too bad they hadn’t approached Sebastian instead. If they had, I’m sure the night would have been over. He’d have demanded a ride home to carnally annihilate himself. I might have even gotten into bed before midnight.

Sebastian shook his head and looked at me like I was a madman. “Dude? You just turned down a night of sexual glory most men would give their left nut for.”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. Boobs good, no boobs bad. Are we done here?”

With the ticket paid, Sebastian declared the next stop to be a strip club. After several minutes of arguing, we indeed ended up at a strip club. Thankfully, we were out of there in less than an hour and Sebastian didn’t go bankrupt on lap dances. We bounced around to three more bars before Sebastian pulled us all aside.

“Dudes, I’m freaking starving,” he said, holding his stomach.

“Christ, man,” our friend Luis said. “We just had dinner.”

“Man, that was hours ago. I know a great place down the road. Really good bar food. Fried pickles to die for, and some of these spicy chicken sliders that’ll make you lose your mind. Let’s go.”

I glanced at my watch. “Sebastian, it’s past three in the morning. They probably aren’t open anymore.”

“Nah, man. Gotta be open. It’s Friday. Plus, it’s my birthday.”

“So you think they stayed open late just for you?” Felipe said, crossing his arms.

“Let’s check?” Sebastian asked, wincing as though his hunger pangs were going to kill him.

I sighed. “Fine, but if this place is closed, that’s it. Night’s over. Got it? Some of us would like to sleep at least a little before sunrise.”

“Ugh, you guys are lame. Okay, fine.” Sebastian handed me the keys to his SUV.

Even with our increased metabolism, several of the guys were pretty buzzed. I was still basically stone-cold sober. Not only was I out late when I didn’t want to be, but I’d become the de facto designated driver. I got into the driver’s seat and started the car. I wanted to be pissed about the situation, but if I were honest, the night had been sort of fun. But I’d never tell Sebastian that. I’d never hear the end of “I told you so.”

I knew which bar he was talking about, so I took a right out of the parking lot and got back on the highway. I was a hundred percent sure the place would be closed, so no matter what, I’d be back in my bed in an hour at the latest.