Howl For It
Page 24

Eggie stopped and slowly turned his head, scanning the crowd. It took a moment, but he caught sight of McMartin first. The bear nodded at him and Eggie nodded back.
Whos that? Darla asked.
A friend of mine.
A Marine?
Yep.
Well, go on and talk to him.
Come with me.
Eggie, Ill be fine. She pointed to a small group. I think I know one of those girls over there.
Which one?
The coyote. We used to work together.
I dont like coyotes.
Darla laughed. Go on with your Marine buddies so yall dont have to speak in code so I wont understand whats going on.
Damn, the woman was smart.
I wanna look around anyway. She went up on her toes and kissed his cheek. Go on now. Ill be fine. Maybe Ill get something to drink.
Only unopened bottles and cans, Darla.
Uh . . . okay. She headed off, looking over her shoulder at him and giving a little wave.
Eggie watched her for a bit until his teammates surrounded him.
Thats her? Taschen asked.
Yep.
Shes cute.
Shes mine.
Told ya, McMartin said to Taschen. Saw it in his eyes when she was being treated by the doc.
And how does she feel about it? Lloyd asked.
Eggie faced the three shifters. What do I always say?
You hate chitchat? McMartin guessed.
Then why are you motherfuckers giving me goddamn chitchat?
Darla had been right. She knew the coyote. She was a former Van Holtz restaurant sous-chef. Of course, after five minutes, Darla also remembered that shed never liked the coyote that much. She was kind of annoying. Like now.
Egbert Smith? Youre involved with Egbert Smith?
Darla nodded while sipping her Coca-Cola. It was wonderfully refreshing.
Barbie Klein, currently covered in body paint and a bikini, grabbed Darlas arm and nodded at her full-human friends. Ill be back.
She pulled Darla off to the edge of the crowd and faced her. Is there something wrong with you? Barbie demanded.
Youre covered in pink, green, and yellow body paint, and youre asking me that?
Look, sweetie, I get it. Ive been there. There is something about the Smith males that can be . . . enticing. Even I can admit that. But youre not me and Egbert Smith is a . . . a . . .
Really nice guy?
He is not a nice guy, Darla. Hes a . . . a . . .
If you cant say it, maybe youshouldnt.
Sweetie, every canine from here to Istanbul knows about Eggie Smith and avoids him.
Hes misunderstood. Besides, you just dont like Smiths.
No one likes Smiths, Darla, except other Smiths. Theyre like the wolf version of the Manson family.
I can tell you for a fact thats not funny and its not true.
Theyre not a Pack, theyre a hillbilly cult filled with criminals and shine runners. You have to be careful.
You dont know what youre talking about and Im not going to stand here and listen to another word of this utter bull-crap.
Angry, Darla turned to go but stopped when she saw a full-human man standing in front of her. He wore a leather jacket with emblems and things on it.
Sorry, she said, distracted, and took a step to walk around the man. He took a step, too, blocking her.
She looked at him again and the man smiled, which only made things worse. A smile like that never boded well for anyone. She glanced back to look at Barbie but typical coyote that she was, the little deserter had run off and left her!
Darla also realized that shed quickly become surrounded and now had males and females in front and behind her. Most of them wearing the same leather jacket as the first. And wearing them in this heat meant they were sending a message.
No . . . this probably wasnt a good situation.
Eggie stared at Lloyd. Are you sure?
Positive. And theyre pushing hard to find her. Her boss knew, too. Thats why he sent her home. Although I dont think he meant for her to hitchhike there.
Eggie blinked. She hitchhiked from San Francisco to North Carolina?
Apparently she does it all the time.
Eyes crossing, Eggie realized hed be working very hard to keep this She-wolf safe just from herself.
All right, all right. He let out a big breath. What Ill need you to do is . . .
Eggies words tapered off when he realized none of his team was paying attention to him. He looked next to him and saw why. A female coyote in a bikini and body paint stood nearby, staring at him. The one that Darla had pointed out to him earlier. But where was Darla?
Whats wrong? he immediately asked.
Darla needs you.
Eggie spun around, his gaze searching the area. When that didnt work fast enough, he sniffed the air, caught her scent. He motioned to his team and they vanished into the crowd. Then he went after his woman.
Come on, baby, one of the men coaxed and Darla remembered how much she hated when men called her baby, cant you be a little friendly to our buddy Will?