Between Witches and Wolves

Chapter 5: A Night Out

Nate

Sweat drips onto the mat. My breathing comes in a slow, rhythmic pace, my heart pounds in my chest, and I can feel my wolf enjoying every second.

I’m fighting Sebastian.

He’s slightly bigger than me and hella quick on his feet.

But I am a fighter.

It’s what Ash and I excel at.

He rushes me.

Bad move.

I step to the side at the last second, twist around with precision, grab his wrist, and shove him to the ground.

Gotcha now.

I wrap my other arm around his neck and lengthen my claws.

“That’s the match!” I hear the referee announce.

I stand and shake hands with Seb.

“Damn, Nate. Couldn’t let me show off even a little, eh?” he says, grinning at me.

His mate, Malinda, rushes over with water and a towel.

“Oh, babe! You did great! I mean, you held your own against Nate, so that’s saying something.”

It’s true. Not many of the pack members can go toe-to-toe with me. The only one I have to really focus and try my best with when I fight is Alex.

“All right, everyone! That’s it for training today. I know it’s been a tough week, but I’m proud of each and every one of you. Now, shower and enjoy the rest of the weekend,” Maximum, or Max, the current head of our warriors, announces.

We all run toward the river and jump in.

The cold water feels so f*****g good after that workout.

“Hey, Nate, don’t forget we’re all going out tonight, so be ready to go by eight!” I hear Alex yell at me as he finishes his soak.

“Yeah, yeah. I know,” I mumble back, not even trying to hide the annoyance in my voice.

I swim toward the riverbank and climb out. The river feels nice, but I should really use some soap and take a proper shower.

Then again, if I smell like s**t, maybe I won’t get hit on.

I hear Ash huff at me.

Okay, okay. I hear you. Shower it is.

I run to the house and straight to my bathroom. I flip on the shower and strip. The water cascading down my body feels nice.

I scrub my medium-length black hair that my father so desperately wishes I would cut. The smell of soap fills the room as I scrub away the sweat and dirt from today’s training.

Once I’m clean, I turn off the shower.

I towel dry and wipe the condensation from the mirror.

I have some scruff growing in.

Guess I need to shave.

I quickly shave it away and admire the smooth skin beneath. Being a wolf shifter has its perks. Acne is rare and usually only common among the teens of the pack.

I grab some old blue jeans and a gray T-shirt and give them a good sniff.

Smells clean enough.

I get dressed and make my way to the kitchen, my stomach growling loudly. I make three sandwiches and scarf them down.

Right as I finish, I see Alex coming down the stairs. He has on black pants and a black button-up shirt.

Looking fancy for a strip club, I mind-link him.

He laughs in response.

“Are you ready to go?”

“As ready as I could possibly be.” I smirk.

“Good. Then go get the Jeep. Jacob and Martin wanna ride with us. Trevor and Max said they’d meet us there.”

I grab the keys to the Jeep. The bright red Jeep with no roof looks like a please look at me vehicle if I’ve ever seen one.

But the boys love taking her out.

I crank the engine, and she purrs to life.

I see Jacob and Martin whooping and hollering as they run over and jump in.

“Let’s go!” Martin yells as Alex gets into the passenger seat.

I put the Jeep in drive and speed off, throwing dust into the air.

Nico

It’s been at least ten years since we’ve come to this town.

The atmosphere still hasn’t changed.

Everything looks the same as I remember, and the smell is just as horrid as always. We rarely come to this town because of the poor quality of humans available.

Every one of them reeks.

We’ve been traveling throughout Montana this summer, and Luke just happened to remember this shithole of a town. He said he came across a girl the last time we were here who had a banging body, wasn’t on any drugs, and had blood that tasted like liquid gold.

I doubt a girl like that actually exists in this drug-addicted town.

I don’t even remember her name.

Ashley? Arbor?

Or was it Amber?

I don’t care enough to remember anyway.

Oh well.

I’m just along for the ride at this point.

He did say she was a dancer at the local strip club, so that’s where we are currently headed.

The wind whips past me as my Harley hums down the road. In this small town, I don’t have to wear a helmet. Not like the cops here care.

But on the interstates, state troopers are a b***h about it.

Not like I can tell them it isn’t necessary, though.

They would never believe me.

It would take much more than a little accident to kill me.

Same goes for the other two with me, Luke and Steven.

As I’m lost in thought, we arrive at the shack they call a strip club. I can smell the cigarette smoke and foul blood from here.

“Hey, now. I know it smells like s**t, but trust me. You have to filter through the trash to get to the goods.”

Luke is way too excited to be here. He shoots me a cocky grin and sniffs the air.

It takes him a good twenty seconds before he looks at me mischievously, his eyes turning black.

“I knew we would find something good here. And tell you what, since you don’t believe me, she can be all yours.”

I still only smell s**t.

Whatever.

If a girl like that is in there, I’ll take a chance.

We walk into the club, and the smell of cigarettes and s**t overwhelms my senses.

Steven heads to a table close to the stage, if that’s what you can call it. I take a seat, and it’s not long before a short, skinny girl starts walking toward our table.

Guess she’s supposed to be our waitress.

She has on a black miniskirt and a white tank top cut into a crop top.

I realize I’ve been holding my breath since I came in.

Luke looks at me expectantly. He’s been flirting with her hard, and she isn’t biting.

“She smells amazing. Why do you still look like you have a stick up your ass?”

I finally take a breath.

What the f**k?

That smell...

Was it that girl?

I can’t help it. I start scanning the room for her.

There.

I spot her.

She’s thin and not even five-foot-five. Her blood smells like the sweetest candy imaginable mixed in with all the heroin addicts.

I wouldn’t mind taking a bite of that.

I keep watching her.

“So, I take it you’ll take me up on my previous offer? She’s all yours if you share after you’ve had your fill of her.”

Luke leans over with a grin and looks at Steven.

“You want some of her too?”

Steven smiles.

The poor girl doesn’t stand a chance.

Even if she did decline the offer to willingly give herself to us.

I can’t stop tracking her.

I just want to sink my teeth into that pretty little neck of hers.

Steven gets up to find the manager of this joint. Luke says if we pay, the old man will give us whatever we want.

Just then, a pack of mutts walks in.

I can smell the wet dog that gives them away as shifters.

Now things just got interesting.

Wolf shifters are actually quite common, as are witches. And even though the media and humans love to believe that shifters and “vampires” hate one another, we actually don’t.

Yes, we don’t always get along, but for the most part, we’re quite civil.

I even have a few friends who are wolf shifters.

I notice one of them spot my girl, though.

Actually, two of them seem to have seen her before she went to the back.

Interesting.

I don’t know these wolves, so it may be fun to f**k around and see what they do.

I mean, I had my eyes on her first anyway.

Steven sits back down.

“Got it taken care of. It only cost four grand, too. Cheap ass.” He laughs.

Just then, I see a man with a beer gut walk toward the back after the girl.

Nice.

Now all we have to do is wait.

I can’t help but let a small grin spread across my face.

I can already taste her blood sliding down my throat.

It’s going to be one hell of a night after all.