CHAPTER 4.
1248 Words
Silva hurried over with another margarita for Mary.
although she wanted to fetch another bottle of water.
“On me, sweetie,” the woman responded, this time with real
affection. Standing nearly five-foot-ten, in her four-inch
heels, she was petite for a female gray.
“Thanks.” Mary Janestood and the woman’s face
dumped, perhaps assuming Mary Janemeant to go, snubbing
her for the drink. “Got to use the little girls’ room.”
“Oh.” Silva’s lips curled up slightly. “Back that
way.” She motioned with her hand.
“Thanks.” Mary Jane hadn't considered what it would
I like to walk across the tavern to the ladies’
room, until everyone seemed so interested in her. With
her shoulders straight back, her chin raised up, and her
body 10 degrees hotter than normal, she made her
route to the restroom.
Several men bowed their heads in greeting.
Respectfully, a handful of them took off their cowboy hats.
off. None smiled, though, not even Joe this time, which
would be typical. Until their pack leader made her
welcome; most would look her over but wouldn’t make
any move to be overtly nice. Frank Gantt would probably
take Joe to task if Sam told him the miner had paid for
Her first drink.
Sitting with other males at one of the larger tables,
Three women glowered at her as if they wished her dead.
Had any of them wanted Kendra eliminated and carried
out the threat?
Ignoring them, Mary Jane walked inside the restroom, but
After entering a stall, she heard the exterior door squeak.
open. Her skin chilled. Too late to circumvent the
trouble headed her way.
When she exited the stall, the three women were
waiting for her, their expressions somewhat amused in a
sinister manner. All brown-haired, around mid-twenties
like her—probably each hoping to be Frank’s new mate.
and fearing she was a new competitor.
When she’d come up with this concept of seeking for
Kendra’s murderer, Mary Janehad, never considered
Anyone would believe she’d be interested in pursuing the
pack’s leader. The notion of breeding with a bigger gray for
real… She mentally shook her head.
“What’s your name?” the woman in denims and a
cowl-neck sweater asked, her voice quietly menacing,
her western boot tapping on the tile floor. Her amber eyes
narrowing, she sucked in a deep breath, trying to scent who
or what Mary janewas—and curled her orange-painted lips.
up in a horrible way. The notion that her face may hideously
freeze that way briefly crossed Mary’s mind. “You’re
not from around here, and you’re not one of us.”
“Hey, Ritka, what say we give her a nice send-off?”
The shortest one asked, still towering over Mary Janeby.
several inches.
Mary Jane brushed past her to wash her hands.
“Don’t plan on staying, b***h,” a meatier one growled.
whipping her waist-length, muddy-colored hair about
as she talked, crowding Mary. Bulkier than the other
Two, she would make a heavy wolf and be hard to beat if
She craved becoming Frank’s b***h and fought the others to
have that role. But no female lupus garou—well, of the
red variety—crowded Mary Janeanymore got away
with it, and she was having a devil of a problem maintaining
her cool.
“Don’t intend to stay long. Just taking care of a tiny
family business, if it’s any of your concern.”
Ritka spoke close to her ear, her whiskey breath
violating Mary’s breathing space, “We know who
You are, and you can’t have him, Red. You know what
happened to the other one. Get out of Dodge, honey.
before it occurs to you, too.”
Her blood scorching, and Mary was tempted to wash her
hands as if the women didn’t exist.
The short one yanked at her purse and the leather strap.
bit into Mary’s shoulder. “Tell us who you are.”
“As if the b***h would say, Angelina, when she’s
wearing this idiotic disguise,” Ritka snarled.
Mary’s skull beat with frustration, yet she
wiped the soap off her hands and bit back the feral portion.
of her wolf nature clawing to get out. Beating up three
feminine grays wouldn’t assist her cause.
Ritka bumped into her, probably spurred by the
other clutching at her purse, each leading the other on,
exacerbating the situation. Mary janeclenched her teeth.
opposed retaliating. Nothing they did was important.
enough to provoke her, she reminded herself.
The hefty one grabbed a handful of Mary’s hair.
and yanked hard. “Guys don’t like dyed hair, didn’t
you know?”
The pain shot across Mary’s scalp, and she
counted carefully to ten, intending to avoid bodily
touch, but planning rapid retaliation if someone did
anything else.
“You got that right, Hosstene,” Ritka remarked with a quick
giggled and reached for a handful of Mary’s hair.
Enough! With a swift, well-placed jab, Mary
elbowed Angelina in the gut, judo-chopped Hosstene
in the throat, then whirled around and rammed her fist
into Ritka’s eye. While they were choking and cursing,
Mary grabbed a paper towel, wiped her hands, and departed.
the restroom, her heart racing.
She’d asked for help now.
No, damn it. The bitches had asked for trouble and
As much as I told Mary Janet that someone had murdered
Kendra for being a red.
She opened the restroom door and banged on it.
behind her, shutting off the women’s curses. The men
who were sitting with the women looked at Mary.
to the ladies’ room. Sorry, boys, the girls need to tidy.
up a bit.
Mary took her seat, and when the women still
didn’t appear from the restroom, Sam signaled for
Silva to check it out.
Maybe this would be an excellent time for Mary Janeto to go.
in search of her renegade brother and uncle. Forget that
Kendra had run away and gotten herself killed, leaving
Mary Janeto copes with Ursus’s pack alone. Or, she could
Stay and face the wrath of a lot of irate grays.
As a matter of pride and a good bit of stubbornness,
she stayed. All eyes remained on the restroom while
Mary Jane coolly drank her second margarita. No one
spoke. No doubt the whole lot of them would murder
Mary Janein went to sleep tonight. She hoped her time here
wasn’t wholly wasted. But she wasn’t giving up.
Silva stepped out of the restroom; her lips turned up.
her eyes flashing with amusement and her head shaking. She
arched her brows at the gentlemen who were with the woman.
and strolled past. Her focus moved to Frank.
waiting for a report. Her smile broadened, and then she
spoke to Sam.
“Next margarita’s on me, Silva, for the young lady.”
Tom flashed Mary Jane a grin and a wink.
Mary Jones jerked her head. “Water will be fine.”
The three women crowded out of the bathroom. Ritka
scowling, her swollen right eye already turning black.
and blue. Angelina was still clutching her stomach. and
Hosstene’s face was dark with anger—Mary Janewas
reasonably convinced her jab to the gray’s throat would preclude
her chatting much for a time.
Everyone glanced the women over, then Mary. No,
She wasn’t fighting to be the pack leader’s new b*tch.
She guessed it was time to come up with a new plan.
This one certainly wasn’t working.
- Writer
