“Hide them? What are you saying? We don’t want them coming after us either—this isn’t some vulgar hunt,” Nika replied, scolding. “There are more important things to think about right now than going out to pick a fight with some mangy cats.”
He gave her a somewhat distressed look, as if apologizing for the outburst. That, at first, was shocking. Richard Byrne—alias “Richie”—was enormous and very strong, the tallest of all of them; perhaps the most intimidating too. But Nika, with just a couple of words, made his combative expression shift into a submissive and fearful one. It was almost the same thing I saw that day when Alexander demonstrated his influence as leader over Rex with just one look. I would say that easily Richie could have dominated her—but Nika was probably very strong and p
