The answer comes in the form of a growl as a behemoth of a male steps up to block my path, like he’d been waiting for me.
He has a big gut and a good foot of height on me. Bald head shining the reflection of the morning sun, he smells like beer, peanuts, and one hundred percent shifter.
Motherfuck.
He looks down at me, pudgy cheeks hanging around his jaw as he takes me in. “Who are you?”
My head tilts slightly as I feel someone else approach me from behind. A quick glance over my shoulder confirms that I’ve just been boxed in.
“Look what we herded in from the field, Drag,” the male behind me says before reaching down and pinching my ass.
I tense, my teeth grinding. “Don’t fucking touch me.”
He laughs, but his hand drops away. “Lookie here. The little lost sheep has a temper.”
“You think she’s a sheep, Jordy?” The behemoth—Drag—asks while scratching his chin. “I’m thinkin’ smaller.”
I turn my body so that I can keep both of them in sight. I won’t let them sandwich me.
I cast cool eyes over the second male, noting his appearance. He’s thin and gangly, all hard angles and long hair. Basically, the complete opposite of his counterpart. They crowd me even more, forcing me to step back until I’m flush with the building.
“You’re in our territory, sheep,” Jordy says.
I tilt my head. “Hmm, I didn’t realize you two had claimed this corner to turn your tricks. I’ll go walk on another sidewalk, fellas. Wouldn’t want you to miss out on customers,” I reply before I sidestep the bigger one and attempt to break away.
Drag snatches my jacket and shoves me back against the wall.
“What’s she talkin’ about?” he asks on a frown.
Jordy has an ugly sneer on his face. “Pretty sure she just fuckin’ called us hookers or some shit.”
“Worked that out quicker than I thought you would,” I mutter.
Drag frowns. I smirk at him, just because I know it’ll piss him off even more.
I shouldn’t antagonize these two, but I’ve never been the girl who backs down. I don’t cower. I don’t give in. Someone wants to fuck with me? I’ll fuck with them right back.
“Listen up, sheep. You’re in Pack Rockhead territory without permission. That’s a problem,” Drag announces.
For some reason, the pack name sounds familiar, but that’s not surprising. We’ve performed for so many packs over the years, lots of them pull at the strings of my memory.
“So is your breath,” I reply. “But I didn’t know. I’ll go.”
I start to walk, but he grabs me by the arm to stop me. “Nice accessory you got there,” he says, nodding toward my neck. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that’s a collar.”
If I wasn’t trained to put on a show, I might not have been able to school my features, but I was, so I do.
“This?” I ask, letting my fingers brush against it. “It’s not a collar.”
His brows pull together. “Then what the fuck is it?”
“A family heirloom,” I deadpan.
Apparently, he doesn’t appreciate my answer, because his mouth thins. “You know any shifters who’ve run away from their masters?” he asks Drag.
Drag scratches his chin in thought. “Nope. But I bet I could find out.”
Panic fists around my stomach, but I make myself snicker. “Fine by me. You guys are gonna waste a lot of time and make yourselves look even dumber than you already do,” I bluff.
Jordy sneers. “Don’t fuckin’ matter either way. You’re still on our territory. Our alpha can look at it and see what he thinks. You’re comin’ with us to our compound.”
I snort. “Actually, I’m headed in the opposite direction. Maybe you’ve heard of it? It’s a nice place called Fuck That, I’m Not Going With You.”
“You’ve got a lot of fuckin’ nerve, girl,” Jordy growls. “You are comin’ with us. You’ll answer to our alpha for breaking pack code and crossing into our territory without permission.”
“I’m just passing through. I’m not staying in your territory,” I say, seething. Now that my worst scenario is confirmed and there’s a jackass shifter pack here, I need to get the hell out of Dodge.
“That’s for our alpha to decide now. You a rogue, I’m guessing?”
I don’t answer. If I say yes, that will let them know I have no pack backing me. I don’t need any more disadvantages.
“Could be with Pack Fuckwits,” Drag mutters.
Jordy cocks his head before leaning in to smell me, and then his eyes land on my collar. A slow grin spreads across his face. “Nah. They wouldn’t have a collared bitch. I think she’s a rogue who’s run away from her master.”
For how dumb he looks, I’m surprised he was even able to come to that conclusion.
“Alpha Rourn will want to hear all about her.”
Based on the way he says it and licks his teeth, I know for a fact that I don’t want to come within a hundred feet of his alpha.
Jordy looks over at Drag. “Take her.”
With a nod, Drag moves in to grab me. But before he can even take hold of my arm, my years of training take over.
I lift my arms up and curl them behind me. Palms flat against the brick building behind my head, I use the new leverage and my upper body strength to propel both my legs forward.
I kick both their crotches as hard as I can, which feels pretty effective because of the hard tops of my boots.
I land on my feet, knees crouched, as both males keel over, clutching their balls and yowling so loudly that they draw the attention of everyone walking by. I don’t care about the audience though. Right now, it’s like I’m back on the stage, performing the final fight and trying to avoid Kaazu’s punishment.
I’m going to win.
I don’t care that I’m outnumbered. I don’t care that they’re technically right, and shifter law mandates that I go to the alpha whose land I encroached on. All I care about is fucking these two up and then kicking pavement.
“Fucking get her!” Jordy coughs, still hunched over his aching balls.
Drag grunts, but in his desperation to follow directions, manages to go upright and snag me by the arm as I’m passing them. I get hauled backward until the back of my head smacks the building and I see stars. But then those stars just explode into a bunch of little pissed off bursts that want to rain down on his ass.
“That’s it.” Snapping my head up, I shake my limbs out, my face going hard. “Now you pissed me off,” I tell them, noting how they’re still holding their balls, trying to do so discreetly.
I cock my arm back and punch Jordy right in the nose. I hear a nice crack as I relocate his nostril to the next town over. He howls in pain, blood spewing from his nose like drips of paint, but I don’t have time to appreciate the sight, because I spin and lift my foot, sending a kick into Drag’s gut.
“Hey, what’s going on over there?”
I ignore the human’s shouts and the fact that more are coming over to see what’s happening. I can use the crowd to my advantage as I get away, but I’m not done with Motherfuck One and Two yet.