Page 17 of Signed in Incubus

“You are pretty. I will bring you back to my pack. We will have many cubs together.”

“Umm. I’m sorry. You’ve got the wrong woman,” I said.

He sniffed the air loudly. “No. You smell right.”

“I’m afraid someone else already answered the summons.”

He sniffed again, even as we bumped him back some more and took another step into the hallway. “You do not smell like you belong to anyone. He has not claimed you.”

The café area had cleared out, and we were alone, except for Nick.

“I’m already…taken,” I said, hoping he couldn’t smell the lie. I’d take Prax over this weirdo any day. The spell must have gone awry for sure if it was sending me unkempt, half-crazy wolf shifters.

“Then he is not protecting you well. I will claim you now so there will be no confusion who you belong to.” He reached for me but was stopped by our combined shield. His snarl of frustration filled the air.

“You have five seconds to leave my shop before I bring out the wolfsbane,” Griselda warned.

The door to the coffee shop opened with a jangle of a bell, and two police officers stepped in. They assessed the situation quickly and came to a stop behind the snarling shifter.

“What seems to be the problem here?” asked the cop with a ’stache that made him look like he came straight out of an 80s movie.

Next to him was a brunette with her hair up in a ponytail.

Griselda visibly relaxed. “Officer Hayes! Officer Cooley! This guy’s bothering my friend.” Oh good, Griselda knew them.

“She is my rightful mate!” The wolf looked ready to shift and fight the two human cops any second.

“Mate? I don’t even know you!” I protested.

The two cops had heard enough. “Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to leave now.”

“What are you going to do? Arrest me? I’m a shifter. Your measly human handcuffs can’t hold me.” The idiot lunged at the smaller female cop, but the woman was ready for him and danced away; her partner reached for a can of something from his belt and sprayed it in the shifter’s face. Nothing happened.

The shifter cackled. “You think your human crap works on me? Think again. My wolf will eat you for lunch.” Then suddenly, his eyes went wide. “What the fuck? Why can’t I shift?”

Officer Hayes tackled him and slapped a pair of cuffs on him. “Because that ‘crap’ I sprayed on you wasn’t for humans. It’s for shifters like you.” He turned to his partner. “Can you please grab me my usual while I get this moron into our cruiser?” He turned and marched the guy toward the door.

“Thanks, Officer Hayes,” Griselda called out as the door closed behind them.

“Ugh. The full moon must be coming,” said the one who must be Officer Cooley. She turned to me. “Are you okay, miss?”

“I’m fine. Thank you so much.”

“No problem. That’s what we’re here for.”

Griselda cleared her throat. “Penny, this is Officer Cooley, and the one outside is Officer Hayes. They are well-known in Darlington within the magic and monsters community.”

“We liaise with the EA,” said Officer Cooley. “Lucky us, we get to deal with idiots like that guy all day long.”

I blinked in surprise. “Wow. Back in Boston, the cops can’t deal with shifters like that. They have to call in the EA every time.”

“Yeah, that won’t work for very much longer. Not with the way things are going. They’ll have to learn eventually. Most cops here have the basic means to subdue a monster or nullify magic if we have to.”

“Your usual?” Griselda asked.

“Yep.” There was a pause. “Actually, make it a triple shot for me. I need a little extra boost today.”

“Sure thing.”

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