Page 14 of Feral Heart
A slow smirk curled the guy’s lips as he blew out smoke from his mouth.
“Go ahead.” He gestured toward the back door with the hand holding the cigarette. “Call for them. I won’t stop you, pup.”
The motherfucker had just insulted Cesar by calling him a pup. He’d never wanted to rip someone apart this badly, to wipe off that smirk with his claws.
The hyena on the right snickered. One sharp look from his jefe made the guy’s smile vanish.
Whoever this guy was, he’d taken over the hyena pack in an impressive short amount of time.
If someone tried to replace Matias after the alpha’s death—the thought of Matias dying made Cesar nauseous—the wolf would’ve had to prove he deserved that title by fighting every last wolf in their pack.
But no one knew just how many hyenas there were. Matias had tried to keep count, but it was impossible to figure out. Dude could’ve already fought them all, or it was possible hyenas chose their alpha a different way.
Cesar didn’t know shit about their customs. Didn’t want to either.
“Is there a reason you’re here?” Cesar asked.
A rat scurried from under the dumpster. It glanced their way then hurried off.
Cesar’s lycanthrope was demanding to be freed, but he would only let it take over if he had no other choice.
Never pull out your ace card prematurely. The sounds of pots banging and laughter floated through the back door. Luca had taken over, unaware of what was happening outside.
No one said anything, the tension thick enough to choke them. The alpha dropped his smoke and crushed it under his suede boot, his gaze darting toward the back door.
“We’ll meet again, wolf.” He gave a swift nod, then the three strode away, the two walking slightly behind the alpha.
Shoulders tight, Cesar pulled his upper lip back. Danger was hitting from both sides. The hyenas had armed themselves with a calculating man, and there was still the threat of Grant and Rowan hanging over Jamie’s head.
Claws receding, Cesar released a hard breath watching them round the corner at the mouth of the alley. A few minutes later, the distant sound of engines snarling carried through the alley.
Rico Diego, the former alpha of the hyenas, had been a straight-up psychopath. But this new guy felt much more dangerous.
Scanning all around him, Cesar headed back inside to let Matias know there was a new, more lethal, player in town.
* * * *
Jamie had lost count of how many drinks he’d had. Enough that his face felt numb when he rubbed it. Next to him, Noel was tapping out the beat to the song playing, humming off-key.
Then he spotted it. A dartboard. Across the bar by the entrance to the pool room. He’d never played before, but how darn hard could it be?
“Ooh, Noel, look!” He reached for Noel’s arm but missed, grabbing nothing but air. He tried again, only to graze the man’s arms with his fingertips. Giving up, Jamie simply pointed. “Darts! Come on, please, play darts with me,” he shouted to be heard over the loud music, noticing a few people glancing his way.
Not waiting for an answer, Jamie slipped off his stool and headed for the dartboard, but for some reason, he was moving in a zigzag pattern like his feet forgot where they were going. It felt like it took an hour just to cross the room.
Men were already playing a game, but Jamie wanted to play so badly. “Excuse me, fellas?” he shouted, squinting at them. “I’m Jamie. Can I play darts with my new bestie? I promise to give the darts back when we’re done. Cesar invited me here, and I don’t know where my pookie ran off to, so I want to have some fun with Noel. Do you know who Noel is?” Jamie turned and spotted the guy walking toward him, drink in hand. “That’s him!” He turned back around and blinked rapidly at the men, unable to make his eyelids slow down.
“Sure,” one of the men said, smiling down at him. “Dartboard is all yours, Jamie.”
“How do you know my name?” Jamie asked then swung around to find Noel behind him. “We’re allowed to use the dartboard!”
“Dude, lower your volume,” Noel shouted back. “You’re louder than the music!”
“So are you!” Jamie picked up the darts from the small table where the nice guy had left them. Why did they look like tiny missiles? “Uh, Noel?”
“Huh?” Noel looked around like someone else had said his name.
“How do you play darts?” He twisted one between his fingers, snickering at the weird orange plastic thingies on the end of it.
