Page 50 of Stealthy as a Wolf

Matty opened the door, shot a concerned look at me, then took a bracing breath and stepped inside the building. As the rest of us followed him, my gut knotted. I was an ass. I didn’t even think about how hard this would be on him.

After being locked up for years in solitary, he was being forced to confront his past.

People who knew him.

And if the wrong person saw him, they might call the authorities.

Suddenly, the plan didn’t sound like such a great idea.

The door shut behind us with an ominous thud, swallowing the sunlight until we were drenched in darkness. The guys swept me forward before I could put on the brakes.

I expected to be confronted by a seedy dive bar, but nothing could’ve prepared me for the sight that greeted me.

Bright lights flashed around the room. Instead of half naked women dancing on poles and serving drinks, they were all men. My eyes widened as I surveyed the room, not sure where to look first, not wanting to miss any detail.

Women were gathered around the stages and individual tables. They were all sizes and ages, yet they had one thing in common—they were very vocal in their appreciation of the entertainers. More than three dozen women were on their feet, cheering and waving around money, having the time of their lives.

The music crescendoed, and I saw a man strutting around onstage, swinging his tallywacker with amazing gusto, flinging it this way and that, and I just couldn’t turn away. The man was cut, not an ounce of fat on him, proudly showing off and shaking everything—and I meaneverything—the gods bestowed on him.

Until someone’s hands dropped over my eyes, blocking my view, and a familiar growl filled my ears.

Burke.

What a cockblocker…literally.

And if I didn’t know better, I would’ve almost said he was jealous.

Grady threaded his fingers through mine and pulled me away, leaving me no choice but follow him blindly. The guys were crowded so close around me that I was practically frog-marched across the room to a table in the back…where I couldn’t see the stage.

I mentally sighed in disappointment, trying not to pout.

Men just didn’t know how to have fun.

“I’ll find out if my contact is here yet.” Matty turned and strode toward the bar without waiting for a response.

“Sit.” Burke’s voice was gruff as he almost shoved me into the corner. Burke remained on his feet, leaning against the wall, his arms crossed as he glared at anyone who dared to look at me too closely. Grady and Boone dragged their chairs loudly across the floor, so we all ended up sitting on the same side of the table, their bulk almost completely blocking my view of the rest of the room.

I pouted for all of a second, but then switched to watching the audience. They were almost as fascinating as the entertainers. They were a mix of all sorts of characters, the majority of the audience an equal combination of predator and prey animals just out looking for a good time.

They interacted like the boundaries and risks between the two didn’t exist.

And maybe in this place, they didn’t.

I saw a female coyote with scruffy hair, yipping and howling at a passing server…who looked like a duck?

I blinked at the image my wolf sent me, and I would’ve sworn that I saw downy white feathers artfully displayed down his back before disappearing in his tiny G-string. The attention should’ve sent the duck running in terror, but the waiter strutted—or more like waddled—over with a flirty smile.

A massive mountain of a man plowed through the crowd, the ground practically trembling underneath him. I would have said he was a bodybuilder of some type, until my wolf overlaid the image of an elephant over the man. He was so physically fit that his skin looked like it was barely able to contain his massive muscles.

He stopped by a table where a cute little mouse waited. The girl couldn’t be more than five feet tall if she was an inch. Huge glasses made her dark eyes look enormous, and she had the cutest little ears poking out of the dark strands of her hair. Her nose twitched when the man came to a stop in front of her, but the girl was completely mesmerized by the entertainer.

The man gave a series of poses, almost tiptoeing around the girl, and I realized he was actually showing off his muscles, giving the girl a lap dance. When he turned, I saw he had a massive…trunk.

The size totally matched the rest of him. The poor fabric of his banana hammock was stretched to the limits. One accidental flex would send the Spandex shooting across the room like a slingshot and probably take out someone’s eyeball.

I wasn’t sure how the mouse planned to handle all that man, but from the wicked gleam in her almost beady eyes and the way she hungrily licked her lips, the girl looked like she was seconds away from exploring his…peanuts right then and there.

Then it clicked.

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