Page 181 of Halfblood Deceived

Her eyes landed on a table where four werewolf males sat. One of them, the obvious leader—tall, built like a football player, with brown eyes and black hair—was giving an indecent look at Mac. The other werewolves, all barely of legal age, were laughing, whistling, and looking between their leader and Mac with drunken anticipation.

The blonde half-fey had one hand on her hip, the other gripped her little notebook so hard she was almost crushing it.

A pang of panic spread across Aella’s chest. She tried to move toward her friend to offer support, but her feet were rooted to the floor.

The leering werewolf reminded her of Micah.

Mac turned her head slightly, her light green eyes meeting Aella’s. She puffed out a breath and gave Aella a weary look.

“Don’t be such a stuck-up, blondie!” called the leader of the group of idiots.

Aella flinched.

Mac looked down at him as if he were a rat, but Aella could see the twitch of the blonde’s ears and the paleness of her skin. She was pretending to be okay, but wasn’t.

The leering werewolf leaned back in his chair as if it were a throne and he was a king and not a complete ass. “If you turn around slowly for us, I’ll sneak some change into your back pockets.”

“You’re confusing Hecate with a strip club,” Mac answered coolly. “Now, are you going to order or not?”

“We are going to complain to the manager for hiring such a bore!” The idiot exclaimed loud enough to be heard over the music even by humans. He was enjoying the attention too much. “We won’t be coming back here unless we’re treated right!”

The others made barking sounds.

Move, Aella ordered her stupid frozen legs, but they didn’t do her bidding.

People were always on their worst behavior when Kamilla wasn’t around.

Jordan and Alec made their way toward Mac, weaving around the busy tables and onlookers.

A short, relieved breath escaped Aella.

The werewolf slapped his legs. His now golden eyes were full of nauseating vulgarity as he looked at Mac as if he could see under her clothes. “I won’t complain if you sit on my lap and give me a little kiss like a good girl, blondie.”

Mac gritted her teeth, fists clenching. She turned her notebook into a ball of paper.

The idiot laughed as if he’d told the greatest joke in the world along with his buddies… and then he brayed.

Aella blinked.

The werewolf coughed and then opened his mouth—to no doubt say something foul—but all that came out was a long, loud donkey bray.

His friends tried to protest, but they also ended up braying.

Aella snorted, the pressure in her chest easing.

The supernaturals who’d been watching the exchange laughed and whooped. The humans looked utterly confused, but also amused.

Aella understood now better than ever why Kamilla had a strict no-phone policy.

Mac turned slowly to look over her shoulder toward the bar.

Aella traced her look and found Lupita grinning at Mac. The tiny witch gave her best friend and roommate a look that asked, ‘Are you ok?’ Mac dipped her chin. Lupita winked at Mac before getting busy mixing two drinks at once.

Mac huffed, a smile replacing the previous tightness in her expression.

Alec and Jordan grabbed two still-braying werewolves each and dragged them out.

A dozen of the onlookers celebrated their departure with a toast.

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