Howling for My Baby

by Beverly Rae

  Yet instead of dispersing, the crowd huddled closer together, penning his friends in the middle. Shit. What is going on in there? Benjy frowned, caught his reflection in the one clean spot of glass, gasped, and consciously smoothed his features. After all, getting wrinkles wouldn’t help Jason or Syd.

  “My daughter’s not a shifter no matter what Max says. That’s what this is all about. We’re going to prove she’s not a shifter. Even if he is.”

  Benjy rolled his eyes. Denial, thy name is Daddy. A flash of memory reminded him of the night he’d given his parents a double whammy by telling them he was both gay and a werewolf. Could he help it if his first excursion into the down-low had involved a homosexual werewolf?

  “Skeller, don’t be crazy. Jason’s no more a shifter than I am.”

  Benjy tsked at Syd’s lie. Although, if I were in her situation, I’d be lying my ass off, too.

  “I saw you, Sydney. I saw you and this beast outside the club he took you to. You had a trophy, remember? What was it for? Oh, yeah. For being the Best Howler.”

  Ooh, what a strong voice. Who is this Mr. Honey Mouth? And most important of all, how do I meet him? Please, oh, please tell me he’s not this Max person. He stretched up higher, darting his gaze around the throng. Oh, goody, he gets into spying. I wonder what other games he likes to play? Benjy fingered his lower lip, remembering the sound Jason had mentioned outside the club. Ah, there’s one small mystery solved.

  “You still stink to high heaven. Although the cologne stench is better than shifter stink.”

  Benjy choked on a stifled laugh. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. At least Jason’s stink washes off.

  “Your opinion, man. But at least this way I don’t have to smell you.”

  Good one, Jay-Jay. Benjy danced around in a circle, delighting in the barb.

  “You think you’re funny, huh? I wonder how funny you’ll be when your hide is hanging on my wall.”

  He jumped back to the glass, afraid of missing a single word. He knew Jason wouldn’t let Mr. Big Mouth—forget I ever called you Mr. Honey Mouth—get away with anything.

  “Not as funny as you’ll be when I pick my teeth with your bones.”

  “You tell ’em, Jay-Jay.” Benjy fell against the door, ducked as several hunters swung around to stare in his direction, and breathed a sigh of relief when apparently no one saw him. Be careful, Benjy Boo, or they’ll string you up by your fluffy gorgeous tail.

  “See? His true colors are showing. He’s talking like a werewolf. Didn’t I tell you he was one of them?”

  Oh, crap, Jason’s ass is in big trouble. He scurried away, then stopped. Could he leave Jason and Syd in there? If he ran and got help, would they return in time? But what could one frail, albeit ingenious, wolf do? What a time to forget his phone!

  “I have to help them.” Taking two purposeful strides forward, he paused, anxiety slamming him in the gut. “I do, don’t I?” Did he? No one knew where he was. He could leave and no one would know. He thinned his lips and concentrated. No one would know—except him. “My balls are used for lovin’, not killin’, and I fear this is no time for bravery.” He glanced around and wished he had someone to help him do what he knew he had to do. “Damn, Benjy Boy, you’ve hung around with Hero Jason way too long.”

  With resolute determination, Benjy marched to the door, checked inside to make sure the hunters still had their attention on the poor souls in their midst, and pushed through the door.

  Luck was with him—finally!—when not one of the hunters bothered checking out the sound of the opening door. Taking advantage of their focused attention on the people trapped in the center, Benjy scooted his body through the crowd. For added protection, he deepened his voice and muttered barely loud enough to be heard, “’Scuse me, buddy. Uh, sorry, ma’am. Coming through.” Please, don’t let them smell me!

  After several agonizing moments, he made his way to a ringside position at the show. Jason stood in the middle of the circle, his brilliant, mesmerizing eyes blazing away, his body language a challenge to the handsome, shorter hunter.

  Is that Max? Well, I can’t say much for his hairstyle, but he does have a kind of somethin’-somethin’ about him. Benjy studied the familiar-looking, squarely built man before him. So this was Mr. Big Mouth? A smile lifted his spirit. Take away his military drab rag, and put him in a nice mesh shirt and tushy-tight yellow shorts, and this was no mere hunter. This hunter was also the lead dancer at the hottest gay bar in town, Boys’ Toys. I should know—I’ve stuck enough dollar bills in his waistband to buy the Italian shoe boutique I’ve always dreamed of owning. Yet he didn’t have time to reflect on Max’s alternate identity. Not with all the tension stirring to a fever pitch.

  “Jason a shifter? Oh, Max, you always were a funny guy but, come on. Jason? A shifter? A nasty, vile, disgusting creature like a werewolf?”

  Syd took Jason’s chin in her hand and shook his face, bringing a big grin to Benjy’s face and a confused scowl to Jason’s. “Now I ask you, ladies. Can you see this handsome, sweet-faced man changing into a big bad wolf?” Syd paused and waited for a reaction from the women.

  “I’ll bet once you get the cologne washed off him, he’ll smell even nastier with shifter shit on him.” Max raised his arm and waved toward the other side of the room. “Take him to the showers!”

  To Benjy’s horror, the hunters closed in and surged toward Jason. Carried along with the crowd, Benjy managed to work his way outward, driving his body off to the side and away from his friends. Without meaning to—or had he?—he ended up next to Max.

  Hunters, shouting threats, grabbed a struggling Jason and carried him toward another room. Syd’s father clutched her, keeping her with him. They followed the mob taking Jason but stayed a foot outside the shower room door.

  I’ve got to do something. Benjy bit off a manicured fingernail and tried to force his brain to work. Think, gorgeous, think. What would Jason do if he had to rescue me? His friend, his leader of the pack, would tear the place apart to keep him safe. He lifted his gaze and dared to glance at Max. He might not be the biggest hunter Benjy had ever faced, but he wasn’t willing to find out if he was the strongest. No, he needed to use his mind, not his brawn.

  Fortunately for Jason and Syd, Benjy possessed a large quantity of brainpower and additional body power while in wolf form. Taking Max by the arm, he shifted enough to give him the added strength he needed. Although the confused Max cursed and tried to yank free, Benjy managed to drag him toward the shower room’s entrance. Diverting to the side of the entrance, he shoved the startled hunter into a nearby coat closet.

  Benjy quietly closed the slatted door, his other hand still clutching the shirt of the very irate hunter. “Shush, Josephine Boner, or I’ll scream rape.”

  Max froze at the mention of his stage name and Benjy almost giggled at the frightened expression on his captive’s face. “Uh-huh, sweetie. You guessed it. I know who you are.” Benjy tripped his gaze up and down Max’s body. “Or should I say, who you really are?”

  The hunter’s mouth fell open at the mention of his role at the gay strip club. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Shush. Keep your voice down. You wouldn’t want the other hunter folk to know we’re in here.” He batted his eyelashes and was rewarded to see the man cringe. “Or would you?”

  Max shook his head violently. In fact, if he shook it any harder, Benjy was afraid it might come unhinged. “No.” Lowering his voice, he answered again. “No. Please.”

  Benjy paused to listen to the ruckus from the next room. Splashing sounds mixed with curses and shouts. Obviously, Jason was putting up a good fight against his attackers. “Josephine Boner, I hate to say this, but I am desperately disappointed in you. First, you don’t recognize one of your best customers.” He leveled his gaze to Max’s crotch. “And, if your snub wasn’t bad enough, your buddies manhandle my best friend, toss him into a shower, and are probably an inch away from skinni
ng him alive.”

  “I can’t help you.” Max pushed his back against the wall of the closet, putting what little distance he could between them.

  “Oh, I think you can, honey-bunny. Because if you can’t, I’m going out there and exposing you. First, as a transsexual go-go dancer, and then as a wolf lover.” He leaned toward the cringing man, blew him a kiss, and tittered when the hunter squealed.

  “No, leave him alone!” Syd’s desperate cries could be heard above the ruckus. “Jason! Skeller, don’t let them hurt him. Please!”

  Benjy shifted to bring out his fangs. “I’m not much on outing fellow alternative lifestyle enthusiasts, but I’ll do it to save my friends. Besides, cute or not, I still don’t like hunters. So, unless you want your macho man image blown”—he wiggled his eyebrows—“you’d better move your sweet ass and help them.”

  Max’s eyes grew large. He wrenched the door open, tearing it off one of its hinges, and stumbled out of the closet to dash toward the shower room. Syd and her father gaped. Meanwhile, Benjy skipped toward the front door, waving and throwing them kisses along the way. “Never fear, Syd, my dear. Benjy Boudoir was here.”

  “Benjy?” Syd struggled against the iron lock her father had on her arm. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  Her father gawked at the skinny shifter. “Another one? You know another werewolf?” He took her other arm to twist her to him. “How many of those animals do you know?”

  His friends were about to hurt her lover, and he had the nerve to call them animals? “Skeller, let me go!” Throwing her arms up and outward in a spiral, she jerked out of her father’s grip and dashed into the shower room.

  Jason stood in the middle of the hunters, dripping wet. She knew from the bloodied faces of the three hunters at his feet, that he hadn’t gone under the water without a fight. “Jason!”

  His murderous gaze swiveled from the hunters in front of him toward her. Fangs protruded from his teeth and his hair continued to grow longer and coarser. His shirt shredded away from his expanding chest while his trousers ripped open at the seams. Angry amber eyes darted from her to the people moving cautiously toward him.

  “Sydney, baby, once you see what he really is, you’ll understand why we had to do this.” Her father was beside her again, yet this time he didn’t bother trying to hold her.

  When had everything gone wrong? When had her father found out? Had her mother told him? No. Max was responsible for this. Hadn’t he mentioned seeing her at the club? Jason’s growl sent her adrenalin pumping into high gear.

  “You have to stop them.” She confronted Skeller, pleading and demanding at the same time. “Stop them. For me.”

  Her father stared at her in disbelief and, in a split second, Syd knew she couldn’t be related to this man. How could her father let someone she loved die? Amazingly, his answer echoed her thoughts.

  “I’m letting them do this for you, Sydney. After he’s taken care of, we’ll figure out the rest.”

  Another snarl had her whirling around to find Max standing at the other end of the room, his face a mask of anguish. Why didn’t he jump into the mix? Wasn’t this whole horrible idea his? Yet instead of joining the attack on Jason, Max shook his head at her and motioned for her to stay back.

  She clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. Yeah, like I’ll do anything you tell me to do. She screamed—howled?—and threw her body at the stout woman in front of her. They hit the floor together and rolled against the legs of another hunter, bringing him down on top of them. His weight landed on her ribcage, knocking the air from her. Vaguely, she wondered why she didn’t feel any of her bones breaking. In fact, if she didn’t know better, she’d swear her ribcage had grown bigger, stronger.

  An answering growl and yell resounded through the room, but Syd had to keep her focus on the two hunters on top of her. The woman’s expression changed from hatred to fear, and the male hunter stared at her as though her head had split open to spew out tiny three-headed aliens. A power, unlike any zap of adrenalin she’d ever experienced, surged through her. Gulping a gallon of energy drinks would pale in comparison.

  Syd grinned and crooked her head to get a glimpse of Jason. But what she saw surprised her more than anything she’d ever seen. Max stood between the mob of hunters and Jason.

  Is Max defending Jason? Naw, I must’ve taken a major whack to the head. Syd blinked a couple of times, turned back to punch the woman in the mouth, and checked her vision again. Yup, he’s fighting for Jason. Max stood with his feet planted apart in an unmistakable come-and-get-me challenge. Like Babe Ruth at bat, he held up a chair leg and whipped it back and forth, daring the hunters to come near him. Behind him, a confused Jason reversed his shift-in-progress and changed back into human form.

  No, don’t change back. Run like a wolf, Jason. Run while you have the chance! Syd opened her mouth to call to him, yet instead of the words she’d meant to say, out came a high-pitched roar. She stopped, darting her gaze to the hunters on top of her who had stopped scrapping with her. The woman fell off her, letting the man yank her away. They both gaped at her in revulsion.

  Who do they think they are, anyway? Sure, her hair must be a mess and her clothes were torn and dirtied. But what did they expect in a fight? For them to look at her with such repugnance was more than simple rudeness. “Hey, you two don’t look so hot, either, you know. Don’t throw stones until you take a glance in a mirror. Or however the saying goes.” She rose and tried to adjust her oddly ill-fitting clothing.

  A numbing trepidation spread over her and she straightened up to pivot in a clockwise circle. The bulk of the hunters had surrounded her. She looked past the hunters and saw Max pulling a struggling but obviously tired Jason through a side door.

  Yay! Jason’s getting away. Relief spurted new energy into her tired body. But the relief was short-lived once she realized what was happening. Now she’d become their intended victim.

  Alarm blasted another surge of power through her and she wheeled around to find her father. He stood beside her, inside the circle of hunters, shaking his head, his features scrunched together in grief. With the movement of an old man, he slowly lifted his arm and pointed at her. “Oh, damn it, Sydney. It’s true. It’s really true.”

  She glowered at him, too worn out to interpret his meaning. “I’m what? Spit it out, Skeller. If you haven’t noticed, I’m in a bit of trouble here. A little help would be nice.” Why did he act like he didn’t understand her?

  His glazed-over eyes cleared seconds before the hunters started advancing on her. “You changed.”

  She growled—growled?—at the crowd inching closer to her. “What’re you talking about? I don’t have time for guessing games. Could you lend me some support, please?”

  Her father studied the group once more and shook his head again. However, this time his eyes grew clearer and a new determination settled on his features. “Stand off, everyone.” He strode toward her and placed his back to her. “Sydney’s my daughter and I’ll take care of her. No matter what she’s become.”

  “A shifter’s a shifter, man. Doesn’t matter whose kid she is.” A dirty man with a couple of teeth missing spat his words at her father and sneered at Syd. “We came here for a kill and we’re going to get one.”

  “How do you know I’m a shifter, huh?” Syd fisted her hands on her hips and challenged them. “You can’t prove anything. What is this? Guilt by association?” Now that Jason was safe, maybe she could bluff her way out.

  “I told you to stand off, Rufus. Sydney, be quiet. We can’t understand half of what you’re saying anyway.” Her father moved to stand beside her. Taking her hand, he directed his next statement to Mr. Toothless. “Maybe it’s only temporary. Maybe she won’t change all the way.”

  “I changed?” Syd couldn’t help but rejoice.

  “See? She can’t even speak like they can.”

  The woman she’d fought laughed, pulled a mirror out of her pocket and tossed it to Syd. “Are you
trying to be funny, Skeller? Her face is all the proof we need.”

  Syd caught the mirror and checked her reflection. Tuffs of hair ran along her jaw and brought her gaze to the small fangs sticking out over her lips. The amber spots twinkling in her blue eyes caused her heart to skip a beat.

  “I shifted.” Grinning like a kid in a candy store, she looked at her reflection again. “I did it. I really shifted.”

  “We know a shifter when we see one.” The woman moved a step closer, readying her body to attack.

  Okay, maybe this wasn’t the best time to celebrate her newfound identity. Syd made a face at the woman and tossed her mirror back. “Uh, I guess it’s a bit late to tell you about my unwanted hair problem, huh? Oh, and my overbite?”

  The woman ignored her and motioned for the others to move in.

  “O-kay. Would ya believe I’m a magician? I’m going to a gig later on and thought I’d practice─”

  The yank on her arm spun her around and she stumbled along with her father as he pummeled his way through the ranks of the hunters. Even though he was only one man—one human man—he fought with the strength of ten, making a path through the circle. Once outside the group of shouting hunters, he pushed her ahead of him toward the same door Max and Jason had used for their escape. Syd shoved her way outside to the parking lot.

  ƒ

  “Oh, bless my cute furry butt, what have I done?” Benjy danced around, biting his nails while he kept watch on the building. Why did I trust a hunter to save Jason? He wrung his hands, caught sight of a chewed fingernail and sighed, distracted for a moment from the disaster happening to his friends to the disaster of his mangled manicure.

  A loud crash inside the building returned his attention to the more urgent problem. Instead of helping them escape, Max-bitch is probably in there helping them rip Jason’s heart out. Then he’ll sic those bastards on me before I have a chance to spill my guts about his alternate persona. He blanched and pressed his fingers to his mouth. “Spill my guts? Ooh, Benjy Boo, what a poor choice of words.”