Bearly Hanging On (The Jamesburg Shifters #6)(5)

She let go of his arm to test him, and of course he went to kick the guy, so she grabbed his ankle in mid-air and flipped the sweaty panther onto his back. He landed with a loud huff, and for the first time she smelled the sour scent of alcohol-laced sweat. "I told you not to move," she said in a passive, almost casual voice. "Why didn't you listen?"

He raised his head like he was going to say something, but Jamie placed her foot on his neck, spike of her stiletto on one side, and toes on the other. "I don't like doing this, but I also don't like bothering the cops." She used to say 'bothering the hyenas' since most of Jamesburg's cops were, well, hyenas, but since the bear squad had joined up, it didn't work as well as it once had. "And anyway, they'd be rougher on you than I am. Now, can I check out the guy you decked, or do I have to choke you unconscious first?"

The way the words slid off of her pointed tongue, over her ruby red lips made it very clear there wasn't going to be a discussion on the matter. When he didn't respond as quickly as she wanted, she gave her foot a little twist, and pressed down on his Adam's apple for emphasis.

"Yes!" he squawked. "Or no, I mean, whichever means I ain't movin'. I already got two damned ol' public intox tickets. I cain't get another or they'll haul me in."

Jamie sighed audibly. "Maybe that'd be for the best," she said. "Although I guess you're going to whine about your kids and your family or whatever you think is going to win me over, right? And then after that doesn't work, you might cry or something to seem pathetic. You do know who I am right?”

It was almost a rhetorical question.

He shook his head.

Almost rhetorical.

Her position on the Jamesburg city council was kind of nebulous. She did a little bit of everything. If Izzy was swamped on the budget, she'd help out there. If Duggan was behind on signing permits because he spent way too long caring about each one, she stepped in. When Erik needed help doing things that were maybe, slightly, possibly a little to the left of the legal line?

She twisted her foot again. "Really?"

"I cain't see," the panther croaked. "It's dark an' anyway, I'm so drunk there'd be four of ya if'n I could."

She took a deep breath through her nose and rolled her eyes as she exhaled. Fall was getting long in the tooth. That bear had been right. Winter was going to arrive sooner than normal this year.

And then she was in a whole other kind of trouble. Again.

Those gruff words, that hard voice, and those eyes that sparkled every time he lifted his eyes in her direction. Jamie clenched her eyes shut and shook her head slightly. "Right," she said, to focus her attention. "So what's going to happen right now is that I'm going to take my foot off your idiot neck, I'm gonna make sure that guy is okay, and then I'm calling a friend of mine to take you home."

"He ain't a cop, is he? I got a whole pack of cubs, ma'am," the drunk panther said, just like she figured. It was almost like this wasn't her first rodeo. "If'n I cain't work, they'll—"

She cut him off with another loud, heavy sigh. "You're not going to jail, you're just stupid, not dangerous. I wouldn't waste the hyenas' time." Her voice was cold, quiet. The whispering calm is how she masked her own fear, and she had plenty of it to hide.

He started blubbering a thanks, but Jamie stepped off his neck and checked on the pecker. "You all right?" she asked, crouching down. She pushed the tendrils of black that framed her face back behind her ears, revealing high, sharp cheekbones, and a pair of eyes that glinted, reflecting the moonlight in a haunting, almost chilling way.

The grounded yokel was bleeding, and had his eyes closed, but his pulse was regular and his breathing seemed normal. She gave him a sharp slap on the side of the face.

"Buh, what were 'dat for?" he slopped out, drooling slightly and frowning. He tried to rub his face, but missed and started stroking Jamie's leg, instead. She sighed and put his fingers on his swollen cheek.

"I was waking you up. You and your friend need to kiss and make up before I send you home. Got it? What are your names, anyway?"

"Angus," slurred the one on the ground. "I'm Angus Flaggart and he's Donald Erma—”

"You Goddam' idiot!" Donald snapped. "Don't tell her yer name, she's gonna call the cops, she's—"

In one smooth motion, Jamie flicked her head backward, right into the bridge of Donald's nose, laying him flat on his back. "Is your friend always this obnoxious?" she asked the confused, inebriated, drooling mess of a panther on the ground.

He nodded. "Ain't my friend, he's just a crazy * what happens to be my girlfriend's brother."

"I can't deal with this right now," Jamie said as her stomach grumbled angrily. "Hillbilly family drama is way too complicated. Hell, it's hard to figure out which family is really family and which one isn't."

Even the panther had to chuckle at that one. "That's fair enough, I suppose."

Jamie kinda liked him. He was lovable, in a helpless puppy way, and even stinking drunk he was a little witty. That was pretty much her requirement for a man, a mate, whatever. She helped him to his feet. He followed as she took a few steps away and dialed Ash.