Midnight Wolf (Shifters Unbound #11)(36)

She struggled for breath. Angus’s gaze moved to her lips, but he straightened up in the next moment, dropping the crumpled napkin to the table.

Ciaran had ceased eating to watch them, and his expression held hope.

Tamsin smiled feebly at Ciaran, but when she lifted her sandwich again, her hands shook so hard she had to set it down and eat its innards with a fork.

They’d nearly finished the meal—Ciaran had changed his mind about ordering the second sandwich after he took the last bite of the first one—when Dimitri and Jaycee walked into the diner.

Angus didn’t bother waving for their attention. They’d have known where the Shifters were right away, even over the scents of hot sauce, sausage, gravy, and barbecue. The diner would never shake those scents, Angus had the feeling, even when its remains were unearthed in a thousand years.

Dimitri, a tall, red-haired man who walked with an easy stride, was a red wolf, his Shifter beast fast and powerful. Jaycee, who followed him, was on the short side for a Shifter woman, but she had even more grace, though she was restless with it. She wore her dark blond hair pulled into a ponytail and had the tawny eyes of a leopard. She and Dimitri were the best trackers Angus had ever met, including himself.

Discretion wasn’t going to rule here. Ciaran was out of his chair, arms outstretched as soon as the pair walked in. “Dimitri!”

Ciaran flew at Dimitri, who caught him and raised him high, spinning around before he hugged the cub.

Jaycee watched with an indulgent smile, then took note of Tamsin and came alert, her smile fading.

Jaycee had known Tamsin was sitting there—she’d chosen her moment to look at her, but not aggressively. Jaycee was a little more careful than that. Her assessment was calm, a tracker sizing up a newcomer to discover whether she was threat or ally.

That Jaycee had come with Dimitri at all surprised Angus. She was pregnant, and Dimitri had become highly protective of her. Of course, Jaycee wasn’t one to let a male Shifter tell her what to do, even her mate. Angus imagined she’d announced she was coming along and that was the end of it.

Dimitri dragged a chair over, sat down next to Tamsin and planted his elbows on the table. Dimitri’s hair was almost as red as Tamsin’s, though a different shade. Red wolf and fox. Both with attitude.

“So, who are you, then?” Dimitri asked her.

Jaycee seated herself next to Ciaran and across from Tamsin. “Don’t mind my mate. He’s rude as hell. I’m Jaycee.” She gave Tamsin a cordial nod.

Tamsin studied Jaycee’s neck, commenting without words about Jaycee’s lack of Collar. Jaycee studied Tamsin in return, clearly thinking pretty much the same thing.

“I’m Tamsin,” she replied. “A stray Angus picked up.”

Jaycee gave her a hint of a grin. “Angus does that. He picked up me and Dimitri once.”

“And that was the stuff of legend,” Dimitri said. “Get the story out of him sometime. I know he didn’t tell you already. He doesn’t like to talk much.”

Angus didn’t. He’d learned the truth of the saying Least said, soonest mended. Dimitri, a man who’d had a speech impediment most of his life, rarely stopped talking.

“Oh, I want to hear this,” Tamsin said.

Angus cut through the happy getting-acquainted party. “Did you bring it?”

Dimitri didn’t look offended. “We wouldn’t be here if we hadn’t.” He laid his hand, cupped palm down, on the table in front of Angus. When he lifted away, two keys on a key ring rested next to Angus’s plate.

No electronic key fob, so it must be an old car. Fair enough.

“Sorry it took so long,” Dimitri said. “It’s not the fastest vehicle on the road. But I’ve fine-tuned the engine so it goes quickly enough. Just not like, say, a Ferrari.”

“Anything is slow the way you drive.” Jaycee rolled her eyes. “I followed him on my bike so I can get him back home. He was going to hitch or take a bus, can you believe it? I almost ran over him about twenty times, the way he crept along. But he insisted I stay behind him.”

“It’s what Shifters do,” Dimitri said, giving his mate a meaningful look. “Males go first, to make sure the way is safe.”

“You go first to be a pain in my ass.”

“Yeah, but you like looking at my ass, so there you are.”

Jaycee gave him an exasperated glare, but she didn’t argue with him.

Angus had known Jaycee and Dimitri were madly in love with each other the moment he’d met them. When Dimitri had gotten himself captured, Angus had gone with Jaycee to help find him, knowing Jaycee would run after him on her own, no matter how many people tried to dissuade her. Angus hadn’t wanted to see her die, so he’d gone with her to protect her.

It was his curse, the need to protect people. Would get him killed one day. Nearly had already.

“Have you eaten?” Tamsin asked. “The po’ boys are spectacular.”

Ciaran nodded in agreement, pinching the last crumbs of chips and loose debris between his fingers. “Bloody terrific.”

“Come to think of it, we are hungry.” Dimitri sent his warm look to the waitress, who hurried over.

Angus frowned at them all once she’d taken their sandwich order—one crawdad and one beef. “We’re trying to be inconspicuous.”