Mischa bristled at the female vamp. I could see her wolf rising. If she had been covered in her fur, it would have stood on end. “You can feed from me,” she blurted to Maximus.

Cardia turned slowly and scanned Mischa from the tip of her black hair down to her toes. With a dismissive shrug, the vampiress didn’t seem impressed or worried about the competition.

Maximus’ brown eyes were dancing. He appeared to be enjoying this little showdown. Asshat. I elbowed him, working extra hard to get him right in the sensitive zone under his ribs.

He narrowed his eyes on me before baring his teeth in a snarl. I flipped up my middle finger, just to let him know my feelings on this.

With a snort and shake of his head he turned to my twin. “Thank, Misch, but it might be a little intimate for you. Just wait here for me, I won’t be long.”

Okay, clearly he knew about her issue. The virgin shifter.

Maximus gave Cardia a single nod and then the two of them wandered off through the crowd. Mischa looked like she’d been punched in the gut, her eyes following until Maximus’ broad back disappeared. I slung my arm across her shoulders. I really felt for her. I knew she had feelings for Maximus, she’d made that perfectly clear. But I was worried that she didn’t really understand the way supernaturals worked.

We tended to change partners a lot, unless we found our true mate. Sure, we might date the same supe for a year or even ten, neither of which are considered long term when you live to almost a thousand. But unless it was a true mate, there were no guarantees. Mischa had grown up with humans and had too many of their ideals floating around her head.

Although from what I could see, even humans struggled to make the whole mate-marriage thing work for longer than a year or two. Probably they were trying to force pairings that weren’t true matches as well. In the supernatural world that sort of mateship never ended well.

There was a surge in the crowd then, and with a hard jolt my arm was wrenched from Mischa and I was shoved aside.

What the hell? No one had been close enough to move me like that.

I took a step back toward my friends, but before I could take a second step a mass of supernaturals crowded between me and them. I was forced further back, losing sight of my pack.

Great.