A tremor rolled through my body, and my black panther clawed to the surface.

***

Wheeler awoke before dawn and spent three hours at his desk reading. He didn’t have a library of books because he preferred reading the news. It was more or less entertainment, since news among humans had no relevance in their lives for the most part. But then he stumbled across a local article about a suspected kidnapping. A witness driving by Club Sin had spotted a woman struggling with someone in a van. Wheeler read and dissected the article three times. He knew Club Sin. It was located in the Breed district just down the road from the Blue Door. According to the article, the manager had made a statement that all his dancers were accounted for.

Of course he had. If there was one thing they all knew, it was to keep their mouths shut around human law enforcement. Immortals were far too intelligent to reveal themselves to humans who, out of fear, would attempt in vain to exterminate them. Perhaps some immortals loved the comforts humans provided them, like modern technology, food, and entertainment. Most came from a time when men had been scavengers and a day’s meal was never guaranteed.

Wheeler took off his glasses and set them on the desk, easing back in his leather chair and rolling an unsharpened pencil between his fingers. He thought about the phone call Naya had received at the birthday party and her sudden change in behavior. She worked at Club Sin.

Naya. He closed his eyes, remembering how she’d bantered with him at the party, dishing back everything he served. That was an attractive quality to Wheeler; he became highly aroused by a confident woman with a dominant personality—more than the average wolf. Sometimes he’d hang out at the strip clubs because that’s how those women would portray themselves to be, but in conversation, very few could talk about anything of substance. Naya had a sharp tongue and, uncertain if she’d slap him in front of his pack, he’d eased off. After opening his crude mouth, Wheeler had felt a pang of guilt for the undeserved insults he’d given her, so he’d attempted to smooth things over by complimenting the color of her blouse. But she had turned away, engaged in small talk with April, and his kind words had fallen on deaf ears.

Then he thought about Ben sitting beside Naya and touching her.

Touching.

It incited the most unexpected reaction: jealousy. Wheeler’s wolf snapped and snarled within him—at his own brother.

They had always had a rocky past, but this riptide of emotion took him wholly by surprise. Jealousy over Naya? Granted, he’d fantasized about their kiss many times and despised himself for doing so, but maybe it was how well she’d delivered it. How soft and pliant her lush lips had been against his, the way she’d smelled like cookies and tasted like dark cherries.

Wheeler had a mouth on him, but he didn’t make lewd remarks to women like Ben did. His brother always managed to cross a line that went from flirtatious to perverse. Seeing his brother’s finger slide up her arm like a matchstick ready to ignite had almost made Wheeler flip the table over.