Read Online The Wild Side: Urban Fantasy with an Erotic Edge by Mark L. Van Name - Free Book Online Page B

“I’ve already spoken to the council, but I couldn’t endorse you. Your old-world style won’t play here in Vegas. I mean really, letting your pups run through the city at night? What kind of leadership is that in a town flush with security cameras every hundred yards or so. You haven’t adapted, have you?”
    Stiff with pride, Georg said, “We have survived, have we not? What better proof of our ways than that?”
    “Then why do they keep sending you out of Europe? Could it be that your lack of adjusting isn’t safe in a crowded continent,” Armando countered. “But enough. Pack up your troupe, and leave us alone. When your show closes, I want you all gone.”
    “This isn’t over, not at all. But I leave you to your human,” Georg said. And in a blink, he was wolf again. In one bound, he was back on the roof and gone.
    Liz shook herself: She was sure the immediate danger had passed, and now she needed to stop ogling the lovely, naked man in her garden.
    Liz stepped out into the atrium, her pistol down, safety back on.
    “I watched the whole thing, from a wolf jumping off my shed to two very naked men talking. Do you have any idea how weird that is in our culture, two straight guys who can hold a comfortable conversation in the buff?” she babbled.
    “You are one unusual woman, Ms. Liz,” he laughed with relief. “You see a transformation and focus on the nudity. Wow!” He paused to stroke her shoulder and calm her shivers. “Why couldn’t either of us see you?”
    She shrugged. “I told you; it’s the night.”
    She glanced out into the garden. “The big, bad wolf is gone. I really need to soak—with you—in the hot tub. Will you join me?”
    Armando picked up the forgotten towels and took her hand.
    With the warm, bubbling water relaxing her, Armando pulled her into the cradle of his lap, his arms holding her, offering comfort.
    “So here we sit, a shape shifter and the invisible woman,” he said. She turned her head to look him in the face and laughed out loud.
    “Yes, I guess that sums up the discovery,” she said with a shiver. “But you left out the really worrying part: There’s some kind of trouble brewing.” She paused and stared at him. “I’m clearly part of it now, so I want to help.”
    She kissed him before he could respond.
    * * *
    Her plan was simple. Armando hated it.
    “Look,” she said as they headed to the studio, “we already discussed it. If Georg knows where my house is, how long before he comes back? I’m involved now, and I can help, so get over yourself and your overbearing loner-guy pose.”
    Armando shook his head but finally gave up arguing with her. He dropped her at the front of the studio.
    She let herself in, disarmed the alarm, and headed to the rear. She quietly went to the door and checked the peephole. She jumped back at the sight of an amber eyeball completely filling the view. She stood back.
    “Liz, open the door,” Armando said.
    “Don’t play games,” she scolded in a low whisper.
    “Sorry,” he said.
    Before he could continue, his ears pulled back, and he shoved her into the dark doorway. He turned to face the silhouetted figure coming down the alleyway.
    “Working late tonight?” the man sneered. He kept coming. “I’m done talking to you. It’s time your packs accepted our leadership.”
    “Georg, you can’t really expect seven fully autonomous packs to suddenly accept your rule.” Armando stood his ground, planted like a tree.
    Georg shook his head. “I can’t believe the continued insolence of you curs.” He sighed loudly, as if in mourning for a time gone by. “Do those weak pups appreciate that you will die for them tonight? Would they even care?” He dropped his overcoat casually over a garbage barrel. He motioned to someone down the alley.
    Liz wondered how bad the trash talk would hit Armando, but she remained still. As they glared at each other, she slowly pulled her pistol from her pocket. In their planning