“She has a mate.”

The uproar that followed was loud. “What?” Uncle Steve’s voice was full of hope.

“Since when?” Ryan bellowed.

“Is it Sheriff Anderson?” Aunt Laura asked. She stood, somehow towering over the men in the room, though she barely topped five foot three.

“She knows who it is, but from her scent I’d say she hasn’t claimed him yet. And no, it’s not Anderson. The man already has a mate.” Bunny pulled out his cell phone. Right after the attack on Chloe, he’d programmed Dr. Howard’s number into it. He knew Dr. Howard had Anderson’s phone number, and Bunny needed it. “Let me make some calls, see what I can find out. Maybe if we get her mate in here it will be just what she needs.”

And maybe he could get some of his own questions answered while he had the sheriff here.

“Speaking of mates, how’s yours?”

Bunny grimaced. “She got attacked yesterday.”

“What?”

“By who?”

The family chorus of outrage was strangely soothing. “I have no idea.” He breathed deep, afraid he would accidentally shatter the phone in his hands. “By the time I got to the shop, she was on the ground, a lump on the back of her fucking head.”

Ryan’s hand landed on his shoulder. “Do you need help?”

He stared at his cousin, knowing what Ryan was offering and what it would do to them both if Bunny took him up on it. One of the ways they sometimes blew off steam was by fighting each other. The way Bunny was feeling, if he took Ryan up on that offer, one or both of them would be lying in the bed next to Chloe’s. He shook his head. “Nah. I’ll make sure to do an extra twenty minutes of yoga.”

Ryan rolled his eyes. “You have to get over that some day.”

Bunny shrugged, uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was going. “I need to call the sheriff.”

“You need to remember you were sixteen when it happened. Let it go, Alex.”

The soothing sound of his father’s voice did nothing to help. “I have. I make sure it’s never going to happen again.” Nearly killing someone because you’d lost your temper was a sure-fire way to teach you how to control yourself. He’d done everything in his power to see to it he’d never hurt another living soul.

Still, there were times when he longed to roughhouse with his cousins without the fear that he’d hurt them. He was large and strong in his human form, larger than all of his relatives, except for his father. He was even more so in his Bear form. And even his father didn’t have the depth of rage Bunny had learned to conquer. His father was one of the most even-tempered men he knew.

Bunny dialed the phone. If he had his way, he’d never fight again. He couldn’t live with the consequences if he did.

“Are you sure you’re all right?”

Tabby shoved Cyn’s hands away from her head. “I’m fine, okay?”

“No headache?”

“Other than the one you’re giving me? No.” She snapped on the rubber gloves and smiled weakly at her nervous client. If Cyn didn’t knock it off, Tabby was going to lose her customer.

Cyn glared at her. “Fine. I’ll let it go for now.” She smiled down at the nervous college boy. “So, what are we having done today?”

The boy gulped. If he didn’t calm down, he was going to shake apart from nerves.

“Um, I want a wolf, a timber wolf.” He held out a picture. “Just like this.”

Tabby frowned down at the wolf. It looked familiar. “Where did you get this?”

“Gary gave it to me.”

Tabby put the picture down on the counter and leaned back with a sigh. “Why did Gary tell you to get a wolf tattoo?”

The boy shook some more. “He said it was cool.”

This kid is what, eighteen? What the fuck is Gary up to? She took a sniff. Nope, he’s human. “Do you like wolves?”

The boy nodded eagerly. “Oh yeah. I contribute to a bunch of charities trying to save endangered species and their habitats.”

Her brows rose. He didn’t look like he had the money for an Egg McMuffin, let alone donations to charity. “Where are you from?”

“Ph-Philadelphia.”

She stroked a finger down his arm, trying to calm him down. “Okay,” she glanced at the form he’d filled out, “Tim.” How do I explain to you that Gary wants his own ugly face tattooed onto your body? Talk about claiming someone! “If you had a choice, what tattoo would you get?” She held up a hand when he opened his mouth to speak. “Remember, whatever I ink in will be on your body forever. I mean old and wrinkly forever. They’ve found intact tattoos on mummies. So make sure it’s what you want before I do this, okay?”

“What about Gary? He said I couldn’t join his fraternity without it.”

She nearly growled. Son of a bitch. “Did he give you the money for the tattoo?”

She’d already explained that she charged by the hour, and how much. The complex tattoo she’d have to make from the picture would wind up costing him almost three hundred dollars.

“No.”

“Are you paying for it?”

“Yes.”

She sighed and decided to fill this poor kid in before he became a Wolf snack.

“Gary isn’t the nicest person in the world, Tim.”

Tim scowled. “He’s been very nice to me.”

“Yeah, well, he’s been less than nice to me.” She fingered the picture again, wondering how to get through to this poor guy. “Gary’s threatened me more than once. He’s egged the shop. We’ve had to call the cops on him a few times.” She frowned. “Did Gary tell you to come here for the tattoo?”

Tim shook his head. “No, he told me to go to the place on Fifth.” Tabby exchanged a glance with Cyn. That place was a dive. “But I asked around. A lot of people told me you guys were the best, and that your prices were fair.”

That explained a lot. No way was she letting this kid out of here with Gary’s mug a permanent fixture on his body. “If I pick up that phone there and call Sheriff Anderson, will you listen to him about Gary?”

He gulped nervously. “The cops? Why would you call the cops?”

“We’ve had to call them out because Gary won’t leave us alone.”

He bit his lip and frowned, obviously thinking.

She picked up the phone and handed it to him, rattling off the number for the police station. C’mon, Tim, make the right decision.

His expression cleared. He was familiar with the phone number, which raised a whole host of other questions she didn’t have the right to ask. “Can I take another look around the shop, please?”

She smiled and nodded, getting up off the swivel stool she sat on when she worked. “Sure thing, Tim.”

She watched him walk with a bit more confidence into the front of the shop.

“Good job.”

“Thanks.”

“What made you question him?”

She picked up the picture of the wolf and showed it to Cyn. She could hear the murmur of voices and knew that Glory was talking to Tim. She would ease his fears better than anyone else. “That’s Gary as a wolf.”

Cyn whistled. “Damn. Is the little bastard building a club or something?”

Tabby jerked. Could he be trying to build a Pack? She took another look at Tim.

Damn if the boy didn’t have Omega written all over him, and not in a good way.

“Fuck.” There was no law against changing a human against their will. If there was, more than one mate would be in big trouble, including the current Halle Pride Alpha. But a prick like Gary with a Pack of handpicked assholes? “That would be bad.”

“I’ve decided.” They turned to find Tim standing there, a smile on his face. Glory stood next to him. She winked at Tabby. “I want this one.” He held up a piece of flash.

Tabby looked down at the stylized dragon and grinned. “Good choice.”

She set up the inks, pleased that Tim had relaxed. She began the tattoo and did her best to hold back the smirk.

Gary was going to shit a brick when he saw it. She just hoped Tim would be protected. She made a mental note to let Gabe know all about Tim. If anyone could protect the boy, it would be a Hunter like Gabe. Gary didn’t know what train was about to hit his pompous ass, but he was definitely pissing on the tracks.