Hell on Wheels (Faetal Attraction #1)

Roar

The closer we get to the big meeting, the more hinky shit happens.

Javier had customers receive foods with allergens in them, and he got called to the carpet at work. Our mailbox had an explosive in it when Angelo went to grab the mail—but luckily he’s a speed shifter, so he wasn’t harmed. Archie’s had to fight off bad hits at practice with threats that I’ll hex their dicks. I’ve kicked the ass of no less than three chicks I don’t recognize trying to corner me at the arenas. Reb’s car has been sabotaged twice, but he figured it out before it was too dangerous.

There’s a concerted effort to damage us, maybe even kill one of us, before this fucking thing.

Honestly, it’s become so unpredictable that I can’t pin it solely on Mina and her nasty teammates. Whoever is determined to make us miss this event has more power than they do, and a much bigger reach. Merra Stuhll has long arms, but I’m doubting that she’s able to hit so variably and with precision. No, this bullshit is a team effort and we need to figure out what goddamn group of assholes is banding together with them.

“Wheels, what’s running through your head?”

Looking over at the handsome, muscled lion shifter, I smirk. He’s covered in red marks from the morning torture session D and I gave him after Reb and the other two left for work. Today, neither of us have practice and Damon can do his computer techy shit for the demons from our house. Seeing the big guy lying there with a sated grin on his face after submitting to us like a good boy makes my entire body tingle. I’m enjoying the fuck out of little D’s new growly side, especially because, in human form, he’s much smaller than Archie.

“She enjoys seeing you all marked up,” the demon in question says before he chuckles. “And she really likes that you enjoy us tag teaming the control. I can feel how much it pleases her.”

“That’s the thing, yeah? It makes me happy to please both of you—which I didn’t know I liked—and it makes you happy to please her and me… The big winner in this whole thing is our Dommy Mommy mate, right?”

I blink, then glare at him. “Don’t call me that.”

Archie bats his long lashes, lifting his arms to stack his hands behind his head. It makes the display of sporty dude muscles dance and I groan as my body responds. He grins smugly. “You love it, you control freak. That and how fucking built I am. The others are more… lean muscle.”

Damon ponders for a moment, then grins wickedly. “I confess, your bulky big guy begging makes my cock twitch. There’s something about a handsome, eager hunk letting you pin him that’s impossible to deny.”

Fuck, they’re adorable. Meddling was the best. decision. ever.

“What are we doing besides lazing around in bed, then?” I ask as I squint at the clock. “As much as I love this, we should be more productive.”

“Showers. Definitely showers,” Archie groans. “And you still haven’t told me what was going through your head before I asked.”

“Second the shower idea.”

I roll my eyes at them, then sigh. “I thought that the conspiracy to fuck us up is bigger than Mina and Merra put together. It’s gotten more frequent and harder to prevent. Neither of them is this smart, nor did they have enough time to throw together such precision threats. The stuff happening now results from learning who we are and how we live our lives. That takes time.”

Damon nods, chewing his lower lip as he thinks. “You’re right, Sparkles. Getting someone into the restaurant to slip the peanut oil in the food takes longer than a week or two in a small place like his work. Getting past Reb’s spells without setting off alarms takes time.”

“Bribing drunk shifter sports players is pretty easy,” the lion admits. “So many of my teammates are good dudes with seriously bad heads for business. They get caught up in women and gambling and a lot of the vices in Bay City. That part wouldn’t take much effort.”

“But cornering me in blind spots at the perfect time in both your rink and my arena would take time and knowledge. The security is better than that,” I muse. “So this is certainly coordinated.”

The guys fall silent as I roll away, swinging my legs over the side of the bed to stand up. I decide to leave them with that thought while I get clean; hopefully, they’ll have a stroke of brilliance by the time I get back.

“Hey, Rogue?”

I pause, turning to look over my shoulder at Archie.

“I hate to see you go…”

“Super groan, big guy.” Damon chuckles as he smacks the broad chest he’s leaning on. “So damn cheesy, even if she has a superb ass.”

Eyeing them, I arch a brow. “I appreciate your compliments, boys, but you need to get your equally sexy asses out of bed and get clean. There will be hell to pay if I come back out and you’re not dressed to go out. I’m hungry and I want to go visit Javi for lunch.”

“Oooh, good idea!” Damon beams as he almost leaps up, holding his hand out to Archie. “I could definitely go for Pad Thai.”

“Then get your asses in gear,” I reply as I stride over to my bathroom and slip inside.

There’s a little bumping around that’s loud enough to hear, which makes me smile to myself. Once it stops, I walk to my huge stall, turning the taps so it will warm to almost nuclear hot. Humming under my breath, I line up my towels and supplies on the counter, following the ritual that makes me feel calm and collected. Doing my bathroom tasks very specifically and order has always been one of my calming techniques, and thinking about some enormous group of fuckers trying to kill my guys has me in need of that feeling.

I can promise I will destroy anyone who tries to take these boys from me; I’ve waited too long and come too far to lose them.

The Emerald Lotus is already busy by the time we get there. It’s packed with the lunch crowd from the businesses nearby and the overflow from the university in mid-town. The students from human college are blissfully unaware they’re eating in a supernatural run joint, so they jabber ignorantly at their tables while the usual clientele look on in amusement. The dragons who run the place only close their doors to the non-supes two evenings a week, but it allows for the real regulars to have a release valve.

It’s hard to be yourself when you have to make sure you don’t break a cardinal law while you’re drinking.

“Hey, guys!”

I blink back to attention when the chipper Kitsuné hostess greets us. If it weren’t the anime craze in America, the waifu-looking girl with white hair and tips resembling flames would stick out like a sore thumb. Instead, she looks adorable and TikTok ready as she grabs unneeded menus to lead us to a table in the supe-only section. I assume. Archie or Damon requested that, but since I was mulling over shit, I missed it.

“New chick,” D says as he guides me through the busy restaurant by the elbow. “Bet she’s worn down within a week.”

“Don’t be crude. Maybe she’ll love service,” I reply with a frown. “Some people enjoy taking care of customers and shit.”

Archie snorts. “You’re being na?ve, Wheels. Maybe you can say that about bartending, but most actual servers or retail workers grow to hate their jobs quickly. I dated a waitress for a couple of weeks and she told me even if your bosses are good, customers are the worst damn near everywhere.”

When we reach the table, Damon pulls my chair out, and they flank me on either side. I roll my eyes, making the cheery girl giggle. “Can you let Javier know we’re here? Thanks.”

She frowns, a crease appearing between her brows. “Why? Are you his friends or something?”

I do not have the spoons for this girly bullshit today.

“He’s my boyfriend and so are they—not that it’s anyone’s business. Can you let him know we’ve arrived, or do I need to flag someone else down?” I look the new hostess right in the eyes, hoping to cut off any passive aggressive female competition shit before it starts. I don’t have the patience for it on a good day and with our enemy pool widening daily, I definitely don’t have it now.

Her cute face fades to frustration, but she doesn’t look away. “Understood, Miss…?”

“Just Rogue will do.”

“I’m Mai, and until we assign a server to your table, I will serve you.” The shifter curtsies stiffly, then nods at the guys. “It is very busy in here, as you can see, and we had a few call-outs since it is close to the moon cycle. For now, I will notify Javier that you are here.”

Archie waits for the girl to scoot off, then grins at me smugly. “Your boyfriends, mmm? Methinks someone was marking her territory.”

“Oh, for sure, big guy,” Damon says, his face full of preening pride as well. “Wait until Javi hears about it.”

Aine, save me from overeager men.

“Look… we have way too much shit going on to add juggling a jealous work chick to the plates,” I explain as I tap my fingers on the table. “She obviously has a crush on him and I’m full up on stupid bullshit at the moment. I don’t even have the desire to play with my food. You know?”

The lion shifter snickers, looking at me wryly. “My skin would beg to differ.”

“Little D helped with that, and it’s different with sexy stuff,” I mutter as I pick up the menu. I don’t need it; I always have the same thing from here, but it helps me put a little distance between their puffed up pride and me. “Giving her a heads up was actually kind, and it made me less irritated, so two-for-one.”

The scent of cinders and spices gets my attention and I lower the menu to see Javier standing to my right. “Fancy seeing you guys here. Late lunch?”

I nod, smiling softly at him for a moment. “I was in the mood for my usual, and D wants the Sukhothai Pad Thai.”

Our friend pulls out a notepad, looking at us as he scribbles, then reads it back. “Okay, one honey-lavender salad with the savory rosemary meat pies and buttermilk biscuits, one Sukhothai Pad Thai, two porterhouses rare, two Maui Mules, onion strings, garlic potatoes, and two beers. Sound right?”

“Sounds good to me,” I say with a fond smile. “You’re good, Mr. King.”

“Eighty-six the potatoes, man, and add another streak. I’m bulking up for the season. More protein, fewer carbs,” Archie grumbles. “But I’ll miss those damn things.”

“One summer in our kitchen and you’re still like an old hand,” Javi says with a wink. “Alright, I’ll get this to the servers and work on your drinks. Did Mai tell you we had a bunch of no-shows? It’s a bitch every single month around this time, but old Grundy won’t quit hiring the damn weres.”

“I think it would be illegal to do that.”

Javier glares at Damon, looking annoyed as hell. “Semantics, dude. I’m just tired of having staffing issues every single month. Wouldn’t you be?”

My lips quirk. “Well, my ex-teammate is trying to kill me. His father’s minions have been doing the same forever, and Archie’s teammates are working to handicap him. Absenteeism seems tame in comparison, Javi.”

He throws up his hand, turns on his heel, and stomps away, making us all laugh.

At least we can still find the humor—that’s a good sign, right?