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“That so?” Before I could react, he kicked the table over, shattering it against the wall with the force of the blow. I flinched; I hadn’t expected them to be so violent. “Stop lying to me, you little bitch.” He strode towards me, but I couldn’t run away. I was too scared, too afraid not only for myself, but for my mother and the two men up stairs. He grabbed my chin in his hands. “I know they’ve been here, and if you don’t tell me where they went, I’m going to have my way with you. And then I’m going to let each one of my friends here do whatever they want with what’s left. And then, maybe, if you’re lucky, you get to have me again.”
     
    My blood had turned to ice at this point. I felt tears welling in the corners of my eyes, but I refused to give in. I’d dealt with men like this before, I could do it again. Except it had only been school yard bullies, not an entire gang. My heart thudded in my chest.
     
    What was I supposed to do?
     
    I wasn’t strong enough. I couldn’t run. And I couldn’t give up Ethan and James…
     
    A voice, sharp and brittle as steel, cut through the air. “Take your hands off of her.”
     
    The thug’s grip loosened, and I gasped and turned around. James stood in the doorway behind me, his hair tousled and his shirt half-buttoned. Ethan stood behind him, stifling a yawn. “No, James! You need to get out of here!”
     
    He looked at me. “Hush, Liz. Go to your mother. Ethan?”
     
    “Got it,” he said, stopping yet another yawn. He walked around James, grabbed me by the arm, and led me down the hall into the kitchen. “Don’t argue with him,” he said quietly as we walked. “Just stay in here with your mom, keep quiet, and don’t draw any attention to yourselves. And don’t call the police.”
     
    “But —“ Ethan put a finger on my lips, leaning down to look eye to eye with me. He smiled that same curious smile as before. “It will be fine, okay? Now be a good girl and wait here.”
     
    He turned and walked down the hallway. I couldn’t see him after he turned the corner, but the moment he did, I heard a shout and a cry of agony. The voice didn’t sound like either he or James.
     
    I waited in the kitchen for a few minutes, listening to the obvious sounds of a brawl in the other room. Finally, I could’ wait any longer — I darted out the kitchen, walking along the wall as quietly as possible, and peeked around the corner. I had to bite down on my hand to keep from shouting.
     
    All of the thugs save the leader lay on the floor, bruised and bleeding. A few had obvious broken bones. The leader looked menacingly at both James and Ethan, neither one of which seemed to be injured in anyway. James was giving him a stern command. “Get out of here, Clay. You know you aren’t welcome, and you know you can’t defeat an alpha. Give it up.”
     
    The thug named Clay spat on the floor. “You’re no alpha! You’re just a coward who hides behind his brother and won’t fight his own battles.”
     
    James sighed again. “You know I rose to this position long before Ethan showed up. He has no desire to be the pack leader. We just travel together, that’s all.”
     
    “Shut the hell up,” Clay said. And then he began to change. His hands clenched and unclenched, his fingernails extending into claws just as golden-yellow hair burst forth along the back of his hands and his forearms. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. His face shifted into a snout, hair springing from along his neck. He looked like he was half-man, half-lion, but neither James nor Ethan seemed surprised. In fact, Ethan looked bored.
     
    He leaned against the wall, occasionally poking one of the fallen thugs in the ribs with his foot, yawning every so often. James just looked annoyed.
     
    In the blink of an eye, Clay lunged forward, his hand-claw swiping through the air with a force and speed I could feel even from across the room. James stepped aside to avoid it,