Ian's senses caught the intruders well before they reached his door. He opened his fridge and pulled out two beers just as a knock came at the door. 

"It's open." 

Ari entered first—a beautiful curly-haired brunette, deceptively cute, and very much lethal. She was maybe five-foot-four, just taller than Ace, their alpha female, and she could kick his ass. Ian would have made a move on her if she hadn't been a member of his pride. She came from a family of margays and lions; while she shifted into the latter animal, she was as vicious and cunning as most margays. 

Then came Theo. Like Ari, he was one of the newest members of the pack. He'd been with them two years now. Theo still hadn't shared much about himself, other than the fact that he was the youngest of three brothers, but Rye would never have let him join the pride without a full background check. Ian had performed the investigation. Theodor Albert Magnus the Third was the son of one of the very few warlocks in the world and of an ocelot shifter. His older brother, Henry, was well on his way to becoming as powerful as their father. He was the wizard royalty and celebrities went to for their spells. The middle brother, Vincent, was a professional gladiator; the one supernatural-only sport in the world. He competed all over the world, and mostly won. No wonder Theo had left that behind. He was strong enough, but there was no comparing him to Vincent; he had a little magic, but couldn't hold a candle to Henry. 

The two shifters were also enforcers. They took the day shift when they could, and it was seven in the evening, so they'd headed to his place to chill before dinner. 

They'd taken to hanging out with him in their spare time, probably because he was the only sad-ass original member of the pride who wasn't mated. Maybe they could dub their trio’ the third wheel united’. 

"Beer?" 

It wasn't really a question. He handed them a bottle each and reached up to the cupboard above his sink. He knew Ari liked a glass. He'd just done the dishes, so there were four clean glasses, but he couldn't help himself from showing off, pulling one of the pretty new mugs out instead. Ian smiled as he handed it to the woman. 

"Hey, look! Homie got plates and shit," she said. 

He only smiled broader. 

"Nice, right?" 

"Super nice. Where did you get them? Ace's damn lynx freaked out the other day when I came in the kitchen and I broke a bunch of shit. I need to replace them." 

She didn't really; if they needed new plates, it would be ordered through the pride's account, but that was the kind of person Ari was. Straight as an arrow and responsible. 

"Didn't buy them. Friend made them." 

Friend was a bit of a stretch. Knowing Ari would dig if she sniffed a story, he changed the subject. "Who's cooking tonight?" 

They didn't have to eat together every night, and sometimes on his days off Ian went off to the city, ate out, hung out at a bar; but that was mostly when he wanted to get laid. 

"Ace," Theo replied, beaming. "Whole house smelled of cake when we left." 

While their alpha female was a decent cook, she was a truly gifted baker. Suddenly he was looking forward to dinner. 

"Hang on, aren't we questioning the friend thing?" Ari challenged. "You're an annoying know-it-all. You don't have friends."

Ian laughed. "Ouch." 

She shrugged, unapologetically. "If the shoe fits." 

"I have friends," he lied. 

He had the pride, some employees in an office he’d never stepped a foot in, and family. Not because he was a know-it-all, but because he genuinely didn't have the time for anything else. 

"No, you don't," Theo stated. 

"All right. Well, I have a friend, and she gave me some plates she made." Knowing it was unavoidable, given the fact that he'd dug his own grave earlier, he added, "In fact, you'll meet her soon. I invited her over for dinner with us."

Theo spat out some beer, while Ari laughed. "I knew it! I knew you looked ridiculously smug. You like the girl."

"For dinner. Here?" Theo asked. "Why?"

Ian rolled his eyes. He knew every adult in the pack would have the exact same reaction. "Because I owe her for the plates," he replied casually. "I figured I could take her out, but restaurants are a pain."

He didn't mind eating out alone, or with other members of the pride, but it was rare that he got out in the city without having to take pictures or sign autographs; they often ran into fans, or just people who wanted to brag they'd met a real shifter. Then, there were sometimes more alarming encounters, with shifter haters, often violent or preachy.

The folks of Lakesides were fine, but there weren't any nice restaurants in town.

"I could cook here, but if any of you suspected I’d cooked and didn't make anything for the rest of the pride, there'd be a lot of whining. So, I figured I'd ask her to come eat at the main house. It's not forbidden." 

He was right; inviting guests over was the prerogative of any enforcer, as long as it wasn't anyone officially labeled as an enemy of the pride. Ian didn't even have to ask for the alphas' permission, although he would, out of respect. 

The thing was, no one actually did it. Clari had eaten with them a few times before she was turned, but that was about it. 

"Look, there's no version of this where all of us don't try to dig for more information," Ari stated casually. "We're cats. Curiosity is in our nature. So, you either spill and tell us more, or we're going to drill the poor girl at dinner for details about every single interaction you've ever had. Your call."

He sighed, wishing Ari was exaggerating. "All right, I'm not repeating myself, so let everyone in the main house know. She's the vet we saw when we took Cutie to get checked the first time. She's hot, and I certainly wouldn't say no to a romp between the sheets, but it's not about that." After a moment of hesitation, he added, "She's in trouble. There's something that tells me she needs support right now." The smell of drugs and alcohol that didn't quite come from her, a shadow in her eyes...his animal was telling Ian that the woman was mixed up in some shit. "We're not currently being attacked by gods, werewolves, or anything else for a second, so I figured I have the time to play nice." He shrugged. "She's sweet."

Ari and Theo were done teasing him now. "Fair enough. I'll relay the message."