Chapter Two
Taking the lead, Najha quickly unlocked the door and pushed it open. “Everyone okay in here?”
Jacob, the dishwasher, who she knew had been keeping everyone calm inside the room, turned and asked, “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” She sat down next to him, and Dane followed, sitting next to her.
“What happened out there?” Jacob asked.
“Another gang, I think. We called the sheriff and locked the back door. We tried to look out front, but Lucien’s man shoved us back here.” Najha’s voice sounded heavy even to her. She wasn’t surprised though, her body was weak from the fight.
“Which gang is in town now, keeping those savages busy?” Jacob asked.
Najha knew what he was talking about because when Lucien and his men fought with the MCs, they left bodies strewn about. This time was different, and she didn’t know what the vamps were going to do to destroy the evidence but still maintain the image of his MC as a bad ass motorcycle club. Only a few people knew their secret, and one of them was her stepfather, the sheriff. He’d married her lycan mother, and Myra had converted him to a lycan. To this day, they pretended to be human, only to keep her safe.
Her biological father, Thorn Andreiko, the leader of the lycans, was going to be angry with her. She’d taken too many risks tonight fighting those Bolnav.
Worrying wasn’t helping her situation. Gaining her strength back, Najha leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes. Several minutes ticked by. The silence was welcomed by her to rest for a few moments. Now, Najha started to wonder if Lucien had possibly been injured or worse—killed. What was taking them so long to clean up? Dane moved his body, the warning clear to her. Her extremely sensitive nose picked up the scent of blood…Lucien’s.
The knob turned, admitting Lucien to their hiding spot.
Her eyes glued themselves to his hard, rough, but magnificent body. His arm muscles flexed, his tattoos visible because he’d lost his jacket and he wore a leather vest over the black t-shirt. Appearances deceived the humans but not her, his scent of blood told her he was gravely injured but trying to be brave in front of his men and the others.
“Come on out, the danger is gone and they won’t be back,” Lucien’s words were softly spoken. He smiled as she walked past him.
“You okay?” she asked as they passed by each other.
“Yes, don’t worry about me.” His lips were cinched tightly together.
Najha continued the spell to protect her from his vampire senses. She couldn’t allow him to know her lycan heritage. If she could tell him, she would’ve been able to heal him right here and now. She hated that fact. Her body stiff and sore, she limped her way out of the kitchen and into the dining room.
Behind her, Lucien suddenly leaned his body against the door jam on his way toward the front.
She turned to help him but changed her mind as she quickly read the fierce, no approach look on his face. His frown, eyebrows creased with lips pale, he seemed to be holding his ribs or arm, and she wasn’t quite sure where he was injured. The blood had seeped through the shirt he wore, but the color hid it well.
Dane headed toward her. “Najha, I need your help in the kitchen.”
“What’s going on?” She walked back toward him, not quite reaching the grill area, her path collided with Lucien’s as he headed forward.
When he tilted his head slightly, Lucien’s nostrils flared.
With her being so weak, she worried her identity had just been discovered.
“Najha, Dane, in the kitchen now!”
“Lucien, really, I have a job to do,” Najha muttered walking past his highness. She felt furious and worried as it all jumbled up inside her, making her angry. Her father was going to kick her ass if Lucien found out about her.
Lucien yelled, pointing, “Kitchen!”
In her weakened condition, she knew she wouldn’t be able to maintain the spell she’d put herself under for much longer. Lucien was hurt, so would it matter? He might not be able to sense her in his condition. She couldn’t take the chance. Walking swiftly by the vampire was difficult, but she marched into the kitchen and turned on him. “What can I help you with?” Wanting to heal him was pulling at her heartstrings, and she fought the instincts of her heart.
What in the hell is wrong with you, woman?
She’d never felt these strong emotions before. The urge to pull him into her arms and heal his wounds were demanding to her senses and had replaced her flight or fight response.
“Listen, you punk ass kid.” Dane’s neck was gripped in the vampire’s hand.
“Leave her alone,” Dane muttered.
“Let him go, Lucien. What the hell is wrong with you?” One of Lucien’s men, Kaden, gripped his arm.
“Take your paws off me, now!” Lucien growled.
She knew someone was going to get their ass kicked. Najha worried Lucien was losing his grip on reality. Dane, on the other hand, had disrespected the vampire. What the hell was going on? She needed to help but didn’t know how just now.
“Come on, buddy, we need to get you home.” Kaden Ellery, Lucien’s VP, tugged on his arm, trying to direct him outside.
Lucien flung his hand aside. “No, I’m not done here. How in the hell did I miss it? Dane, you’re a fuckin’ lycan?”
“That’s none of your concern.” Dane’s voice rose higher than normal.
Najha walked forward, she put her hand on Dane’s arm. He pushed her aside and stomped past her toward the grill. Then he yelled over the counter, “Waitresses, Najha, desserts on the house, start serving.”
Najha was now thoroughly confused. Did he just order her to serve free dessert?
Sheriff Mills walked through the door holding his hand on his sidearm attached at his side. “Heard you had some trouble here?”
Lucien and his men stepped out of the kitchen and walked toward the sheriff. “Yeah, it was an MC who didn’t know the rules of your town. Can we talk outside?”
“Good idea. Najha, you okay?” her stepfather asked.
“Yeah, I am.” She walked up to a table with two people. “Hey, apple pie or chocolate cake?” She finally realized why Dane had ordered this. It had been a way to distract the humans.
After getting everyone their food, she sat down at the counter and rested her tired body.
A short time later, she heard the loud motors of the motorcycles start up. She hoped Lucien and his men were leaving.
Cade walked back into the cafe. “Najha, can I talk to you in the kitchen, please?”
She nodded and followed him.
Cade turned to her. “Lucien is injured, and they’re going to get him to a healer, he’s bad. What the hell happened?”
“I’m really not sure. We killed two Bolnav, the first was newly changed, and the other one was an ancient.” Najha still felt the burning on her healed arm.
“Lucien fought one who’d he remembered as a kid. This vampire disappeared hundreds of years ago, they thought he’d turned to the sun.” Cade lowered his head, his keen gaze focusing on her.
Najha didn’t want Cade to know she’d fought and been injured herself. “Cade, why was there more than one? They never travel in groups like that.” She tried to get his attention on something else.
“I don’t know. Never heard of that before.”
A turned vampire was called a Bolnav, or sick demon. When they drained a human of their blood and killed them, it was what turned them to something dreadful and evil. To kill someone that way was illegal and punishable by death. They had no allegiances or companions after this happened. The lycan and vampire hunters were the warriors who had to hunt them down and execute them.
Najha knew both races together, swore to protect humanity from these abominations. “Did Lucien tell you they were running in packs and why?”
Cade shook his head. “No, he didn’t, but Thorn did a while ago, remember?”
“Yeah, something about that. I’ve never seen anything like I did tonight. They came in strong, Cade. Without Dane’s help, I would have lost my life.” Najha knew she’d slipped up, but was tired of hiding behind her spells. She felt ashamed of her mistake tonight and had to let Cade, a trainer, know what happened.
“You were fighting tonight?” Cade asked. His voice dropped lower than normal as his face softened, a small smile showed on his lips, and his eyes spoke of concern, not anger. He reached out and touched her hand. “Najha, it’s the chance we take every day. You’ve become a warrior your mother and I are proud of. If you helped keep the town safe tonight, that’s what is important.”
“But I messed up. I could have gotten the pup killed.” She pointed toward the kitchen and Dane.
“You can’t blame yourself, I’m thankful Dane was here to help you. Lucien mentioned he knew Dane was lycan. He also told me he was angry because Dane disrespected him. That will not be tolerated, as you know.”
She nodded. “I’ll have him apologize to Lucien when he sees him next.”
Cade shook his head, “I’ll handle this.”
“Okay.” She readily agreed to let Cade handle the situation. She truly felt tired and needed to sit down. She grabbed a chair next to the cooler and plopped her butt down on it.
Cade had focused on Dane. “Dane, you owe Lucien an apology,” he scolded the younger lycan.
“He thought the lycan placed me here to spy on his people.”
“Why are you here, Dane?” Cade’s amusement focused on him.
Najha was worried Thorn would find out her cover was almost blown, so she jumped in, “He confronted Dane here in the restaurant, his men tried to stop him, but Lucien seemed dysfunctional. Dane did what he had to do to avoid the others here finding out about the lycan and vampires.” Could she lose her friend, Dane, working at the cafe?
“Yeah, he said that too. Dane, next time have a little respect for the man,” Cade gently scolded. “Lucien is fair and would have just asked you a few questions. I have to go see Thorn. Let him know what happened. I’ll tell him your secret is safe, remember to be a little more careful next time.”
“Please tell my father, we only did what was necessary to protect these people in this town.” Najha hugged her stepfather. She walked him outside to send him on his way.
“You did well. Get home and sleep to heal, beautiful.” He kissed her cheek. “You’ll be fully recharged. I’ll let your mom know you’re okay.”
She nodded. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, I love you, sweetheart. Glad you’re alright.” He spun on his heels and swaggered slowly toward the police cruiser parked against the curb.
“Love you too.” Najha waved to him.
After a few hours passed, Najha became more than tired and ready for her shift to end. She still had bar closing to tend to before she could actually go home. At two thirty a.m., the bulk of people came through the doors which kept her busy until sunrise.
Right before her shift ended, one of Lucien’s men came in. She didn’t remember his name, so when he walked up to her and touched her arm, she looked down at his hand, raising her brow.
He quickly removed his hand. “Sorry, love, can I have a moment of your time outside, please.”
“Okay?” She followed him, confused.
They reached the curb and found a beautiful fat boy Harley™ motorcycle. Stopping, he turned to her. “My name is Kaden if you were wondering.”
She nodded, she remembered how he had tried to get Lucien to leave Dane alone. “Thanks, what’s this about?”
“I just wanted to tell you to keep an eye out for a new MC that’s trying to move into Shades Run. We need you to call either Thorn or me. Lucien had to leave town for a business trip and will be back in a few weeks.”
“Oh, really? Why are you asking me to do this?”
“Because we know the sheriff in town is your father. These men are really bad. Don’t approach them. Just call Cade, Thorn, myself or any of my MC brothers.”
Najha hated the fact this man ordered, not asked her. As a woman, she knew it was the way, but if Kaden knew she was a warrior lycan, things would be different in their world. She still wondered why it bothered her so much. “Okay, will do, anything else?” She raised her brow.
“Do you disrespect me?”
“No, sir, just wondered why you felt it necessary to come into to town to tell me this?” Najha lowered her eyes. She wanted to stare at him, meet him eye to eye like the warrior she was, but her father would kick her ass if she showed this man she wasn’t a submissive pup.
Speaking with these men was a necessity, especially if they wanted her to relay a message to Cade. If this MC had found out she was lycan, then her job here at the café would end quickly for her. Thorn wasn’t going to let her continue to work and put herself in danger.
The spell seemed to be holding, but because of her injuries making her tired, she wasn’t sure if it was as effective. This man standing in front of her was Lucien’s Sargent at Arms. Kaden would protect Lucien and right now, she might be deemed as a threat if they discovered her. “Sir, I apologize if I offended you. I’m tired and hungry. It’s no excuse, but that’s me. Is there anything else, sir?”
“Go home, sleep, I’ll check with you all tonight.”
She looked past the giant of a man and could see the sun slowly rising. Kaden needed to get to his lair before the sun settled in the sky. “Thank you.” Najha turned to leave. Before he could touch her arm, she ducked away, spinning toward him. “Don’t touch me,” she spat out the words.
He raised a brow at her.
Najha just fucked up, and she knew it. But she didn’t want to take the chance her spell wasn’t strong. If this man would have touched her at all, he could get inside her mind and find her memories.
Holding his hands up, he chuckled. “Sorry, you sure you’re okay? For a human, you’re observant and fast with your body.”
“My father is the sheriff, so I’ve taken self-defense, and I don’t like to be touched.” She wasn’t going to make any further excuses.
“I guess.” He stared her down.
Oh, man, she could feel the gentle push of his mind trying to join hers. Slamming her walls up and stabilizing her mind, she pushed him back out. Just enough, so he wouldn’t know she’d done it on purpose. Her telepathic abilities were strong since she’d been a small child and she could block out any individual, including her very powerful father. This man was weak compared to him.
“Okay then, I’ll see you around. Let Cade know we’re going to handle the details.” Kaden started his motorcycle, gave it gas and left her standing on the sidewalk in front of the cafe.
So was his boss hurt badly? Cade said they would put him underground for a while, so he must be. Going out of town on business, Kaden said. Yeah, right. Letting herself worry over Lucien, confused her. The man was arrogant and cocky, so why did her heart beat faster and her thoughts spin out-of-control whenever she thought of him? Najha didn’t want to think about Lucien being injured and possibly dying. They had healers; he would be fine. Telling herself the facts over and over again would help her finish the rest of her shift at the cafe.
Walking back inside, she couldn’t believe all the people who’d arrived. There must be something going on in town later today, for a Friday night into Saturday morning to be this busy.