2. Rory

CHAPTER 2

RORY

T he feeling of wet grass underneath my paws was better than any after-work cocktail. The wind rippling through my thick fur and the heat building in my powerful leg muscles were addictive sensations only other shifters could understand. We all shared it, though—that desire, no, need—to get out of our human forms for a while and run as fast as we possibly could. It had been over two weeks since I’d had the chance to do this, and I was soaking up every second.

The only thing better than going for a solo run through the woods outside of town was to run with the rest of the Rat Pack through the abandoned warehouse behind the fishery. There were platforms and obstacles we’d made out of discarded shipping materials, creating a dynamic course of ups and downs that tested our agility and speed in ways even the forest couldn’t. After hours, when everyone had clocked out and gone home for the night, the surrounding area was a ghost town, and we could make as much noise as we wanted.

That’s where we were Thursday night. Matt, Cornelius, Nicolette, and I had planned to blow off a little steam since we’d all had a long week. Nic and I were clocking in double time at the fishery ever since two guys quit out of the blue a few weeks back. Matt was dealing with a rowdy classroom of elementary school kids barely hanging onto their sanity with less than a month left before the summer break. And Cornelius—well, it didn’t matter what kind of week Cornelius had. He was always stressed out. The run was supposed to help snap us out of our rut, and it was working at first.

Until Matt came around a blind corner and barreled into Nic, who was coming from the other direction. There was a crash, a yelp, and then a very human groan. I leapt off the shipping container I’d been darting across and was halfway back into my human form before my feet even hit the ground. I wasn’t the largest shifter in our group or the fastest, but nobody could switch forms as swiftly and smoothly as I could. It was a trick that had saved my skin on more than one occasion.

“Everyone good?” I called out. My voice echoed to the higher levels of the warehouse where I’d heard the ruckus.

“Just a twisted paw,” Nic said a couple of seconds later. “I’m fine, but no more running for me tonight.”

Cornelius came up next to me, already wearing his jeans. He handed me my clothes. “I knew we should’ve been clearer about our routes. This never happens in the forest.”

I laughed and shrugged my clothes on. “You’re always allowed to go running in the forest, Cornelius. We don’t try to stop you. We like that you’re a traditionalist, but we also like to do things a little differently sometimes.”

“More like all the time,” he scoffed. “We never run in nature anymore.”

Out of the four of us, Cornelius was the one who missed our old pack the most. Although he didn’t agree with the rhetoric we were taught growing up—none of us did—he missed the less problematic traditions that our pack held near and dear. I couldn’t blame him, but sometimes I wondered just how dedicated he was to the little pack we’d created for ourselves out here in Solara Bay.

Matt and Nic emerged from the staircase in various stages of undress. Nic’s upper body was exposed, but since we’d all grown up together, it was nothing we hadn’t seen before. She bent down to grab her shirt from the ground by her feet and winced as she pulled it over her head.

“Lemme see.” I held my hand out, and she gave me hers. Her wrist was already starting to bruise, and she gasped when I tried to bend it back, but at least it wasn’t broken. “You’re gonna have to stay off it for a while. If you go running too soon after a sprain, you could end up making it a lot worse.”

“Thanks for the biology lesson,” she said, taking her hand back. “I’ve had a sprained wrist before.”

“I’m only saying this because I know you’re going to want to push your luck, but you’ll end up regretting it. Take it easy for a bit, and let’s call it a night on the running front.” I clapped my hands together and grinned. “Oh—I know. Who’s up for a good old-fashioned bar crawl?”

“Yes!” Nic said, her face lighting up. “Let’s do it!”

“I can’t,” said Matt. “It’s a school night.”

“Ah, c’mon,” I begged. “Let the sub watch your class tomorrow! You haven’t taken a day off this entire year, and the kids aren’t going to pay attention anyway. They might as well watch a movie and have a little fun with their Friday, too, seeing as it’s basically summer.”

Cornelius opened his mouth to say something, but Nic cut him off. “Oh no, you don’t,” she said. “Whatever excuse you’re about to use to get out of going to the bars, I don’t even want to hear it. You haven’t had a job in over a month, so you don’t get to claim being too tired or too busy to grab a drink.”

“Actually,” Cornelius said with a slight glare in her direction. “I was going to say that a drink sounded very nice.”

“That’s the spirit!” I said. “Now you have to come, Matt. It’s so rare that Cornelius wants to go out with us. We might never get a chance like this again.”

Matt rolled his eyes, but I could tell he’d been convinced. “Fine,” he said eventually. “I’ll go to two bars, but that’s it. After that, I’m going home to get some sleep. I’m supposed to give the kids a test tomorrow, and I don’t want the sub to be responsible for that.”

“Sure, of course. Just two bars.” I clapped him on the back, and we headed for the door. “You’ve got a deal.”

“Let’s go to Smart Choice.”

“Bleh, no,” I said. “I hate that place. It’s always dead, and I don’t think the guy who owns it likes me very much.”

“Yeah, but he likes me,” said Matt, who had made the suggestion.

We were walking from the first bar we’d gone to, all four of us a little buzzed and in a good mood. It was a beautiful night in Solara Bay, with a soft breeze coming up from the water’s edge and a sea of stars overhead. It got me thinking that maybe Cornelius was right to want to go running outside again. I’d forgotten how nice it was to see the moon overhead while tearing through the forest at night.

“He always gives me a free beer because he knows I’m a public school teacher,” Matt added. “It’s one of the better perks.”

“And I like that it’s dead,” Nic added. “Then we can actually hear ourselves talk. Boonies is way too loud, and The Hip Rabbit is where all the tourists go. You know how much I hate tourists.”

“We all do,” I said. “But Smart Choice is just so boring.”

“Beggars can’t be choosers, Rory,” said Cornelius. “You wanted us to go bar hopping, and you got to pick the first place. Now you gotta let us pick the second. I also think Smart Choice is the smart choice.” He winked at me, but I refused to laugh.

“You are such a rule-follower,” I said. “But whatever. If you guys want to go to Smart Choice, I’m not going to argue. At least their drinks are cheap.”

So, we took a left at the next intersection and walked two blocks toward the ocean. Not even twenty feet from the sand was where we stopped, directly in front of the small brick building with a solid wood door and a neon “Open” sign illuminated in the window. Another thing Smart Choice had going for it was the location, but I wasn’t about to admit that out loud.

I pulled the door open and let everyone go in before me, catching a whiff of the stale cigarette smell that wafted out. Even though Al insisted that smoking wasn’t allowed in his bar, the place still somehow always smelled like someone had just burnt through a pack without even opening a window. I liked the smell; it reminded me of my grandmother, who was a chain smoker her entire life.

Okay, so maybe this place had a few things going for it besides location…

Inside, there were a couple of people sitting at the bar, but my friends beelined for one of the booths lining the side wall. This was our spot. We never sat anywhere else if we could help it. The three of them got settled, and I went to get the first round since I’d promised to do so at the last bar. Al was pouring a pretty older woman a beer, and they were chatting like good friends. When I came up next to her, she glanced my way with a smile.

“Oh, sorry,” she said to Al. “You’ve got other customers, and I’m keeping you from doing your job. I’ll stop talking your ear off.”

Al, whose cheeks were a shade of red I’d never seen on him before, shook his head. “Nonsense. I’ve enjoyed listening to you talk. And this is exactly why I hired a new bartender to help out around here. Then I don’t have to miss out on riveting conversations like this one.” He frowned and scanned the room. “Although I don’t know where she is at the moment.”

“New bartender?” I said. “How’d you convince someone else to work in this hole in the wall?”

His eyes landed on me, and he offered me a pained smile. “Ah, hello, Mr. Hawkins. Always a pleasure. What can I get for you tonight?”

“Hi, Al,” I said. “Just four pale ales, thanks.”

“Are you opening a tab?”

“Yes.” I handed him my card. He took it with a sly look in his eye, but I resisted the urge to say anything directly to him. When he turned to pour the drinks, I leaned over to the woman and spoke in a low voice. “A few years back, Al claims I left the bar without paying. He didn’t have my card since I was paying in cash, and he thinks I ran out on him. The truth is, I left a wad of cash on the bar, but someone must’ve stolen it.”

The woman smiled. “Is that so?”

“It’s true! I would never skip out on a bill.”

“I can hear you, you know,” Al said. “And you did skip out on a bill. We both know it.”

“We’re never going to agree on this,” I said. “But there’s something fun about having a lifelong feud, don’t you think?” I winked at the woman, and she laughed.

“Please ignore him.” Al turned around and put the beers down in front of me. “He thinks he can get away with anything because of that strong jaw of his, but the cocky attitude is going to catch up with him one day.”

I grinned and picked up all four beers at once. “But not today.”

“You’re not as slick as you want to believe you are,” Al grumbled.

“You sure about that?”

Then I spun around and proceeded to do the least slick thing a person could do.

I ran directly into the gorgeous new bartender, spilling all four beers down the front of her shirt and dropping the glasses in such a way that they shattered into a million pieces all around her now soaking-wet shoes.