Far From Innocent by Lorie O'Clare Page A

always got him what he wanted. He’d never impressed her much though. Josie was too smooth talking, his growl almost always sounding a bit too sweet for her taste. And chasing after a werewolf that every bitch in the pack had already fucked didn’t appeal to her.
    Maybe she liked the unapproachable. A werewolf she shouldn’t have, or who was a claw length out of her reach turned her on more than one who would fuck whatever bitch was closest.
    The simple truth that Dimitri had known Josie all of his life, that their dens lived by each other and that he wasn’t a stranger couldn’t be ignored. She might run with these werewolves tonight, but if her littermates thought for one second that would put Juan out of her mind, they could think again. No matter what Dimitri or Nicolo thought, both of them would learn to like and accept Juan.
    They slowed when the rough road turned to pavement at the edge of the town of Valle, a small community made up mostly of werewolves. Even on a weeknight, the downtown nightlife was stronger than in most towns. Werewolves were nocturnal. An American pack claimed this territory, but they welcomed the Malta werewolves into 46
    Far From Innocent
    their establishments. Part of the reason they did so was for added protection. The lunewulfs pushed into the American werewolves’ territory too.
    Erin coughed as she inhaled a deep gulp of cold air. Josie rubbed her back. His large hand was hot, strong and lingered a bit too long over her shoulder blade. She itched to shrug him off her but instead stepped out of paw’s reach, falling into step on the other side of Nicolo.
    “Looks like there’s a fair bit of action going on at Bernie’s,” Nicolo said to no one in particular.
    They moved to the sidewalk and headed toward Bernie’s Den, the local bar and grill that did more business after midnight than any other time of the day. Werewolves trudged in after a night’s run for a burger and beer and to catch up on pack gossip. A handful of cars were parked outside the bar. Music and chatter tickled Erin’s ears even at this distance. More than likely, many showed up on foot, just like them. It sounded like there were a lot more werewolves inside than the parked cars indicated. Erin got a whiff of fried beef when they got closer and her stomach growled.
    “It’s almost midnight. The crowd will pick up more after stragglers come in from their runs.” Josie strolled easily alongside Dimitri. The air around them suddenly charged with electricity and Erin glanced past her littermates at him, purely out of curiosity, when the sparks made the hair on her skin rise. “There’s an argument going on inside,” he added quietly.
    Dimitri raised an eyebrow, picking up his pace with excitement as he looked over at Josie. “Can you tell what it’s about?” he asked, lowering his voice as if requesting that Josie’s use of the gift was some kind of crime or something.
    And in essence, the way her pack looked at the gift these days, it almost was a crime to use it.
    Josie shook his head then glanced around him.
    She rubbed her arms, inhaling excitement and anticipation from the werewolves around her. They were as bad as cubs being told they could have free reign in a candy store. All three males around her prayed to get in a good fight tonight. Maybe the distraction of it all would allow her to get away from them and find Juan.
    The music was loud when they pulled the door open and entered Bernie’s. The song went on about having friends in low places, which seemed appropriate when she strolled in surrounded by werewolves who quickly sniffed out the place, anxious to jump into any argument and burn off some adrenaline.
    She rolled her eyes at all of them and lagged behind, searching the bar and hoping that Juan might have decided to come here too.
    Bernie stood behind the bar with a young bitch working alongside him. Bernie was a massive werewolf who would stand out in any crowd. His blond hair, almost