April opened her mouth, then shut it, fidgeting with the pen in the pocket of her black apron as she tried to make sense of what had just taken place.

  “You’re looking a little pale. Did something happen?” Tiffany looked at April and folded her arms sternly, always acting like a parent even though she was only a few years older than her. Her bright-red hair was pulled back in a ponytail like usual, and her green eyes were full of concern “Bill didn’t say something gross again, did he?”

  “No.” April shook her head.

  “Was it Vern, then?” She frowned, then started to head out into the bar. “I’m going to go give those wolves a piece of my—”

  “Wait, don’t.” April caught her friend by the arm, but April saw Tiffany’s eyes go wide as she looked over at table six, where Bill and his wolf friends were probably still sitting.

  Thankfully, Tiffany didn’t resist and allowed herself to be pulled back into the kitchen. “Why is Bill’s face all messed up?” she asked a little too loudly.

  April wasn’t sure how to explain it herself. One moment, she’d been serving drinks and taking orders. The next, a huge stranger with one red and one blue eye had broken the pack beta’s arm like a freaking twig.

  Just the thought of it made her heart race, though not entirely from fear. Something else, dark and thrilling and unfamiliar to her.

  It wasn’t that she was unused to being around shifters. In fact, it had been an open secret for decades in the little city of Clawson’s Creek as a silent war for dominance had raged between a large pack of wolf shifters and the tight-knit family of bears that had settled this place a long time ago.

  And as one of the normal humans caught in the middle of it all, April had learned to keep her head down and try to not get involved in the whole thing whenever she could.

  Until recently, shifters had been unknown to the world at large, so she and others like her friend Tiffany had had to cope with the fact that there were people walking around who were actually ferocious animals in disguise.

  So far, she’d gotten along just fine. And with a little luck, the treaty that had been brokered between both sides would be signed soon and things would finally calm down a little in Clawson’s Creek.

  But she had an irksome feeling in the back of her head telling her it would take more than a treaty to stop their town’s personal Hatfield and McCoy feud.

  There was a rap on the wall as a figure popped his head from around the corner. “Anyone home?” Mayor Mansley asked, face looking tired and sweaty even though the late summer weather had been surprisingly cooperative as of late.

  “This area is for employees only, mayor,” Tiffany said, folding her arms.

  The mayor just waved a hand dismissively. “I’m on personal terms with the owner. In fact, I was hoping your uncle was going to show up today. Where is he, April?” As he spoke, he had the audacity to help himself to one of several unopened water bottles on the counter.

  April sighed. “They’re on their yearly trip to Corpus Christi. Didn’t he tell you?” Frankly, given the importance of this event, she’d assumed her uncle would be in attendance as well.

  The mayor took a long swig of water, then wiped his mouth with the arm of his suit jacket. “Oh, that. Yes, of course. Well, a successful entrepreneur like himself needs to take a break once in a while.”

  Tiffany shot April a knowing glance, which the mayor didn’t seem to notice. “Yeah… Can’t have him overworking now, can we?” She rolled her eyes exaggeratedly, and that time, the mayor saw it and frowned.

  “Mr. Keller runs most of the human-owned businesses in this town. We owe him a great deal,” Mansley said, puffing up.

  Tiffany just folded her arms. “If by running you mean underpaying his employees and never lifting a finger to do an ounce of work himself, then yes, Marvin runs them just fine.”

  Mansley looked over at Tiffany imperiously, then shrugged, turning to face April. “You need to keep a tighter watch on your uncle’s employees, April. Also, I would like a coffee with cream and sugar. Bring it out to my table.” Then he came a step closer, his muddy brown eyes full of something she couldn’t quite place. “And I hope there won’t be any more incidents like the one I just saw a minute ago. I’ve worked very hard to make this treaty happen, and I think I speak for all the humans in Clawson’s Creek when I say everyone will be very disappointed if something goes wrong.”

  Tiffany fumed. “You can take that coffee and shove it up your—”

  But Mayor Mansley had already turned on his heel and exited the back area while Tiffany was midsentence, and she stomped her foot with a huff as he disappeared back into the bar.

  “That pompous jerk! Like whatever happened to Bill was your fault in the first place.”

  April nodded, still a whirl of emotions she couldn’t easily sort roiling inside her like a tornado. “I’m sorry. He shouldn’t have acted like that. He’s probably just stressed about the treaty.” As she spoke, she pulled a warm container of coffee from the machine and started to fill a glass.

  “More like he’s too busy kissing your uncle’s ass to lift a finger about what he’s been doing. Everyone knows who pays for his reelection campaign every year.”

  “I mean, he’s just trying to do his best like everyone else.” She set aside the glass and went to the mini fridge to get cream.

  “The mayor or your uncle?”

  “Both, I guess…” April responded distractedly. She could still feel the heat of the basilisk’s body above her, vibrating with a kind of rage she could only describe as feral.

  What was his name?

  And why had he protected her like that, so suddenly and without provocation?

  “The mayor is just weak like most people. Your uncle, though. He’s a real piece of work,” Tiffany scoffed.

  April didn’t have anything to say to that. She’d heard it from Tiffany or her other co-workers a dozen times already.

  She just didn’t really have a choice in the matter.

  Tiffany continued, talking animatedly with her hands as she did whenever she was nervous. “For years, you’ve been running this place by yourself! I mean, I know your aunt and uncle took you in when you were young, but he is a whole new level of lazy, and they treat you more like free labor than family.”

  The back office, piled high with paperwork and unpaid bills that she’d had to start taking care of herself just in the past year, was testament to the truth of what Tiffany was saying.

  That and the fact that her family spent more time on vacation than not.

  April clenched a fist, feeling stuck as always. If she could only save up enough to buy a business for herself in town. Or maybe move somewhere else.

  Someday. Somehow.

  But today wasn’t that day.

  Tiffany seemed to notice and came beside April. “I’m sorry, honey. I didn’t mean to go off like that. Here, I’ll take the mayor’s coffee out to him.”

  “No, you don’t have to do that.”

  “I mean it. I’ll also handle those jerks over at table six. Give them a talking to.”

  April giggled nervously. She suspected the mysterious basilisk had done more in two seconds than whatever earful Tiffany would certainly give Bill and his friends.

  “You give yourself a quick break. I’ll see to things out there.”

  “You sure?” Tiffany gave her that motherly Are you positive? look that April knew worked on Tiffany’s five-year-old son.

  But April wasn’t going to back down. Especially not when the shifters in town thought they could act like that with impunity.

  Also, she couldn’t shake her curiosity at getting another look at the basilisk, though she’d never admit it to Tiffany.

  “Okay. I’ll just be in the back office checking in with Frankie’s day care.”

  “Where will you sit?” April asked with a grin. After all, every surface was covered in unopened mail or paperwork.

  “I’ll sit in Marv’s chair,” she responded and disappeared down the cramped hallway with a swish of her hips, making April laugh and relieving some of the tension tightening her chest.

  Her uncle had a thing about people using his chair for some reason, even though he only came into the bar once or twice a month.

  It served him right, April supposed.

  Once again, she was alone. Out in the bar, she could hear more muffled conversation, and the air of anticipation only seemed to intensify, along with her own anticipation.

  “Only way to keep steady is to keep busy,” April said to herself, finishing preparing the coffee for the mayor. On a whim, she grabbed a cold beer from the fridge and opened it, wondering if perhaps the basilisk might want a drink while keeping watch over the drama happening right in the middle of her small town.

  Do basilisks drink beer? she wondered. Did basilisks even drink water?

  So many sudden questions.

  She grabbed both drinks and went to the doorway leading into the bar, standing there for a moment as she looked around.

  April ignored the lustful glances from wolves and bears alike as she looked for the mayor.

  After all, as a curvy woman, she’d found out pretty early in adulthood that shifters preferred curves (and had been told such to her face on multiple awkward occasions), so she’d learned to just ignore all the unwanted attention and advances from them even as human men in town had passive-aggressively admonished her to lose weight.

  She didn’t have time for romance or crappy opinions in her life anyways.

  Her eyes wandered to the back corner where she saw one basilisk with two glowing red eyes and dark-blond hair watching coolly over the proceedings inside. Another, one with a full dark beard and short black hair, was busy patrolling between tables, arms folded, showing off tattoos along his arms. Curiously enough, that one had two blue eyes.

  Then her gaze moved to the last one. The one that had saved her. He was wearing heavy black boots and dark jeans, with a navy work shirt that was only half buttoned up, showing a white undershirt beneath. The cuffs of his shirt were rolled up, revealing impressive forearms that bulged with muscle, accentuated more so by the long, intricate dark patterns of tattoos that weaved up his arms and peaked out from above the collar of his undershirt as well.

  He had rich-brown hair that was shorn on the sides and a little longer on the top, enough to make her wonder what it would be like to run her hands through such thick, glossy hair. And his jaw was stern and straight, as if it had been cut from the most stubborn of stone.

  Then her eyes met his, and her whole body shook with surprise as she realized he’d been staring back at her. Perhaps the whole time she’d been ogling him.

  Oh crap… April thought, stunned as he glowered over at her from twenty feet away, his tall, ripped body unmoving like a statue from his spot near the front door of the bar.

  That unfamiliar, tense, fear-like sensation whirred inside her and sent jolts of something electric up and down her back as she found herself rooted in place by the gaze of the basilisk. And the longer she stood there, the harder she found it to tear her eyes away from his, almost losing herself in the dual-colored depths of his irises that sent her head spinning.

  After what could have been ten seconds or two minutes, she saw the corner of the basilisk’s mouth curve up in a slight grin, and the force of it nearly bowled her over even as she got the impression that the huge, scary man rarely smiled. If ever.

  Finally, she looked away nervously and took a deep breath before striding back out into the bar.

  She’d grown up surrounded by monsters her whole life. Wolves and bears she’d seen break chairs or tables in half like twigs.

  But now, as she felt the basilisk’s gaze continue to follow her, she felt an altogether different kind of fear being around something that supposedly had walked the earth for centuries and could level this town in mere minutes (if the rumors were true).

  And for the first time in her life, she was no longer scared of Bill and his buddies or the burly Clawsons with their growls and threats.

  She was scared of what the man with the dual-colored eyes might do next.

  All she had to do was put her head down, keep the bar running smoothly long enough for the much-awaited treaty to be signed, and get home to take a nice, long bath.

  Hopefully, she just got through all of that alive.

  3

  April strode out into the bar, determined to not let her nerves get the best of her.

  While she did, the front door opened, and there was a hush as she saw the big alpha bear of the Clawson Clan stride in, flanked by his wife and brother. But even at his height of six-three, the giant of a man seemed small by comparison now. She made her way toward the mayor’s table where his assistant sat waiting, while Mayor Mansley shot up from his seat and strode to greet Clawson with as much deference as possible.

  She noted that the alpha of the wolf pack, along with his betas, were already seated in a tight group at the left side of the table, including Bill, whose face looked horribly bruised. All of them tensed noticeably as Clawson came in to meet the rest of his family before taking their seats at the opposite end.

  Months ago, when the treaty was still in discussion, a neutral place to sign the document had been needed, and her uncle was the first to suggest Willie’s Corner as the location for the event, telling April animatedly in private that it would be “great for business.”

  Assuming a fight didn’t break out. Or worse.

  She barely dodged one of the big bears as they strode in like they already owned the place, keeping the drink in her hand steady even as her fingers started to tingle from the cool perspiration on its exterior.

  That and probably all the testosterone filling the air as the wolves and bears postured like madmen was putting her on edge.

  Not at all because she was going to go face the basilisk standing in the corner.

  Not at all…

  The familiar scent of the aged wood of the bar filled her nostrils as she turned toward the mysterious, towering man. And when she took one step toward him, her brain almost short-circuited, stopping her in place like she was about to step into a pit full of snakes.

  There was something primal about the sheer, raw, barely contained energy surrounding him that left her petrified and excited at the same time.

  But he’d done something kind for her. And she wasn’t going to ignore that kindness, especially when it was in such short supply these days.

  She took another step forward.

  The basilisk’s eyes met hers, and she nearly shrank back.

  Behind her, the mayor had just begun a speech. Something about finally having peace and bringing prosperity to Clawson’s Creek, but the sound was muffled as the blood in her ears seemed to rush, pulsing to the racing of her heartbeat.

  Three steps later, she was finally standing in front of the basilisk, who appraised her with guarded interest.

  Darn, he was even taller when she was this close, and she had to practically crane her neck to look up at him.

  He was even more handsome close up too.

  “Th-th-this is for you,” she said, teeth chattering a little, and she bit down on her tongue to keep from sounding like an idiot.

  It was like standing next to a feral lion, knowing it could bite your arm off with ease. Like the human part of her couldn’t comprehend what she was looking at without fainting or running away.

  The basilisk reached a huge hand forward and took the bottle slowly, looking it over before downing it all in one surprisingly quick gulp.

  So Basilisks drink beer. First question answered…

  As he drank, she couldn’t help looking at the intricate tattoos on his arms, entirely black as they swirled and twisted and accentuated the hard angles of his muscles there.

  When he was finished, he handed the bottle gingerly back to her, leaning over her and making her feel incredibly tiny even though she wasn’t particularly short at five-foot-six.

  As April took the bottle in her hand, his gaze lowered down her, and a full-body shiver rippled from the ends of her toes all the way up to the top of her head and out to the tips of her fingers even as his expression seemed to only register mild interest.

  Already, being this close, she was more than a little curious what his massive pecs felt like. What his big hands could do other than break arms or down beers in one go.

  What are you even thinking? April’s thoughts yelled at her as she continued to gape.

  The basilisk cocked his head ever so slightly, studying her for a moment that seemed to stretch on forever, like he had all the time in the world. For the first time, she got the distinct impression that this person, this… creature, had been around for much longer than she had.

  That only made her more curious.

  “I… um… was…” Holy crap, April, great job using your words. She wasn’t even sure what she’d been trying to say in that moment.

  “Your back door. It’s broken,” the basilisk said directly, surprising her with how deep and rumbly his voice was and cutting through the haze of fear, interest, and something else she seemed to be drowning in being this close to so much male.

  “Oh. That.” She scratched the back of her head, looking over at the fire escape door. “Yeah, my uncle had it chained shut because drunk people kept setting off the alarm.”

  He grunted and frowned slightly, folding his arms and showing off how impressively large his biceps and shoulders were in the process.

  April gulped. “I know. It’s stupid, right? I told him it shouldn’t be that way, that it’s unsafe, but he wouldn’t listen.”

  He remained silent as a rock.

  Behind her, she could hear voices arguing about something. Probably the Clawsons going at it again.

  Her better judgement insisted on leaving as fast as possible, but April still wanted to thank him for what he’d done, whether he had been helping her intentionally or not.

  “By the way, thank you,” she said awkwardly.

  He raised a single dark eyebrow slightly, as though he had no clue what she was thanking him for.

  “I mean, not that you weren’t just doing your job. But…” He continued to just stare, watching her every movement like a hawk, and she felt her face flame with embarrassment. “Sorry for bothering you.”