Not that Kenzie stuck her tail between her legs and cowered under his admonishments. Kenzie's and Bowman's furious fights could make their neighbors run into the woods-literally-until the two of them calmed down again.
Now Kenzie smoothed Bowman's fur with her tongue, gradually sliding her wolf's body on top of his. Cade crouched behind Bowman, with a cleaner towel this time, sopping up blood.
Kenzie was dimly aware of others coming into the back, both human and Shifter. The man who owned the place, who liked Shifters and didn't mind them filling up his bar, arrived first. A few Shifters who were high enough in the hierarchy to see their leader injured followed, along with a human groupie or two who'd slipped by the bouncer.
One groupie pushed her way past the Shifters. Like the pseudo-groupie Bowman had banished, this woman had decided to douse herself with perfume. Kenzie's nose wrinkled at the obnoxious smell.
"Can I help?" the groupie asked. "I'm a doctor. A vet, I mean."
Cade rumbled something in answer. Kenzie didn't take her attention from soothing and licking Bowman, and her impression of the woman came only through scent. Under the perfume-they should know better than to wear it around Shifters-Kenzie smelled a hint of antiseptic, antibacterial scrub, and competence. How she could smell competence, she didn't question-her wolf sensed things she never would in human form.
When the woman touched Bowman, he growled, and Kenzie did too. Cade put his hand on Bowman's side. "Easy."
Kenzie added an encouraging rumble to Cade's. She did not like the woman putting her hands on her mate-not only in a jealous way, but in a primal fear that animals had for danger-but she convinced herself the vet could help.
"The bone needs to be set, and quickly," the woman said. "If we can get him to my clinic . . ."
"Are you kidding?" Cade asked. "You didn't see what was out there?"
"Yes, what is that?" the vet asked him. "Escaped animal from a zoo? Bear from the mountains?"
"Your guess is as good as mine. Escaped from a horror movie, maybe."
Kenzie scented the vet's fear, but the woman tried to bury it to do her job. "I can splint it, at least, but it will need serious medical attention. Can you find me a . . . ?"
She started reeling off things she wanted, giving orders to the humans and Shifters standing around. A woman used to being in charge. So why had she decided to be a groupie tonight? Did she like animals so much she wanted to be around people who turned into them?
Bowman was ignoring the vet, or trying to. He'd closed his eyes, grunting a little as Kenzie managed to lie down fully on top of him. She carefully didn't touch his hindquarters, but she nuzzled his cheek, continuing to lick his face. A she-wolf protecting her mate.
The Shifters and the bar's owner returned with what the vet needed, and the woman ordered Cade to hold Bowman down. "Can you get the other wolf off him?" the vet asked.
Cade laughed, even as Kenzie gave a snarl of fury. "She stays. It's a Shifter thing. Her being here helps him."
"All right." The vet sounded doubtful. "Do you have any kind of tranquilizer? Something to knock him out with?"
The bar's owner cut in. "Nothing but some pretty hefty tequila."
"Anesthetics don't always work on Shifters," Cade said. "We need powerful tranqs to keep us down, and we don't carry them around with us."
Well, not to a bar anyway. Bowman had tranq guns at home, in case he needed them for an unruly Shifter, but he wouldn't take them to where humans could get their hands on them.
"Hold him down, then, please," the vet said crisply.
Kenzie had no idea what the woman was doing, but Bowman jerked, his growls turning to ones of rage. Kenzie let herself grow heavy on him, helping Cade hold him in place.
Let her, she tried to convey.
Bowman struggled. He was one of the strongest Lupines around, even injured, and Kenzie felt her hold slip. Cade was swearing at him, telling him to keep his wolf ass down.
No use. Bowman's instincts had taken over, and he was about to throw off Kenzie and turn on the vet.
Kenzie could think of only one thing to do. She shifted back to human.
Cade bellowed at her, "Kenz, are you crazy?"
Kenzie, a human woman once more, leaned to Bowman's snarling mouth and started petting him, putting her vulnerable face close to his and nuzzling him.
The red-hot rage began to fade from Bowman's eyes. He was still angry, and Kenzie would hear about this later, but, as she'd hoped, Bowman started curtailing his reaction so he wouldn't hurt Kenzie in this form. When Kenzie was wolf, she was stronger and could take a lot from him. Her human form was more vulnerable, and Bowman understood that he could hurt her, or even kill her. He rumbled at her, annoyed at her ploy.
"Almost done," the vet said from behind them. "Tell me you have some Ace bandages and that they're clean."
The bar's owner handed her whatever he had from his first aid kit, and she started working again. At the same time, one of the younger Shifters, a cub really, though he was old enough to come to a human bar, came charging into the back.
"Kenzie," he yelled. He stopped short, his scent betraying fear as he saw Bowman with a mangled leg, Cade holding him down, and Kenzie naked on top of him. Kenzie slid off Bowman, though she kept her hand firmly on his fur.
"It's all right," she said in a steady voice. "Bowman's hurt, but he's being helped. He's fine."
Bowman added his growl, trying to reassure, but the cub had stark fear in his eyes. "That thing out there," he said. He couldn't be more than twenty-one, a wolf Shifter who thought he'd be safe at this bar where his pack leader hung out. "It's trying to get in."
A loud bang sounded from the front of the bar, something huge pounding on the big metal door that was the club's entrance.
Bowman rumbled at Kenzie, urgent, angry. She didn't need to be wolf this time to know what he meant. Get out there and make sure everyone's all right.
"Go," Cade said to her. "I'll join you as soon as she's done."
Kenzie hesitated, hating to leave Bowman, but she knew she had to. Cade was good in a fight, but the pack needed the leader's mate right now to reassure them. She had to hold it together, in spite of her worry for Bowman, so the Shifters would fight alongside her and not scatter in panic.
She got to her feet, earning a startled look from the vet. The vet looked bizarre herself, wearing fake cat's ears, whiskers penciled in across her cheeks. She was competently wrapping a bandage around Bowman's leg, the two aspects of her incongruous.
Kenzie, stark naked, walked by her and into the bar proper. When the Shifters in there saw her coming, they started to relax.
The humans gaped at her nudity, men looking their fill, women blinking in surprise or giving her how-dare-she? looks. The only Shifter who gave her the once-over was Jamie, who was probably the highest-ranking Shifter in the place right now, besides Kenzie and Cade. He was the highest-ranking Feline, anyway.
Jamie was reputed to screw anything female, and he didn't pretend not to look at Kenzie. He'd never touch her, though-he wasn't that foolish-but he looked, and later he'd tease.
Tonight, Jamie's expression also included fear. It took a lot to scare Jamie, who was a lithe cheetah and a mean fighter, but his golden eyes clouded as the beast outside threw itself at the solid front door once again, with hideous force.
Jamie reached Kenzie and spoke in a low voice. "What the fuck is that?"
"I don't know." Kenzie tried to match his soft tone, but she was in a room full of Shifters who were listening hard. "I'll just say we can't let it get in here."
"Or we're toast," Jamie said, not bothering anymore to be quiet. "You, and you two-over there. You three on the right of the door." Jamie arranged the strongest Shifters where they'd have the best fighting advantage. He was good at it, though Shifters rarely fought as a team. Shifter battle strategy was more like Don't mess with me or my family, or I'll kill you and walk away.
But tonight they'd have to fight together. One Shifter alone, even two, wouldn't be enough to make a dent in something that could so easily take down Bowman.
Kenzie and Jamie got everyone organized, the Shifters moving into fighting positions. Jamie's cousin Marcus, another cheetah, put himself in charge of herding the humans well back, and getting the women under and behind pool tables.
Kenzie's battle plan, when she outlined it, brought swearing and protests, but Kenzie remained firm until the Shifters reluctantly agreed. Jamie backed her up. "She's right. Suck it up."