Badlands: The Lion’s Den(11)

He struggled to keep his tone casual. “Kinda. I guess. Sorta rings a bell. What about her?”

“She’s at the club. Came to leave a message for Krystle, and one of the managers gave her dinner. Blair – you know she’s always a soft touch. Anyways. Now there’s three of Ruben’s patrol standing out front, demanding to be let in. They claim she’s theirs.”

A black tide of fury roared through Finn, and his fangs shot from his gums. He let out a growl of rage.

Theirs? Hell no.

Finn hurried to the club with Jose right behind him. The bears were pacing around out front, scowling at the bouncers.

“Hey, Hudson! Let us in the damn club. She came into our territory. We scented her there. She’s ours!” one of them growled at him.

“Like hell,” Finn snarled, pushing past them and storming inside. There were a couple of dozen patrons there already, some clustered around the bar, some in the play area.

His gaze swept the room until he spotted Flora. She was sitting at a table at the back of the room, eating a sandwich, still wearing the same clothes as yesterday.

Finn heard a commotion behind him as the bears barreled through the front door.

His mind was racing. He barely knew this woman, but he knew that she was in over her head. She was a nice person. Far too nice to be here in Darwin, but it was too late for that now; she was already here and there was no way he was letting Ruben’s men get their filthy paws on her.

The last time he’d tried to protect a good woman, he’d failed. Failed so badly…

For a moment, he felt desert heat and dust choking him again, and he heard the screams of his squad. He saw Marybeth lying in the sand, the light fading from her eyes.

And then he forced himself back to the present.

He wouldn’t fail. Not again.

Quickly, he crossed the club until he was standing next to Flora, who stuffed the last of the sandwich in her mouth and looked up at him in surprise.

“Listen up!” Finn roared at the top of his lungs. Everyone stopped what they were doing. A lion stood frozen by a whipping post, bullwhip thrown back. Patrons paused with their drinks at their lips.

“I claim this woman! She is mine! Anyone who tries to touch her goes through me!”

“Excuse me,” Flora said politely. “Actually, as far as me being yours—”

Finn nodded at the bears. She turned and noticed them for the first time, and went pale.

The bears stormed through the crowd, and one of them walked right up to Finn. They called him Kraken. He was as big as Finn was, and the scars on his face spoke of a lifetime of brutal, bloody one-on-one fights.

“She came into our territory today without permission,” Kraken said accusingly. “So she belongs to Ruben.”

“I beg your pardon, I do think there’s been some kind of misunderstanding,” Flora piped up helpfully. “I was just on the other side of the border. I was in Hudson territory.”

“Liar,” the bear snapped.

“Say that again,” Finn growled, staring him down. Kraken swallowed hard and looked away. “Ruben sent us to claim her,” the bear muttered, but he sounded a little less sure now.

“You actually think you can take my property from me?” Finn growled at him.

One of the other bears muscled up to them and cast a skeptical glance at Flora. “Your property? I don’t see a collar.”

Finn bared a grin. “I’m getting a special one made for her.”

The bear looked her up and down. “She isn’t wearing your mark. If she were really yours, you’d punish her for running around town without wearing your mark.”

The bar patrons glanced at one another and nodded. There was a murmur of assent.

A chant started somewhere in the crowd and grew louder and louder. “Punish her! Punish her!”

Finn grabbed Flora’s arm and pulled her to her feet. “Quiet! I need to talk to my property,” he called out, and hustled her to a quiet corner of the club.

“What was all that about?” she demanded, glancing nervously at the bears. “I really wasn’t in their territory. Why did they come after me? Do they normally do things like this?”

“Nope. I mean, you’re new in town and everybody knows when new people arrive, but I’ve never seen them do this before. Then again, their leader’s been getting more aggressive lately,” Finn growled, directing a threatening glare at Kraken. “He’s probably hoping this will push us to declare a turf war.”

“What does it mean that you claimed me?” Flora asked.

“Exactly what it sounds like. That’s how things work in Darwin. Any man who wants a woman, he’s got to be strong enough to fight for her.”