Shit. It hadn’t occurred to Laurie that the man had weapons in the house. Duh. He’s a cop. Of course he has guns. Probably several.
Zach was closest to the window. He stepped forward. “Fuck. Ouch.”
“What?” Corbin asked. He cocked the gun.
Laurie flinched.
“Glass.” Zach kept moving forward anyway, heedless of his injuries.
“The window’s broken. Someone must have thrown something through it.” Laurie leaned forward. There was a brick on the floor in the middle of the room.
Someone shouted from outside. “You don’t belong here. This is Indian land. We don’t want your kind here.”
Laurie shuddered. Jesus.
Zach stepped forward more gingerly. “Son of a bitch,” he muttered, picking up his feet and setting them down with more care. He yanked the damaged blinds to the side and stuck his head closer to the broken window, peering in every direction.
“Get back, Zach. Are you crazy?”
“Baby, I’m fine.”
Corbin eased around to the other side of the window. “Are they still out there?”
Another loud crash sounded from the front of the apartment.
Corbin spun around and fled the room.
Laurie swung her legs over the side of the bed.
Zach was on her in an instant, tugging her to the floor next to the bed. “Get down. Please. Just in case.”
She followed his orders, hunching next to the bed, as far away from the window as possible.
Zach stayed in the room, but crawled toward the door and poked his head out.
Sirens wailed in the distance.
More shouting, this time from the front of the apartment. She couldn’t make out the words. Just as well.
Corbin came back to the room as Zach stood. “They’re gone.”
Laurie pulled her shaky body to standing. “Who was it?”
Corbin shrugged. “No idea. But they were my people.” He had shoes on now, and he stepped to the window and looked out the back. “Probably my parents or Veronica rallied the troops.” He visibly shuddered. “I can’t believe it. My own people acting like fucking idiots over who I choose to mate.”
“Humans, you mean, right?” she asked. “You mean Native American humans, right? Not shifters?”
“Maybe. Though, with my parents involved, there could be some of each. They didn’t come close enough for me to scent them, but I’m betting they were both shifters and non-shifters. Natives.”
“I’m surprised after everything that went down last year with Rebecca there are still people, human or shifters, in the area who would be willing to publicly profess such hatred.”
“The only reason I’m here in town at all is because my mother believed it was safe to return. Apparently she was wrong.”
The sirens grew louder until Laurie knew they were right outside.
Corbin left the room to open the front door.
Several voices reached the bedroom.
Thank God they had fallen asleep in their clothes. If it had been a normal night, they would have all three been naked.
Laurie followed Zach out of the bedroom and down the short hall to the living room. Corbin had turned on the lights.
Two deputies stood in the entrance.
“Doug. Pete. This is Laurie and Zach.”
The man on the left with deep red hair nodded at Laurie. “Sorry, ma’am.” This was Doug. He was a human.
“Not your fault.” Laurie rubbed her arms.
The man on the right, taller with nearly black hair, reached out a hand. “I’m Pete. I’ve known Corbin my entire life.” He winked as she took his hand.
Instantly, she gasped. A jolt went through her that shocked her so badly she jerked her hand away as fast as she’d set it in his. She stepped back, unable to control her strange reaction.
Pete tipped his head to one side. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Must have shocked me.” She forced a smile. Pete had shocked her all right, but not in the way she implied. Somehow she’d seen into his soul. And it wasn’t pretty. She’d never experienced anything like that in her life.
“Melinda?”
“Laurie?” She could hear the sleep in her sister’s voice even through the connection. “What time is it? You okay?”
“Not even close. Sorry to wake you.” Laurie stepped away from the men and headed for the kitchen area as she communicated with Melinda. “A group of people threw bricks through the windows in Corbin’s apartment and screamed their displeasure at our arrangement.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah, that’s not the half of it. There are two deputies here now, and I just had the weirdest thing happen.”
“Did you touch them?”
“How did you know?” Laurie stopped in her tracks, grabbing the counter in the kitchen and staring at the backsplash of the sink without moving.