Chapter 97: Chapter 96

Katie Who the hell were these men and why were they fighting with Mason?

As soon as | looked at both of them, their eyes darkened and then flashed with their wolves.

Their fists flexed as their claws shot from their fingertips.

They were shifting.

My heart pounded.

Was | in danger?

Was Stella?

But why couldn’t | move?

| wrapped my arms tighter around my pup, shielding her face from these two leering strangers.

Mason stepped between us, shielding me from the two strangers.

“That’s close enough,” he said with a warning growl.

| had the sudden urge to peek around Mason, to look into the two men’s eyes again.

Something about them had felt so familiar, especially the bigger one.

What the hell was wrong with me?

| should be running, begging Mason to scoop me up and take us home to safety.

The two shifters were flexing their wolves, advancing on me, maybe even planning an attack.

But then | felt it.

Lily pawing at me persistently. “That would never happen,” she said. “You an trust the “You're just h orny for every big bad wolf that crosses your path these days,” | argued.

She'd been this way with Mason, too.

And that’s when it hit me.

| glanced back up at the bigger shifter...he looked just like Mason.

His hair was neater and he seemed more put together, but the resemblance was uncanny, What the f u ck was going on here?

“Who is that?” the bigger shifter asked, nodding at me.

*Shoe not unur connor Macon enarlar I'd never seen him get so defensive.

| bristled slightly.

| liked it when he played protector, but | wasn’t ready to walk away from these two just yet.

“Katie,” | said quietly. “My name is Katie.”

Mason wheeled around to face me, a shocked and irritated look on his face.

I'd surprised myself by speaking up, too.

But | wanted these men to know me, and | wanted to know them, too.

| felt like | already did in some strange way.

“Looks like she wants to get to know us after all,” the other shifter said.

He was strong and handsome, too, but he didn’t share the same features as Mason and his mysterious.

twin.

Another rumbling growl tore through Mason’s chest, and his own claws extended.

The three men stood in a face-off, their bodies humming with anticipation.

S hit.

This was about to be a dirty fight.

“Hey, that’s enough!” An older, rugged-looking guy ran up and stood between them, facing the two strangers.

| recognized him as the guy who ran the cafe. Hank was his name. He was normally friendly and smiling, but right now, there was nothing pleasant in his demeanor.

“This isn’t how we do things here in Stillwood. We don’t pick fights in the street.” His voice was even but dripping with anger.

“And you.” Hank rounded on Mason. “You should know better than to engage with as sholes like this.”

“Excuse me?” Mason’s twin said. “I’m Xander Constantine, and this is Zane. We're-”

“The Alpha and Beta, we’re all well aware of that,” the older man said bitterly. “Which makes your behavior even worse. You'd never tolerate a couple of strangers coming into your packland and behaving like idiots.”

Alpha and Beta, huh?

So these guys were a big deal.

Xander and Zane shared a dark look, and for a moment it seemed like they weren’t going to back down, but then they closed their eyes and their claws retracted.

“Sorry for the disturbance,” Zane said, but he didn’t look all that sorry.

“We'll be on our way,” Xander said.

“But not without Katie.”