Page 52 of Deck the Skulls

Unsure about protocol, she pointed to The Pack House. “I’m going in there,” she said. “Have a nice day.”

The guy gave her an approving nod. “Good, that’s a safe place. See you around, human.”

Guilt turned to annoyance. “It’s Rissa!” she shouted at the man’s retreating back. He waved but didn’t turn around.

Stomping up the two stairs into The Pack House, Rissa stepped inside to see there were only a few people there, and she didn’t recognize any of them. She felt both relieved and disappointed. It would’ve been nice to see a familiar face, but she might also feel obligated to talk. She wasn’t sure she was in the mood for a chat.

Taking a seat at the counter, she unwound the scarf but let it hang loosely from her neck. She was reluctant to take it off.

“Good morning, Rissa!” Rissa looked up to see Harper standing there with a pad of paper and a friendly expression.“You’re going to have to be patient with me. I don’t usually work here, so I might not be the best waitress you’ve ever had.”

Rissa gave her a reassuring smile. “Did you just get this job?”

“Nah,” Harper said, leaning a hip against the counter. “Mikey usually has me working as a bouncer or barback, but Will and Jesse got caught up in a fight and clean up last night. They didn’t want to have to work an early shift, so I’m here filling in. I’ll do my best, but I'm better at knocking heads together than keeping orders straight.”

Rissa winced. “I was there. It was ugly.”

Harper’s eyes went wide. “I know they were holding off on telling you about our world. That’s a hell of a way to find out about everything. Are you okay?”

“Mostly,” she said, resting her elbows on the counter and leaning forward a little. “Are you in a flock?”

Harper shook her head. “Nope, no vampire waiting at home.”

“But there’s three of you,” Rissa said.

“Yes,” Harper said with a grin. “Still no vampire. Silas and I are wolves, and Tag is a druid. But we work with vampires sometimes. Do you have questions?”

“So many questions,” Rissa admitted.

The edges of her smile sagged a little. “Right, okay,” Harper said with a nod. “I’m sure you probably had some questions but maybe you didn’t feel comfortable asking the guys last night. Let me check on a few customers, make a call, and I’ll be right back. You can ask me anything, and I’ll be totally honest with you. Okay?”

“That would be great,” Rissa said, relief making her sense of guilt and frustration ease back.

“Oh, hey, you want coffee or anything first?” Harper asked.

“Coffee,” Rissa agreed.

Harper set the mug down, then rushed off to check on the other customers and serve the food that was coming up in the window between the main area and the kitchen.

Rissa wrapped her cold fingers around the warm mug and took a sip. It was surprisingly good coffee, not as great as Zan’s but still better than she expected.

More people streamed in, one of them taking a seat next to her. She looked up, then up and up to finally meet the gaze of a familiar face. “Pike!”

A quick glance around didn’t turn up Cora or Kimble. Then she remembered Kimble was a vampire, and Pike and Cora were his flock. It felt strange knowing this, as if it were an intimate secret.

Then she remembered she’d sent him to his knees with a blow to the crotch. Feeling intimidated but not wanting to show it, she stifled the urge to move several seats away from the large man.

“Hi Rissa,” he said cheerfully with no hint of malice. “Harper texted a few people to see if anyone could come by and talk to you. I didn’t go home last night because I stayed to help the Lobos Gris wolves clean up, then crashed on Will’s spare bed, so here I am. I can eat breakfast with you, then head home to be with my mates.”

She blinked up at him in surprise. “I punched you in the balls, and you’re still willing to talk to me?”

Pike frowned slightly. “Not my most fond memory, but it’s understandable. You didn’t know me, and I was taking you away from the men you love. Cora was upset with you, but I pointed out that she might’ve done the same to Zan if the situation was different.”

Rissa resisted the urge to look down. “Do you still hurt today?”

He waved off her concern. “It stopped hurting minutes after you did it. No lasting damage done.”

“Pike, I’m glad you could come by. Coffee?” Harper asked, grabbing a carafe from the top warmer on the coffee machine.