Page 9 of Wolves Always Bite

AfterIset the box down on the grass,Iunlocked and dropped the tailgate.Theboxes were big, but not large enough thatI’dhave to roll back the cover over the truck bed.Igently removed theJahallerfrom the box and slid the boxes deeper before slamming the tailgate shut.Withthat done,Iturned my attention toJeremy.

“Hey, so, canIget your number?”Jeremylicked his lips as his gaze dropped to my mouth.

“Ineed to tell you something…”

“JeremyCrane,” a woman’s shrill shout stopped me beforeIcould finish my sentence. “Youlittle thief.”

Troublein the form of a pissed off goblin rounded the front of my truck.Shewaved the note he’d written her like a flag.Thiswasn’t going to end well, butJeremyseemed oblivious.Hehad a huge smile on his face.

“Hey,Babette, did you read the noteIleft?Igot a thousand dollars for that stuff.Canyou believe it?”

Babette’seyes locked onJeremyas she made that strange, inhuman screech unique to pissed off goblins.Sincesupernatural beings in their common forms were magically cloaked from human eyes,Ididn’t know whatJeremysaw when he looked at her, butIsaw her for the goblin she was.

Hergreen skin glistened under the sunlight.Hertwig-like arms stuck out from her rotund body with proportions and angles too dissimilar from a human’s to feel familiar, even to a supe like me.Andthe shape of her large, floppy ears reminded me of bat wings.Althoughshe was on the small side, she was still a supe, which meant if she plowed intoJeremy, he wouldn’t stand a chance.Ishoved theJahallerintoJeremy’shands and stepped in front of the goblin.

“Wolf,” the goblin spat out as she jerked to a stop. “Ishould have known.”

“Watchyourself,”Iwarned. “Thereare mundanes all around us.”

“Giveback what you stole, and we can go our separate ways.”

“No,Babette,”Jeremysaid.Atthe corner of my eye,Icaught his reflection in the truck’s side mirror.Hemust have lifted himself up on his toes to be able to look down at the goblin over my shoulder. “Didn’tyou read the note?Hepaid for—"

“Thief.”Thegoblin screeched again.

Fuck, that was hard on the ears.

“Well,IthinkI’vebeen fired,”Jeremymuttered as he dropped to his heels again and leaned against the side of the truck.Hecrossed his arms with theJahallerclenched in one of his hands.Hefrowned as if he couldn’t figure out what had gone wrong.

“Comeon,”Isaid asIreached back to takeJeremy’shand. “You’recoming with me.”

Ibared my teeth atBabette, forcing her to step back and clearing the way for me to getJeremyinto the truck.Iwas compelled to get the human away from the angry supe.Myinstincts wouldn’t allow for anything else.Myneed to protect him was overwhelming.Unsettlinglyso.

Jeremydidn’t object asItugged him forward, opened the passenger door, and shoved him inside.Thenthe goblin realizedIwas taking the human.

“Youcan’t leave,” she shouted. “Giveme my stuff.”

Shecharged forward, catching the pant leg ofJeremy’sjeans and ripping the thick cotton with her sharp black claws.Islammed the door shut, narrowly missing her hand, as she drew back to take another swing at him.

“Lockthe door,”Ishouted atJeremy.Thefamiliar click followed almost immediately.

Babetteturned her wrath on me.Herbody shimmered under the sunlight as it took on a more menacing form.Apartfrom mages, most supernatural beings could transform into multiple body shapes.Withshifters like me, the forms were drastically different, but with other supes, like goblins, the transformation was more subtle.

Therewas no doubt, though, that this wasBabette’sshifted form.Herjaw and mouth grew to accommodate at least a dozen more pointy teeth, her nails sharpened to talon-like claws, and her ears enlarged and curled as if reshaping to ensure she didn’t miss the faintest of sounds.Hernostrils widened to larger holes, which probably allowed her to better scent her prey.Theproblem with transforming though?Thenatural magical glamour that usually hid her goblin-shape from human eyes fell away with the change.Andonce a human had a glimpse behind the glamour, they saweverythingthe magic typically hid.

Jeremy’sgasp and following shout of “oh myGod” rocketed through the air, even though he was safely tucked away inside the cab of the truck.Iglanced at the guy.Thelast thingIneeded was to have a scared human bolt through the market screaming about monsters to the crowd of humans.Jeremyhad his face and hands pressed to the window.Hismouth hung open.Hestared unblinkingly atBabette.

Butat least he wasn’t running.

Babetteshrieked again and fixed her beady black eyes on me.

Thatdidn’t look promising.

Sherushed toward me, faster thanI’dexpected.Herclaws and teeth ripped at my arms and legs.

“Getoff me.”Iswatted at her, but that didn’t deter her.

Whenfighting, goblins didn’t depend on their size or their strength.Goblinwarriors slayed their opponents with the equivalent of death by a thousand cuts.Babettemay not be a warrior in the truest sense of the word, butIwould definitely feel this later.Herspecies was also notoriously short-tempered, butI’dnever seen one as incensed as this.