Hounded (Shifter Town Enforcement) Read Free

cuffs from her hand, wincing at the touch of silver against his fingertips before he tossed them aside. They hit the hardwood with a soft clunk, but she didn’t move to follow them.
    The pulse in her neck jumped.
    Her lips thinned. Kanon watched as a subtle readiness settled in her muscles. Here came that fight.
    “Lennox,” Tegan said, imploring, but she bared her teeth at the sound of her name coming from him.
    Tegan gave her a grim smile.
    “ Lennox,” he repeated, drawing it out, “Kanon did not attack your Hound. I have witnesses who could prove it. Your man swung first.”
    “So, what, you punched him back?”
    Kanon gave a quiet huff. The edge of a smile curling his lips. “Yeah. I did. Then he kept on hitting and I thought, Fine, we’ll play .”
    He watched her lips thin, the corners lifting in a slight grimace.
    “I don’t start fights with Hounds. Tends to get me a bullet right here.” He poked his forehead. “Be kind of stupid don’t you think?”
    “Lions don’t tend to think.” There was a sour note to her voice as she glanced away, staring back towards the dining room and the open window she’d climbed through. Kanon waited, watching as she ran down her options. She had to know. Sexy as she was to him right now, Kanon wasn’t going peacefully. Maybe if a cop had asked him to go downtown, sure. But a Hound? Downtown for them meant: Hey, come see the electric chair . He’d pass.
    A sigh slid out of her, a sharp blast of breath as she took one last look at freedom and turned back to them with a nod. “And you got witnesses to prove this?”
    “Yeah,” Kanon said.
    “Then let’s hear what happened.”

    ***

    Tegan closed his eyes in relief. Yes . He didn’t know what he’d do if...
    “Thank you,” he whispered.
    “Don’t thank me. Just open that handsome little mouth of yours and start talking.”
    Tegan grinned. Handsome? One glance at Kanon, and Tegan could see his partner was half smitten with the Hound already. Not that Tegan blamed him. She was big and she was bad, but Lennox Donnelly also had a heart. A fair streak and he was going to run with that for all it was worth.
    “Anyone in that bar that night would vouch for Kanon. We’re regulars, never had an issue there before. Hell, the owners will vouch for that.” He didn’t add that Tristan and Carolyn Hale were also friends of theirs. Still, every bar regular and wait staff in that bar knew the two of them by sight, and they’d never once given anyone an issue there that hadn’t deserved it.
    The Hound had deserved it, but he didn’t say that part either. Not when she was beginning to sway. And sway she was, those sharp eyes considering his words and Tegan pounced on that weakness. “I’ll take you there myself. Kanon doesn’t start fights.”
    Normally. Lennox’s raised eyebrow told him she expected there was a ‘but’ to that, but she didn’t insist. “Fine, but I’m driving.”
    That was a bit too neat for Tegan’s taste. He shook his head, but outmanned as she was, Lennox wasn’t about to back down. “I’m not going to have Kanon bailing. You can drive separately, he can’t.”
    “You’re not exactly in a position to be bargaining,” Kanon said but Tegan waved him off.
    “Fine. Your word though, you’ll see this through. You’ll give us a shot to prove Kanon’s clear.”
    It was her eyes that gave her away. Soft, and they glanced down at the question, almost submissive, but Tegan wasn’t foolish enough to think this Hound had a submissive bone in her body.
    “Hounds don’t bargain with lions,” she whispered, only to drag her bottom lip between her teeth as she stared up at him. Her chin dipped in the faintest nod. “Fine. I swear to you, I’ll give you the chance to prove to me your partner is innocent. I’ll go to the bar; I’ll meet your witnesses.
    “But I make the final call. If I don’t deem their statements accurate or if what they say contradicts you, I’ll tote both of your