Venice Heat Read Free Page B

her, he glanced up into the face of one of the shifters.
    “So, wolf. You see something that interests you over there with my friend and his girl?”
    The man standing across from him was also African American, but not so solidly built as his alpha. Eiji guessed he wasn’t the second in line either, maybe the third with ambitions for moving up. He sought to intimidate, but it wouldn’t work.
    “Why don’t you shut your mouth?” Eiji suggested.
    The man whooped and slapped his hands on the table, laughing. “Why doncha shut you maaff,” he teased, squinting his eyes. “I have an idea, why don’t I kick your ass?”
    Eiji slammed his glass on the table and walked around it, but before he could make a move, Shae stepped between them, a hand on both their chests. Eiji ignored the shock wave that ricocheted throughout his body at her touch, and snarled at his opponent. The man shoved Shae, but Eiji moved in a flash to first keep her on her feet and knock the guy on the floor in the next breath.
    Men from the alpha’s pack gathered around him, ready to attack, but he noticed none revealed what they truly were. He was pushed to his limits keeping his secret as well, but he waited for one of them to expose it in her presence.
    “Whoa, hold on, everybody,” Shae interjected. “Darryl, if your boys kick my landlord’s ass, I’m going to be out on the street. Call them off, pretty please?” She smiled up at him, holding on to his arm and leaning way too close so that her breasts brushed him. Even across the room, a person could pick up on how she turned the alpha on, but then he seemed to catch on to her words, and he frowned.
    “Your landlord?” Darryl snapped. “You know this fool?”
    Shae made a sound like sucking her teeth. “Don’t be rude. Yes, that’s what I said, isn’t it? Eiji doesn’t mean any harm. He’s sweet. Right, Eiji?” She met Eiji’s gaze and offered what he now saw as her man-manipulating smile. She’d pronounced his name not as an American would, but with the Kanto dialect. Curiosity about this intriguing woman surfaced in him, and he glanced away.
    “You don’t need him, Shae,” Darryl insisted. “You can come stay with me.”
    “Boy, please. I just met you, and if you’re the type to pick a fight, I’m not sure I want to get to know you better.”
    “Looks to me like the Asian’s the type to let a woman do his fighting for him,” another man quipped.
    Eiji frowned. “I don’t need anyone to fight for me. I will take care of all of you now.” He pointed and indicated the group in one. A few of them dropped words he didn’t know but suspected were swears. He sensed their tempers ran high, but they held them in check. One command from the alpha, and he would have a lot to deal with. He kicked himself for putting on a show for her benefit like Darryl obviously did. Eiji usually let his actions speak for him and kept his words to a minimum. He did not like risking exposing his kind to humans, and a wolf’s temper was enough to manage without provocation.
    “Oh, is that so?” the third said and bumped his friend aside to stand face-to-face with Eiji. “The little Asian wants to front like he got swagger.”
    A couple of the guys laughed, and one called out, “‘Little Asian,’ Travon? He’s taller than you.”
    This didn’t sit right with Travon, and after glaring at his friend, he whipped back to Eiji. The punch came from nowhere, unexpected, fast, and powerful. A human might have seen the blur, but any trained man could swing fast enough to defy the eye to see it. What Eiji knew a human would not see was the strength behind Travon’s fist. If he let it hit him without bracing himself, he would be sent flying backward halfway across the room. He had no intention of taking the punch either way. The analysis of the situation flashed through his mind the instant he noted Travon’s jaw tense and the predator’s gleam in his wolf’s eyes. His fist shot out, and Eiji