She shook her head and headed into her favorite burger joint. Frank’s had the best damn burgers in the whole damn town, possibly the whole damn state. She snagged a booth and settled in, waving hello to several people she recognized.
Julian was also exchanging greetings, but his were a little more personal. Cyn hid her grin behind a plastic-coated menu as the entire Bunsun-Williams family descended on her date en masse. For once, Julian looked like the hunted instead of the hunter, surrounded by a family chock full of Grizzlies and Foxes.
“Hey.”
Cyn smiled a greeting at the shy Fox female who plunked herself into the booth across from her. The eighteen-year-old had made it a point to seek Cyn out whenever they were in the same place. “Hey yourself.”
Heather Allen, Ryan and Alex’s youngest cousin, bit her plump bottom lip and stared at Cyn’s hair like a starving kitten. She twirled a lock of her own bright red hair between her fingers. “You changed it.”
Cyn preened. She’d done the dye job just two days ago, and she loved it. “You like?”
Heather nodded so vigorously Cyn was afraid she’d snap her own neck. “I like the blend of blonde, black and pink.”
Cyn pushed her hair back over her shoulders. The hair on top was white-blonde, the middle layer cotton-candy pink and the bottom layer that rested on her shoulders was midnight black. It was striking, and she got looks everywhere she went. Cyn gave a mental finger to everyone who disapproved and smiled at everyone who did. “Thanks. Want me to do yours sometime?”
“No, she doesn’t.” Eric, Alex’s little brother, plucked the girl from the booth and scowled at Cyn. “She likes her hair red, thank you.”
Cyn’s brows rose. As much as she loved Alex she’d come to despise his high-handed brother. “I think that’s her decision to make.”
He actually shook his finger at her. “You keep your paws off my cousin, got it?”
Heather pulled free of his grip and shrank in on herself. Damn it. Getting that poor girl to open up had been one of Cyn’s favorite things lately. Too bad Eric liked to interrupt. Heather closed right back up around him. “I can dye my hair if I want.”
Shit. Heather was speaking in that little mousy voice again. If Cyn didn’t know better she’d think Eric abused the poor kid. But Eric would sooner cut off his foot than hurt the girl.
“My baby cousin isn’t going to look like some freak.” Eric’s nose wrinkled.
A low growl filled the air. Cyn, wide-eyed, stared over at Julian.
That white streak was back in his hair, thicker now. The gray in his eyes had almost completely obliterated the brown. “Stand down, Eric.”
The scary part wasn’t how quickly Eric obeyed Julian. It was Julian’s quietly furious tone that had Cyn stiffening her spine. She didn’t need Julian to protect her from bigots.
Eric’s lip curled back. His huge fangs were displayed for a split second before his father, William Bunsun, slapped a hand over his mouth and began yelling at him for being a rude dumbass. Cyn tried to blink away the image of those fangs, but it wasn’t working.
Okay. Maybe she could admit she needed protection from bigoted Grizzlies.
Julian slid into Heather’s vacated seat and winked, the silver streak already faded from his hair. “So much for a quiet meal.”
Cyn snorted. “In this town?” She waved over their waitress, who deftly side-stepped the feuding shifters. Thank goodness they remembered they were in a human establishment or Cyn had the feeling fur would be flying. “Two burgers, the works, extra ketchup, make them moo.”
“And two chocolate shakes.” A baseball hat landed on their table and Julian tossed it back into the fray. William had Eric in a headlock. He was giving his son a noogie and demanding his immediate surrender.
Thank God she wasn’t mating into that family. She’d go insane inside a week. Every single one of them was nuts.
Julian grinned weakly as the waitress side-stepped one of the fleeing Foxes. Cyn was ready to follow the poor girl right out the door. “Can you make that to go?”
Chapter Three
Julian handed over his keys to the valet and ran into the brightly lit Freidelinde mansion. Tonight was the annual Halle Halloween masquerade. Jamie and Marie Howard had apparently continued a long-standing tradition and agreed to host it at their lavish estate. He entered the building and grinned.
The place was rockin’ and it wasn’t even nine o’clock at night.
Julian smiled at everyone he met, until his eyes landed on Eric Bunsun. He was still ticked at Eric. Not only had the Grizzly messed with his date, he’d disrespected Julian’s mate. He planned on having words with Alex’s brother if the boy didn’t straighten his ass out. No one, especially not another Bear, treated a Kermode’s mate that way. Julian might not be as strong physically as Eric, but he could still put the man in his place.
Eric simply nodded and turned away. If he was ashamed of himself he didn’t show it. Julian snarled and added Eric’s education to his to-do list.
He’d caught glimpses here and there of the Pumas. Emma and Max were dressed in matching gangster costumes, the long coat of Emma’s costume giving way to a pair of short-shorts that had Julian’s eyebrows rising in surprise. The Curana had some fine legs on her. She and Max were striding through the room as if they owned the place, the Pumas in their path acknowledging them with a discreet tilt of the head to show their submission. Simon and Becky were dressed as Spiderman and Spiderwoman, the spandex outfit striking on Becky’s slender frame. Gabe and Sarah had come as Indiana Jones and Lara Croft, an odd yet fitting combination. And Adrian and Sheri were…steampunk vampires? Maybe? He would have said cowboys if it weren’t for the brass goggles on their heads and the painted brass Nerf guns at their hips. He was pretty sure the fangs they were flashing weren’t plastic. When they passed Max and Emma, they grinned and whipped out the guns, nailing the Alpha and Curana before running away, laughing like little children.
Those two are just too weird.
“Have you seen the girls?” Alex’s deep voice startled him. He turned to find the Grizzly behind him, grinning at the fleeing Pumas. Max and Emma had taken off after Sheri and Adrian, vowing Nerfy revenge. Julian stared at Alex’s masked face and burst into laughter. Alex had come dressed as Tuxedo Mask, complete with cane and red rose. The man’s obsession with Sailor Moon was scary.