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darkened even as he walked, though. There were too many people on the sidewalk, and he found that even though he switched sides of the street several times, there always seemed to be someone in his space. Billy was taller than many men, and so he could see over the tops of everyone’s heads to pick his path through the crowd. He wasn’t looking forward to the upcoming meeting with the three Urban Dwellers.
    The fact that they were ignoring all of Lukas’s summons spoke volumes. Clearly, they had no intention of acknowledging him, much less joining him. So, in addition to trying to find out what they knew about Joshua Bailey, Billy was also playing the part of ambassador for Lukas. It was a role that seemed to be thrust on him often. Aside from council negotiations, he’d had to mediate many a squabble in Greyelf. But the stakes were much higher in this game than they were in the small town where he had lived for the last seven years.
    Billy was wrapped up in his thoughts as he neared the address for the club. He had memorized it. Billy hated depending on notes or technology for anything. He fully trusted himself and his memory above everything else. He took a deep breath as he saw the glowing neon lights flashing half a block up ahead. It was almost show time.
    His feet had slowed on his approach as he gathered his thoughts. That was the only reason that his ears picked up the faintest whisper over the din of the crowd around him.
    “Please help me…”
    His head whipped around toward the alley. He couldn’t see anything in the darkness, but he had heard a voice. It was a woman’s voice. He stepped into the alley. His nose went up into the air, and he sniffed. There was the faintest aroma of perfume and something else. His nose wrinkled. Billy knew that undertone well. Blood.
    He would have called out, but he didn’t want to alert whoever was in the alley that he was there. Most men would have wished for a gun, but Billy was confident in his hand to hand skills in a way most other men were not. He was a policeman. More than that, he was the sheriff in a place where shifters ran wild on more than one occasion. He didn’t scare easily.
    Billy slid his back against the stone wall of the alley as he moved further inside. Now that he was away from the hustle and bustle of the sidewalk, his ears detected other noises that he would have otherwise missed. It was the sound of a scuffle.
    “Just stay still!” A man growled. It caused the hair on the back of Billy’s neck to rise, and he had to stifle his own growl at the menace the words held. “It makes it a lot worse when you fight back.”
    “Dammit, Kurt! She bit me!” Then the sound of a hard slap rang out in the air, and Billy heard a low yelp. “You bitch! You’re going to pay for that.”
    If there was one thing that brought his temper immediately to the surface, it was violence against women. These boys were going to get what was coming to them, along with anything else he had to give. Billy moved in closer until he could see the shadows in the darkened corner of the alley just behind a dumpster.
    He could see the movement of pale, bare feet struggling against the hulking shadows above them. In his mind’s eye, all he could see was red. Billy charged, a loud snarl ripping through his lungs.
    He hit the man pushing himself between the woman’s legs head on and toppled him over. He felt the impact of someone else hitting him, but he twisted and swung low as he propelled the man up over his head. He hurled a fist into the jaw of the man beneath him and was rewarded with the satisfying sound of bones cracking. A knife clattered to the ground, and Billy grabbed it into his fist.
    Another howl mingled with his, and that was when Billy realized it wasn’t two ordinary men that he had engaged. These were shifters. He hauled the other man to his feet even as he used his body to block the advance of the smaller man. His nostrils were laced with the offending smell of