Page 45 of Amber: Deja Brew

Chapter 18

Wes

“No one makes our mate cry,” I shout, slamming on the breaks.

“And no one sabotages our cafe,” Julian shouts.

“We’re going to make that Silver Spoon developer pay!” Chase finishes.

“It’s Blue Moon pack,” Julian corrects him. “Not that it matters!”

The three of us are in the Cleanly Den van, three men on a mission—two shifters and a witch who will do anything to avenge our mate. A mate whose tear-stained face I can’t seem to get out of my head.

“Maybe we should have brought Amber,” Julian says as we file out of the van and head for building 33. We found the developer’s office online and decided it was safer to leave our mate back at the apartment.

“Our mate nearly just died. I’m not putting her in danger again.”

“Um, Wes...” Chase raises his hand, like we’re back in school. “I think you nearly died. Or so I heard.”

“Amber did too,” I say resolutely. “And Zoe will make sure she stays safe.”

That seems to do the trick, and the guys follow me inside.

"You ask the questions, I'll make him talk," Julian says, holding up the library book we picked up at Spell Library on our way here by way of explanation.

“What are you going to do with that thing?” Chase asks, but personally, I don’t really care.

Best case scenario, the spell works. Worst case, it blows up a door or two. And if they’re the developer’s doors, I’m all for it.

We march past the protesting secretary—who reeks of werewolf and fear—and into a sparsely furnished office. It’s got a few cabinets and two old wooden chairs facing a matching desk, but that’s pretty much it.

A tall, built man who looks like he’ll put up a fight jumps to his feet as we burst in. And the way he stands his ground and glares at us tells me that he’s highly ranked in his pack.

Werewolves are odd like that. They’re not like wolf shifters—or bear shifters, or even bunny shifters, for that matter. They’ve kept hierarchies alive in packs long after they started to die down in the rest of the world, and even in this day and age, they prize rank above all else.

Just looking at the developer, it’s pretty clear that based on pack rank, he deserves our respect. I growl at him instead.

Never mess with a bear shifter. Or a bear shifter's mate.

"What are you doing in my office?" The developer shouts, jumping to his feet. "You need an appointment."

"Don't think we do.” I march toward his desk and place my palms flat on the surface. "I'm Wesley Berrett, and that's Julian Alistair Wade, co-owner of Jewels Cafe.”

“If you're here to sell, my secretary can make you an appointment. Lawrence, could you come in here?"

The secretary rushes toward the office, but Chase intercepts him. "You're probably better off out there," he warns.

I wait for the frightened secretary to turn tail and run, but the man hesitates. He looks at the developer, and only when he’s given a nod of approval, does he race back out.

Chase slams the door behind him, while Julian rounds on the developer. “You destroyed our cafe,” he shouts.

"No, I didn’t." The developer looks wildly from Julian, to me, to Chase, to the door. He squares his shoulders, then haunches them, then squares them again. A werewolf trying to decide between dominance and flight.

If the man’s a trained fighter, the two of us might be evenly matched—though a bear and wolf in a confined office will cause more damage to the building than anything else. But with Chase and Julian on my side, the developer won’t win. Sure, a bunny’s probably not much help in a fight, and neither is a witch who makes stuff explode—but they can both wield chairs, and that should do the trick.

I give the developer my most menacing scowl and lean forward in what I consider to be a very intimidating manner. My younger brothers all seem to think so. "If you tell me exactly what you did to Jewels Cafe and pay for the damage, I might let you live!”

I don’t actually plan on killing the developer or living out the rest of my life at Silver Springs Penitentiary, but he doesn’t know that. If I’m going to get him to swear never to hurt Amber and pay for the damages, fear is the best weapon in my arsenal.