A seedy Alaskan bar was a strange place to search for a rogue werewolf. Then again, Alexandra Kostra had been in more bizarre place.
Maybe if she said it enough, sheâd believe it. Believe this last and most dangerous job was a cakewalk. Alex paused, gathering her magick around her like a velvet cloak. Bitter air swirled the dead leaves at her feet, sent them scampering across the graveled parking lot.
Closing her eyes, she concentrated and changed her appearance.
It paid to be a Fae bounty hunter who could glamour.
Thin ribbons of stale cigarette smoke floated on the musty air as she strolled inside. Faded Christmas lights hung from the dusty rafters. From a battered jukebox in the corner, a country singer wailed about losing his dog and his wife. Alex cringed at the smell of spilt beer, spicy chili and cigars and filtered out the scents. Smoky golden light from overhead showed a long scarred wood bar, crowded with men. They swiveled and eyed her like fresh deer meat as the door closed behind her. Alex swore one even drooled.
All except one. The man at the end, drinking a mug of golden liquid, kept his head down, studying his beer. Her quarry.
Alex slid onto a stool, ordered a draft from the big-bellied bartender. He nodded, lust gleaming in his eyes. Disguise was working. Yeehaw. As if a big-breasted redhead dressed in skintight leather and a âcome hitherâ look in her innocent baby blues wouldnât do the trick. Hell, Alex bet that in this neck of He-Man territory, any breathing woman would suffice.
Except for rugged Dominic Farrell. Even though he hadnât lifted his head, she could see that no desperation showed in his eyes. He certainly wasnât possessed of the same avid hunger as the others because there was no shortage of women to warm him on a cold Alaskan night. Women would walk for hours over frozen tundra for just the promise of bliss from his caressing hands, his hard body, his wicked tongue. No woman was safe from him.
Dominic was a hybrid, with incubus blood, which made him a very sexy, very powerful and very dangerous werewolf.
And very difficult to catch and bring back to the demon prison where heâd escaped from six months ago.
The offers started before sheâd even settled on the stool. Drink offers, offers of conversation, sad, desperate offers and the blunt offers of sex. Alex smiled politely, bantered with a few men while focusing on Dominic.
A hank of inky black hair hung over his wide forehead. His face was bent toward the mug, a black cowboy hat hiding his expression. He looked average in his faded sheepskin jacket, jeans and red-checked flannel shirt. But even the other men gave him a respectful distance as if they sensed he was trouble.
If the human men knew how deadly those fangs were, how they could rip and pierce and shred to defend a woman Dominic wanted⦠theyâd run outside screaming into the cold night air.
Tonight, though, it seemed like Dominic wasnât interested in anything but his beer. He stared at it as if it held all lifeâs mysteries.
Alex opened a button, then another, to show off the body her glamour conjured. Eyes opened wide, the other men leaned closer, their savage appetites in full overdrive. The male attention brought back memories of another era. Men had called her the most beautiful in the land.
Alex shoved aside the bitter thought. Concentrate on your target. Get him to notice you.
But Dominic didnât even stir.
What, do I have to take off my clothes to get you to notice?
Alex nudged the beer drinker dressed in a red-and-black checked shirt who looked tall as Paul Bunyan. âWhoâs that lone wolf?â
Lumberjack dudeâs wide smile slipped. âThatâs Dominic. Keeps to himself. Not very friendly. You donât want anything to do with him.â
The man began to sing off key, âDominic the Donkey.â
Finally, her prey lifted his head, showing lean, rugged features, and eyes of coldest blue. He gave the singer a look that would send the bravest soul running. âYou calling me an ass, Wheeler?â
Conversation halted. All heads swiveled to Dominic, then the men stared at their drinks. Power rippled in the air, a subtle tendril that stirred the molecules, thickened the tension. The smell of beer and liquor and stale cologne faded, overtaken by a very male scent of pine forest, rainwater and testosterone.