She plunked down her life savings and opened up a saloon. She called it the Gold Penny, and she made sure it was a safe place for the locals to grab a drink. Over the years, Wolftown morphed from a dusty desert town into a thriving tourist attraction.

The pack had modernized all the buildings but kept them looking exactly as they had when the town was founded. The townspeople wore the same style clothing they wore over a hundred years ago, giving the town an authentic feel. Plus, it made it easy to know who was a shifter and who was a visiting human.

Eva understood why the pack decided to head to Noctem Falls for protection, but it had been hard to put up a closed sign in her bar. She missed her home already.

"We'll be back before you know it." Josie patted her arm.

"Am I that transparent?"

"I think we're all feeling the same way. If it weren't for all the missing families in the area, I don't think Stefan would have agreed to move us to Noctem Falls, even temporarily. You know how we feel about vampires." Josie shuddered.

Eva knew that the decision to move the pack to Noctem Falls had been a hard one for Stefan. He had spent nearly two days perched on one of her bar stools, spinning a half empty beer bottle in his hands. There was bad blood between the local vampires and wolf packs, and Eva really wasn't looking forward to the tension.

"Speak of the devil." Josie nodded ahead of them.

Stefan was walking back to them, he was frowning, and his entire body was tense. This wasn't a good sign. "Stefan, what's up?"

He walked up and wrapped a casual arm around her waist. She thought he was just flirting again when he began to lean in. She was about to grind her boot into his foot when he whispered in her ear. "We're being followed. Can't see 'em, but something doesn't feel right."

Eva felt a chill race down her spine. She slowly began to look around. Damn. He was right. To her left, she watched as the wind kicked up a cloud of dust that separated and blew around a large object.

She turned to Stefan.

"I saw," he whispered harshly. "When I give the signal, I need the two of you to run as fast as you can toward the ledge." His eyes met her, and she nodded. She would protect Josie so he could concentrate on the rest of the pack. "Father has already sent an emergency message to the head bloodsucker; they are sending help." With a quick grin, he leaned in, licked her cheek, and dashed off before she could smack him.

Seconds later, two of the pack's betas jogged back to flank them on either side. Eva should have known that Stefan wasn't taking any chance with a pregnant female. She grinned wickedly at Elias Santiago and Jorge Diaz. "Looks like we're about to have some fun."

Elias's answering grin was reassuring. "Can I put my arm around you too, Eva?" he teased.

"Only if you want Stefan to rip your arm out of its socket. You know how protective he is of Eva," Jorge warned. Jorge, however, didn't wait for permission; he wrapped a muscled arm around Josie's round belly. It was no secret in the pack that he was Josie's mate. Unfortunately, Josie had already been seeing someone else when they met. The past few months had been complicated for everyone. Ultimately, Josie's lover had left town, abandoning her and their unborn child. Josie's heart had been broken, but Jorge had been there every step of the way, picking up the pieces and handing them back to her lovingly.

Under her hand, Eva felt Josie tense. A long howl at the front of the pack had everyone running as fast as they could. After a few hundred feet, Jorge simply picked Josie up and ran. Eva didn't know what had her turning to her right, but she felt movement seconds before she placed her body between Jorge's and the attacker.

Eva was lifted up and thrown to one side. Growling, she extended her claws, partially shifting her hands. She extended her gait, running to catch up to the pack. As she was running, she saw Elias was on the ground, pinned by an unseen enemy. Without thinking, she flung herself forward, wrapping her arms around the mass over Elias, and crashed into the ground with them. Blindly, she swiped left and right. She felt with satisfaction her claws dig into a soft material seconds before warm blood dripped down off her hands.

"Gotcha, you son of a bitch," she growled.

"Eva, hurry!" Elias was up and heading toward the pack.

Eva froze as she sensed movement all around her. She was surrounded.

"Come on boys, I showed you mine," she held up her claws. "Now show me yours," she purred.

One moment she was carefully watching her surroundings, the next she was flat on her back and seeing stars. As darkness edged into her vision, she heard the sounds of commands being yelled.

"About fucking time," she grunted before passing out.

*****

Eva woke to a pounding headache, but truth be told, she was happy to be waking up at all. Things hadn't looked too good when her eyes had shut. With great effort, she opened one eye, then another, and looked around. The first thing she saw was a pair of green eyes staring at her.

"Hello," she said in greeting.

"Yo."

The woman with the spiky brown hair continued to stare at her.

"Can I help you?" Eva asked.

"Nope, I'm good." Again, her unblinking green peepers locked in on her.

"Why are you staring at me?" Eva finally asked.

"The witch from the Kappa Unit was directing volunteers; he took one look at you and said you were my person to watch over."

Probably because you're nutty, and I'm not that injured.