Pack Hunter by Crissy Smith Page B

friends in high places.”
    “Hey, you did awesome bringing us all together,” Kurt assured Tony. “I was proud to have the wolves represented by you. We’ll take care of this mess and everything will be fine.”
    “Then we need a plan,” Tony stated. “Let’s get this over with.”

Chapter Seven
    Sara couldn’t believe what she was seeing. The normally small, quiet town that she called home was overrun with people she had never seen before, holding up signs and chanting. There were protesters in the streets in front of her shop and the other stores on the block.
    She glanced over at Cecil as they watched from the front window.
    Cecil shook his head. “I can’t believe this,” he whispered.
    Sara wasn’t sure why he was whispering, but she nodded. It was an unbelievable sight.
    Men, women and children were marching in the street and on the sidewalks, signs against shifters moving up and down, and every time someone walked or drove by, they would call out to try to get them to join in.
    The coffee shop was empty. In fact, other than a few cars and some brave souls, the streets were almost deserted of locals.
    She turned her back to the window and stalked to the counter, her temper rising. She slammed her hand down. This was just crazy.
    Surprised when the front door opened, she whirled around. She had no intention of serving any of the protesters and prepared to turn the person down for service.
    “Dad!” She waved him over. “What is all this?”
    He shook his head, pulling at the collar of his uniform shirt. “Absolute bullshit. And one of my guys just called over the radio and said news vans were headed this way.”
    “The news?” she gasped. “Damn, those aren’t even residents out there!” Anger had her clenching her fists.
    “Don’t you get involved,” her dad ordered, pointing a finger in her direction.
    She didn’t know what he’d seen on her face but knew she couldn’t make him any promises. She wished she had Clint’s number. That was number one on her list the next time she saw him. Okay, maybe a kiss first, but then right after she was getting his number. She hated to think that he might believe the residents were actually involved with this circus.
    “I’ve already spoke with Kurt. They know what is going on and want us to do our best to ignore it,” he said.
    This was something that was not likely to be ignored. But it also wasn’t really her place to push. “Coffee?” she asked.
    He nodded and she began making his grande cappuccino with two raw sugars. Her dad grinned widely when she handed it over.
    “I got to get back out there,” he said. “I just hope one of them does something illegal so I can arrest them.”
    With that said, her dad waved and left. Cecil laughed and went to start sweeping up. Sara began cleaning the espresso machine. They’d been right smack in the middle of the morning rush when the protesters lined up outside. Everyone had stood around in shock and just stared.
    Sara had walked outside with several of her customers while the first protesters launched into their chant. What had astonished her most were the young children that were holding up signs and repeating the words of hate their parents were yelling.
    That… It was just wrong.
    She was scrubbing the stainless steel steaming wand when the door opened again.
    Six young men walked in and took a look around. Unease travelled up her spine, and she darted a look over to Cecil. Her employee looked back at her, wide-eyed, and scurried back to stand by her.
    Cecil might be young, but he wasn’t stupid. He’d had a hard life already and Sara was overly protective of him. She shifted forward enough that she would be the focus of the strangers.
    One of the guys strolled towards the counter, staring at Cecil.
    “Hey, pretty boy,” he said. “What you selling?”
    Cecil shook his head and backed up.
    “Can I help you?” Sara asked curtly.
    The man’s gaze went to her. He looked her up and down