Mordecai glanced back at her, his hazel eyes sparkling with the challenge. In a moment, though, the call of battle dulled. His posture sagged a little, like someone putting away their knives.

He turned back around. “You don’t have blood magic or backup, Daisy. I’m here to protect you, not put you in needless danger. We stand down.”

Her mouth dropped open. “Are you serious? You know I’m good for this, Mordecai. You know I’ll stay out of harm’s way. All I’m going to do is distract the guy, not properly fight him. I could do it in my sleep!”

“All it would take would be one thing to go wrong. One unexpected thing, like stepping wrong and twisting your ankle, or flinching at the wrong time. Without healing magic, you’re too fragile. You should’ve taken Kieran up on his offer for the blood magic, but you didn’t, and now here you are.”

Anger and frustration boiled within her. Kieran had made that offer yesterday evening, approaching her in private so she wouldn’t feel pressured. He’d known what she was going to say, but he’d given her the choice anyway. It was a good move, but in vain. If Kieran one day turned into Valens, Daisy needed to be the levelheaded ejector cord. The healing magic would’ve been nice, and whatever gifts came with it, but the price was too steep.

She hadn’t expected Mordecai to penalize her for it, the douche.

“There is no way I am letting that Demigod have a piece of me, Mordecai, you know that. I don’t need him. I’m good without it.”

“Not right now, you’re not. We stand down.”

The guys approached them, their eyes firmly on Mordecai, as though they were walking by strictly to see if he wanted to come out and play. Daisy wished to hell he would.

“What’s this, Roy?” the guy on the right said, a block of muscle with a square head, a buzzcut, and huge ears. “A little bitty wolf cub without a pack.”

Roy, taller and leaner but with plenty of power in his movements, grinned maliciously. “Heard you got kicked out of your pack. What kind of sad sack gets kicked out of a pack as a kid? You must’ve been utter shit.”

If they’d expected to get a rise out of Mordecai, they were sorely mistaken. He had way too much confidence and pride in his past for that.

Daisy waved her hand a little to grab their attention. Only Big Ears glanced her way. She pointed at herself, then flicked her eyes to Mordecai.

Big Ears scrunched up his face, looking confused.

“Not a thinker, huh?” Daisy murmured, leaning her forearms on her knees and staring him down. Hopefully that would register as a challenge.

Mordecai needed to get his feet wet. She’d be damned if she would hold him back. Or let him hold himself back.

She couldn’t just leave him to it, though. There was that half to think about.

“You’re going to hide behind your age like a little—”

“What are you looking at, Chester?” Big Ears asked, cutting Roy off.

Daisy smirked and straightened, slipping a little arrogant condescension into her gaze. She didn’t respond, though. She didn’t want Mordecai to know she was instigating this.

“Disgusting.” Roy spat, the glob landing dangerously close to Mordecai’s shoe. “A shifter hanging out with a filthy Chester. He’s a disgrace to his kind.”

Daisy flashed a thumbs-up.

Big Ears snarled. “Look down, Chester, or I’ll make you look down. Realize when you’re being approached by your betters.”

“No thanks,” Daisy said flippantly.

“I bet you’re a dirty girl. Do you get on all fours and beg to mate?” Big Ears said, turning slightly so his chest was pointed at her. She couldn’t tell if he was taking the hint and going after her in order to incite Mordie, or if he was just small-minded and super gross.

Mordecai tensed, and so Daisy didn’t respond, though she really wanted to.

“Chester whore,” Roy spat, clearly incapable of any sort of independent or creative thinking.

Daisy leaned back and yawned, feigning boredom. Roy turned a little, his full attention on her now, too. Oops. Maybe she’d been a little too zealous in her dismissal of their presence. She’d read that shifters really hated that, but she’d never actually put it to the test. Verdict: true.

“You stupid little bitch,” Roy said, his face screwed up in anger. “You shouldn’t even be here. We should do everyone a favor and drown you in the ocean.”

Big Ears looked at the invisible but very clear territory line in front of them—one step over it and they could grab Daisy. They could wrestle with Mordecai.

The adult shifters glanced around, looking for witnesses. Their eyes narrowed, each clearly thinking the same thing—they could kill these two teens, stash the bodies, and get out of here. Who would know?

Daisy barely dared to breathe. These guys weren’t too far gone to see reason. Mordecai was the soul of reason. He could remind them it was against the rules to challenge a minor, back them down, and make an exit.

Or they could fight.

Mordecai stood, smooth and graceful. The two guys braced themselves. When Mordecai turned, Daisy nearly sagged with annoyance.

“Take the half.” And then Mordecai was shrugging out of his clothes.

He’d accepted the unspoken challenge!

Daisy was up in a flash. Freeing her dagger, she launched herself at Big Ears before he could even get out of his boots. She was a non-magical Chester; she didn’t have to fight fair.