My God, Ginger thought, I love it here. I am going to call all of my fat friends and make them vacation here with me, so help me God. This is chubby chick heaven.
She heard a low rumbling growl and glanced over at Loch, who seemed to be struggling to contain himself. Quickly, she stepped back. He wasn’t actually jealous, was he? He couldn’t possibly be jealous.
Although she found herself oddly flattered at the thought.
“These are my pride mates, Richard Iron Claw and his son Jason Strikes True.” Montgomery nodded at two panther shifters who were standing by his side, muscular men with the shining black hair of their tribe pulled back into pony tails.
“Perhaps we could give her a tour of our property.” Tommy smiled at her lasciviously. “Since she’s so interested in our history.”
“If she can go on your property, why can’t a legitimate scientist?” snapped Professor Reese.
“Because you’re not a legitimate scientist. You’re a treasure hunting looter with no respect for indigenous people’s customs,” Montgomery snarled.
“So,” Sheriff Armstrong said quickly, cutting them off. “What brings you out here today, Montgomery?”
“I demand the right to inspect his site and all of his vehicles for stolen artifacts,” Montgomery said.
“Absolutely not. He may rule his Nation like a demi-god, but the second he steps out of the Nation’s territory, he has no authority.” Professor Reese folded his arms and looked smug.
“Why doesn’t he want us to look at his dig? Has he got something to hide?” Montgomery glowered.
“Let me on your land, and I’ll let you inspect our dig,” the professor smirked at him.
“Panthers don’t make deals with humans!” Montgomery roared, fangs descending.
“Show some respect for our leader, or pay the consequence!” Richard Iron Claw’s eyes blazed with rage.
“This whole expedition is a fraud! He’s not even a specialist in Mastadon fossils! He’s a specialist in early Native American tribal lore, and he has a reputation as a thief of priceless artifacts!”
“I gather artifacts for museums! You’re selfish! You hoard them and hide them from the world!” The professor sounded like a two-year-old who’d been denied a new toy.
“They’re our heritage! They’re not trinkets for people to gape at!”
“I’ve never stolen an artifact in my life! Keep flinging false accusations at me, and I’ll sue!” Professor Reese actually stamped his foot on the ground. He stood several steps behind the sheriff as he did so.
Ginger bit her lip in frustration. She was dying to jump in and yell at them as if they were all a bunch of kindergarteners, which is exactly what they were acting like, but to do so would be to undermine the sheriff’s authority.
The yelling grew more heated, and she turned and walked away.
As the shouting reached a fever pitch, Jax and his deputy leaped out of the patrol car and came trotting back to stand behind the sheriff. Both groups of men glared and bristled at each other.
Several minutes later, the panthers turned, shifted into panther form, bellowed out a series of threatening roars, and turned and loped away.
The sheriff joined Ginger a few minutes later. He left behind Jax and the other deputy, parked in their patrol car.
As they drove away, Ginger said, “Okay, I get it now. You can’t have anyone challenging your authority as an Alpha because then people like Jax think they can step up and challenge you.”
“I’m glad you see that. Jax has been making rumbling noises, coming near to challenging me, for months now. He thinks that being diplomatic is the same as being weak. He wants to do everything by force. If I let him have his way, he’d start a war with the panther nation.”
“Did I make things worse for you that night at the Hoot Owl?”
“Not too much.”
“I promise I won’t openly challenge you again.”
“Openly?” he was smiling now.
“Oh, come on. I just don’t have it in me to never give you a hard time. And it’s even more fun when I’m being subtle about it.”
“Speaking of giving me a hard time…did you yell at two old ladies who were walking by the community center? Portia called to inform me of it.”
Ginger winced. “She really doesn’t like me, does she?”
“She doesn’t, but that’s not the point.”
“They were yelling insults at Cletus! Did she mention that? They totally made fun of him. And he didn’t even say anything back to them; it was all me.”
“No, she did not mention that. However, there are probably ways that you could have responded to them that would have set a better example for Cletus and reflected better on your pack.”
She pouted as they rode in silence. She was right, damn it! She wished he could have seen the look on Cletus’ face when they mocked him. Grown women, making fun of a skinny young boy.
Finally, grudgingly, she said, “If it will help maintain your authority, you can punish me for it publicly. However you see fit. ”
His eyes lit up with a gleam.