It's not really breaking and entering when the home you're trying to sneak into is your own, is it? Rowena huffed out a breath of air as she wiggled through the small window in her bedroom. The ledge dug into her flesh, and she cursed all the past servings of Doritos and donuts she ate that rewarded her with large hips.

"Almost there," she grunted.

Behind her, Abby was keeping watch. "I really don't understand why we have to break in through a window. It's your house!"

Rowena scowled. "Because your crazy brother and his minions abducted me and stole my keys."

"My brother is not crazy. Although, full disclosure-he's going to go crazy if he finds out we left Howler."

Were they seriously going to argue while she was stuck in her window? Rowena gave herself a mental shake. "Cross is very crazy. Not only did he kidnap me, he asked me to be his consort, he accused me of murder knowing I was innocent, and it's his fault I was kidnapped and have another crazy wolf trying to kill me!"

Abby was quiet for a few moments, mulling over what Rowena shared. "He asked you to be his consort?"

Rowena rolled her eyes. "That's all you took away from my rant?"

"It's the most important part. Did he really ask you to be his consort?" Abby asked.

"Yes, does that matter?"

"Of course, it matters! Cross is the alpha of the Howler pack. He's never had a consort before. Our father didn't have one either because he loved our mother. He didn't need one. Our grandfather...well, he had a few of them."

"Great. Can we not talk about how your brother asked me to be his side-piece while my badonkadonk is hanging out the window?"

"Did you just say badonkadonk?"

Rowena growled.

Abby giggled. "Rowena, I'm going to have to push you in if we want to get to the pawnshop on time."

Before Rowena could respond, she felt a push from Abby and she went flying across the room. Her face hit the wall and she groaned.

"Oops! Sorry. I forget my own strength sometimes," Abby said, easily jumping through the window. Her eyes traveled around the room in what Rowena could only describe as disappointment. "You don't really have anything to pawn, do you?"

Rowena ignored Abby, pushing herself up and stretching her neck. She padded over to her closet and picked up a black box. "For your information, I'm going to pawn this."

"What's in it?"

"My crystal ball."

Abby walked over. "This is what you use when you tell fortunes? Reed mentioned this is why he thought you were a witch. He said you told his fortune one day and that you were incredibly accurate."

Rowena smirked. "Yeah, but Reed was an easy mark."

"Mark?"

"I'm not a witch, Abby. No matter what Reed says, I've never been able to tell someone's fortune. The women in my family all have special gifts. Well, almost everyone. I was skipped for some reason. My cousin Lorena is a culandera. She can make medicines for just about anything, including loneliness. My mother said she had spot-on gut feelings. I have another cousin who swears she can speak with the dead. When I realized I was not part of the group getting an invitation to the gifted group, I decided to make myself special. I learned how to read fortunes using a crystal ball."

"So, you can read fortunes?"

"No, but I can use context clues to give a vague reading and the recipient will normally do the rest."

"What do you mean?"

Rowena pulled the lid off the box and picked up her crystal ball. "She's a beauty, isn't she?" She was holding the ball up for Abby to see. "Usually, when people visit the carnival, they're more interested in their enjoyment or their date. They're not paying attention to what the staff is doing. When I'm wearing my fortune teller dress, people will say all sorts of things around me and not even realize it."

"Is that what happened with Reed?" Abby asked, sitting on Rowena's bed. Rowena placed the crystal ball back in its box.

"Yes, but with Reed, it wasn't his words so much as his actions that helped me read his fortune."

"What do you mean?"

Rowena replaced the lid on the black box. "Reed is hot. Incredibly handsome. I clocked him as soon as he was in the vicinity. I bet I wasn't the only one either. He was wearing a shirt with a four-leaf clover on it. I also saw him go out of his way to avoid a stray black cat."

"So, you knew he'd be superstitious," Abby said softly. "He said you told him he'd been having women problems for a while."

"That was a guess too. He was there alone. Either he came alone or someone ditched him."

Abby's lips lifted. "You told him the woman he seeks would be different than the rest. That she would understand him and bring him good luck."

Rowena snickered. "He was too easy to read."

"He said you told him to take action when he met her or he'd regret it forever."

Rowena nodded. "I honestly didn't expect him to ask me out but he did. It's kind of like when you're reading but someone leaves out a letter in a word but you still know what the word is supposed to be. I give enough vague information and a person will fill in the blanks with whatever they want."

Abby was about to respond when there was a loud banging at the front door. Rowena placed the box in Abby's hands. "Hold this while I check who it is."

"What if it's Cross?" Abby looked around as if a hiding spot would miraculously appear. "He's going to kill me!"

"Doubtful. He'll yell at you at the very worst."

"He's the alpha, Rowena. He can do whatever he wants."

The pounding continued so Rowena decided to ignore Abby's words. She rushed to the front door and peered through the peephole. "It's worse than Cross."

"Who is it?"

"My neighbors."

"The ones who always fight? What could they possibly want?"

"I don't know but I hope it's not their screwdriver. I broke the handle off while trying to use it as a hammer." She turned to Abby and gestured for her to follow. "We'll take the back door and make a run for it."

"Why? I thought you said they were nice."

"I did? Well, you don't need Maury Povich here to determine that was a lie because those two are nuts and we won't ever get to the pawnshop if we open the door for them."

Twenty minutes and a narrow escape later, Abby and Rowena were in front of Little Mikey's Pawn Shop.

"So, what exactly is the plan here?" Abby asked. "How do you expect a big-time criminal to spill his guts about what Casey was betting on?"

"One, Little Mikey is not a big-time criminal. He's just a local criminal. Two, I'm going to seduce him...duh."

Abby gave her a skeptical look. "I'm not sure if you can pull that off."

Rowena's eyes narrowed. "Are you saying I can't seduce Little Mikey?"

"No, I'm saying that's a dumb plan and you can't seduce this Little Mikey fellow."

"Are you always this rude?"

"I'm not rude," Abby protested. "I'm just blunt."

"Yeah. Sure. Whatever. That's exactly what rude people say. Blunt and rude are synonymous. I bet you wouldn't be so blunt if Cross wasn't your brother."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Abby was exiting her car. She slammed her door as if to punctuate her question.

"It means you're rude but call it blunt because you know you can get away with it since your brother is alpha."

"That's not true!"

"Keep telling yourself that but one day, your bluntness is gonna get you a swift kick in the badonkadonk." She stomped toward the pawnshop's entrance and pulled open the door while holding the black box in one arm. Abby caught the door and held it open before following her inside.

"I am not rude," Abby whisper-hissed. "And stop saying badonkadonk! It's a dumb word!"

"You just said I couldn't seduce someone. That infers I'm unattractive. That's rude." Rowena stopped walking, turned to Abby and shouted, "Badonkadonk!"

"You're nuts, Rowena."

The pawnshop was dimly lit with rows of shelves with signs hanging from the ceiling, labeling each section. Rowena passed an "instrument" section that had guitars and keyboards for sale. To her left was a set of shelves with varying household items. To the back, near the register, were more expensive items protected by glass.

"Is there anything I can help you two ladies with?" A thin male in his forties was standing behind the counter. He had dark hair and a full beard.

"We have something to pawn," Abby answered.

"And we need to speak with Little Mikey," Rowena added.

"You can't just open with that, Rowena," Abby whispered. "You have to be subtle before you ask to speak with a criminal."

"And you know this how?"

"I just do," Abby snarled.

"Well, closed mouths don't get fed, Abby." Rowena turned back to the pawnshop worker. "I want to pawn this but I want to deal with Little Mikey."

The man's brows pointed down and his eyes narrowed. "You two cops?"

"Do we look like cops?" Rowena asked, jutting a hip out with attitude.

He shook his head. "No, you look like two crazy birds who need to leave."

"B-but we have something to pawn!" Abby cried.

"Not interested."

"You can't just kick us out," Rowena continued. "I'm pretty sure that's against the law or in the constitution. Wait, that doesn't make sense. I don't care--you can't kick people out of a pawnshop."

"I just did."

"Well, we aren't leaving," Rowena stomped forward. "I have something to pawn and I want Little Mikey to see it and you don't know this but my friend here can kick your badonk--your behind."

Abby gasped. "Rowena!"

"What? I didn't say badonkadonk!" Rowena turned to her and whispered loudly. "You can, can't you? With your super strength?"

"Yes, but you should let me in on the plan first."

Rowena shrugged. "If he doesn't let us back there, you knock him out."

The door to the pawnshop opened with a ding but no one paid any attention to the new customer.

"You can't just order me to knock people out, Rowena."

"That's why I brought you."

The worker slammed his hands on the counter. "You two know I can hear you both, right?"

Both women turned to him, annoyed with his interruption.

"I'm tired of repeating myself," Rowena growled. "Let us speak with Little Mikey. It's important."

The worker reached beneath a counter and pulled out a gun. He pointed it at Rowena. "And who are you to make demands of me?"

"She's my woman."

Everyone's eyes turned to Cross Howler, striding towards them. Liam and Matt were close behind him. The worker's eyes look wary, but he still held the gun toward Rowena.

Cross stopped when he was standing directly behind Rowena.

Confusion flashed in the worker's eyes and the hand holding the gun started to tremble. He repeated himself, "W-what did you say?"

Before Rowena could blink, Cross knocked the worker's hand down, his claws digging into the worker's flesh. The worker howled in pain.

"I said," Cross snarled, "She's. My. Woman."

Liam and Matt exchanged a look. Rowena's eyes were transfixed on Cross and the claws he now wore. Could he turn into a wolf at will? She made a note to ask him later.

"What the hell is going on here?" A gravelly voice asked as a tall robust man came from a door in the back. He was balding and wore suspenders and he was holding a gun in each hand. "Sal, are you okay? I saw it all go down on the monitors back there while I was eating my pancakes. Can't a man enjoy his pancakes in peace?"

"Who are you?" Matt asked.

The man smirked. "You don't know who I am?"

"I wouldn't ask if we knew," Matt answered, taking a menacing step forward, clearly not afraid of the guns. Rowena wondered why the wolves didn't seem threatened by the guns. Even Abby was starting to look a little bored.

The big man smirked. "I'm Little Mikey."

Abby's mouth curled in disgust before she turned to Rowena. "You wanted to seduce him?"

"You were going to do what?" Cross yelled.

Rowena was about to respond but then...all hell broke loose.