[Rock]As I stood at the sink, washing my hands, I couldn’t shake off the feeling of anger and frustration that had taken hold of me. It wasn’t just the fact that Michelle had insulted Carmen and our relationship, it was also the fact that she had questioned my own intelligence and intuition. Chuck walked in as I was drying my hands. He gave me a slight nod. I followed him down the line of urinals. When he stopped, I towered over him and scowled.“You need to control your mate, Chuck. If she insults me or my mate one more damned time, there’s going to be a problem,” I growled. “You’re mated to a werewolf and you think it’s possible to control a headstrong woman?” he laughed. “My little human mate seems to have stirred you up pretty good. I’ve never seen you like this.” “I’m a troll, Chuck. Pissing off a troll isn’t a healthy idea,” I warned. He zipped up his pants and turned to me, looking directly into my eyes. I understood the challenge in his eyes. He would have similar behaviors to a werewolf. “What do you want me to do? She doesn’t know anything about supernaturals aside from what’s in the news. She doesn’t even know I’m a werecoyote. If you’re threatening my mate, we’re going to have a problem. I may not have a pack to back me up, but I have family with territory in the area and we’re not afraid to take on something bigger than us,” Chuck answered with a growl of his own. I took a breath, not wanting to escalate the situation any further. Chuck was right threatening his mate wasn’t the answer. But I couldn’t let Michelle’s insults go unchecked.“I don’t want trouble, Chuck. But I need to protect my mate. She’s been through enough already,” I said, my anger simmering beneath the surface.There was a moment of tense silence between us before Chuck spoke up again.“Look, I’ll talk to her, but there’s nothing we can do to convince her that Carmen’s not after your money and your business. Once Michelle has an idea in her head, it’s hard to get it out of there. Trust me I’ve been married to her for thirty years.” “Just make her stop with her accusations. If she upsets Carmen, I’m going to get angry. Just because I was able to control myself this time, doesn’t mean I will be able to do it again.” “I’ll talk to her. That’s all I can do. Every year you stay alive after this will prove to her that Carmen isn’t planning to kill you for the life insurance and company,” he chuckled as he headed to the sinks. He had a point. I shook my head and left the bathroom. I wished this were a problem I could punch into submission. It was one of the downsides to dealing with humans. I couldn’t just fight them like I could almost any species of supernatural. When I got back to the table, I saw that Carmen’s drink was empty. She talked to the third human woman at the table and occasionally reached for her drink, as if she forgot it was empty. I waved down the waitress and asked her to bring another drink for Carmen. Sitting next to my mate, I proceeded to talk to the other people at the table. When her drink was brought, I moved the empty cup away from her and put the full glass into her hand. That way Carmen could get a drink and she wouldn’t accidentally pick up the empty cup. She smiled at me gratefully and drank some of her drink before she sat it down and continued her conversation. The dishes were cleared and dessert was brought out. I knew Carmen was only using her magic a little. She would have to deal with these people for the rest of her life as my office manager and she couldn’t use her magic all the time. It meant she would have to be truly blind in a lot of ways. We still had awards and networking stuff to sit through. It was a way for the people who put this together to give themselves a pat on the back and make their friends seem special. I had no real interest in it. ‘Rock, I have to use the restroom....’ Carmen told me mentally. ‘I can take you to the restroom, but not inside.’‘I know. I went before we left to ensure this wouldn’t be an issue, but, apparently, I was wrong.’There was nothing I could think of to make this easier. Carmen leaned over and put her hand on my arm. I leaned to where I could hear her. “I have my collapsible cane in my purse. If you can get me there, I can figure out the rest and use my magic once I’m in the stall,” she whispered. With a nod, I stood up and pulled her chair out, helping her stand. I slipped her arm around mine and guided her around the chair. “We’ll return in a little while,” I told the group, who was now watching us. Carmen and I walked toward the restroom, her arm hooked around mine, as I guided her down the hall. She walked with a grace that made it difficult to tell she was blind. I felt a sense of pride in her confidence and poise.As we approached the restroom, I opened the door for her. She gave me a quick smile before heading inside. I stood outside the door, my senses alert, ready to protect my mate if needed.While Carmen was in the restroom, I managed to accidentally scare off a few women. I understood that it was creepy to see a man standing in the hallway outside of the ladies’ room, but that wouldn’t change anything. With my arms crossed, I waited on my mate. A man in a suit came up on my right. He was smaller than I was, but tall for a human. He looked up at me and back behind him. A couple of women who turned and went the other way when they saw me were peeking out from around the corner. “I’m sorry, sir, but you can’t stand here,” the man said, his voice composed despite the fear that I could smell radiating off of him.“I’m waiting for my fiancée,” I replied, my tone even as I maintained my alert stance.“I understand that, sir, but it’s still inappropriate,” the man reiterated.I sighed. It might make those women uncomfortable, but I didn’t have a lot of options. I couldn’t just have my glamour make me look female and go in with her. That was even more inappropriate. Plus, goddess only knows who would see it. “Look, my fiancée is blind. She doesn’t know where she’s going, so I can’t leave this spot until I have her again. I don’t care about ‘appropriate’ right now. I care about her getting safely to the restroom and back to her seat. I’m not peeping. I’m not even talking to anyone. I’m just standing here until she’s done. If those ladies want to use the restroom, I’m not going to bother them,” I replied. The man looked at me skeptically for a moment before nodding. “Alright, I understand. Just try to keep to the side a bit more, so it’s not as obvious.”I nodded in agreement and moved slightly to the side, still keeping watch over the door. He left and the two ladies nervously went into the bathroom. They gave me wary glances, but they didn’t say anything.Finally, Carmen emerged from the restroom, her cane in hand. She walked confidently back to me and slipped her arm around mine. I escorted her back to her seat, relieved that the awkward situation was over.“Thank you for taking me,” Carmen whispered. “Sorry you have to do that.” “Never be sorry. I love taking care of you in any and every way you need,” I answered.Letting her go, I pulled her seat out again. Carmen paused to collapse her cane and put it into the little bag she carried with her. Samantha and Michelle’s eyes widened as I helped Carmen to sit and pushed her seat back toward the table.“What was that, Carmen?” Michelle asked. “What?” “The thing you had in your hand.”“It was my cane. I needed to use it in the restroom but forgot to put it up when I got out. I didn’t want to be gone too long. Rock is very tall and might make it hard for people to see the stage if he was standing during the awards,” Carmen replied. “Cane?” Samantha asked. “Yes, I’m blind,” Carmen said simply.Samantha’s expression softened. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”“It’s okay,” Carmen reassured her. “It’s not something I advertise all the time. I just try to live my life as normally as possible.”Michelle looked shocked, then embarrassed. Apparently, Carmen couldn’t be a gold digger if she was blind. I picked up Carmen’s hand and kissed the back of it, then moved her drink to it for her. All night, I had been doing what I could to help Carmen along. It was almost second nature after months of doing it at home. I wasn’t even thinking about it. I wasn’t hovering, like Carmen’s family, but I understood a little more about how difficult it was to break the habits around the things Carmen would let me do. No wonder they just said things and did things, even though I was there to take care of her. Chuck looked at Carmen as if she were something strange. I was guessing the chance of there being a blind werewolf was about the same as a blind werecoyote. He put his arm around the back of his wife’s chair. She looked really guilty and ashamed. We sat through the boring award stuff. Carmen clapped along with everyone else, but didn’t look nearly as bored as I felt. I wanted to go home, but we had to stay through the whole thing. Once the award ceremony finally ended, I stood. Networking was important and the time after the awards was when most of the people in the room would start circulating. I took Carmen’s hand and she let me pull her up. “I see some people I wanted to introduce Carmen to,” I told the table before we turned away from them and walked into the moving crowd. I introduced Carmen to the other supernaturals who owned construction, landscaping, roofing, and paving companies. There were a lot of people who were amused that I ended up with a shapeshifter. They all said they expected invitations to the wedding. I already knew that and we were sending them out next week. “Hey, Rani, come here,” I called out as I walked toward a loud group of people. They turned and looked at me. In the center of the group was a familiar face. She grinned at me and walked out of the center of the group where she had been holding court. Raniesha was about as tall as Carmen, but that was really where their similarities ended. Rani had dark brown skin and hair that she wore in tightly woven twists most of the time. Tonight, though, her hair was in looser curls that looked like springs. It made her look softer than normal. She was wearing a glittering gold dress that hugged her curves and was shorter than most of the dresses the other women were wearing. Rani had broad shoulders and a narrow waist. Not much of a chest but a round ass that she used to tease most of my crew with. Her bright smile widened as she came closer and saw Carmen at my side. We had been pretty close ever since I had to fire her. Rani was the werehyena who caused so much chaos on my crew a few years ago. She was now the successful owner of a demo company. “Damn, Rock, did you get mated up?” she asked when she reached us. I laughed. “I did. This is Carmen, my fiancée. Carmen, this is Raniesha. She goes by Rani. She’s the woman who used to be on my crew. I told you about her.” “You talkin’ about me, Rocky-boy? I’m sure it’s all bad things,” Rani joked. Carmen held out her hand and Rani looked at it for a moment, then shook her hand. They both sniffed at each other for a moment. “It’s nice to meet you, Raniesha,” Carmen said. “Call me Rani. What’s your story, wolf girl? You still in your pack? You don’t smell rogue.”With a frown, I looked around at the nearby people. If the wrong people heard her, it could be dangerous. I poked Rani’s shoulder hard. “Ouch, damned rock monster. Don’t piss me off. I’ll have to teach you a man’s place. I’m willing to treat you like an equal as long as you behave. Touch me again and see if you pull a whole hand back,” Rani threatened. “I think he was just trying to remind you that it wasn’t a safe place to talk about things like that,” Carmen told her, stepping in front of me a little. Rani saw this movement and nodded. “Got it. I’m not afraid of some uppity human men, but I guess werewolves have more of a history with hunters. We can talk about that some other time. So you’re getting married? I hope I’m invited.” “If you can control yourself, then we’re more than happy to have you there,” I replied. She laughed and shook her head. “I’m always in control of myself. I suppose I can act like one of those more restrained people.”I grinned, knowing that Rani was anything but restrained. But I appreciated that she was willing to put on a façade for our wedding. “We’ll send you an invitation,” Carmen promised.“Good. You know hyenas and gray wolves can be friends in the wild? I think it’s cool that two very different species can be friends,” Rani said. “Did you know hyenas were thought to be the physical incarnation of djinns? Maybe hyenas can be friends with fairy folk as well,” Carmen replied. “You think djinn are fae and not malevolent spirits?” “I guess it would depend on what they think of themselves, wouldn’t it?” Rani laughed. “I like you, Carmen. You know things and you seem to keep your man in line. For the most part, at least.” Carmen chuckled at Rani’s comment, while I rolled my eyes. Maybe it wasn’t a great idea to introduce them. Time would tell.