Hot and Badgered (Honey Badger Chronicles, #1)

by Shelly Laurenston

Catching the move, Britta and Novikov stopped arguing and turned to watch. Max charged across the ice toward the stairs that led to the bleachers. “Uh-oh,” Britta muttered when she realized that Coop’s big sister was standing in those bleachers, talking to some lion. Her back was to Max, so she had no idea the crazed honey badger was headed right for her. Britta started to skate over there, hoping to stop what she saw as the possible slaughter of Coop’s sister. True, Toni Jean-Louis Parker got on her last nerve, but Britta didn’t want her hurt either. But before she could even get down the entire length of the rink, Max suddenly turned toward the protective glass wall that kept the audience safe from the play. Using her claws, she scrambled up and over. Once she touched down, she ran on the bleachers toward where Toni was standing. When she was about four bleachers or so below her, the badger launched herself up and over . . . and into the lion. Startled, Toni jumped back as Max slammed the lion to the ground and began pummeling the cat with brutal fists. Understanding that Toni wasn’t the focus of the badger’s rage, Britta slowed down. Maybe this was Max’s old boyfriend. There were a few men in Britta’s past that she’d love to slap around like chew toys. It took the lion a bit to understand what was going on. But once he did, he began fighting back. First, he tried to push Max off and then punched her back. But if Max felt his blows, you couldn’t tell. She didn’t scream o...