“Well, I want my money — from Tank — or from Bowie.”

  “Well then give me someone else to chase down.” Rayner tossed up a hand. It seemed like the only logical way out of it for everyone. She heard Dane groan.

  “Sure, I’ll give you the tooth fairy,” Bute’s voice was dripping with sarcasm. “Think you can handle that?” He sneered.

  “Fine, be smug and cut your own nose off because if you can’t come up with the goods, then we’re all square,” Rayner said as she turned and took a step toward the door.

  “Damn it, Rayner.” Bute slammed his palms down on the desk again. Rayner grinned at Dane before she dropped the grin and turned back toward her boss.

  “Yes?” Her tone was teasing, so much so that Bute tipped his head to one side, raised one eyebrow, and snorted his contempt for her.

  “Fine,” he grumbled as he reached over the side of his chair and yanked open the bottom drawer of his desk. He rifled through the paperwork inside for a file and tossed it out in front of him for her on the desktop. “Another mean one — because you seem to like those.” He shot a look over her shoulder at Dane.

  “Play nice, Bute, because you know I don’t and he’s worse than I am,” Rayner said, and Bute wound his neck in. He huffed as he sat back in his chair.

  “Do you think you can handle this one?” Bute offered her a look of contempt. Of course, he felt anything but. He liked Rayner, hell, she was the only one of his people that he tried to treat right.

  He hated sending her after Tank. He’d been sitting by his phone waiting for a call from the police, or the hospital ever since.

  “You’ll be eating those words, old man when I bring his head back on a stick for you.”

  “I’m not going to hold my breath,” Bute said as he folded his arms across his chest and raised his eyebrows toward his thinning hairline.

  “You know, that’s what I like about you, Bute, you make it so easy to disappoint you.” Rayner snatched up the file, turned on her heels, and headed toward Dane.

  “You might want to take that one with you this time as well,” Bute nodded at Dane. “Two wrongs don’t make a right — but, two shifters and one little old you isn’t right either.”

  Rayner couldn’t figure out if he was talking about the guy in the folder and Dane, or Roland, who he met last time, and Dane. Either way, Rayner ignored him as she left the office with her mate in tow.

  “One more chance, Rayner,” Bute called after her.

  “I like second chances, Bute, it focuses the mind — and shows your weakness,” Rayner tossed back.

  Bute might not have thought that she could hear him, but she heard him just fine as he bit out a string of curses. Rayner couldn’t help but smile.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  ~

  The moment that Roland saw Rayner, Dane, and Bowie, coming up the muddy track, he made a beeline right for her. He’d been waiting outside of his cabin for what felt like an eternity for her to come back.

  “Rayner — I need you,” Roland said as he rushed up to her, and the sound of Dane’s warning growl stopped him in his tracks. “Seriously?”

  “Rephrase that,” Dane grumbled.

  “I need you to talk to Maggie — ease her worries — talk her around — be human — be a girl…”

  “Okay, you had me there until you mentioned being a girl,” Rayner said with a wide grin.

  “Come on, Rayner, take one for the team.” Bowie chuckled as he strolled by the group and toward his cabin.

  “Shut up, grumpy bear,” Rayner tossed back on a low growl for the man.

  “Better than being a girl,” Bowie chuckled, but he kept his feet pointed toward his cabin and kept on going. There was a new female on clan land, and she was human — he couldn’t risk being outside. “Keep the female away from my cabin,” he tossed back over his shoulder.

  “You so much as breathe near my mate…” Roland growled.

  “Keep the female away from my cabin.” Bowie shouldn’t have had to repeat himself, not after what has happened between him and Rayner, but he did anyway.

  “Rayner, please,” Roland begged as he turned his attention back toward her.

  “Yes, to everything but being a girl,” Rayner said and saw the absolute relief that rushed through Roland. She couldn’t help but chuckle.

  Men and their wooing.

  ~

  ~

  ~

  Rayner did one better. She sent Roland and Dane to get supplies from her kitchen and stoke up the firepit, while she went to speak to Maggie about being a mate to Roland.

  She knew that she could talk to the woman until she was blue in the face, but actions spoke louder than words, and being around Roland was going to be better than anything that Rayner could say to try to alleviate the woman’s fears. Plus, she and Maggie weren’t exactly best girlfriends.

  Only Roland could woo his mate, and Rayner could help that along a little by showing moral support, but he needed to step up and win Maggie’s heart the way that Dane had won hers.

  Rayner also knew that trying to coax Bowie out of his cabin was like trying to move the mountain that they stood on. He’d have to meet Maggie sooner or later, and once Roland had claimed her, then things should be easier for the bad mood bear.

  In truth, Rayner was impressed with how well Bowie was keeping his bear under control lately. They had that pact, they were going to help each other control their beasts, but Rayner felt that Bowie was already a few steps ahead of her – he’d been caging his beast up since the moment that he realized he’d bitten her.

  Maggie looked more than relieved to see Rayner when she showed up at the door. She had practically yanked Rayner off her feet as she pulled her into the cabin and slammed the door shut behind them.

  Rayner couldn’t help but chuckle. She remembered the first time that she met Dane — the first time that Dane had told her that she was his mate — it had been more than overwhelming.

  “A mate!” Maggie shrieked and Rayner’s ears hurt at the sound. “What the hell does that mean? No — I already know what that means — kind of,” Maggie’s words were spilling out of her, and made Rayner smile again.

  “Calm down.” Rayner chuckled.

  “Is this a laughing matter?” Maggie asked. The hell if she knew — she was still trying to get over kissing Roland. She was sure that her lips were still tingling from those kisses.

  “Well, it’s not a crying matter that’s for sure.” Rayner shrugged. Maggie sighed, she went to speak, but couldn’t find the words. Then she tossed up a hand in the air and let it fall back down to her thigh. “Ask me anything,” Rayner added.

  “Like what? My brain is numb.” Maggie huffed again.

  “Okay, let me try — sexy, right?” Rayner grinned from ear to ear and Maggie narrowed her eyes on her.

  “Not the point…”

  “Very much the point — think about it.” Rayner wiggled her eyebrows and Maggie’s cheeks flushed with a deep red hue.

  “I don’t need to think about it — he kissed me — he’s more than sexy — he’s like that very first taste of chocolate — that very first taste of morning tea, sweet tea…” Maggie was staring off at the wall.

  “Tea? What are you nuts?” Rayner chuckled again. “That man is certainly not tea, chocolate, or any other food or beverage that you can think of. That man is sex on a stick — sex on legs — sex up against the wall…”

  “I get it. Sex, sex, sex…”

  “And not just any sex — good sex — great sex — sexy sex — dirty sex…”

  “Would you stop with the sex?” Maggie groaned.

  “Oh, trust me, those are words you will not be saying to your mate…”

  “And what’s with that? Mate?”

  “That’s just what they call it. Think of him as a husband — a sure bet — someone who will never leave you — someone who will always love you, unconditionally — a man who will always be there — would die to protect you — wants babies — will be a great father — although, not perfect, ‘cos bear thing and all — without a doubt, he’s the one for you.” Rayner shrugged.

  Maggie frowned as she considered the floorboards between them and every word that Rayner had said to her. Then she slowly raised her eyes to Rayner, narrowed them, and pointed her index finger to the ceiling.

  “There has to be a catch.”

  “Der — bear — keep up.”

  “That’s it?”

  “Hey, if you like fur and growling, he’s the one for you — oh wait, he’s the one for you anyway.” Rayner grinned. “We’re having barbecue…”

  “You are?” Maggie frowned, she wasn’t really listening to that last part.

  “We are,” Rayner said. “Let’s go.”

  “Go?” Maggie snapped to attention.

  “We’re having barbecue — let’s go,” Rayner repeated and offered Maggie a teasing grin.

  “Can’t I just stay in here?”

  “Sure, I’ll send Roland back in.”

  “On second thoughts — barbecue sounds super.”

  “And that’s why females are better than males — because we can change our minds without digging our heels in and feeling as if it’s a victory for the other side.” Rayner chuckled. “And we ask for directions, well, I don’t, but don’t get me sidetracked on that one.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  ~

  Roland had burnt himself more times than he cared to count. Maggie and Rayner were sitting together on one of the logs at the far side of the fire pit, heads bowed towards each other, whispering back and forth between them, and he was trying to overhear what was being said, but they were sneaky and kept it low.

  He was cooking, and trying really hard not to burn anything, other than himself, but every time that Maggie flicked her gaze to his, he froze in place like a deer in the headlights, as his heart hit his ribs and his hand hovered over the damn flame.

  “Don’t burn my damn steaks,” Dane said from where the man was stretched out, arms hooked back over the large rock behind him, legs thrust out in front of him with his ankles crossed, looking as casual as you like. That annoyed Roland more than anything – the night before that had been him sitting there with not a care in the world.

  Now, he had a mate to woo and a rock where his stomach should have been. Life had turned on its head so damn fast that he still felt giddy.

  “You could get off your ass and do it yourself,” he grumbled.

  “Nah, it’s more entertaining watching you trying to juggle, brother,” Dane said and offered his brother a smug grin when Roland shot a dark glare back over his shoulder at him.

  “You might want to watch out, Brother; I might forget which hunk of meat I’m meant to be sticking this fork into.” Roland prodded the air with the long fork.

  “Challenging your alpha, ballsy move.” Dane’s tone was teasing.

  Roland had the urge to use that fork like a javelin. It wasn’t as if his brother wouldn’t heal, and there was a clawing within him, like inaction before a fight.

  It was almost as if he was waiting for something to happen, or something should have been happening. Every inch of his body and mind was on alert, and it was getting … exhausting, not physically, but mentally.

  “Don’t tempt me,” Roland muttered.

  “Gets to you, right?”

  “What does?” Roland tossed a curious look back at his brother.

  “The waiting – the mating pull,” Dane grinned, and it was a smug one.

  Roland grunted with frustration. He couldn’t rush his mate into anything, and he couldn’t exactly shift and knock the stuffing out of Dane or Bowie. He was caught between a rock and a hard place.

  “No man’s land,” Roland grumbled. Then he cocked his head to one side and listened hard. “Now what?”

  Dane pushed up to his feet at the sound of a meaty engine. Someone was driving up the outer track to their land.

  “Hopefully, not Bowie’s mate,” Dane grumbled.

  “I don’t even want to imagine what that would look like,” Roland grumbled, just as Bowie yanked open the door to his cabin and stalked outside with his hands fisted at his sides.

  “More … visitor’s,” he growled.

  “Who’s that?” Maggie whispered to Rayner.

  “Bowie, another brother,” Rayner said, pushing up when she felt the tension in the air from all three shifters.

  “Stay with Maggie,” Dane tossed over his shoulder as he started in the direction of the loud thuds from the slamming of the vehicle’s doors.

  “But…” Rayner didn’t like that idea, and neither did her bear.

  “Protect the mate, if necessary.” Dane offered his mate the reason that he was leaving her behind, of course, it was not the whole reason; like he didn’t yet know what was coming at him, and he didn’t want her in harm’s way if things were going to go south.

  Dane went straight down the middle, point A to point B, while Bowie took off to the left, and Roland to the right.

  “Don’t burn the meat,” Roland tossed back over his shoulder and Rayner bit down on a few choice words that she’d like to hand back to him. Then she took in a long breath and sighed it back out trying to even out her bear.

  “You can cook, right?” She tossed down to Maggie and snapped her attention away from the action.

  “Is it always like this around here?” Maggie asked with wide-innocent eyes.

  ~

  ~

  ~

  “Here he comes, stay behind me,” Tank growled back over one broad shoulder, and Mitzi knew better than to pick an argument with her brother when he was in full-on protection mode, and there were strange bears around.

  That went double since she’d brought Joshua into the world.

  Mitzi caught sight of movement to the right of her at the same moment that her brother did. She felt her bear rumble in her chest, a warning growl, as she clutched her cub tighter in her arms. Then the movement on the left, as the alpha walked right towards them.

  Her bear was pressed just under the surface of her skin. Hell, she could feel its fur and its angst at walking into the damn lair of the clan with her son in her arms. She just wished that first contact had been with Rayner and not the alpha.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” Dane’s response didn’t fill her with hope for the situation that they found themselves in.

  “I know you don’t know me…” Tank started to plead his case, but Dane cut him off.

  “Oh, I know you just fine.”

  “Why? Because I owe some money to some people, you think you know me?” Tank shot back.

  “Not helpful,” Mitzi whispered. Tank ignored her.

  “Because you’ve fought with every bear clan this side of forever, and some further than that, and from what I hear; you’re practically rogue,” Dane offered back.

  “We should go,” Mitzi whispered.

  “Not yet,” Tank tossed back over his shoulder.

  “Why are you here?” Dane didn’t like it.

  Tank had brought the female with him, not to mention the cub, and that meant that they were limited to the kind of attack that they could implement — should they need to.

  “Things got a bit more real when you left…”

  “Sorry to hear that, but that’s not our problem.”

  “Let’s go, Tank,” Mitzi said.

  “I need somewhere for my sister to stay…” Tank said.

  “Does this look like a hotel to you?” Dane shot back. While he had sympathy for the female and her cub, he also had two new mates on clan land to think about, and their protection was paramount to him.

  “It looks like a shit hole,” Tank said, and Mitzi groaned.

  “Yeah, that’s going to make them help us,” she muttered.

  “Well, then you won’t mind getting their hell out of this shit hole, will you?” Dane growled.

  “Look, I’m the asshole here…”

  “I hope you’re not expecting any disagreement from me on that one,” Dane said.

  “But…” Tank started, and Dane cut him off.

  “See — there’s a word I really hate…”

  “Yeah, and I hate to ask anyone for anything, but — this isn’t about me, it’s about my sister and her cub, so, alpha, if you want me to get down on my damn knees and beg…”

  “Tank!” Mitzi growled at the thought. Her brother was a proud man — proud bear — and the thought of him begging anyone for anything made her skin crawl. “That’s not right…”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  ~

  “Damn straight it’s not,” Dane said with a small shake of his head. He’d never ask a man — or woman — to beg for anything in their life — especially when that had to do with family — that was just damn wrong.

  “Mitzi, this is between me and the alpha,” Tank growled back.

  “And me,” Mitzi growled.

  “Just let me get this done,” Tank growled back over his shoulder.

  “Trust me, you get down on your damn knees to beg — I’ll knock you the hell out,” Dane growled.

  “Fine. Tell me what you want me to do?” Tank tossed back. He’d do anything to protect his sister and the cub.

  “Damn it,” Dane growled, he tossed up a hand in frustration and mulled that one over. “Why the hell are you here?” He was ready to listen.

  “Family is a pain in the ass, but it’s still family. The cub’s father turned up at the house — he’s trying to take the cub away from Mitzi. I need her out of the way for a while, somewhere he can’t find her.”

  “That’s just wrong — her cub needs it, mother,” Bowie growled at the intended injustice.

  “Well,” Dane motioned toward his brother. “Soft bear seems to agree with you.”

  Dane was kind of surprised that Bowie would give away his location, let alone take the side of an outsider. But, since the thing with Rayner, Bowie was changing, and he couldn’t say that it was a bad thing.

 

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