Ash and Jana stared at him with their mouths open. “Are you flamin’ serious?”
Foicks tossed the letter on the coffee table in front of Ash. “Read it for yourself. He wants me to contact this girl’s father so we can fight the Midnight together. He also wants me to tell his father and Mattox that he won’t be coming back to Bruins’ Peak—ever.”
Ash stared down at the letter. “This can’t be right.”
Foicks leaned back on the couch and pulled his phone out of his pants pocket. “I’m texting Dax and the others. We’re arming.”
Ash looked over the letter at him. “You’re what?”
“We’re arming. This is the break we’ve been looking for. We’ll march on Midnight Moraine and leave nothing left alive. With these NightShade backing us, the Midnight won’t stand a chance.”
“You can’t do that,” Ash told him.
Foicks didn’t look up from his phone. His fingers flew over the screen. “Why not? What’s to stop us?”
Ash dropped the letter and rose to his full height. “We’ll stop you. I’ll stop you. You’re not dragging all Bruin kind into a war when at least half of us want peace with these people.”
“Peace!” Foicks snorted. “You really are hopeless. Do you know that? Listen to yourself. We’ve got another bear shifter tribe standing ready to fight with us. We should hit these Midnight hard from both sides. We’ll smash ‘em to pieces before they know what hit ‘em.”
Ash stabbed his finger through the air. “Don’t you dare! If you move toward that door, I’ll tear you to pieces. All you care about is blood. Your brain is rotten.”
Jana spoke up, “He’s right, Foicks. How do you even know these NightShade will form an alliance with you? Maybe they’ll want peace, too.”
“Did you hear a word I just said?” Foicks asked. “They had this little girl in the bear-baiting ring. They would have tortured and killed her the same way they were going to kill Marla. If the NightShade have been having the same problems as us with these panthers, of course, they’ll want to fight. Come on! Think, for once in your life.”
“We haven’t been having problems with these panthers,” Ash replied. “They caught one of our people, and we got her back. We caught one of their people, and they got him back. We’re even, and they haven’t come back since. That does not a problem make.”
“At least wait until you talk to these NightShade,” Jana pointed out. “You can’t march on Midnight Moraine until you know for certain you have them with you.”
“If you form an alliance with these NightShade,” Ash told him, “that’s all the more leverage we’ll have to make the Midnight back down. We can stop the Midnight bear-baiting without resorting to violence. That’s what we all really want, isn’t it?”
Foicks strode forward. “Forget it. I’m going to meet Dax. We’ll settle this once and for all. We’ll load up all our guns and supplies, and we’ll pick up the NightShade on our way there. Simple.”
Ash jumped into his path. “Not so fast.”
Foicks’s temper flared. He glared at his brother with burning eyes. “Get out of my way if you know what’s good for you.”
Ash squared his shoulders. “You’re not doing this. You’re not arming against another shifter species, and you’re not telling the NightShade or anybody else we want to fight when half of us want peace. I’m not letting you walk out that door.”
Foicks’s shoulders swelled to twice their normal size. “Letting me? You’re not letting me? We’ll see about that.”
Ash narrowed his eyes. “You don’t want to find out what I can do to stop you.”
“You can’t stop me. I’ll rip your eyes out.”
Jana yelled at them from across the room. “Hey! You heard what Aiken just said. Cool your jets, both of you, before you stick your foot in it for good.”
Neither Foicks nor Ash paid him any attention. Foicks took a step closer to Ash. He lowered his voice to a menacing snarl. “Get out of my way before you regret it.”
Ash set his hands on his hips. He couldn’t match Foicks size and weight, but he wouldn’t back down. “You’ve been gunning for my claws for weeks, and now you’re gonna feel ‘em. You wanna bleed? I’ll make you bleed. I’ll lick your blood off the floor before I’m through with you.”
“You couldn’t touch me, pipsqueak. You might muss your pretty hair.”
“Hey!” Jana thundered. “I’m talking to you.”
No one was talking to those two anymore. In a blinding flurry of fur and claws, they rocketed together faster than the eye could see. One minute, they stood face to face in the middle of their bungalow. The next minute, two massive Bruins tussled and fought over every stick of furniture in the room.
Foicks got the first advantage. He hit Ash in the chest and slammed him back against the wall. The plaster smashed to pieces and crumbled to the floor. It powdered Ash’s golden coat and sailed on clouds around the room. Foicks followed up by driving his shoulder into Ash’s sternum. He lifted his brother off the ground and thumped him one more time into the wall studs.
Ash recovered and brought his gaping jaws down on the back of Foicks’s neck. He clamped down and twisted the larger bear’s head aside. He succeeded in wrenching Foicks off him. Ash’s hind legs hit the floor, and he got enough purchase on the carpet to shove Foicks back.
Foicks thundered in bloody rage, but at that moment, Jana hopped out of the LazyBoy. He crossed the room in one bound. He grabbed Foicks by the hind leg in one beefy fist and dragged him across the room.
Foicks whirled around to mangle that powerful hand, but he didn’t dare bite Jana. Jana didn’t have to shift. Fighting Ash over some trifling disagreement was one thing. No one dared attack Jana. That man could take on Aiken or even the boys’ Alpha grandfather Jasper. Jana might not win, but he could hold his own and make the older Bruins wish they’d never tangled with him.
Jana pursed his lips. His fingers dug into Foicks’s ankle, but the fur protected the skin from any real damage. Jana never did any damage unless he had to. He liked people too much.
His brothers pushed him just an inch too far this time, though. He hauled the foaming, roaring bear to the door. Foicks wrestled and bellowed, but nothing could stop Jana once he started. He tossed the door open and dragged Foicks out onto the porch.
Foicks clawed the carpet to shreds, but he couldn’t hold himself back. Jana dumped him on the porch, and when Foicks catapulted to his feet with a deadly snarl, Jana planted one boot on his shoulder and kicked him off the porch into the dirt.
Foicks bowled over onto his side, but Jana already turned his back. “Stay out there, and don’t come back until you learn how to behave.”
He stomped inside and slammed the door in Foicks’s face.
Chapter 4
Haven swung her hat by its strings and took a deep sniff of springtime. Today was too nice a day to block out the sun. Nothing could dampen her happiness. The earth swelled with new life, and the warmth drove away the last chill of winter. She looked forward to another summer rambling in the woods and enjoying all the pleasure of a bear’s life.
She turned off from the main road into Mackenzie Homestead, but she slowed her steps when she saw Foicks coming out of the house. She waited for him at the gate. A tingle of thrilling expectation blazed through her. She couldn’t suppress the smile spreading across her lips. “Hello. What are you doing over here?”
He didn’t smile. He cast a gloomy scowl toward the house. “I came over to give Rex and Mattox Azer’s message.”
“I guess they’re pretty upset about him not coming back.”
“Upset doesn’t cover half of it,” he snapped, “and they still won’t come to their senses and support me. All they keep talking about is peace, peace, peace. I don’t know what this Peak is coming to anymore. I mean, am I the only one who sees the danger here? Am I the only one who wants to protect what we’ve all worked so hard to build?”
Haven’s heart sank. Not this old saw aga
in. “What did they say about it?”
“Just the same old claptrap. Now that Melody is living with the Midnight, they say I can’t go in there with guns blazing or she could get hurt. They say neither Melody nor Azer would mate with these panthers if they were all bad. Can you believe that? Did you ever hear anything so ridiculous in your life?”
“Maybe they’ve got a point.”
His eyes flashed at her. “Don’t you start. They’re bear-baiters. We all know that. That’s exactly how we found out their exist. They nearly killed Marla.”
“And we almost killed Riley Faulkner to get revenge,” Haven countered. “Melody must have seen something in him to run off with him like that, and Raven must be all right if Azer ran off with her. Both Riley and Raven must have turned their backs on the bear-baiting, or Azer and Melody would have nothing to do with them. The Midnight must mate for life, just like we do. Maybe there’s more about these Midnight we don’t understand. Maybe there’s a chance for peace after all.”
He stared at her with his mouth open. “I can’t believe I’m hearing this from you, too. I thought you of all people would understand.”
She took a step closer. “Can we talk about something else? I haven’t seen you since the funeral. I don’t want to spend the time we have together talking about war and death and destruction.”
He didn’t hear. He glared at the house. “Do you know what Mattox said to me just now? He actually had the nerve to say he wouldn’t go to Burkes Road, not even if it meant getting Melody or Azer back. He said nothing could bring them back, and his work here is much more important to him that trekking all the way over there for nothing. Can you believe that?”
Haven sighed. “Yeah, I can believe it. Actually, I agree with him.”
He spun around to push open the gate. “Well, I won’t stand for it. I waited this long, and I won’t wait anymore. I’m going to round up my guys and move out. I don’t see why we should wait any longer.”
“Wait, Foicks.” She took his hand off the gate. “I just got here. Stay and talk to me for a minute.”
He shook his fist at the house. “These people never made me so mad in my life. I swear to God, I’ll never rest until I pay back that idiot brother of mine and all the pudding-headed people who support him.”
She tugged his hand to draw him near her. “Forget about that. Let’s pick up where we left off at the funeral.” She slipped her arm around his waist and raised her face to kiss him.
He turned his head toward the house at that moment, and her lips touched his cheek. The fire ignited in her belly, and she squeezed him around the middle. Her whole being yearned to get close to him, to cure him of this mania by making him pay so much attention to her he wouldn’t notice anything else.
He didn’t pay attention to her, though. He didn’t even notice her or her silly kiss. He jerked away and growled under his breath, “I know someone who will listen to me. I’ll go see Walker Cunningham. He always understands.”
He headed for the gate, but her arm around his waist stopped him. He paused against the resistance of her embrace, but the damage was already done. Haven smacked her lips. She placed both hands on his hips and shoved him away so hard he bumped into the fence. “Go on and kiss Walker Cunningham, then. I’m sure he’ll turn you on a lot better than I will.” She whirled away.
His collision with the fence snapped Foicks out of his stupor. His head shot up, and his vision cleared just in time to see Haven walking away. He lunged forward to grab her hand. “Wait a minute, Haven. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been thinking about that when you were trying to talk to me.”
She yanked her hand out of his grip. “Leave me alone. Go find your boyfriends like you said. I’m sure kissing them will be a lot more exciting than kissing me, and you don’t have to worry about them understanding you and your bloodlust. I’m finished with you. Don’t ever bother about me again.”
She set off for the house one more time, but he leapt in front of her. “Don’t walk away, Haven. I’m really sorry. I promise I won’t talk about it again if you don’t want me to. Come on. Give a guy a break. I’m just distracted, is all. Come on. Take a walk with me.”
“Take a walk with you to Walker Cunningham’s, you mean. Get out of my way. All you ever think about is this stupid conflict, and I just said I agree with Mattox. It’s only a matter of time before you turn against me, too. Go polish your guns and leave me alone. No woman in her right mind would waste her precious time on you right now.”
She shouldered past him and trotted up the porch to the house. She knocked, and when Lyric Mackenzie opened the door, she went inside without looking back. Her resolve fell apart as soon as she got inside. She collapsed against the door to catch her breath. She held back just long enough to stop herself glancing out the window to see if Foicks was still there.
What a dog! What an idiot! Didn’t he notice her trying to kiss him? What was she doing, throwing herself at a guy like that? Where was her self-respect? Well, she wouldn’t make that mistake again. Walker Cunningham! Is this what she was reduced to—competing with Walker Cunningham?
She wouldn’t lower herself to noticing Foicks Dunlap’s existence again. He could go get himself killed for all she cared.
She couldn’t deny her feelings, though. No one ever hurt her so much in her life—and for what? For a kiss and a hug? How could such a little thing mean so much? Why did she get so upset when he didn’t notice her?
She wanted him to notice her. She wanted him to put his arms around her and kiss her the way he did at the funeral. She wanted that and a whole lot more, and she would never get it from him as long as this moronic conflict occupied his every waking thought.
He probably hadn’t thought twice about her since the funeral. Kissing her behind the conservatory was probably some kind of joke to him, something to take his mind off more important matters. If that’s all she was to him, the sooner she got him out of her mind, the better.
She couldn’t get him out of her mind. She’d tried, but nothing worked. She thought of almost nothing else since the funeral. She constantly wondered if he felt the same way she did, if he was thinking about her or dreaming of their kiss the way she did.
If kissing her was a joke to him, she better start thinking about something else. She wouldn’t put her arms around him again or try to take his mind off his blood-thirsty plans. She would find herself another Bruin guy who couldn’t live without her while Foicks Dunlap charged with the Light Brigade. She wished him about the same luck, too.
Chapter 5
Foicks hovered near the Mackenzies’ gate for nearly an hour. He couldn’t stop staring at the front door where Haven disappeared. What in the world made her so mad at him? All he did was talk about the war and his plans and his disastrous meeting with Rex and Mattox.
Okay, so he made a mistake when he didn’t notice her put her arm around him. He couldn’t really give her the attention she wanted. She should understand that. He couldn’t get distracted from his plans by getting involved with anybody right now.
Sure, Haven was beautiful and everything. That kiss behind Dodd Homestead worked its way into his brain. It showed up in his dreams and when he closed his eyes under the shower. It sparkled on his skin and crackled from his hair.
How could one woman be so captivatingly enticing? He’s known Haven all his life. He always liked her, but he never thought she was anything special—until now. In his dreams, he followed the rounded curve of her hip where her funeral skirt hugged her ass and thighs. He brushed the long wisps of chocolate-brown hair off her shoulders. He gazed into her deep dark eyes when they kissed.
That girl had Farrell written all over her. She looked like Brody, even though their fathers were only second cousins. Haven had her mother’s luscious curves and magnificent round breasts under her blouse. He couldn’t stop thinking about those curves even now, long after she walked away. Her casual jeans and T-shirt did nothing to hide her figure from his appreciative gaze.
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He willed himself to stop thinking about her. He had a couple dozen guys counting on him to keep them organized and on their toes. Azer Mackenzie’s letter hit the Peak like a ton of bricks, so they could move out at any second. He couldn’t chose worse time to start a romance with Haven Farrell.
He summoned all his courage to break away from that gate. He wouldn’t go inside after her when she told him in no uncertain terms to go hang. He hated walking away, but what choice did he have? The sooner he got thinking and planning and moving on this war, the sooner he would stop dwelling on what couldn’t be.
The next thing he knew, he found himself walking through the woods on his way home. The woods offered him no consolation now. He never enjoyed a quiet wander by himself anymore, and certainly not with his brothers.
The three of them used to be so close. They spent every waking minute with each other during their whole growing up. They hunted and camped and explored. They swam and slept together in dens before waking up in the morning to do it all over again. They thought they’d be together forever, even after they took mates. They planned to live together with their mates and their cubs and build a life on Bruins’ Peak.
Once, Ash asked what would happen to their friendship, their brotherhood, if one of their mates got in the way. They all swore an oath they would never let that happen. None of them foresaw something like the Midnight panthers shifters coming between them.
If only a mate had gotten in the way, Foicks would know what to do. He would gladly back off and give his brothers the space they needed to mate with whoever they chose. He didn’t know what to do now. He couldn’t do anything except throw himself against Ash until they smashed each other to pieces. Neither would give an inch to accommodate the other.
Foicks wasn’t thinking where he was going. His feet went on autopilot until he came back at the bungalow. He went inside, but found himself alone. How long had it been since he’d spent any time truly alone? He couldn’t remember. He always went everywhere with his brothers or his family. His alliance with his brothers extended all the way back to his earliest memories. He couldn’t imagine life without them.
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