Breaking Fate: Book Three: Black Claw Ranch

by Lane, Cecilia

“Are you staying in town? I thought most of your kind were living near the office.”

  “Some are here, others are in the surrounding towns. I wanted to get a feel for the people I’m supposed to watch over.”

  “Yeah? And what have you observed, Agent?” He opened the box as they walked and offered her the first choice.

  “Sloan, please. I’m not on duty.” She tucked a flyaway strand of hair behind her ear and regretted not putting her hair up before she left her house. Well, she hadn’t expected to meet with the man. She probably looked like a hot mess in her tank top and skinny jeans with holes at the knees. She didn’t know how to be girly or stylish. Throwing her hair into a bun for work was the height of her skill.

  She took a cookie and chewed slowly to give herself time to think. Offending him with something off the cuff wouldn’t help her any. “It’s a slower pace than I’m used to. I come from a big city. Never worked a place with under a hundred thousand people in the limits.”

  “Don’t worry. We get into our fair share of trouble.”

  “Like bundling women into your basement?”

  A deep chuckle spilled from his lips, but didn’t quite reach his eyes. Those, he cast over her head and back toward the main road.

  Didn’t want to be seen with a human, maybe? Or was it because of where she worked? Neither option bode well for mining his knowledge.

  Lorne led her off the town square and down a path next to Town Hall. A few others strolled along the path with them. Witnesses combined with the fact that he’d already had a chance for misdeeds eased her woman-alone doubts. Besides, she trusted him. The same gut instinct that said he wasn’t a danger to her reared its head again.

  Trees shaded most of the well-worn walk. Flowering bushes lined the path, manicured just enough to maintain an appearance of wild beauty without becoming an overgrown mess. It wasn’t long before she heard the bubbling of rushing water.

  Benches sat near the riverbank, and she made her way to one. Lorne lowered himself next to her and stretched his arm over the back of the bench. Sloan resisted the urge to scoot closer or lean into the hand inches from her shoulder. So close, she couldn’t possibly miss his scent. Manly, like worked leather and cologne, he smelled divine.

  Professional, she reminded herself. She needed an ear on the inside, someone to answer any stupid questions.

  She’d talked to countless witnesses and suspects in her line of work, but none had her tongue-tied as much as the cowboy at her side. “Saved anyone else stranded by storms?”

  “Only you.” His lips picked up on one side. “No one else that idiotic has come along since.”

  The words held no sting and the twinkling in his eyes made the tease clear. Her pulse leaped.

  “Careful. I’ve tossed men into lockup for less.”

  He snorted, but the smile continued to spread across his face and she had the distinct feeling that he approved of her answer.

  He dug out another cookie and finished it in two bites. “What did you track me down for?”

  “As embarrassing as it is to admit, I’ve had some trouble getting a foothold around here. I don’t know my way around. I was hoping you could help me get my bearings.”

  He laughed. “You want me to be your C.I.”

  “That’s not—”

  “It is.” He tapped his nose. “Don’t lie to me, sweetheart. You want an informant. Why?”

  “Like I said. I don’t know my way around here. I don’t know the terrain, I don’t know the people, and I don’t know how to get people to see beyond the uniform. I don’t want to be just a badge. I want to be someone that’s trusted.”

  He cocked his head to the side and looked at her so intently she thought he could read her mind. Maybe he could. More likely, she was just that transparent. He cut through all her pleasant chit-chat and working up to the big ask.

  “Knowing the facts of a place aren’t going to get you any closer to being part of them. You’ll never be part of them. You’re human.”

  Human. Outsider. Not where she belonged.

  “I guess that’s it, then.” She pushed to her feet and nodded to him as she passed. Disappointment crackled within her, and not just at her outsider status. He called it out, probably felt it himself. She wouldn’t let him see how the words stung. “Thanks for everything.”

  Lorne’s hand wrapped around her wrist and spun her back around. Eyes blazing and a devilish smile lifting his lips, Lorne stepped into her space. She didn’t have a chance for shock or questions before he lowered his face and kissed her.

  Sloan’s brain shorted out. Her skin buzzed with electricity wherever they touched. He started slow, skimming his mouth across hers in a gentle, sipping taste. Then a groan rumbled in his chest, vibrated through her, and she was lost.

  Oh, lordy. Her toes curled in her sneakers as his fingers dug into her hair. His other hand planted against the small of her back and tugged her closer. His beard scratched at her soft skin when he nipped at her lower lip.

  Stop. She needed to stop.

  Sloan parted her lips the moment his tongue brushed against them. Slow sips were quickly discarded with tangled tongues and deep licks. Heat roared through her veins and she groaned with the ache he ignited in her. It went deeper than just wanting to get him back to her home, or on the bench, or against a tree. She wanted to peel back all his layers and see what lay underneath.

  Daring, to grab an agent and take her into a dark basement while griping the entire time. Cautious, with his secretive looks over his shoulder. Intuitive man with a sweet tooth.

  Lorne groaned again, more growl than natural noise, and Sloan added another interesting observation to the pile.

  Shifter.

  Growly, sexy, shifter who probably wouldn’t be intimidated by her in the slightest.

  Lorne’s fingers tightened on her for a split second before he eased away. His lips grazed the shell of her ear. “I won’t be your informant, but I will help you around. Make this place your home, then you’ll be one of them.”

  One of ‘them.’ Never ‘one of us.’ Sloan stashed away that little nugget to pick at later.

  Lorne dipped the brim of his cowboy hat. Gold eyes sparkled at her from the shadows. “Until next time… Sloan.”

  Heat pooled in her middle with his deep, sexy chuckle.

  Chapter 6

  She’d kissed him. Holy crap, she’d kissed a shifter.

  Hot cowboy shifter, no less.

  Still a shifter. Still one that might need watching.

  What had the other one—Alex—asked? Was she in charge of keeping them in, or others out?

  Right then, she wasn’t in charge of a damn thing. And she was acting like a complete fool. Over a single kiss.

  Sloan stared at her reflection in the mirror of her Jeep and passed a finger over her lips. Idiot. She couldn’t still feel Lorne’s lips on her own. She glared at herself and hopped down to the ground. Duty called, and daydreams needed to be banished. She wouldn’t be one of those girls that let a man distract her when he wasn’t even around.

  She trailed between desks starting to populate with those on duty on her way to the break room for morning coffee. Eyes followed her, sending her heart into a quicker pace. She felt like the teen girl in all those coming-of-age movies.

  Sloan rolled her eyes and added creamer to her drink. No, no one could tell she’d popped her shifter-kissing cherry. She was making things weird by casting furtive looks all around.

  She thought of pulling Crewe aside and spilling her guts to him. Flirting wasn’t expressly forbidden. Dating, either. Agents had lives outside of work.

  But getting involved with someone she wanted to pump for information? Someone in the community she was tasked with overseeing? Those were some murky areas.

  Except, she wouldn’t be using Lorne for information. He made it clear he wouldn’t be an informant of any kind. A friend who showed her around town, helped her find her footing, yes. Someone she could use, no. His words and
his kiss both cleared and created an ethical dilemma she didn’t want to face.

  Then there was the possibility of losing face with the rest of the unit. They might see her admission as a sign of shame.

  Any move she made seemed designed to knock her feet out from under her. She’d learned to tread lightly. Girl cops had to watch themselves for fear of being seen as weak or incapable. Sole human working with a bunch of super-strength shifters was the same role she’d played her entire career.

  “Morning,” she greeted August as she took her seat. He grunted in response and dug into the breakfast burrito in his hands.

  No conversation happening while he devoured his meal with sounds of affection she doubted she’d ever heard a man make for her, Sloan reached for the few items delivered to her desk before she arrived. They were surprisingly and pleasantly low in number—a message confirming a meeting late in the afternoon with the Bearden Chief of Police, a request for information on a case from her former unit, and a sealed envelope at the bottom of the pile.

  Sloan turned the last over and over, tonguing her teeth as she studied it. A stamp, but no processing through the post office. No return address, either. She didn’t recognize the handwriting, but she hadn’t recognized the last letter full of dried up snake skins, either.

  Her fingers caught under the edges before she had another second to think. Dread and anger filled her belly as she ripped the paper apart.

  A photo fluttered to the floor.

  Sloan stooped to pick it up. Shock scalded her skin the moment she turned it over.

  Her and Lorne, faces pressed together, utterly unaware of anyone snapping the picture.

  Motherfucker.

  Sloan glanced up to see if anyone had spotted her, then stuffed the picture back into the envelope, and the envelope into her pocket.

  Jimmy and his band of fuckheads were at it again, making sure she knew she was watched.

  August arched an eyebrow at her. “You good?”

  “Never better.”

  This shit was her problem. She wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of asking for protection. They wanted her scared, and she refused to even blink.

  The picture was proof she still had a target on her back. Someone had to follow her and get close enough to snap such a thing. And what the fuck was the message behind it? They could get to her anywhere? She should be ashamed of getting close to someone?

  Or was it a direct threat against the man himself?

  Sloan didn’t know which way to turn. None of her options felt right.

  Did she run into the arms of a man she barely knew, and who might head for the hills the moment she didn’t swoon when he wanted? More than one man couldn’t keep up with her lifestyle and she refused to be some simpering, needy woman. Not many would stick around knowing she brought threats into their lives.

  Did she lean on her new coworkers, some who still shot suspicious looks when they thought she wasn’t looking? She wasn’t one of them. She didn’t have an animal under her skin. Hell, even her placement in the unit was still a raw subject to some.

  Looking to her old unit was just as disastrous. Most were happy to see the Snitch Bitch gone. Someone there kept tabs for Jimmy Culpepper and his band of assholes. Until she knew who to trust, she couldn’t make asks of anyone.

  Best she leave Lorne out of things, too. Hot as that kiss was and as much as she looked forward to getting to know the, ah, town, she wasn’t safe for him. Forgetting his slow smiles and solid chest were better than dragging him into her issues.

  Like anything else in her life, she’d tough it out. They’d get bored when they realized she wouldn’t give them any reaction.

  Creaking chairs shook her out of her thoughts. Right. Morning briefing.

  Sloan followed August into the room with the rest of the unit. Crewe already stood at the ready, looking more carved of stone than usual.

  “All right, down to business. Last night, we received word of an assault on a human family in a campground about sixty miles east of here. Father was badly injured, possibly bitten.” Crewe spat out the last words. “Mother and daughter received minor wounds.”

  Everyone in the room shifted in their seats. More than one face glared straight ahead with jaws clenched.

  To them, the assault wasn’t the worst of the problem. The bite meant a forced change, and that meant certain death for the culprit and risk of it for the victim. The shifter population didn’t put up with rogue individuals chomping down and creating more indiscriminately.

  Rumors of drugs to reverse bitten shifters existed, but those were whispered about with hope and praise by hunters more than anyone with a lick of sense. Sloan didn’t want to add madmen with needles to her list of worries. Shifters free with their teeth were enough.

  A picture flashed up behind Crewe. “We’re looking for this man. Ian Bennett. He hails from a bear clan in Oklahoma, but was recently spotted in our neck of the woods. As far as we can tell, his clan fell apart between five to ten years ago. Their alpha disappeared, probably in some challenge fight, and the families inside have peeled off and moved on. Only a handful remain in the original territory. Ian here has a love of drinking, driving, fist fights, and skipping out on court dates.”

  Sloan nearly sputtered. “Bennett. Like Lorne Bennett? From our friends at Black Claw?”

  “One and the same, though from what they told us when we had them here, he hasn’t been home in twelve years. Could be Ian is looking up his relative. Could be he’s just wanted to relocate to the enclave.”

  August looked at her with suspicion, then snapped his attention back to Crewe. “Kent and I can head out and ask him some questions.”

  Crewe nodded. “Good. The rest of you, keep your eyes peeled. We don’t need this fucker putting a damper on the upcoming festival.”

  Chapter 7

  Lorne could barely focus on the humans dismounting in the paddock. They were full of laughter and jokes after a successful trail ride. The next stop of their day would be a small feast prepared by the ranch chef, Joss.

  The noise of the guests contrasted with the thoughts rumbling in his head, though. Sticking around happy couples didn’t appeal to him in the slightest. They were just another reminder of what he couldn’t have.

  Sloan’s face pushed out all other thoughts. His insides clenched with the need to be near her and the instinct to protect. Anyone else, and those two would mean the same thing. He wasn’t anyone else.

  Lorne nodded kindly to the man closest to him and reached for the reins to lead his mount into the barn with his own. The animals needed care. That didn’t stop because his head and heart wanted different things. The barn was a safer haven than the paddock full of people.

  On the other side of the barn, in a smaller pen, he spotted Alex. Surprising. He usually made himself scarce during tour arrivals and departures. The young calf he was feeding slurped the last of her bottle, then bounded away in a show of play. One or two needed extra attention every season, and Alex always volunteered for the job.

  A husband and wife pair strayed closer to the fence as Lorne guided both horses into their stalls. With the top doors thrown open, he heard Alex growl, “Back off. She’s not for petting.”

  “Alex,” Ethan warned from across the yard.

  “No problem. We didn’t know,” the man stated.

  Lorne scrubbed a hand through his hair and settled his Stetson back on his head.

  Fuck, what made him kiss Sloan? And before that, lead her anywhere they could be close? Oh, he knew. The messy hair and swell of her breasts above the neck of her tank top. Her delicious scent. Just the memory had blood rushing straight to his cock.

  Pure lust had him drooling over her and ignoring all the signs that slapped him in the face. He’d gone into town to look for Ian and found Sloan instead. The whiff of his cousin’s scent should have been enough to put distance between him and anyone he cared about. The human woman, especially, needed protection from his family. They’d done
a number on Lilah. He couldn’t let them do the same to Sloan.

  His bear prowled through his mind, swiping at unseen dangers. Lorne wanted to put an end to the entire mess. He’d been waiting too long, living his life looking over his shoulder. There was no moving forward with the demons of the past dragging him backward.

  The eased tension that Sloan gave him drowned under the roaring of his inner beast. He couldn’t talk the bear down. Work and clan were unwanted distractions. He needed to hunt down any possible threats to Sloan.

  At his low growl, Nova tossed her head. Lorne stroked a hand down the mare’s neck to calm the agitation she’d picked up from him. He went through the motions of brushing her down and gave her an extra scratch on the rump for putting up with him before moving to another horse needing care.

  “The fuck was that about?” Jesse asked in the next stall.

  Alex paced in the small box of a third stall. Growls sawed out of him with each huffed breath. “It’s those fucking tourists. They come in here, acting like they own the place. Why the fuck can’t we keep them from wandering?”

  “Easy,” Jesse muttered. “They backed off, that’s what counts.”

  There was a loud thump. Alex kicking the door of the stall, probably. “We’re the ones that live here. I’m sick of them messing with everything.”

  Someone needed to step in before Alex blew his lid. Too many unfamiliar eyes were around to stand witness.

  His bear bunched under his skin. Lorne slid a glance to Ethan, then to Hunter. They remained oblivious to the trouble brewing right next to them. Hunter helped settle the mounts while Ethan yammered with the guests.

  Lorne shook his head and went back to work. Someone had to make nice with the tourists and usher them to their next activities.

  Maybe he should have stayed at the homestead. Tussling with lions determined to get a rise out of Ethan was better than mooning over a woman he couldn’t have.

  His bear roared loud enough to bring pained tears to his eyes.

  Giving Sloan a lift was one thing. Accepting her gifted cookies and then kissing her flirted with disaster. He was a dead man walking. Ian hunted him. Toyed with him, more like. Getting near Sloan put a target on her back.