He was certain she’d kick him in the shins if he even suggested she needed to be kept safe.
His lips twitched with a smile before he chained down the good feeling. Lorne chanted a reminder to his inner beast before the bear could snap at his control.
No tears. Don’t leave anyone behind.
Besides, she was on the wrong side of the law for a man like him. He had blood on his hands. All her pretty words about making the world a just place wouldn’t wash him clean.
He scowled at the hay underfoot and rolled his shoulders. His skin felt too tight. His bear wanted out, despite his reasoning. Couldn’t do that. The beast would run straight for Sloan.
Bite. Mark. Claim.
Not happening. Not when Ian could hurt her to wound him.
Lorne wanted to taste her again. He wanted her delicious scent filling his nose and her soft groans in his ear. Ian and all the other Bennetts stood in the way of those wishes. Lorne had to figure his shit out before getting near Sloan again. He didn’t want more blood on his hands.
Another thump of a fist hitting wood grabbed his attention. Lorne lifted his eyes to find Alex pacing in the middle of the breezeway and throwing dark looks toward the trail riders still milling outside the barn doors.
The man’s fists clenched. “I’m just saying, maybe he needs to focus more on his own damn people than every asshole who wants to play cowboy for the day.”
“Get your head out of your ass, or get the fuck out of the barn,” Jesse hissed.
“Don’t pull that alpha crap with me,” Alex snarled in answer. “You’re not in charge.”
“You’re not either. Besides,” Hunter snarked as he passed with a saddle meant for the tack room. “He lets you play cowboy every day.”
Alex roared, and his monster of a bear ripped out of his skin. Hunter didn’t have enough time to shift before Alex was on him, snapping huge jaws on the arm he threw over his face to protect himself. By the time he’d changed shape, there was nothing but fury in his eyes.
“Motherfucker,” Jesse swore.
Lorne silently echoed the curse. He should have paid more attention. Done more. Triggered a brawl in the morning before all the humans showed up to see their wild sides.
Wasn’t that proof enough that Sloan was bad news? She clogged up his head and left him distracted. The delicate balance he kept over himself and the others was in shambles.
Alex and Hunter backed up slowly, huge paws striking out at one another as they stepped through the barn. Jesse passed a hand over his face and shot a look to the humans murmuring and pointing from the very edges of the building.
“Back up!” Lorne shouted. He threw his arms wide and herded the group away from the barn doors. “Give them room!”
Ethan sprinted toward them, murder written across his expression. Tansey and Joss were hot on his heels and tried to corral the humans to no avail. Cell phones were out and pointed right at the brawling bears.
“Shift back!” Ethan yelled. “I swear to all that’s holy, I will skin you both alive!”
Power whipped off Ethan with enough furious force that both Lorne and Jesse doubled over. The mates, too, paled and looked sick. Hunter’s shift ripped through him faster than it started and left the man panting in the dirt, red streaked across his skin.
Alex, beast that he was, shook his head like he’d simply been stung by a bee. He scratched long claws into the earth and lifted his lips in a snarl.
Shit.
Too many eyes watching. Too many records being made. Alex was unstable enough to throw down for alpha of the clan, and Ethan was powerful enough to put him down permanently. Neither were scenes that needed to play across any screen with an internet connection.
“I said shift,” Ethan growled in a low voice.
The words were thick with alpha order. Lorne stumbled before he locked his knees against the onslaught.
Alex shook his head again, then, blessedly melted back from bear to man.
Ethan didn’t give him a second to recover. He knelt by Alex and growled another order into his ear. “Get the fuck back to your hut. Do not leave until I say.”
With a final snarl, Alex pushed haltingly to his feet. His shoulders stayed straight and tight as he lurched away from the barn, naked as the day he was born.
The air left Lorne’s lungs as soon as Alex disappeared from sight. The others, too, let go of unsteady breaths. They seemed loud over the murmurings of the gathered crowd.
“That’s a wrap! Hope everyone enjoyed a preview of our newest attraction! Tell all your friends about BWE. That’s Bear Wrestling Entertainment.” Tansey stomped toward the house, then turned back when no one followed. “Well? Who wants some food?”
“Dangerous,” someone murmured as the group started to shuffle toward the house.
“Maybe they should be kept to their towns,” another guest voiced.
Ian wasn’t the only danger to a human like Sloan. One wrong move and Alex could kill someone. Bringing a federal agent onto the ranch wasn’t in anyone’s best interests. Alex would be thrown on the damn registration list by the end of the first day and earn himself a one-way ticket to Shiftermax by the end of the week. No way would he survive that potential death camp.
Sloan was too good for his life. His was messy, destructive, wild. There was no room for sweet justice when they were just barely hanging on to sanity.
* * *
The second the SUV bumped around the last bend of Black Claw’s long driveway, Sloan spotted him. Lorne lifted his head from the back of a pickup, slowly straightening and eyeing the SUV with a blank expression. The long seconds merged into a full moment before he waved a hand in acknowledgment and turned back to his task.
Sloan couldn’t force herself to look away. His arms and back flexed as he picked up a load of wood posts like they weighed nothing and carried them into the barn.
Sloan cocked her head to the side and watched with utter appreciation the way his jeans molded to his backside. Damn. No one could compete with that show of strength and casual confidence.
August jabbed an elbow into her side. “Keep it in your pants, Kent.”
“Fuck off,” she snapped back.
Well, that cleared one thing up. August wasn’t shooting any disapproval her way.
Lorne reappeared from the darkened barn opening, slapping his hands against his jeans and raising a cloud of dust that did little to wipe away the stains of hard labor.
A smile spread across his face as she stepped out of the SUV and, hand to heart, Sloan thought hers skipped a beat. She wanted to traipse through a field of fucking flowers with the man. Thoughts of being swept off her feet and then loved more than August loved his morning breakfast burrito were in full force.
“You here about the fight?”
“Fight? What fight?” Sloan looked around. Now that he mentioned it, the load of fence posts made sense. Wood in a few spots looked newer than the others. “Something we should know?”
“Never mind.” Lorne took off his hat and ran his fingers through his hair. His shoulders relaxed a fraction and he flashed her a smile. “Didn’t think you’d be around so soon,” he said with a voice velvety enough to melt her core.
“What can I say? I’m not one for waiting.”
Next to her, August made a sound much too close to a snort for her comfort.
Professional. She was a professional on professional duty. Being hit so hard with lust that she trembled wasn’t the image she wanted to present.
She pressed her lips together and tried her best to ignore the fine hairs lifting all over her body. “Got a couple questions for you. Do you know an Ian Bennett?”
Lorne’s sexy smile faltered, then disappeared into a scowl. “What of it?”
The switch he pulled scratched at her instincts. She’d watched suspects go from bright and happy to raging at the drop of a hat. Lorne didn’t look like he’d be throwing a chair at the two-way glass—yet—but he certainly wasn’t pleased with the li
ne of questioning.
“Don’t know if you heard, but a family was assaulted in a campground a ways from here. Your man Ian might know something about it.”
“Not my man, not my friend, not my anything. And you should stay out of it.” Lorne’s tone turned cold. His eyes, so warm and welcoming moments earlier, hardened into shards of black ice.
Stay out of it? Like hell she would. The order and sudden change of personality made her want to dig.
She slouched and slipped her thumbs through her belt loops. Just a casual cop asking some casual questions. “Have you had any contact with Ian in the last few weeks?”
“Haven’t talked to him in years, and I wouldn’t want to. I left that entire clan of dickweavils behind when I moved this way.”
August slid her a look, then focused back on Lorne. “That was when, exactly?”
“Seven or eight years in the enclave,” Lorne answered tightly.
“And before that?”
He shrugged up one shoulder. “Oh, here and there.”
Sloan opened her mouth to push harder when she caught sight of another man rounding the barn. Ethan or Jesse, he had to be. She could put names to faces of three of the clan, but the other two were still a mystery.
He strode up to Lorne, face stony, and crossed his arms over his chest. “There a problem?”
“No problem, alpha,” Lorne said quickly. “They were just leaving.”
“Just asking a few questions,” Sloan said over him.
Alpha. That had to be Ethan, then.
She lifted her chin and addressed the Black Claw leader. “We’re trying to locate Ian Bennett.”
“Only Bennett I know is Lorne.”
“Have you talked with anyone else that might know where we could find Ian? Anyone from your birth clan?” August asked.
Lorne’s jaw set in a hard line and his eyes churned with gold. “Keep out of it. If Ian shows up, he’s my problem. Not yours.”
“Why would he be a problem?” Sloan probed.
Lorne muttered something under his breath and hidden in a growl.
August waited a beat, then dropped the big news. “Someone got turned in the attack. That makes him our problem.”
“If that’s the case, then he’s even more my problem than before.”
His words sent a chill up her spine. “Not true.”
“And what are you going to do, officer? Get yourself bit or killed?”
Jerk.
The words stung, both because they were true and came from him. After their little talks and riverside rendezvous, he didn’t see her as anything but a weak human who didn’t belong.
Frustration boiled over and left her with a growl. “Agent,” she snapped in correction.
Ethan stepped between them. Silver eyes glared first at August, then found her. “Unless you have some papers stating otherwise, I think it’s best you leave.”
August raised his hands in silent agreement and took a single step back. Sloan stared at Lorne for another long look, not wanting to back down so easily. Weak human who couldn’t hold a candle to the strength of her shifter colleagues had to have a spine of steel.
What she found on his face surprised her. Irritated, keeping a wall around himself, yes. But something nearing respect shined in the gold eyes he kept focused on her when she finally stalked toward the SUV.
Sloan chewed on her lower lip while studying the retreating backs of the Black Claw men. “He’s hiding something. I think the other one knows what it is, too.”
August arched his brows, but kept watch with her. “How do you know that? You can’t smell a lie.”
“It’s almost like I’ve done this job before.” She glared at her partner. “You know, we were doing police work long before we knew walking lie detectors existed.”
“If you can call it work,” August flashed a grin, then sobered. “Could just be bad blood. What to do about him?”
She turned the puzzles pieces over in her mind and tried to fit them together. She had more missing holes than actual pieces and no clear picture. “I don’t think he’s going to help our guy, but he’s not going to cough up information on him, either. Let’s keep a watch and see if there’s any contact made.”
Chapter 8
“I want my horses back by the end of the day!”
Lorne resisted the urge to rub his temples. Or press a hand to his stomach. Or let his bear rip out of his skin and take to the woods after covering his snout in blood.
Days since Sloan made her dramatic entrance into and exit from his life, and he hated everything. The sun glared at him viciously, the land wavered in his vision, even the scent of the fields and cows and fucking lions in front of him soured his stomach.
“That’s not the agreement, Trent,” he reasoned.
“Fuck the agreement. I’m not having my horses injured because you fuckers can’t keep claws under wraps,” Trent growled.
“None of the horses were ever in danger of that. Believe me, we wouldn’t hurt them.”
Sloan wasn’t his problem, though. Not at that moment. No, right then he needed to focus on placating the alpha of the neighboring lion pride. Trent and Ethan were at each other’s throats a good portion of the time, but neither could deny they needed each other. Trent had the horses and Ethan had the patience to deal with humans. The trail riding business Black Claw ran wouldn’t exist without cooperation. Without that cash flow, the ranch wouldn’t last a year.
The situation wasn’t as dire now that Tansey had bullied the clan into behaving themselves enough for tourists to stay the night, but the trail rides were still a major draw. Sleepovers in the big house paired better with playing cowboy on horseback than nothing at all. Even the side attraction of mud and trucks wouldn’t make up for the loss of horses and dirt.
“No, you’re just willing to throw down in front of humans.” Trent leaned over and spat after the word.
Behind him, two of his lions shifted in their saddles. Their eyes bounced over him and the land, never once resting. Crazy bastards, just like their alpha.
“We got our problems, same as you,” he said calmly.
No use denying what happened. The news buzzed through Bearden and out into the great wide world within hours. Tansey shouted at them over the first guest cancellation, then subsided when reservations picked up in greater numbers. Lorne wasn’t sure he liked being the subject of curiosity and hope for a brawl. Then again, that brought the tourists to town in the first place.
“Same as you, we need money to put food on our plates. Taking the horses now will hurt all our people.”
Trent glared, but stayed silent while he mulled over his options. Finally, he scratched at the day’s growth of stubble along his jaw. “I want ten percent more. Hazard for my mounts.”
Lorne shook his head. “You know that’s unreasonable.”
“Five, then.”
“Two.”
“Three.”
“Three it is,” Lorne agreed.
He’d add it all from his own paycheck. He owed Ethan this small favor. Oil and water, that was his alpha and Trent. Lorne could soothe bruised egos and keep the fragile partnership from snapping entirely.
Lorne stuck his hand out to seal the deal.
One by one, heads cocked at the low rumble in the distance. Lorne’s heart sank to his stomach. Not now, he begged the universe. Please, not now.
An ATV poked over a hill in the distance. Instead of turning and running along the patrol route the SEA had set up, the little madwoman on the back zipped straight toward them.
“The fuck is this?” Trent hissed.
Lorne heeled his horse forward, cutting off Trent from Sloan. “Nothing about you.”
“Damn right. I wouldn’t have any dealings with those traitors and murderers. Why the fuck are they near my land?”
“Near isn’t on,” Lorne muttered.
Crazy lion. He had his reasons, but damn. Keeping on with so much hate in his heart wasn’t doing him or his p
ride any good. Living next to a bunch of shifters ready to blow up made Lorne’s bear remember days with the Bennett clan. His inner beast wanted to get in on the ripping, roaring, clawing insanity.
Lorne ground his teeth together and shoved back on the creature looming large in his head.
“Fucking scum, that’s what they are. Murdering scum.” Trent’s voice dropped a note or ten, filling with gravel.
Lorne could hardly sort out her scent from the land and the growing agitation from the lions. As soon as she neared, unassuming smile on her face, he hopped off Nova. The horse was the first line of defense, blocking the view as much as possible. He was the next, slamming to a halt on his side of the barbed wire. “Don’t stop here.”
Her eyebrows shot together and caution clouded her scent. Her eyes darted over his shoulder. The stink of fur and dominance hung heavy in the air, but it must have been Trent’s growing growls that caught her attention.
Fuck. Last thing he needed was the lion bursting out of the man and taking a bite out of the human. Eating a SEA agent would be a sure way of eradicating the entire pride.
“Head toward the mountains. I’ll catch up. Don’t stop.” He swallowed hard. “Sloan, go.”
Miraculously, she wrenched the front end around and kicked the engine into action.
Lorne whipped back around to find Trent hunched over in his saddle, glaring murder at Sloan’s back. Bright amber eyes smoothly switched to him, at odds with the bent body of his human half. Man and beast fought with one another, and he didn’t need the sickly sweet scent of madness to tell him just how tenuously Trent held himself together.
His bear raged at him to let loose and put the crazed beast down. Mercy, it’d be. Ridding the world of a threat to his mate.
“Three percent. Don’t fuck me over, Bennett,” Trent snarled.
Lorne raised his hands slowly. “Three percent. Agreed.”
He waited until the lions wheeled around before letting go of his breath. The air clearing of baked earth and fur soothed his bear just enough to focus on the trail leading away from Crowley territory and closer to Black Claw lands.
Breaking Fate: Book Three: Black Claw Ranch Page 6