Chapter Four

Lee wanted to tear something to pieces.

Who was he kidding? He wanted to tear apart whoever had messed up Danny’s stuff. Shit, he could understand why some of the pack might not be pleased with the relationship he, Danny and Heather had created, but it wasn’t the wolf way to sneak around and hide if you had a beef.

Any wolf knew he had to issue a challenge face to face, so this guy was a fucking coward. Bastard.

He stomped the mud and slush off his boots before stepping up onto Logan ’s porch. The head wolf lived on the very edge of nowhere, in a great old frame ranch house. It was always welcoming, even if the man himself was not.

Sometimes Logan got a little grumpy. Lee figured he had a right, the way he had to take care of everyone all the damned time. Man had yet to find a mate to work the frustrations out with, too. That had to suck big, hairy donkey balls.

Lee didn’t even have to knock. Logan met him at the door, his nose already working. His forehead wrinkled up. “Smells like… Smells familiar. Come in, man.” They went inside, Logan taking the bag from him. “You want a beer?”

“Hell, yes. I feel bad, leaving Heather and Dan like this, but I need to calm down.”

“Of course you do. They’re yours and someone threatened them.”

Lee nodded, sighing a little. Logan got it, didn’t think he was overreacting and all. Didn’t ask him if maybe it was about Dan’s roommate.

“I want a piece of him. Who is he?”

Logan opened the bag. “He’s definitely one of ours, but I don’t know which one, not for sure, anyway. There are some older males who only come in once in a blue moon. I know the scent, though.”

“Damn.” That fucking sucked. One of their own fucking pack. Lee had grown up in Wolf Creek. He thought he knew everyone. If he didn’t, his parents did. Jesus.

“Yeah.”

“So, what do we do?”

“Well, you and your pair will have to sit tight. I’ll get a crew together that I trust and start looking for this guy.”

“Not good enough.” That wasn’t gonna work. Lee wanted to hunt this guy himself.

“What?” Logan had these amazing eyes. Light brown, with green flecks. They flashed when Logan growled, moving toward Lee, a hand coming up super-fast to grasp him by the neck.

“Damn it, Logan. These are my mates.”

Logan shook him a little, squeezing until Lee coughed. “You’re pissing people off, Lee. I’m not saying they’re right, I just think you need to step back and think.” Lee tried to speak, but Logan cut him off with another squeeze. “You’re going to go home and protect them while I figure this out.”

He stared into Logan ’s eyes, finally sighing and nodding.

Logan let him go, then pulled him close for a bruising hug. “You know you’re special to me, Lee. I will get this guy.”

“I know. I just…”

“You and Heather are really into this Danny, huh?”

“Yeah.” Lee shrugged. “I don’t know why, because he should be just another one of Heather’s one-offs. He’s got something, though.”

“You mean he likes to fuck.”

“That, too.” Chuckling, he clapped Logan on the back. “It’s more, though. He fits.”

“Uh-huh. What happens when you and Heather start having babies?”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” They’d all thought about it. He and Heather had talked about it. “I still have to talk to Heather’s folks about how I want her because I adore her, not because we’re betrothed from childhood or some shit.”

Talking to Logan about it had been sort of anticlimactic. Logan just stared at him, then shook his head and said, “Duh.” Logan snorted. “She’s so human sometimes.”

“The girls always are.” They shared a look of complete commiseration. “What about you? Anything on the lady front?”

“Not yet.” Logan let him go and stepped back. “Sooner or later the girl will come along who doesn’t care about my status, huh?”

“I guarantee it. Heather sure doesn’t give a shit about mine.”

“Yeah? That must be a good thing.”

“It is.” It had never occurred to Lee that Logan might be lonely, but he guessed they all had their secrets. Every once in awhile he remembered to be grateful for Heather, who just laid it all out on the line, no bullshit. Games, yes. Bullshit, no.

“What about Danny?”

Lee laughed out loud, feeling better, more even. “He doesn’t know enough about pack politics to know I have status. He thinks I’m just a hot redneck. His mom and dad are, like, pack separatists.”

“You think they were turned, not born?”

Was that possible? “Can turned wolves have a wolf baby?”

“Absolutely.” Logan sounded pretty sure, and the alpha was the keeper of all the lore and shit.

“Well, maybe, then. They’re all citified.”

“That’s unnatural.” Logan went to the kitchen and pulled two beers out of the fridge. “Sit with me and have that beer?”

The scent of Logan suddenly completely overwhelmed the bits of leather in the bag Lee had brought with him. “Is that all we’re having?” Lee asked, moving in close again to grab one bottle.

“I won’t press, but I won’t say no to helping you blow off some steam.”

Lee might have felt guilty about that as well, but he’d been raised in the pack. Logan was the alpha. When the alpha wanted you, it was kind of impossible to say no. The mating drive took over in a hurry. He set his beer on the counter, grabbing Logan ’s and putting it aside too. “I like to blow. You know that, huh?”

Logan ’s expression turned feral, and he reached out to grab Lee’s belt buckle, making Lee’s pulse race. “I do.”

“Then we’ll get to catching this guy, huh?”

“You know it, Lee. I protect my own.”

That was the God’s honest truth, and Lee was glad of it. He only hoped that if he ever led his own pack, he would do half as good a job.

Chapter Five

Heather cooked.

She wasn’t a great lover of fine dining or anything, but she could make bacon and eggs, and rage left her wanting to eat. She beat the hell out of half a dozen eggs, watching the yolks and whites come together to make a gooey mess.

“You okay, babe?” Danny slid up behind her, his arms going around her waist.

It cracked her shit up that he called her and Lee both “babe,” just like Lee called them both “baby.” Boys. So predictable. “I’m all right.” Luckily, she hadn’t turned the heat on under the pan she’d laid the bacon out in, or she might have started to burn something. Danny was getting grabby hands. “What about you?”

“I’m mad. I would have been scared a while ago, but right now, I’m mad. I wanted to be able to look forward to our first moon together, not worry about the Boogeyman.”

“Yeah.” Yeah, that was it exactly. She wanted to tear something apart with her teeth, damn it. Danny deserved to run with the pack.

“Where the hell is Lee, anyway?”

Heather snorted. “Fucking Logan.”

“What?” Danny recoiled just enough for her to turn and face him.

“Don’t get all indignant. Logan is the alpha. That’s the way it works. Besides, your ass will thank Logan later for letting Lee get all that aggression out. He’s a bear when he’s pissy.”

“Shouldn’t that be a wolf?”

“Ha.” She whapped his chest, right above his nipple. “I’m sorry, Dan.”

“For what?” His eyebrows went up, his mouth quirking a little.

“For getting all your stuff messed up. I mean, if I hadn’t hooked up with you…”

“I blame Lee.” She started, and Danny laughed, his eyes twinkling. “Think about it. You’ve flirted with a lot of guys. Maybe more. Lee was the one who decided to keep me.”

“True.” Huh. She’d never thought of it that way. Call her shallow, but it helped with the guilt. “Sweet. Wanna neck?”

“God, yes.”

Half hour later they were still on the couch, kissing slowly, taking comfort from the touch, when Lee came in. It hadn’t gotten wild and hot. It was just being close.