“Winter.”
“Of Nowhere, I heard. Are you one of Ben’s panthers?”
“You know Ben?”
“I met him once. Kane knows him better.”
“What the fuck, man?” Kane yelled in a muffled voice through the wall. “You’ve done some dumb shit since I’ve known you, Ryder, but this is next level messed-up. I don’t want a crew.”
“But you have a crew, registered and everything,” Ryder argued.
“I have Rowan. She’s all I need. I’m not cut out to be a real alpha, or have you lost sight of that completely? God Ryder, have you seen me Changed lately? I don’t have perfect control, not outside of Damon’s facility, and now I’m supposed to build a crew under me? To protect? Fuck! You way overstepped on this one, man.”
“You’re freaking out—”
“Damn straight I’m freaking out! I’ve lived my whole life in the shadows. My whole life, and now I’m trying to build a friendship with the Bloodrunners, trying to be a good mate for Rowan, and trying to be a normal, decent—fuck! I’m the End of Days, Ryder. I don’t need a crew under me. I need as little stress on my dragon as possible. I don’t even like people!”
“You like me!”
“You forced me to! You with your surprise moonshine visits and fourth-best-friend talk, and…and…matching keychains, and Beer Fridays, and invites, and social media pictures, and hashtag-bro-dates, and aaaaaaaah!”
When Kane’s yell tuned into a roar, Winter whimpered and hunched into herself. Rowan nodded and put her hand out in a comforting gesture that said everything was all right, but everything did not feel all right. The air was nearly un-breathable, and the house was vibrating with a power she’d never felt before. Discreetly, Winter leaned forward and pressed her palm onto the cool wood floors. The house was actually vibrating from Kane’s rage.
“Winter of Nowhere, come in here,” Ryder called.
“Who?” Kane asked in a gravelly demon voice. “And who the fuck are you calling?”
“Winter! I need you!”
Hell no, she didn’t want to go in there. Kane was rattling the house, and she’d seen his dragon on TV. Fire breathing beast that looked like he was from Hell itself, nope!
“It’s ringing,” Ryder said. “Winter move them legs, woman!”
“Oh, my gosh,” she murmured as she forced her feet to move in the direction of the office. “I’ll be okay, right?” Winter asked Rowan as she passed, desperate for her terror to be put at ease.
Rowan shrugged. “Probably.”
“What?” she whisper-screamed. But then Ryder appeared out of the open doorway and dragged her inside as Ben’s voice came over the speaker of his phone. “Hello?”
Winter couldn’t take her eyes of Kane’s enraged face. She was gonna die today, right here in the lair of the dark dragon. She pressed herself against the wall as flat as she could make herself, and for the first time in her life wished her tits were smaller.
“This is Ryder. And Winter. And”—Ryder gave Kane a significant look—“Dark Kane. Kane, you remember Ben.”
Kane’s face went completely slack as he took a step back as though he’d been hit. “Ben?” he asked.
Ryder had the phone on speaker and was holding it out in front of him. Slowly, Kane approached, limping only slightly now. “Is it really you?”
“Yeah, man. It’s me.” Ben sounded tired, defeated even. “It’s been a long time.”
“I looked for you after…after…”
“I know. I didn’t want to be found.”
Kane exhaled a shaky breath and ran his hands through his dark hair, smoothing the longer tresses on top away from his face.
“You’ll fight being alpha,” Ben said low. “I know you will, but it’s something you need that you don’t realize you need. I was the same way and wanted to push everyone away after I lost my animal, but when I got him back, he needed something to stay good for. Do you understand?”
“I have Rowan. I have the Bloodrunners.”
“You’ll watch Rowan wither without a crew, and it’ll make the dragon unmanageable. She’s a Gray Back, man.”
“No, she’s a Blackwing,” Kane gritted out, locking his arms on the desk and staring at a cork board of pinned, scribbled notes.
“But she was raised in Damon’s Mountains around other people. Around other shifters. And even if she could deal with the loneliness, you can’t. Your dragon needs anchors, Kane. He needs reasons to not burn the world to the ground when shit gets hard, and it will get hard. No more hiding, you’re out there now. A problem shifter with black marks on your permanent record, in the news, in the media, speculated heavily about. You didn’t want fame, I get that, but that little public dragon battle has landed you right at the top of everyone’s attention. Not only does a crew need you for protection, but if you and Rowan get to breeding, you’ll need them, too. Do you understand what I’m telling you?”
“Yes.” Kane’s voice broke on the word. He stood up straight and linked his hands behind his head. “Is Winter yours?”
“I’m hoping she’ll be a Blackwing if you find she fits. She’s good. A loyal one, but unpledged to any crew. This is me vouching for her.”
“You calling in a favor?” Kane asked.
“Nah, brother. It’s me who owes you. You were there for me when my brother died. You were there for me all those months in Apex. Winter is a gift. Not me begging a favor.”
Kane narrowed his eyes at Winter and let off an explosive sigh. “If I decide to add to my crew, I’ll consider her.”
Ben murmured, “It’s good to hear your voice again, Kane. Good to know you’re okay after…well…everything.”
Kane’s frown deepened. “You too, Ben.”
Ryder was smiling at Kane with the mushiest expression in existence when he ended the call.
“Shut up, man,” Kane muttered as he strode past them both and exited the room. “We’re still not okay.”
Ryder dragged Winter out of the room with him, following on the heels of the dragon.
Kane paced in front of the kitchen. “Roe, what do I do?”
“Make the decision to add to our crew or not. As Second and as your mate, I’ll back your play.”
“What do you want?” he asked, approaching her. He placed his hands on her hips and rested his forehead on hers in such an intimate moment, Winter’s cheeks heated with a blush. “Roe, do you need a crew?”
Rowan clutched his shirt and kissed him gently. “I need whatever makes you happiest.”
Kane sighed and eased back, leaned his shoulders against the refrigerator and rocked his head back until he was staring at the rafters of the ceiling. “Winter will be my first interview, but this doesn’t mean I’m adding to the crew—and stop clapping, you asshole,” he griped at Ryder, who was in fact performing a victory slow-clap. “We’ll see how I feel about this after all the interviews are done. If my instinct is to keep my crew how it is, just me and Roe, then that’s what’ll happen. And no pressure from you,” he barked out, jamming a finger at Ryder as he passed. “Roe, Second or not, you have just as much say as me.” Kane threw open the front door and strode out onto the porch. “Listen up!” he yelled over the chaos and noise. “I will be taking interviews for my Blackwing Crew, but my decisions will be slow or none-at-all. It could take months for the final applicants to be fully considered, so if you’re in this for the quick pledge, fuck off.”
A few muttering shifters in the back spun and made their way back up the road.
Kane didn’t seem to care at all because he continued. “Also, my territory is small, just a few mountains, so if I accept a crew, it will also be small. And I’m not going to be floating you. While you are going through the interview process, you will find your own job and lodging—”
“That’s not how a crew works!” one of the shifters called out.
“It’s how my crew works.” Kane pointed to the gravel road. “If you don’t like it, I trust you’re smart enough to remem
ber where you parked your car.” He slammed his hands down onto the railing and locked his arms against it. “Moving on! If you get through this grueling interview process, and if I decide to pick up a couple members, and if you make the final cut, I still won’t be floating you. There’s a level stretch of land up the road I will make available for trailers, built to my specifications, which you will be paying for. And if you ever decide to leave my crew for any reason, you will forfeit said trailer, no matter how much of an investment you put into it. Is that understood?”
“Fuck this,” another muttered, and several more turned and left.
None of this scared Winter off, though. It all sounded fair, and she liked the way Kane said it like it was. He reminded her of Ben, just way more terrifying.
Winter stood in the doorway, stunned to be on this side of the speech, eyes trolling for Logan, hoping he wasn’t one of the leavers. He wasn’t. He stood front and center, arms crossed, lips pursed thoughtfully as he nodded his head as though he thought the same thing she did. Sounded reasonable enough.
And for the first time in months, she looked forward to something. She looked forward to the challenge that lay ahead. From the small amount she’d seen of Kane, he wasn’t an easy man to befriend. He would pick the best of the best here, the cream of the crop, the best combination of shifters that would mesh with his crew, and she suddenly hoped she would be one of them.
And she hoped Logan would be, too.
She would never admit it out loud, but Logan and Kane had just given her the most beautiful distraction from the shit-storm happening with Brody back in Red Havoc.
Chapter Four
When fifteen remained, Logan couldn’t help but think Air Ryder’s antics were either really stupid, or he was a secret genius. By not telling Kane he had advertised for a Blackwing Crew, the crowd had been witness to his violent reaction.
Kane had weeded out half the applicants by smashing faces and daring them to stay in his territory. And that shifter didn’t make idle threats either. Logan had met few who he hated turning his back on during a fight, but Dark Kane was certainly one of them. He’d opened himself up to a fist to the face and this split lip in an effort to keep Kane in his peripheral. And he was fighting with him, not against him.
Yep, Kane was just what he needed. He wouldn’t pussy out when it came time to put Logan where he belonged. Not like his last alpha. Fucker still made him mad for not following through. Any last shred of respect had been stamped out like a tiny sidewalk weed when Trey had refused to put Logan down. So here he was, trying to hold onto his steady long enough to make it into the Blackwing Crew so Kane would have a reason to give him an honorable end. So he could go with dignity.
Fuck, Winter was cute. All destroyed-looking like a little lost kitten who’d been through a pit bull fight and survived. Logan was having trouble paying attention to Dark Kane’s speech because she was standing in the doorway, her eyes glowing gold like the fucking sexy big-cat she had tucked away inside of her. He hoped she was a panther, but she would make one helluva lioness, too. That little hiss she’d given him was about the sexiest thing he’d ever heard. Her hair, nipple-length and unbrushed with a few blond highlights grown out by inches, was straight down her shoulders. She was maybe six inches shorter than him, fit but curvy with those big titties that would feel perfect cupped in his hands.
Logan clenched his teeth. He shouldn’t be thinking of her like this. She was a person, and from the ghosts in her eyes, she was going through hell right now. And why else would she be here? Two black-marked dragons heading up a crew? They would only attract the broken. That much was clear from the scent of sickness he smelled on the remaining shifters. No one was going to put up with this much effort to pledge to a crew if they weren’t desperate.
Hell, that’s why he was here.
Winter’s eyes were on him again. Gold as the sun and surrounded by dark lashes, and she had a tiny, slightly crooked nose that said she snarled up one side of her lip too much. She looked tough. A green fitted T-shirt over black skinny jeans all ripped to hell, and black combat boots on her feet with the shoelaces undone. Her outfit was at total odds with the big-ass fancy purse she carried.
Logan canted his head and dragged his attention to those perfect tits she had stuffed into a push-up bra. He was usually really good at assessing someone in a glance. That’s what he’d been trained to do. Winter, however, was an unreadable enigma.
“You got fuck-me eyes, Bear,” Dustin said from beside him. He shoved Logan in the shoulder.
Kill him.
Logan took a careful step away from Dustin. Fuckin’ werewolf was going to rile the monster and end his own life with one more of those stupid touches of his. Wolves were too damn feely for his animal’s taste. If it was up to his inner bear, Logan would eat the entirety of the werewolf race and make the world a better place, but here in the dark dragon’s territory, he had to play nice. Eating the competition would probably be frowned upon by Dark Kane and his sweet mate.
Logan almost snorted. He’d just thought of a dragon shifter as sweet? She’d just blown fire at one of the idiots who charged her mate. She was no pushover, but Logan could just about taste the sweetness wafting from her.
Winter wasn’t so sweet. He bet she could tear him up in the bedroom. He would’ve let her, too, if his bear was okay to sleep with a woman. He wasn’t, though, so Logan was stuck in hell as the eternal masturbator. God, he needed Kane to kill him quickly. Beast smelled sickest of all. He was too damn close and set Logan’s bear on edge. That, and Kane gestured Winter back into the house and out of Logan’s sight. Something about that made him want to pull the same shit that bear had and charge the Blackwing alpha. Kane smelled sick, too. This crew was fucked.
Kill him.
Who? Who the fuck was his bear even telling him to kill now? Just another psychotic day in the life of Logan Furrow.
He missed Winter. Missed staring at her. Missed the push-up bra. Missed smelling her. How long were these interviews supposed to last?
“Dude, stop it,” Dustin said from where he was pissing beside the house. He gave him a narrow-eyed glance over his shoulder as he jiggled piss droplets from his dick. “Cool it with the growling. No one is even standing near you.”
Was he growling? Shit. Beast was staring, his fists clenched and his nose all scrunched up as though he was half shifted already. Logan crossed his arms even tighter over his chest and swallowed the snarl.
Dustin was zipping up his pants now.
“You know there are cameras, right?” Logan pointed to one in the tree and one on the porch.
Dustin shrugged like it made no matter to him. “What’ll Dark Kane see? Me marking my territory, big fuckin’ deal.”
Logan huffed a breath at his stupidity. “Well, good luck not getting eaten,” he muttered as the werewolf passed him by and picked up a discarded application.
“Oh, he won’t eat me. I’m a shoo-in for his crew.”
“Why?” Beast grunted.
“Because,” Dustin said nonchalantly. “I have something the dragon wants.” And with that, he loped over to the log seats again and began filling out his application.
Moron couldn’t have anything Kane wanted. No one did but his mate, Rowan. Anyone with eyes or senses could tell that Kane was a broken but simple man with simple needs. Rowan likely met every one of them, or he wouldn’t be so pissed at having to do interviews in the first place. A crew needed Kane, but he didn’t need a crew.
He’d liked the way Winter hadn’t been able to take her gaze away from him. Liked the way her pupils got all small when she stared. Liked how she made him want to…want to…
Logan frowned. She made him want to do something he hadn’t wanted to do in a long time. Protect someone. Protect her and, in a way, protect that mousy human, Emma, because Winter had been standing protectively in front of her during the fight, like the girl meant something to her. Like she would’ve been hurt if Emma had ended up in the fray.
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He should’ve been paying attention and keeping the idiot mob away from Dark Kane, but time after time, he’d looked over at Winter to make sure she was out of the way and safe.
Stupid. She could take care of herself. She was a panther. Or a lion. Either way, she didn’t need some broken man to be her make-shift hero. And besides, he was too damn dark to be anyone’s hero. He was a nightmare instead.
“What’s taking so long?” he murmured to Beast, who was mirroring his posture, staring at the front door ten yards away from them.
Beast grunted like a caveman.
“Dude,” Dustin called. “They’ve been in there for ten seconds. Don’t get in too big a rush to get rejected.”
Logan wanted to kick Dustin’s teeth in.
He picked up one of the fluttering applications blowing along the ground, but the front door opened up and Winter stood there, wide-eyed. Was she frightened?
Kill him.
“Rejected already?” Dustin asked.
“No,” she said in that pretty bell-tone that said she could probably carry a tune. “Kane told me to stick around for group interviews. Logan, you’re up.”
He’d watched her lips form his name, and as she walked up to him, he had this overwhelming urge to kiss her quick so he could taste the lingering word on her lips. He stood frozen as she did something he hadn’t expected in a million years. She gripped his shirt in a clenched fist and bumped her shoulder against his chest, rubbed her arm from one side of his ribcage to the other like he wasn’t some terrifying animal. “Affectionate kitty,” he whispered mindlessly. She’d made him drunk on her closeness. He wanted to fuck her in the woods.
Logan closed his eyes and held his breath until she released him, and when he opened them again, she looked just as confused as he felt. That, and she was standing ten feet away from him still on the porch.
She hadn’t touched him at all. He’d just imagined it.
Kill him.
“Shut the fuck up,” he gritted out to his bear.
Winter looked hurt.
“Not you!” He flung the application like a Frisbee and flinched his gaze away from the pain in her eyes.