Dustin went off on a pervy tirade, and Emma bumped her shoulder, but Winter couldn’t take her eyes from the slight flush of red that crept up Logan’s neck and landed in his cheek. He was embarrassed, but he’d said it anyway. He’d given her a compliment in front of everyone, and now her cheeks were heating, too, but not with embarrassment.
With pleasure.
Chapter Eleven
“This is a disaster,” Logan muttered from where he lay on his back in a pile of warm horse shit.
His mighty steed was running full-speed away from Logan like he was in a race for the back gate of the massive corral. Beast was trying to approach a horse that had pinned itself into a corner out of fear and was kicking its back legs. Dustin was hunched over, clutching his arm, which looked to be pulled from the socket while his paint horse was charging after Logan’s, and Winter was up on a bucking bronco, holding onto the saddle-horn for dear life while the handlers at Smokemont Riding Stables were trying to settle the beast.
Logan narrowed his eyes at Emma, who was prancing around the arena like a goddamned professional barrel racer.
They were all screwed but the human.
A pretty blond in sparkly-pocketed jeans and a plaid button-up shirt offered her hand. “Let me help you up.”
One, Logan didn’t want to take his eyes off Winter right now, and two, he didn’t much like touch. The mouse wouldn’t have been able to lift him up anyway, so he stood on his own and dusted dirt off his jeans. The back of his T-shirt was rank, so he peeled it off carefully, but then realized his mistake when Blondie looked at him as though she wanted to shove one-dollar bills down his underwear. Fuck, he forgot how horny humans got over nudity, and now he was feeling vulnerable. Not enough to put the crap-stained shirt back on, though.
Winter’s eyes flashed his way, and with a little scream, she dismounted. And by dismounted he meant she flung herself off the bucking horse and landed with cat-like grace on both feet. And now she was stomping his way like a sexy little hellion. Logan bit his lip against the accidental smile promising to wreck his face. If Winter’s smoky-eyed glare was anything to go by, Blondie better run.
“I don’t understand why the horses are actin’ like this,” she said to Winter as she approached. “We’ll get y’all a refund, and maybe you can try to come back another day when the horses are settled. Maybe there’s a snake slitherin’ around their stalls, rilin’ ’em up or somethin’.”
Winter’s smile didn’t reach her eyes but she was polite as hell. She parted her lips as if she would say something cordial, but a harsh hiss sounded from her. Eyes wide, Winter clapped her hand over her mouth as Logan belted out a surprised laugh.
“This isn’t funny!” Dustin called from where he leaned against the fence, all red-faced and sweaty. His arm was flopping around, obviously out of its socket, and now Beast was stalking him like a lion on an injured wildebeest. Shit.
Big old dominant shifters got some unfortunate instincts when they were around other injured predator shifters. Their animals wanted to attack. Hell, Logan was having trouble keeping his bear from ripping out of him and putting Dustin out of his misery right here in front of everyone. Too many human eyes on them, though, and he definitely didn’t want to die of old age in some shifter prison.
“’Scuse us,” he muttered, pulling Winter behind him. Hell, she seemed to be able to tame over-muscled, under-sexed dominants. She’d been working wonders on his bear all day and had kept him and Beast from murdering each other yesterday. She was basically a monster-whisperer.
Beast was getting closer to Dustin, walking faster, hands clawed up and eyes bright gold.
“Beast, stop!” Emma yelled from atop her bay horse.
Beast did not stop. In fact, he sped up as if he needed to attack before someone stopped him.
“No, no, no!” Dustin yelled, good arm out as he sidled down the fence.
Logan muttered a curse and sprinted to cut him off, was able to push him back and off-course but Beast was determined. For the effort, Logan got a fist to the freaking eye. Pain blasted through his skull, and he scrambled to hold onto Beast’s waist. Squinting out of his good eye, he could see Winter struggling to pop Dustin’s arm back into place. She was yelling at him to, “Stay still!” but Dustin was howling at the pain because Winter apparently didn’t have a gentle touch when she was panicked.
“Hurry,” Logan grunted, tackling Beast to the ground.
As he hit Beast across the jaw to try and rattle him out of his hunt, Emma sprinted by. Dustin was snarling too damn loud, and Winter was going to get bit. If Emma did, she’d be turned into a psychopath werewolf, so Logan barked out, “Emma, get back!”
She ignored him like a champ and held Dustin’s good shoulder. She gestured to Winter, walking her through some professional-sounding steps to get the arm back in the socket as if she’d done it a hundred times.
Almost done.
Beast slammed him into the dirt and whaled on him, but okay. This was better than him murdering Dustin in front of these humans.
But his bear was enjoying this too damn much.
Kill him.
Logan shook his head hard to punish the animal, to dislodge the visions flashing across his mind of another battle—one where he’d challenged a head-sick tiger shifter and put him down. Troy. Troy’s name was a black mark on his soul.
Beast’s face morphed into the dark-haired tiger shifter’s face that haunted his dreams, then back to Beast’s face. To Troy’s features, and then back.