That woman saw the good in everything, and everyone. Made no sense after all she’d been through, but thank God she was stronger than he was.
His stomach soured with every inch he drove toward Kane’s cabin. This felt like more than just anger over a fight at the stables. It was too disproportionate. Shifters fought. So what?
He parked in the yard, and they piled out. Dustin dry-heaved in the side yard, which meant he was feeling the darkness as bad as Logan was. Emma even looked worried and was rubbing the gooseflesh on her arms.
Logan wanted to wait for Winter because he didn’t like her out of his sight when the danger was level-red like this. But Kane yanked open the door and barked out, “Get in here.”
Dustin muttered a curse and flashed Logan a worried look before the wolf led the way into the lair of the dark dragon.
Kane locked his arms on the kitchen table and glared at the cell phone he had resting on the polished surface.
“Are you even listening to us?” a deep voice asked over the speaker phone.
A threatening rumble emanated from Kane and rattled the house. “Careful,” he warned.
“You’re too loud, too out there. You aren’t the only shifters in the Smokies, dragon. And I’m not just talking about the Bloodrunners. There are families there who have kept their lives small and out of the limelight for years, and then you drag all the fucked-up monsters of our species to you? The media is making our home into a circus. Get rid of them.”
The line went dead, and Kane chucked the phone at the wall in a blur. Emma winced as the phone exploded against the wall.
“Who was that?” Dustin asked, the humor drained from his voice for once.
“That would be Seth and Kyle of some Fuller Crew I didn’t even know about, who apparently have family too damn close to my territory for comfort.”
Winter and Beast walked in, stepping carefully and silently to stand beside Logan. Big cat shifters could do that, slink around without moving a single dust mote.
Kane rested his hands on his hips and glared at the floor, chest heaving. “Just so everyone knows, I didn’t want this. I didn’t want the attention. For fuck’s sake, I was hidden for most of my life, and now I’m under a magnifying glass. Now I have to manage the media, other shifters in the territory, and pick the right damn crew. I can barely manage my dragon! And now I’m supposed to be a good alpha?”
Yep, Kane was freaking out.
Looking exhausted, Rowan stood in the kitchen, her back resting against the counter, arms crossed over her chest. “You will be a good alpha,” she murmured low.
“I second that?” Logan said, lifting two fingers in the air. “You seem to care about being a good alpha a helluva lot more than my last alpha did. Victory.”
Kane narrowed his eyes to furious little slits. “Winter Donovan, can I see you in my office?”
When Dustin dry-heaved again, Logan almost felt bad for him. He was the most submissive one here, and a pissed-off alpha did a number on low-ranked animals. Rowan brought him a small wastebasket and told him to, “Put your head between your legs. It’ll get better when he settles down.”
“You better not puke in here,” Emma said. “Cowboy up, werewolf.”
“Shut up,” Dustin muttered, looking green around the edges.
Winter followed Kane down a hallway, but turned at the door to the office and cast Logan a worried look.
“You want me to go with you?” he asked immediately, his protective instincts blaring.
“I wouldn’t,” Rowan murmured softly.
She wasn’t all smiley and supportive today. In fact, she looked about as green as Dustin right now.
“What’s wrong?” Logan asked.
“I’m disappointed.”
“About the fight at the corral?” Emma asked. “They didn’t mean to. It’s just their natures. The horses weren’t cooperating, Dustin got hurt, and then Beast wanted to kill him, but it was like…soft murder, and we fixed it. I mean, Logan and Beast beat the everlovin’ shit out of each other, but nobody died.” Emma shrugged. “So that’s good.”
“I don’t care about the fight,” Rowan said. “I care about Kane.” Her eyes had gone hard on Logan, as if he’d done something wrong. But when he opened his mouth to ask, Winter came back out of the office looking completely dazed.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. And why did he feel like Changing? She didn’t seem to be in danger, but his bear wanted to protect her from what? Dust bunnies and Dustin’s dry-heave germs? Get a grip.
Winter lifted a small stack of papers and dragged those pretty gray eyes to his. They were full of some emotion he didn’t understand. “I was invited to register with the Blackwing Crew.”
“Great!” Dustin said, hugging his trashcan to his chest. “Blackwing invites. I’ll go next.”
“No, you won’t,” Kane ground out from where he leaned on the wall at the lip of the hallway. “No more invites are being offered.”
Rowan wouldn’t meet their eyes, and neither would Winter.
“I don’t understand.” Dustin stood. “Are you inviting the A-Team then?”
“No, I’m good with one crew member at this time,” Kane said, as his eyes flashed with some deep anger at Dustin. “I know who you are.” He arced his inhumanly bright gaze to Beast. “And you.” He did the same to Emma and then to Logan. “And now I know who you are.”