“All the time,” she corrected him.
He huffed a laugh and loosened his grip on her. “Yeah, all the time. I think maybe you should stay away from me, Emma.”
“More fireworks?”
“No. This one is a warning because you’re a friend. Maybe you’re the realest friend I’ve had, I don’t know. No one’s called me out before. No one’s seen through me. The best thing you can do for yourself is steer clear.”
Emma frowned and eased back to gauge the seriousness in his eyes. That answer? Dead serious.
He was so close, so warm. He smelled of cologne and laundry detergent. This was the first time she’d been all pressed against a big, strong man like this. Slowly, she slid her arms around his waist. He cocked his head in such a confused-dog fashion, she laughed.
“I don’t think friends hug like this,” he said, looking thoroughly troubled.
“Okay, let’s stop then.”
“No!” Dustin cleared his throat and said it again at a lower volume. “No, I think this is fine for just a minute longer. One minute, and then we let go because that would be crossing some friend line that would be totally gross.”
“Oh, completely gross. And besides, you’re not my type, Wolf. I like dark-headed immortals with cold skin and fangs. Not tall, strapping muscle men with tattoos of angel wings on their chest. What are those for anyway?”
“Does everything need a meaning? I got those to attract—”
“Don’t you say bitches.”
“—chicks.” He grinned cheekily. “Clearly it worked because I can basically feel your lady boner against me right now.”
“One of us has a boner, and it’s not me.” Emma cocked her eyebrow.
Dustin bit back a smile and leaned forward, hugged her harder against his chest as he lowered his lips to her ear. “We could be friends with benefits. Doggy style in the woods. You ever been with a shifter?”
“I don’t even like doggy style.”
“You would with me. My dick could change your life.”
“And there it is.” Emma shoved him hard in the chest as he cracked up.
Barking like a maniac, Gray Dog went blasting past them.
“Shit!” Dustin said, the humor fading from his face. “Gray Dog! Come back!”
They both bolted down the dirt road after the dog, but gads, he was fast. She fell behind quickly because, apparently, Dustin had rockets for shoes. And by the time she reached the clearing, and him, she was winded and her legs burned like she’d just finished a marathon instead of a thirty-yard sprint.
“Why’d you stop?” she wheezed out, hands over her head so she could catch her breath easier.
“Because of that,” he said in a strange tone, pointing to a doublewide trailer sitting on a concrete slab. No, not at the trailer, but at a furious-looking Dark Kane who stood in front of it, petting Gray Dog, and glaring at Dustin with pure murder in his green dragon eyes.
Chapter Four
“Dustin, he’s coming this way,” Emma murmured. She scanned the clearing, but Rowan wasn’t here to stop Dark Kane, and neither were Winter or Logan. Shit.
Dustin pushed Emma behind him as Kane strode toward them with unnatural grace. The air filled with a noise she’d only heard in a dinosaur movie. Dustin backed them slowly toward the road, blocking her view completely with his wide shoulders.
“I can explain.”
“Dustin Porter, bottom of the Valdoro pack. Attempted murderer of Lexi of the Bloodrunners and assumed murderer of my dog. I’ve hunted you for months, and then low and behold, your dumb ass shows up on my doorstep asking to get in my crew.”
What the fuck was going on? Emma clutched onto Dustin’s shirt as he moved her backward.
“Do you know how fucking hard it was for me not to burn you to nothing when I first saw you? Do you?” Dark Kane bellowed.
A crack formed in the ground, splitting the earth between her feet.
“I didn’t hunt Lexi. I ducked out before the hunt began against my brother’s orders. I couldn’t do it. My punishment for abandoning an order was to kill your dog. Axton thought you would catch me, kill me, or I don’t know, but I couldn’t kill Gray Dog, so I stole him instead. I didn’t have a choice! It was get rid of him, or my alpha would take a pound of my flesh. Stop!” Dustin yelled, holding out one hand. With his other, he gripped Emma’s hip so hard it hurt. “I brought him back because I want to be part of this crew.”
“Change,” Kane said in a low, dangerous voice.
“Wait, wait, wait,” Emma murmured, sidling around Dustin.
He tried to stop her, but she shook him off and put both hands out to keep distance between the two men. God, she wished Rowan was here. And Winter, Logan, and Beast because she wasn’t equipped for this. Dustin was saying something behind her that she couldn’t make out since her hearing aids only projected the rumbling sound that emanated from Kane. His black hair was flipped over to the right, exposing long scars on the side of his head, and his green dragon eyes were completely empty.
“Please, Kane, just listen. Dustin’s trying to get away from his pack. Look at his neck! Look at it! His own brother tried to kill him last night.”
“Change,” Kane demanded again, and even Emma—frail human Emma—could feel the power pulse within that order.
When an awful cracking sound echoed through the clearing, Dustin grunted in pain. The air was sparking with something she didn’t understand. The hairs raised on the back of her neck as she turned slowly. A pitch black wolf stood there, legs splayed, white razor-sharp teeth bared, eyes blazing blue and green. He was so monstrously big he was almost eye-level with Emma.