Dustin stabbed Logan in the hand with a fork. Obviously he had a death wish. Winter and Rowan weren’t laughing anymore, but instead pushed against Logan’s chest as he stood. Idiots were gonna make the news again. Kiera lifted the newspaper she’d been hiding behind up higher to cover her smile.
The sexy berserker shook his head as if he’d seen this game too many times and didn’t care to play anymore. He went back to eating, even as Dustin and Logan locked up over the table. Food went flying when the whole thing scooted hard across the floor, but the pretty man only lifted his tray with a tired sigh. And then slowly, he turned his head and looked directly at Kiera.
She was horrified by what she saw. The other side of his face was ruined, scarred with deep, red claw marks that stretched from his hairline to his jaw, missing his eye by mere millimeters. But that wasn’t the most terrifying thing that struck her. This was a two-parter. One, his eyes were the glowing gold of a lion shifter, and two, she recognized him. Beast—the nightmare of her people. Or who her people should’ve been had her own lioness not been stripped from her in Apex.
Terrified, Kiera gasped and jerked the newspaper in front of her face. He’d cut his hair. That’s why she hadn’t recognized him. He used to wear it longer. He used to be the poster boy for the perfect male lion shifter specimen, and then he’d gone insane. He’d gone dangerous. He’d killed his pride.
Fuck. She needed to go. She couldn’t do this. Not if Beast was in this crew. Kiera was in trouble, but not that much. This was like jumping from one boiling hot pot of water into an active volcano. Nope. She stood so fast the bench seat behind her nearly toppled over. When she dropped the newspaper, Beast was there, sitting across the table from her eating as though he’d been there for an hour. “Sit,” he growled.
Oh, she wanted to obey him, which pissed her off. He wasn’t her alpha. She didn’t even have an animal anymore, so this dominance bullshit wasn’t going to work on her. “Fuck you,” she spat out. Then she turned to leave. God, it was hard giving the monster her back. It went against every screaming instinct she had.
“Alana’s Coffee Shop, the Outdoor Center, Drat’s three times, Cork and Bean Bistro, Wanda’s Waffle House, the grocery store for every beer run Kane’s made in the last month, and River’s Edge. Twice.”
Kiera froze. He’d just listed every place she’d watched the Blackwing Crew. Slowly, she turned and dared a look into his hollow, golden eyes.
Beast arched his blond brows and repeated sternly, “Sit.”
She cast a quick, calculating glance at the Blackwings in the back corner. They weren’t fighting anymore. They were staring at her. And Dark Kane wore a frown. If he didn’t recognize her yet, he was going to work it out soon.
Carefully, Kiera sat, placing Beast’s massive shoulders between her and the alpha of the Blackwings. She wasn’t ready to deal with Kane. Maybe she never would be.
“How did you know I was following them?”
“Stalking,” Beast corrected around a bite of brisket sandwich. “Call it what it is, little human with the strange-colored eyes. I like to stalk to. You’ve been fun.”
Shit. She shouldn’t have sat. Beast’s mouth was sexy when he ate. Stop it. It was the hormones talking. He was a murderer. The air was like water, drowning her with each breath she tried to drag into her lungs.
Beast gulped the bite and leaned his elbows on the table with a bang. His blazing eyes tightened at the corners. “Why are you watching the D-Team?”
“The D-Team?” If she hadn’t been terrified, she would’ve laughed. Of course, Kane’s crew was called the D-Team.
Beast cocked his head thoughtfully. “What’s wrong with you? You smell sick, or…something.”
“That’s none of your business, and you won’t have to worry about me trailing your D-Team anymore. I’m leaving tonight.”
His nostrils flared slightly as he inhaled, and his frown deepened. “Probably best. The gig’s up and all. The Blackwings will have your scent memorized now, so stalking won’t work.”
Kiera stood to leave, but he grabbed her hand suddenly. A burst of heat shocked right through his fingertips and jolted up her arm. “Why are you so scared?” he asked.
Right now? There were a dozen different reasons, but none she wanted to admit to this murderer. Kiera yanked her hand out of his grasp and rubbed the tingling skin where he’d touched her.
“Is it because of the scars?” he asked frankly, but he shook his head and answered his own question. “No, it’s not that. You’ve barely looked at them. You’ve stayed right in my eyes. You smell scared, but you hold my gaze. Human instincts warn you I’m dangerous, but then you hold my gaze. No one does that. Why you?”
“Maybe I’m a broken human.”
Beast cocked his head. “Truth.”
I’m scared because I know who you are. The words were right there on her tongue, but uttering them would get her killed by this man. He was hiding in Kane’s Mountains for a reason, and that reason was rivers of blood on his hands. Her death would mean nothing to him. It wouldn’t be a black mark on his soul because it was already dark as pitch.
“Kiera?” Kane asked loudly. He was standing now, his eyes sparking with recognition, and, oh shit, she could not do this. It was way past time to go.
She spun and strode for the door, threw it open, and sprinted for her black El Camino. She’d merely heard her name uttered from her old friend’s lips, and already her heart was shredding to pieces. She should have never come to find Kane. She should’ve just let the past die. Kiera pressed her hand over her fluttering stomach and yanked her driver’s side door open. But before she could get in, the door slammed out of her hands, and the El Camino rocked as Dustin settled into the bed. Beast stood with his giant hand splayed on the door and a snarl in his throat. Someone spun her around and pulled her into a back-breaking hug. Kane smelled just the same.