Tao was so close to punching the prick. When he’d seen the raven’s hand on her knee, he’d seen red. His temper was hot and easy to trigger at the best of times, but it was so much worse when he was on unfamiliar territory where there was someone who wanted the female he’d marked. It made him edgy and moodier than usual.
Mouth turned down, Sawyer inclined his head the tiniest bit. There was no envy in his expression, but his muscles were bunched as if he’d tensed to spring.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” Riley told Tao, rolling her eyes at the possessive nip he gave to her lip. Male posturing was so boring. “Be good.”
Tao watched her go, not looking away until she was safely inside the cabin. At that he raised a brow at Sawyer, who’d risen to his feet. “There a problem that brought you here?”
“No.” The word was hard as stone. “Riley and I were talking.”
“Ah, and here I thought that you were here on behalf of Cynthia. Don’t tell me she didn’t run straight to you about their little dispute.”
“She told me about it, yeah.”
“Maybe if you just assured Cynthia that you have no intention of trying to take Riley from me, she’d feel a whole lot better.”
Sawyer’s lips twitched. “Take Riley from you?” he echoed, amused. “Riley will never belong to anyone but Riley. You don’t know her at all if you think differently, wolf. She doesn’t tolerate possessiveness very well, you know.”
“Maybe she didn’t used to, or maybe she just didn’t tolerate it from guys she wasn’t possessive of in return.”
“And you think she’s possessive of you?”
“I have her brands all over my back, what do you think?”
“What about when she moves back here?” Sawyer challenged. “You can’t honestly say you’ll come with her.”
“Move back here? That’s not going to happen. She’s pack now.”
Dismissive, Sawyer snickered. “Bullshit.”
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think Cynthia had grounds to be paranoid that you still want Riley,” said Tao. “But then, Riley’s the type of female who can get into a guy’s head and stay there, isn’t she?” He took a step toward Sawyer. “I have a funny story to share with you. I went for a run in my wolf form last night. When I came back, I got a little . . . distracted by Riley, so it wasn’t until later that I remembered I’d left my clothes on the deck. I went to grab them, and they were gone, apart from my shoes. Then I noticed those.” He pointed to a tree, where strips of clothing were dangling from the branches.
Sawyer sighed. “I didn’t tear your damn clothes.”
“I believe you. At first I thought it might have been you. But I can see now just how pissed you are about the idea of me and Riley. If you’d been outside last night while the back door was open and I was fucking her on the kitchen floor, you’d have done more than rip my clothes. Or at least you’d have tried.”
Sawyer growled, eyes briefly flashing raven as the avian rose to the fore for a moment. Apparently the avian was also a little possessive of Riley.
“Ooh, temper, temper.” Tao grinned. “I’ll bet if it hadn’t rained a little last night, those strips would have your girlfriend’s scent on them.” Of course, there was a chance it had been Shirley, but his gut screamed otherwise. “You need to deal with her.”
“Cynthia was with me last night.”
Tao raised a brow. “All night?” He didn’t answer, and Tao smirked. “I didn’t think so.”
Sawyer stepped forward. “You took Riley on the kitchen floor? Let me ask you something. Have you taken her in the shower? The bathtub? How about against the wall? Tell me you’ve at least bent her over the—”
Tao slammed his fist hard into the bastard’s face.
“What the fuck is going on?” Riley rushed to Tao’s side. She’d been so shocked when Tao punched Sawyer that she’d almost dropped her unopened can of Mountain Dew.
Licking his split lip, Sawyer smiled. “Got a bit of a temper, haven’t you, Lukas?” he taunted, sounding smug. That was when Tao realized the bastard had wanted him to lose his shit.
Glaring at Sawyer, she demanded, “What the hell did you say to him? He was perfectly fine when I left.”
Still smiling, Sawyer shrugged innocently. “You know, Riley, you want to make sure he never turns that temper on you.”
Tao advanced on him. “You son of a—”
Riley slipped in front of Tao and planted a hand on his chest just as she scowled at Sawyer and snapped, “Get the fuck out of here, asshole!”
Looking very pleased with himself, Sawyer began to back away. “You used to have such sweeter things to say to me.”
Growling, Tao snatched the can out of her hand and threw it at Sawyer, but the raven was jogging away, retreating into the woods.
Riley spun to face Tao. “What the hell was that about?”
“He took me on a trip down memory lane,” Tao said through his teeth. “Told me how he’d had you in the shower, the bathtub, against the wall—”
“No, he hasn’t,” she scoffed. “He sensed you had a short fuse, so he antagonized you. Unfortunately, it worked. He probably just wants me to feel unsafe with you.” Suddenly Tao was all up in her space.
“Let’s get one thing straight,” he rumbled. “I can be a mean motherfucker, I have a shitty temper, and I’m not tuned in to the feelings of the people around me. That means I’ll snap at you, piss you off, even yell at you, but I will never lay a finger on you in anger. Not ever.”
“I already know that,” she assured him. “Now can you calm down?”
“It’s a bit hard to be fucking calm when I’ve got images of you and him dancing around my head.”
Casting a sad look at the can spinning on the ground, squirting precious Mountain Dew everywhere, she sighed. “Did you really have to throw it?”
“Well, some people need to have cans slung at their head. Boat-size cans. Or maybe just boats. Cruise ships would be better.”
“It would be hard to pick up a cruise ship. Impossible, actually. Unless you’re Superman. You’re not Superman. You can’t fly and you don’t have a cape. You also don’t have x-ray vision or the ability to shoot red-hot beams out of your eyes—both of which would be cool.”
He looked at her in sheer exasperation, shouting, “Why are we talking about Superman?”
“Because it’s distracting you!”
He inhaled deeply. Very, very deeply. “I need coffee. Then food.”
“Max and Ethan just invited us over for blueberry pancakes. Their cabin’s only a few minutes’ walk away; I’m ready to go when you are.” Spotting something, she frowned. “What’s that in the tree?”
Under the glare of the sun, Tao followed her along the winding, uneven dirt path, taking in what he couldn’t deny were breathtaking views of red rocks, tall spires, canyons, and mountains. Predatory birds flew overhead while small animals scrambled in the underbrush. He could hear the trickle of a nearby creek and the white noise of a distant waterfall.
Like his wolf, Tao found the sights and smells of nature relaxing, but it was hard to relax when he had the sultry scent of Riley filling his nostrils, drowning out the other scents of wildflowers and dry earth.
Now that they were closing in on her uncles’ cabin, he could see the mated pair setting plates out on the patio table. Tao squeezed her hand. “Looks like we’re eating outside.”
“They like to have breakfast outside,” she told him.
Tao sighed inwardly at her flat tone. He’d hoped she’d have calmed down by now. From what he could tell, she was even more pissed about Cynthia’s stunt than he was. It had taken a good twenty minutes to convince her it wasn’t worth storming to Cynthia’s cabin and calling her on it.
His wolf rubbed up against Tao’s skin, wanting to soothe her. “What are you thinking?” he asked, sidestepping a berry bush.
“I’m thinking that I shouldn’t have let you talk me out of bitch-slapping Cynthia for ripping
your clothes.” Riley swatted a gnat. “I’m also thinking that I don’t like that she saw us fucking.”
“Is she the type to gossip?”
“Depends on the topic. Why?”
“If she goes around telling people how big my dick is, you might find yourself with some competition, even if I am an asshole.” As he’d hoped, she laughed. It was a husky, from-the-heart laugh that made him smile.
“Your confidence issues concern me.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll get by.”
They made their way to the patio table, where Ethan stood to kiss her cheek. “Morning, sweetheart. Morning, Tao.”
“Morning,” Riley said with a smile. Tao just nodded in greeting.
Slumped in his chair, Max said, “I’d stand and kiss you if I trusted my balance.” It was clear by his pinched expression and disheveled appearance that he was feeling the aftereffects of the party.
Riley bent and kissed him on the cheek. Seeing there was a glass of Mountain Dew waiting for her, she grinned. “You guys are the best.”
Max eyed Riley and Tao as they took the seats opposite him and Ethan. “You don’t look at all hungover.”
“We only drank Coke,” said Riley, wasting no time in grabbing pancakes from the pile at the center of the table. “How’s your head?”
Max shrugged one shoulder. “It’s been worse. It’s also been fucking better.”
Ethan pushed a glass of water toward him. “Drink more.”
Dutifully, Max took a sip and then turned to Tao. “Well, Tao, tell me about yourself. I know you’re a Head Enforcer and you’ve marked my Riley, but that’s pretty much it.”
Tao sliced into his pancake. “There’s not much worth knowing.”
“Did you grow up in the Phoenix Pack?” asked Max.
“No,” replied Tao. “My childhood pack split when I was about fourteen. Some of those that left formed a new pack, the Phoenix Pack.”
“I heard some stories about your Alpha, Trey,” said Max. “Heard his wolf turns feral during battles, and that your Alpha female was latent until she mated Trey.” Tao nodded in confirmation. “I also heard they’re both pretty crazy,” Max added.
After chewing his pancake, Tao said, “It’s a fairly common belief.” It was also true.
Max put down his glass. “How long have you been Head Enforcer?”
Riley exhaled heavily. “Max, will you stop? He’s not actually interrogating you, Tao, he’s just terribly curious.”
“What else do you expect from a raven?” Max smiled. “I suppose we could talk about you instead, sweetheart. I have some pictures here he might be interested to see.”
“Max . . . ,” she growled. But it was too late. Her uncle dug out his wallet and showed Tao his collection of her childhood photographs, some of which were too embarrassing for words.
Studying one of her on her fifth birthday, Tao said, “You look . . . sweet. I can’t imagine you ever being sweet.”
Ethan chuckled. “She was sweet when she wanted something.”
“And so damn cute and funny,” said Max. “Remember her second Christmas with us, Ethan?”
Max ignored Riley’s groan and turned to Tao. “We asked her to write a list of the things she wanted so we could post it to Santa. She came to us later and it read, ‘A new bear, a bike, a Minnie Mouse dress, and a pair of tits.’”
Tao burst out laughing.
“Turned out she was trying to spell ‘tights,’ but it was still freaking funny.”
Riley shook her head at Max. “I can’t believe you pulled that out of the vault.” He smiled, not the least bit repentant.
Hearing his cell phone chime, Tao fished it out of his pocket. He frowned as the words “Private Number” flashed on the screen. “I’ll be back in a sec.” Standing, he moved a few feet away as he answered. “Hello.”
“You let me down, Mr. Lukas.”
Tao stilled. Motherfucker. How the hell had Ramón Veloz gotten his number? “Excuse me?”
“I told you to impress the seriousness of my situation upon your Alphas. You failed me in that.” The reprimand was sharp and held a note of betrayal, as if Tao were one of his minions.
“No,” said Tao, “you failed to hear me when I told you that my Alpha can’t heal fatal diseases. Maybe there are other healers who—”
“Do you have important people in your life, Mr. Lukas?”
He had plenty of important people in his life, but he didn’t see what the fuck that had to do with anything.
“Sad as it may seem, my brother is really the only person in my life whom I consider important.” Funny, because Ramón didn’t sound as if he found him important. There was no emotion when he spoke of him. “He once saved my life. It’s something I wasn’t able to repay him for until now.”
“You don’t want him to die, I get that, but it doesn’t change that there’s nothing my Alpha female can do for him. You need to accept that.”
“Would you? If someone important to you were dying, would you accept it? What about that little raven I saw you with?”
He really had done his homework on the pack if he knew Riley wasn’t a wolf.
“If she were dying, if death threatened to steal her from you, would you accept it? Or would you do what you could to save her?”
Tao automatically turned to look at her, watching her laugh with her uncles.
“I suppose we shall see.”
Tao scowled. “What the hell does that mean?” The line went dead. Cursing, Tao shoved his cell back into his pocket and—
Thunder cracked through the air, making him jerk to a halt. No, not thunder, he realized a second later.
Gunfire.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Heart in his throat, Tao raced to Riley’s side as she tipped up the table, using it to shield herself and her uncles. The smell of her blood hit him, twisting his gut in knots and sending his wolf crazy. “Riley, look at me!”
“I’m okay, it’s just a graze,” she said, eyes wide. The bullet had sliced across her upper arm, tearing through cloth and skin. Her nostrils flared and her gaze cut to her uncle. “Ethan?”
That was when Tao noticed the blood blooming near Ethan’s shoulder. “Shit.”
“We need to get him inside,” said Max. Slinging one of Ethan’s arms around his neck, Max quickly hauled him into the cabin. Tao used his body to shield Riley as they quickly raced after them, slamming the door shut.
“Keep away from the windows,” ordered Tao, ushering Riley straight into the small dining area attached to the kitchen. Wetting a cloth, he used it to dab at and clean her wound. She didn’t even flinch—her attention was on her uncles.
Max helped Ethan into a chair and then tore off the bloody shirt. Riley winced at the sight of his wound. The hole wasn’t as big as she’d thought it would be, but it was ugly and swollen and bleeding profusely—like a mini volcano on his shoulder. Too close to his heart, she thought. Too fucking close.
Dread oozed through her, thick and malevolent. She rubbed at her chest absentmindedly. Her heart was beating so fast she thought it might explode. Every breath she took hurt, as if her lungs were on fire.
Nothing could happen to him, nothing. Not to this person who, like his mate, had loved her and supported her and been her fucking anchor when she most needed one. But the blood just kept coming. Fear clawed its way up her throat until she could taste the metallic tang of it in her mouth. Her raven was going out of her ever-loving mind.
“He’s okay, Riley,” Max assured her, voice calming. “The bullet went straight through. It didn’t hit anything vital.”
“Max has got this, sweetheart,” Ethan said through his teeth, sweat beading on his upper lip.
Done cleaning Riley’s graze, Tao massaged her nape as he watched Max lay his hands over Ethan’s wound, concentration etched into every line of the raven’s face. “You’re a healer?”
“My skills are too weak for me to be classed as an actual healer,” replied Max. “But I can sp
eed up the healing process by stopping blood flow and helping wounds scab over. That’s pretty much it, though. And only if the wound isn’t too bad.”
This wound was bad. Pacing, Riley shoved a hand through her hair. It seemed as if the air had gone from the room and she were smothering. Raw shock had sent her thoughts tumbling, leaving her mind scrambling to make sense of the situation. Everything had happened so fast she couldn’t properly process it. She felt panicked, out of control. “What . . . what the hell . . . who the fuck just shot Ethan? And why would someone do that?” Well, there was one way to find out.
Tao slid in front of her when she tried to barge outside. “Whoa, whoa, whoa!” He grabbed her shoulders, careful not to touch the graze on her upper arm. “We stay here.”
“They could still be out there!” she hissed. “I could shift and fly—”
“And get shot. Not happening.”
“Riley, stay with us, sweetheart,” Ethan urged, voice groggy.
She looked back at him, chest tightening. Max was now using a wet cloth to clean the excess blood from the closed wound. It still looked ugly and raw, and it made her throat thicken.
“I don’t think that bullet was intended for Ethan.”
At Tao’s words, she whipped her head back to face him. “What?”
“I think it was meant for you.”
She frowned. “No, I don’t—”
“It was meant for you,” Tao stated.
“You’re wrong, I—” But then she remembered how, just before the bullet was fired, she’d bent to grab the knife she’d accidentally knocked off the table. Could someone have been aiming for her? And why? Who would do that? Who would try to shoot her and . . . ? “Shirley,” she bit out.
“No,” said Tao.
Riley put her hands on her hips. “Well, it was her or Cynthia.”
“I don’t think it was either of them,” Tao told her. “That call I just received was from Ramón. He still won’t accept that Taryn can’t help his brother, and he’s pissed with me because he feels that I didn’t communicate to her just how serious he was.”