“We’ll need to move the herd tomorrow,” Ethan, his alpha, said. “I want a proper count on the calves, too. None of the guesstimating bullshit you’ve been giving me the last few times.”
“Yeah, Jesse,” Hunter interjected with the snap of a preteen.
“I was talking to you, asshole,” Ethan growled back. “Do you even know how to count, or are you just lazy?”
“Of course I can count. I counted getting Joss off six times last night—”
Everyone behind him groaned. Lorne just shot a glare over his shoulder and hunched further in on himself.
His bear paced in his head. Talk of mates did that lately. His skin had felt itchy and too tight the moment Tansey and Ethan paired up and only worsened when Hunter set his eyes on Joss.
He tried to keep his distance while they established new families. And it wasn’t just his clan. Seemed everyone in Bearden was finding their perfect match. Going into town for food or supplies was heading straight into a bright, shiny world where everyone had the sort of love that stuck to their ribs and made them fat with happiness.
His bear slashed his inside hard enough to make Lorne clench his fists.
He didn’t have a mate. Couldn’t. He refused to put a woman in mourning black and have her cry over him when he was gone. His fate was death, and there was no breaking away from that final ending.
A tough face framed by blonde hair pushed through his antsy bear’s growls. Bright blue eyes that reminded him of the Montana skies pierced his tattered soul.
His bear quieted with the memory of the SEA agent they’d briefly glimpsed while in lockup. Her face had haunted him all through the night and day. He’d tossed the shirt he’d been wearing into his laundry basket before digging it out and huffing it for any trace of her scent.
He hadn’t even caught her name.
His bear slumped down and let off a mournful howl.
Not his concern. If he ran into her again, maybe he’d flash her a smile and try to get her alone for a night. There was no use looking for anything more than temporary when he could die at any moment.
The Black Claw barn appeared in the distance and a tiny fraction of relief surged inside Lorne. Soon. He just had to stay steady for a little while longer, then he could shake the others for the night.
Lorne sped through stabling his mare, ignoring the insults and smacks the others lobbed in every direction. Nova flicked her brown ears in his direction and pawed at the fresh hay with her one white foot. Lorne suppressed a smile. He knew what she wanted. He paused to give her a scratch behind her ears and an extra handful of oats. She was a good lady, and entirely undeserving of the tension riding roughshod over him.
He steeled himself to step out of the stall and was immediately hit by a carrot sailing through the air.
Lorne stared down at the vegetable projectile and shook his head. “Idiots,” he muttered.
Hunter’s face split into a grin and he raised a fist in the air. “Truth speaker!”
Truth speaker. He doubted any of them knew how deep the words cut him. They used it because he only spoke when he had something to say; he’d earned it when he called out his family on being horrible assholes who placed too much value on their persecution complexes.
Not that they knew the details. He kept them at a distance the same as anyone else. He didn’t want to be missed when he was gone.
His bear rolled through him again. The beast craved companionship and hated their solitary life. The beast wanted him to brush up against Hunter, throw an arm around Ethan’s shoulders, even give a manly punch of affection to Jesse. Staying out of step with the bears he was clanned up and pledged to rubbed him raw and made him want to fight.
A flick of his eyes and a test of the air gauged the others around him. Alex was always down for a brawl. Hunter, too, but then he was still riding the high of a brand new mate mark. That exuberance had annoyed the piss out of each and every one of the others, even more than his usual cavalier attitude. Jesse glowered in Hunter’s general direction, the even keel he tried to maintain tipping off balance.
“Truth speaking would be asking what tricks you played on that poor woman up at the house.” Lorne scratched at his beard. Damn thing itched hideously. He’d intended to shave it off that morning, but his bear kept his skin until the very last possible moment. Too many shifts, too long in his other shape. Irritation poisoned him from the inside out. He needed the fight.
Ethan shot him a look. Yeah, his alpha knew what he was doing. The silence allowed it to happen anyway.
“We already know Tansey’s batshit insane for locking down this asshole,” Alex jumped in and jerked his thumb in Ethan’s direction. “What’s Joss’s excuse?”
Hunter growled. “There’s nothing wrong with her. She’s the most perfect woman in the entire world.
“But she wants to stare at your ugly face for the rest of her life?” Alex insisted. “That’s where I get lost.”
Lorne grunted his support.
“Just because ladies constantly confuse your two ends doesn’t mean we’re all cursed in that department.” Hunter smacked his lips in an offensive kiss. “Just ask your mother.”
“You motherfucker,” Alex snarled.
“Well, not anymore,” Hunter laughed. He buffed his fingernails against his shirt. “I’m a happily mated man now.”
A growl sawed out of Alex as he threw his fist into Hunter’s stomach.
Fuck yes.
Hunter slammed a blow back into Alex and sent him stumbling into Jesse. The clan’s second pushed him off with a growl of his own.
Feeling the fight building on all sides, Alex’s bear ripped out of him and roared.
Ethan simply shook his head and ran a hand down his face.
Hunter shifted, blond bear stepping up to the challenge. Jesse, too, joined in for the fight.
His own inner animal pacing away, Lorne let the bear take his skin.
His aching bones popped with relief as they broke apart and reformed. Muscles tore and clenched and grew back stronger than before.
Anger and frustration flowed out of him with every swipe of his paws. Each blow that connected cut away the ropes tightly binding him into obedience. Relief flooded him with the stretched muscles and rising scent of drawn blood. He was a hulking murder machine, and anything less was unacceptable.
He clipped Hunter’s legs and sent him tumbling ass over ears. Jesse latched onto his side and sank his fangs deep, but Lorne just shook him off. He rose up on hind feet and swung a heavy paw at Alex’s face.
Alex roared in fury.
Lorne felt that frenzy in his bones. Alex’s anger was like a flash fire, sparking up over nothing and flaming out just as fast. His own was just as mighty, but it burned slow. He’d had years to stoke the flames and let the blaze consume him.
Every blow he dealt was another for Lilah.
Each snap of his jaws fought off a brother, a cousin, someone he called a friend.
They turned a quiet, thoughtful boy into a killer.
The four of them tumbled out of the barn and into the yard between buildings. He was vaguely aware of Tansey and Joss standing on the porch, one with her arms crossed with silent reproach and the other clasping her hands together under her chin in a picture of worry.
Lorne turned into the bear barreling toward him with renewed strength. He’d never have a mate to guard his back or to give him an earful for acting like a fool. His family had stolen that from him, too, and his new clan were the ones to pay.
The beast of a bear slapped him with deadly claws, drawing blood from the side of his face. Lorne sank into those wounds and dealt his own with a roar.
They crashed through the paddock fence and a sharp whistle cracked through the air.
“Enough!” Ethan yelled.
A cold spray of water hit him square in the chest before turning to blast Alex in the face.
The soft sound of women’s laughter broke through the anger clouding up his head. He shook h
is body and sent water droplets flying in all directions, only to have the hose turned on him again.
“I’ve been waiting ages for the chance to do that!” Tansey yelled at them.
“You’re a monster,” Ethan hollered back.
All around, shapes shimmered from bear back to human. For most, the brawl simply faded away into the countless number of however many they’d fought over the years. Not for him. Lorne still itched with the need to set his world right, and the frustration of it never happening made him want to bite and snarl all over again.
Joss screeched as Hunter wrapped his arms around her waist and chased the spray of the hose to get her wet. He slipped in the mud and they both went down in a tangle of limbs and laughter.
Lorne heaved in a fresh breath and tried to smile. Exhaustion weighed down his lips. The clan was a mess, and he didn’t belong.
His problems didn’t matter. He wouldn’t put them on anyone else, nor would he ruin the party.
He swiveled his head to the redhead covered in mud splatters and shrugged. “Welcome to the clan, Joss.”
Chapter 3
Ethan had barely pulled off the bumpy, single track road leading away from Black Claw when he cleared his throat. “So.”
Lorne pulled his Stetson down over his eyes and considered throwing himself from the truck. They weren’t going too fast. He’d survived worse than road rash.
He should have guessed there was more to the trip than a simple supply run. Oh, they were low on feed and needed fence posts and wire and other things to make the ranch run smoothly, but he didn’t count on the talking beforehand. Ethan had him pinned down with no chance of escape.
Lorne eyed the road zipping past with renewed interest.
“You’ve been fighting more than usual,” Ethan continued.
He grunted. No sense in denying a fact they both knew.
“Coming up on the time you joined us, isn’t it?”
His way of asking if Lorne needed extra watching.
Anniversaries didn’t make a lick of difference to him. He wasn’t Alex, who, like clockwork, went more nuts than usual around the same time every year.
But he’d been fighting more, just as Ethan said. Or rather, prodding the others into it to give him the excuse.
Tansey’s arrival kicked a hornet’s nest inside him. His brain buzzed with the need for more than the quiet, unassuming life he’d cut out for himself on Black Claw.
Lorne locked down his bear before the beast could echo the desire or push sendings of that SEA agent his way. Blonde hair tucked up and ready to be ruined, blue eyes he wanted to see darken, curves hidden away under all those layers like presents to be unwrapped.
Fuck, too late. Those visions were of his ideal woman. Her remembered scent drove him just as crazy, too. Sweet and delicious and not his.
“Tansey didn’t say anything, did she? You know she pops off without thinking.”
Lorne snorted. “I think she knows exactly what comes out of her mouth.”
Ethan frowned slightly, like he’d been given a truth that he didn’t know how to handle. Then he shook himself and tried again. “That shit yesterday—”
“Made sure we got through the party without anyone shifting or storming off. Got the whole thing started with a mud fight—”
“Broke our damn paddock fence,” Ethan muttered darkly.
Lorne shrugged. “I’m fine.”
“You’re not.” Ethan tapped his temple. “You assholes give me a constant headache. We have another round of guests coming in the next week, and trail rides booked all summer. I need to know if someone in my clan is unsteady.”
“Yeah, well, you don’t have to worry about me. Steady as she goes.”
“Lie.”
Lorne glared at him darkly and jammed his hat back over his face.
At least Ethan took the hint and didn’t prod him again. Or order him to talk, like some power-mad alpha. The silence hung heavily between them for the rest of the ride into town.
He usually liked the trip. He didn’t spend much time off the ranch, except to head to the local bars. Supply runs meant pit stops followed with a lunch at either the diner or the barbecue joint before heading back to the dirt and cows.
Agitation huddled in his chest instead. He just wanted to get what was needed and get back to the ranch. He didn’t want small talk or more probing into his shit attitude or the reasons why he was on edge. Fuck, he’d give just about anything for a brawl at that exact moment.
Maybe he needed to sever every connection to the place and get the hell out of Bearden.
The thought of leaving made his stomach feel hollow. So there he was, stuck. One foot in the grave, one walking slow circles around the rim, and neither quieting any of the unwanted static in his mind.
Dark clouds hanging over his head, he followed Ethan into the feed store.
They were three aisles and a load of supplies deep when the first sour scent twitched his nose. Unbelieving, he inhaled again.
Lorne stiffened. His bear stood straight up in the back of his mind, ears flicking on high alert.
The scent that invaded his nose was imprinted on his mind. Soft and earthy, just like his own. Under it was something darker and more prickly. Something deadly. That scent brought back memories of blood and screaming. He could feel a noose tightening around his neck with every inhale.
Ian.
Fuck.
Lorne shot glances in every direction and tried to spot the man. His eyes bounced over him twice before he settled a glare in his direction.
Ian stood tall right near the doors, his dark hair clipped shorter than Lorne remembered. The growth spurt that had just started the last time he laid eyes on his cousin had produced a solid man packed with muscle. He expected nothing less. Bennetts were raised to be weapons in a war that had never arrived.
Fuck.
He’d been a dead man walking for years that felt like centuries. He’d avoided his execution once. Now the family had found him and would finish the job.
His bear boiled up to the surface. Lorne tried to kick the beast to the back of his head, but the creature wouldn’t budge. A throbbing headache pulsed right behind his eyes and his gums ached with the press of fangs. Flashed images sped through his mind of past threats and present dangers.
Ian could try, but the bear wouldn’t go down without a fight.
Useless. Stupid animal. Their fate was decided ages ago and he’d postponed it for too long.
Lorne switched directions and made a beeline back to Ethan.
“I need to leave,” he said gruffly.
Needed to get away from witnesses. Needed to lessen the collateral damage.
“No fucking chance,” Ethan scoffed absently. “We still have more stops to make. Lumber ain’t going to buy itself.”
“Ethan.”
His tone broke through whatever thoughts floated through his alpha’s head. Blue eyes found his without a hint of reproach.
“They found me.”
Ethan’s eyebrows tried to meld with his hairline. “You’re certain?”
“Scented and spotted. Not someone I’m likely to forget.”
How could he? They’d taken something beautiful and turned it ugly. He’d been so young and aged a lifetime in just a few short moments. Bastards, the whole rotten lot of them.
“They going to be a problem?”
Concern washed through Ethan’s scent as he fixed silver eyes on Lorne. He knew the crazy bears under him were down for a fight. But mates were involved now. Tansey would probably love to wade right in, and Joss could hold her own if pushed. Ethan and Hunter would rather lose a limb than see either woman anywhere near a real battle.
He should have left the moment Ethan set his eyes on Tansey. The writing had been on the wall. His place wasn’t on a ranch with happily paired up couples.
“No,” Lorne said with a shake of his head. “I won’t let them become one.”
Ethan rubbed the back of his neck and
rolled his eyes to the ceiling. “The old homestead on the far edge of the ranch could use some fixing up, I suppose. Last time we passed by, looked like the lions were using it as a scratching post. You should probably grab some grub and head out that way.”
He dug the truck keys out of his pocket and handed them over. “Get gone. I’ll call up to the house and have Tansey come back this way when you drop off the truck.”
No other questions, no chiding about the extra time added to a necessary chore. Ethan was a good alpha. Tansey had made him a great man.
“Lorne?”
He stopped in his tracks with a grunt, but didn’t turn around. He didn’t want to see any pity or whatever other bullshit sad face Ethan was making.
“You tag us in if you need to. You’re one of us. We fight for our people.”
Our people. Lorne turned the words over and over as he made his way out to the parking lot. He wasn’t anyone’s people. His own people tried to kill him.
He needed to clear out of Bearden entirely, not just to the edge of Black Claw territory. He was just having trouble putting his feet into motion. Better to draw the danger away before it spilled over on Ethan’s people.
A new scent stopped him in his tracks and nearly brought him to his knees.
Her.
Soft and sweet, like strawberries and cream. Something layered under it, not unlike oil for servicing a weapon.
Lorne glanced across the parking lot. Thirty, maybe forty feet away, she leaned against the side of a black SUV marked with Supernatural Enforcement Agency insignia.
His bear roared at him to close the distance. His heart seized against his ribcage and his legs locked him in place.
She looked even more lovely in the light of day. Her hair was pinned back in a professional style that made him want to yank it all out and let it flow between his fingers. He wasn’t a stranger to run-ins with the law, and he could spot when a rookie wasn’t comfortable with the power they wielded. Not her. She looked like a fucking queen.
Breaking Fate: Book Three: Black Claw Ranch Page 2
