Page 54 of Mating Season

“Shouldn’t you be out hunting your own females now?” I said from behind Ranger’s back.

I could tell by the way his shoulders tightened that he didn’t want me speaking to them, but he was smart enough not to say it out loud. This made me wonder why he was entertaining their little show when we both could’ve just shifted and ran away. There was something he needed.

But what?

“I am hunting.” Chad came closer to us. The camera drones circled, shining their lights toilluminate the field of wildflowers and showcasing Chad’s signature grin. “I was looking for you, Aspen. We never got to finish our dance.”

24

Ranger

Let’s kill him already.

I wanted to. My wolf started growling, urging me to do it when Aspen placed her hand on my back. She motioned with her eyes to the cameras. I winked, hoping she’d pick up on my subtle clues. There hadn’t been enough time to tell her Ivan wanted to get Chad to repeat his earlier promises on film, but I figured now would be as good a chance as any.

“Unless Ranger won’t let you make up your own mind,” Chad taunted, giving me a grin. We hadn’t finished going through the ballots, but I already knew what they would show. He’d cast his vote to keep her here. This was always in the cards. He wanted to use Aspen against me. They all did.

Chad took a step forward like he’d already won. “Say the word, sweetheart, and we’ll take good care of you. Show you what you’re missing.”

Being Tulia Alpha might not be so bad.

You knew things were going south when my beast tried to be rational. I took a steadying breath, keeping my muscles relaxed.

“Aspen is a free woman. She can go wherever she pleases.” I smiled at the look of outrage on her face. It wasn’t like she was some delicate flower who needed saving. And she could decide who or what she wanted… dead that is.

She was already mine. There was no room for discussion there. But if she wanted to stay by my side, I wanted her to know she was an equal in this conversation.

“You hear that, sweetheart?” Chad called out. “Why don’t you come on over and let your wolf taste some different samples?”

“No thanks. I don’t eat asshole,” Aspen shouted because my brat had claws and teeth.

“Don’t knock it until you try it,” I whispered under my breath, causing her to gasp as her cheeks flushed. “Samples?” I glanced at Brett. He was awfully quiet during this little powwow of theirs.

The southern gent looked back at his guards. I got the feeling this was not where he wanted to be.

That gave me an idea.

“What’s he offering for you to stay by his side?” I directed my question to Brett, but looked at Scott too.

“Why would you think that?” Brett’s eyes narrowed.

“Come on now,” I teased. “We all know Chad-boy likes to make promises he won’t fulfill. I want to know what he’s offering that would have you make a dumbass decision like making an enemy of the McCaw Pack.”

“What’s he talking about?” Scott blurted out as his gaze darted between Brett and Chad.

“Oh, are you not getting something from the Tulia Pack?” Aspen whistled dramatically as my quick-witted mate played along.

“What are you getting?” Scott asked Brett.

“They’re messing with you.” Chad rolled his eyes as the camera drones continued filming. I heard a low growl in the distance and stepped closer to Aspen out of instinct, but I was too amused to stop this inevitable car crash.

“Or he’s messing with you,” I planted another seed of doubt.

Aspen stood on her toes behind me, trying to see over my shoulder. “You realize you sided with the bad guy, right? If you’ve ever read a fiction novel, you know things aren’t going to turn out well for you.”

There was a moment of confused silence as all four of us males looked to each other. I shrugged, reaching up to scratch the back of my neck. I’d never been on what I’d consider the ‘good side’ but Aspen seemed to think so and I wasn’t about to crush her dreams.

“Dude, she’s right.” Scott’s gears were turning. “You promised me revenge for the sucker punch, but what’s Brett getting out of this?”