“Why didn’t you go up there?” Thorn, the alpha of The Clawed Squad asked Draven. Zane raised his eyebrow as he listened intently. He had been wondering the same thing. He wasn’t about to question his alpha, but he still wanted to know.

Draven took a long sip of beer and then locked eyes on the bear shifter named Thorn. “I have more important things to deal with.”

Zane glanced at Draven. Maybe his brother returning was more serious than he had thought.

“What can be more important than helping out some kids?” Thorn asked with a chuckle.

Draven didn’t look like he was in the mood to laugh. “Helping everybody,” he muttered under his breath. “Tell your boys to keep an eye on the skies. If they spot a dragon, you let me know immediately.”

Thorn raised an eyebrow. “Dragons?” he whispered.

The three of them were leaning on the bar, having a drink after the auction ended. Gwen was in the corner speaking with a girl from town. Zane kept an eye on her as he spoke with two of the most powerful alphas in the state.

“Anything I should be worried about?” Thorn asked, looking from Draven to Zane.

“Not yet,” Draven said, throwing some cash on the bar for the beers. “Just let your boys know to call me the second they see or hear anything that spits fire.”

Draven nodded to Jack the bartender and walked over to talk to Joan, the alpha of the Wilde Crew. Zane hung back with Thorn.

“Family problems?” Thorn asked, eying him.

Zane shrugged. “I guess so. He hasn’t told me anything.”

“Come on,” Thorn said, narrowing his eyes on him. “From one Kodiak to another. What the hell is going on?”

He sighed as he finished the last of his beer. “I wish I knew.”

“Well, let me know if you need Tyler,” Thorn said. “A skin shifter can make short work of a dragon.”

Zane nodded. A skin shifter could make short work of anything. They had the rare ability to slide into an animal’s skin and take over their body. Luckily, there were two in town that could be called on if needed. Tyler was the second in command in The Clawed Squad, and Rhett was the sheriff of the town.

Gwen said bye to the girl she was speaking with and made a straight line for the door. “I have to go,” he said, placing his empty mug on the bar. He took a deep breath and headed for the door as well.

“Zane,” Thorn called to him.

He stopped and turned.

“Have fun on your date,” Thorn said with a grin.

“I will,” Zane replied. “I definitely will.”

He pushed his way through the crowd but then got stopped when he walked into two strong hands, pushing against his chest.

“Zane,” Gunner said, looking panicked. “Talk to Draven. Please! I have to get out of this date.”

“There’s nothing I can do, Gunner,” Zane said, trying to walk around him. But the lion shifter wasn’t having any of it.

“Please!” he begged. “She’s like a hundred years old.”

Jax was beside him, laughing at the poor guy. “I told you my plan was going to work,” he said with a shake of his head. “You should have done what I did: Look undateable.”

Zane desperately wanted to get outside to follow Gwen, but he couldn’t pass up an opportunity to insult Jax. “You are undateable,” he said. “Did your plan also involve Draven kicking your ass for that little stunt? Because that’s exactly what’s going to happen.”

Jax scoffed. “No, it’s not.” The lion shifter thought about it for a second and then swallowed hard. “You think?”

“I know,” Zane said, pushing between the two of them. If he hurried he could still catch Gwen before she got home.

All he needed now was for the last member of the crew to stop him, but that wasn’t going to happen. Axel had been making out with the blonde girl who had bid on him for the past half hour.

Zane hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Gwen since he took her in her kitchen the night before. It was the best experience of his life, one that he wanted to experience again and again, but he also felt horrible about it. Gwen was an amazing woman, and she deserved more than having a freak with a two-thousand pound Kodiak bear living inside of him.

They could never be together. Sure, he could hide his bear for a few weeks, maybe even a few months, but she was bound to find out one day, and when she did, she would abandon him just like his parents did.

She might seem interested, but she didn’t know any better. She didn’t know what she was truly getting. She’ll never want me if she knows what I have inside.

But he still wanted to thank her for the donation, and tell her that she could pass on the date if she wanted to. He didn’t want her to feel obligated to have to spend an evening with him just because she wanted to donate some money to a good cause.

Just as he got to the door, Draven stepped in front of him, blocking his way.

Dammit!

He looked over Draven’s shoulder at the open door. His heart was racing as he pictured Gwen getting home. He desperately wanted to talk with her, but he didn’t want to have to knock on her door late at night. She might get the wrong idea.

“I warned Joan, and the Vega brothers too,” Draven said, looking worried. Draven never looked worried.

“That’s good,” Zane said with a nod. “Then don’t worry about it. If he shows up again, we’ll have The Clawed Squad, the Vega Brothers, and the Wilde Crew to help us out.”

Draven took a deep breath as he looked around. “That won’t even slow him down.”

Hearing that made Zane’s stomach drop. Between them all, they had eighteen apex predator shifters, including a dragon shifter and Joan’s bear, and if that wasn’t enough, they had two skin shifters as well.

Taking care of one dragon would be easy. All it would take is for one of the skin shifters to channel him, take over his body, and that would be the end of it.

“Tyler or Rhett won’t slow him down?” he asked, referring to the two skin shifters in town.

Draven took a deep breath. “I don’t want to worry you with this yet,” he said with a sigh. “Go have fun on your date. And besides, this is nothing new. I have to deal with them every few hundred years.”

“Them?” Zane asked.

Draven forced out a tight smile. “Go enjoy your date. Thanks for doing this for me.”

“Anytime, boss,” Zane said with a smile.

Draven cracked his knuckles as he looked around with fire in his eyes, literally. “Now where the hell is Jax?” he asked through gritted teeth. “He didn’t want a date with a young pretty girl, then fine. He gets a date with me.”

Zane chuckled to himself as he rushed out the door. He warned the lion shifter not to pull a stunt like that, but he didn’t listen, and now he was going to pay for it.

Zane wished he could hang around to watch the show, but he had to catch Gwen before she got home. He took a deep breath and started running.

* * *

“Gwen!” Zane yelled. She turned as he jogged down the sidewalk, finally catching up to her in front of the closed bank.

He braced himself as she turned. The sight of her gorgeous brown hair and stunning brown eyes always made his chest ache when he saw her. Every time she turned, it felt like a punch in the gut.

But this time, she looked worried. Her slim eyebrows were drawn together, and she was biting her lip as she stared at him with a pained look on her face.

“Gwen,” he said, feeling his stomach drop. “What’s the matter?”

She pinched the bridge of her nose as she squeezed her eyes shut. “Nothing.”

“Are you sure?” Zane asked with a tilt of his head.

She threw her arms down and glared at him. “What do you want, Zane?”

Zane took a step back, thrown off guard by her sudden anger. “I just wanted to thank you for the donation.”

“You’re welcome,” she snapped back before spinning on her heels and charging away.

Zane took a deep breath as he watched her walk away. “We don’t have to go on the date if you don’t want to,” he called out to her.

Gwen stopped and shook her head.

Zane braced himself for impact as she turned around with heated eyes.

“We what?” she asked, staring at him with her eyebrows raised.

He gulped. “We don’t have to go on the date if you don’t want to.”

She laughed and then rolled her eyes as she looked up at the sky. “Holy shit, you’re a jerk,” she said, shaking her head.

“Me?” Zane said, staring at her in confusion. “I’m trying to be nice.”

“Nice?!?” Gwen barked, locking eyes on him. “You call that nice?!?”

“I don’t want you to feel obligated to go just because you wanted to donate some money to charity.”

“Donate money to charity?” she answered with a laugh. “You think I have money to donate to charity? I don’t even have money to pay my internet bill. I steal Wi-Fi from you guys.”

“But why—”

“Because I like you, you jerk!” She took a deep breath and dropped her head, staring at the sidewalk as she muttered something to herself. “I took out that three-thousand dollar loan for a new oven. I absolutely did not have that kind of money to spend on anything else, let alone a date with a guy who doesn’t even like me back.”

Zane was speechless. She liked him?

“So, why did you spend the money on me?” Zane asked, trying to understand it all.

She sighed. “That’s what I’ve been asking myself over and over again. I don’t know… I just kept picturing you with that pretty girl with the black hair, and my hand kept darting up, trying to outbid her.”

Zane’s bear grumbled contently as he watched her.

“I can pay you back,” Zane said. “That way you can still buy the oven.” He didn’t have three-thousand dollars, but he could come to the bank tomorrow and get a loan. It would be better that way. Gwen didn’t know what she was getting into with a bear shifter, and a girl as amazing as her should have someone better, someone human.

“You’re not paying me back,” she said, shaking her head. “It was my mistake. I’ll deal with it.”

Mistake. That was the only word he needed to hear.

“Well, I’m sorry about everything,” he said, bowing his head as he turned away. Zane slipped his hands into his pockets and headed back to the bar. For some reason, he suddenly felt like drinking a lot of whiskey.

His bear growled angrily inside his chest, pacing around with every step that he took. She’s too good for us. But the bear didn’t agree.

“You still owe me a date,” Gwen called out to him.

His heart panged as he stopped and turned around. She was still standing on the sidewalk with her arms crossed over her chest, glaring at him.

“What?”

“I paid three-thousand dollars for a night out,” she said with a huff of breath. “And I’m going to get my money’s worth. I’m putting my black dress on, makeup, and my heels, so you dress accordingly.”

“Where do you want to go?” Zane asked, slowly walking back to her.

“That’s up to you,” she said, tilting her chin in the air. “I paid three grand. I already did my part. The rest is up to you, and it better be worth it.”

Zane opened his mouth to tell her that it was a bad idea, but his lips curled up into a smile instead. “Okay,” he said with a nod of his head. “When?”

“Tomorrow. Eight o’clock.”

Zane ran his hand through his hair, studying her face to try and see if she was joking. “Are you serious?”

She stepped forward and poked his chest with her finger. “Don’t be late,” she warned before spinning around and storming off.

Zane’s body tingled and his bear grumbled contently as he watched her go. When she was out of view, he turned back to the bar, but now he didn’t feel like getting drunk.

He was going for a celebratory drink, because he had a date with Gwen.