~

Rayner’s phone pinged to signal that she had a text message. She snatched it up and eyed the screen.

“I gotta job,” she half-muttered, fingering the screen and opening the text to read the details. Human and that meant that she didn’t need an overprotective minder.

“You owe me one for Colt,” Jena reminded her.

“I didn’t make him your mate,” Rayner protested.

“Nope, but you did take all his money and end my payday.”

“True, but, you snooze you lose.” Rayner grinned.

“Oh, it’s like that?” Jena chuckled.

“How about we do it together?”

“Split the reward?” Jena gave a slow nod. “Girl power.”

“Hell yeah…”

“Only trouble is — I’ve been partaking in some of your fine Scotch, and I can’t drive.” Jena shrugged, and Rayner opened her mouth to speak but didn’t get that far.

“I’ll drive,” Colt’s deep voice rattled the door in its frame, and Jena turned a hard scowl onto the back of the door.

“You’re listening at the door — what’s wrong with you?” Jena bit out in annoyance.

“Like I said, where you go; he’s going to follow like a bad smell,” Rayner chuckled.

“Oh yeah? What about when I go to the ladies room, think you can follow me in there, furry balls?” Jena tossed back.

“Probably,” Colt said, and Jena turned a look of disbelief on Rayner.

“That guy needs a serious ass kicking,” Jena huffed.

“And you’re just the woman to do it,” Rayner tossed back.

 

~

~

 

“If he’s going, then I’m going,” Dane said, and he wasn’t going to take no for an answer — Rayner could tell.

“You don’t trust me?” Colt grumbled a growl.

“Around my mate?” Dane took a couple of seconds to think about it. “No.”

“Well, that’s good to know,” Jena said, eyeing Rayner with interest. “So, nobody trust this guy?”

“It’s not like that — mates are a little bit overprotective,” Rayner explained to her friend.

“Define overprotective,” Jena demanded.

“You’ll find out,” Rayner chuckled.

“Gee, more surprises — must be my damn birthday,” Jena grumbled.

“Feels like it’s mine,” Colt said, and his mate turned a dark scowl of disbelief on him.

“Oh, don’t try to sweet talk me — throwing out a line like that, do I look like a fish?” Jena berated him.

“I’m going to go with no — because anything else would just be rude,” Colt tossed back and watched as she slowly pulled her head back on her neck and looked to him as if he was something that she’d just stepped in.

That only added to the amusement within him. He tried to hold onto the cocky grin that was slowly spreading over his face, and that look made her narrow her eyes on him.

“Oh, you’re a comedian, furry balls and chuckles – well, this is going to be a laugh a minute,” Jena huffed.

She didn’t sound impressed, didn’t look it either, and Colt chewed on that for a minute.

“Point is — I’m driving,” Colt said.

“And I’m going.” Dane folded his large arms across his chest and offered his mate just the one raised eyebrow.

“Wonderful, the goon protection squad,” Jena muttered as she stalked toward the trucks.

“Happy, happy, maybe we should take a picnic and make a day of it,” Rayner grumbled as she followed on Jena’s heels.

So much for girl power.

 

~

~

 

Jena flatly refused to sit boy girl boy girl in the truck. That put Rayner in the back with her. Rayner didn’t mind that so much, although, she couldn’t see a damn thing in front of her past Dane and Colt’s bulk.

When they pulled up in front of Pete Donnelly’s last known address, Rayner and Jena got out of the truck before their respective mates and headed right for the front door of the ramshackle house. Rayner heard both men spit out curses as they rushed to keep up with them.

“You snooze you lose, boys,” Rayner chuckled.

At that very moment the door to the house exploded outward, and what was obviously a shifter stomped outside.

“God damn it, Bute!” Rayner bit out in annoyance.

“I’m guessing that’s not a human,” Jena muttered as she reached to the waistband at her back, fisted the batton in her hand, brought it to her right hip, and flicked it out.

“I got this,” Colt said, and before Jena could say a word — she’d been lifted from her feet, spun through the air, and found herself looking at Colt’s back.

That miffed her off no end. She flicked a look at Rayner, and her friend hadn’t fared any better. Dane was in front of her, and she guessed being a badass shifter bear hadn’t saved Rayner from their male chauvinistic ways. Rayner rolled her eyes and brought them down on Jena.

“Really?” Jena said, lifting her hand and motioning up and down Colt’s large, muscled frame. She’d like the view, but that didn’t compensate for the knock to her pride.

“A bear’s gotta do what a bear’s gotta do,” Rayner shrugged. She didn’t like it — but she accepted it.

Sure, she could retrain her mate to put his socks in the hamper, the toilet seat down after him, and not drink out of the orange juice carton if he wasn’t going to finish the whole damn thing. But, some things were inbred within his DNA — protecting his mate was one of them.

“I don’t mind the damn bear doing what the bear’s gotta do, but could the bear do it somewhere else?” Jena tossed back.

“I’m thinking no,” Rayner offered back. But the sound of a roar of anger that came from the shifter that was stalking toward them took Rayner’s attention back toward the action.

Dane had the urge to meet the man head on, but that would leave his mate open to attack. He knew Rayner could take care of herself, mostly, because she’d come on in leaps and bounds since she’d been bitten. But it was his job to protect her, and he’d do that with his life.

“What the hell are you doing on my property?” Donnelly growled out. He’d sniffed the air, picked up the bear’s scent, and was ready for trouble.

“You own this place?” Dane asked, and Rayner was impressed — if the man said yes it was something of value that she could threaten to attach an order and get Bute’s money back. If the man said no, then they weren’t on his property, and they had every right to be there.

“Mind your own damn business,” Donnelly growled back.

Rayner got the impression that the man was well versed in evading leading questions.

“That’s the thing — it is my business — you own money,” Dane tossed back. Rayner couldn’t help but smile; her mate had picked up the essence of her job exceptionally well.

“Damn collectors?” Donnelly snorted his contempt for them. “I ain’t got your money — but if you wanna go head to head.”

Rayner wasn’t sure that she liked that idea. Something was off.

If the man just wanted to break heads, then he would have done it already — come at them — instead of stopping and waiting.

He was buying time.

“We need to leave, now,” Rayner offered the warning to Dane over his left shoulder, placing her hand on the curve of his pack, and feeling him tense even more than he already was.

“Now?” Dane whispered back.

“Set up,” Rayner said, and she wasn’t wrong, a moment later a truck came screaming down the road, and that truck was loaded with shifters.