“Noooooooooo!” Tito yells as he grabs a chunk of his blond hair and nearly rips it out of his head. “I don’t want to move!”

“What do you mean we have to move?” Caleb says as he jumps up from the table.

Maximus sighs. “I don’t know how else to explain it. We have to leave the ranch and find somewhere else to live.”

Caleb raises an eyebrow. “Or what?”

“Or the dragons will kill us,” Maximus says flatly.

“They can try,” Kneecap says, grinding his knuckles into his palm.

“They won’t have to try very hard,” Ronin says, looking defeated. “Unfortunately, I’m not fireproof.”

“I’m not afraid of a little fire,” Kneecap grunts.

“But my brother,” Abigail says as she stares at the food on her plate. “I won’t be able to see him again.”

My stomach churns as I watch them. I wonder if they blame me like I blame myself.

“It’s going to be okay,” Caleb says as he puts his arm around his mate. “He can come visit us wherever we go.”

Everyone is quiet for a minute as their thoughts race about the uncertain future. Maximus called everyone home for lunch and broke the news as everyone ate. Well, as almost everyone ate. My stomach is so upset that I haven’t eaten a bite.

“Where are we going to go, Max?” Lachlan asks, looking sick.

I know how much this is hurting Maximus. They all love this town to death and he feels like it’s his fault that they have to leave. He thinks that he’s the one letting them all down.

Everyone turns to him, but I can tell that he doesn’t have any answers. He’s lived in this town his whole life and it’s all he knows.

“My parents will let us stay on their farm for a week,” Caleb says. “Maybe two. We’ll have to live in the barn though.”

“As long as I get to sleep between these two teddy bears,” Zoe says, wrapping an arm around each of her mates, “then I’ll be just fine.”

“It will be okay, Max,” Lachlan says as he stands up from the picnic table. He slaps a hand down on his alpha’s shoulder and squeezes it. “We have each other and that’s all we need, right guys?”

“That’s right,” Ronin says, nodding along with everyone.

“We’ll be fine,” Nora adds. “It’s just a minor setback.”

It’s so nice to see the love they have for each other, but I feel strange standing here and witnessing it. I’m not one of them. If things had turned out differently, I’d be the happiest and most enthusiastic member of the crew, but I’m an outsider and I feel like I’m intruding.

“Those dragons and their fucking rules,” Tito says, pounding the table with his fist. “Why do they get to decide who stays and who goes?”

“I’ve never liked those brothers,” Lachlan says, shaking his head. “I always suspected they had ulterior motives.”

Maximus looks at him and nods. “Kennedy was able to steal this from their safe,” he says as he pulls out the USB stick.

Everyone turns to me with looks of shock and admiration on their faces.

“Way to go Klepto-Kennedy!” Caleb says, looking impressed. I start to blush.

“We’ll see if there’s anything incriminating on here,” Maximus says as he slides it back into his pocket. “Maybe there’s something we can use.”

“I bet you it’s loaded with dick pics he took of himself,” Tito says with a serious look on his face.

Lachlan frowns. “Who the hell would keep naked pictures of himself in a safe?”

Tito jerks his head back in surprise. “Everyone does.”

“No,” Lachlan says, shaking his head. “Normal people don’t do that.”

Tito looks flabbergasted. “I do.”

“Why?” Kneecap asks with a laugh. “Who the hell would want to see your dick pics?”

“Nobody,” Lachlan says with a chuckle. “That’s why he keeps them locked in a safe.”

Tito frowns as everyone laughs at him. I feel bad for the poor guy, but not enough to not join in with a giggle.

“Anyways,” Abigail says when the laughter dies down. “It’s probably encrypted. I can get Bryce to look at it. He’s really good with computers.”

“Who’s Bryce?” I ask. That’s not a name I’ve heard before.

“He’s the most vicious, dangerous and powerful bounty hunter in Montana,” Ronin says, looking terrified.

Abigail rolls her eyes as she slaps his arm. “He’s my younger brother, and he’s lovely.”

“Get him over here asap,” Maximus says as he turns to his cabin. “And the rest of you… start packing. We have to be out by tomorrow night.”

“Don’t even think about leaving my side,” Maximus warns when we’re back in his cabin. Alone. “I was terrified when I couldn’t find you.”

“I’m sorry,” I say, feeling awful. “I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

“There’s a psychotic bear shifter out to get you,” he says with a hint of frustration in his voice. “I know I haven’t been the best protector in the past, but I’m all you have.”

His big round shoulders cave in as he says it like the guilt is overpowering him.

“I don’t blame you for what happened,” I whisper. “It wasn’t your fault.”

He just shakes his head.

“I should start packing some stuff together in case Tito is right about the USB.” He turns and walks into his room without another word.

I start making a pot of coffee while he rummages around in his room, throwing stuff into a suitcase.

I haven’t been able to stop thinking about something that he said back in the dragon’s office: Bledsoe is trying to kill my future mate.

I feel a pang near my heart as I replay the words in my mind. Does Maximus still think of me as his future mate? Or maybe he was trying to convince the dragons to go easy on us?

I’m terrified to ask him the truth. I know he’d be nice about it and let me down easy, but I don’t think I could stomach the look in his eye when he first realizes what I’m asking.

“Do you want some coffee?”

He sticks a thumbs up out of the room so I toss in another couple spoonfuls of coffee grains.

When the coffee is brewing, I slowly walk into his room. There’s a suitcase spread out on the bed with clothes and a bunch of other things stuffed inside.

I stare at it, unable to look at the man I love. They’re only in this situation because of me.

“I just want you to know that once you guys get settled in another town, I’ll keep going.”

It’s not fair for him to be stuck with me. He didn’t ask me to return, and in fact, he was the one who abandoned me.

But his face looks crushed as he turns and looks at me. “You want to leave?” His voice is barely above a whisper.

My face turns hot as he watches me with a pain in his eyes. I should leave. I have to leave. But I don’t want to leave.

I want to stay with him. That’s all I ever wanted.

“I’ll leave,” I say, feeling sick to my stomach. “It’ll be for the best.”

He grabs a shirt off of his dresser and throws it into the suitcase with a little more force than necessary. “Fine.”

With nothing left to say, I slowly walk back out of the room to the kitchen. I take two empty mugs out just as the coffee finishes brewing.

But I only need one because Maximus closes the door of his room, shutting me out.

Bledsoe is trying to kill my future mate.

It’s pretty clear now that he was just trying to convince the dragons to go easy on us.

A bear shifter would never let their future mate leave.

And Maximus has agreed to do just that.

For the second time.