~

 

When Rayner’s phone rang and she looked at the caller, she was conflicted. On the one hand, she wanted to stick around, stick to her guns about Bowie and Mitzi, but on the other, it was probably a hot tip on Colt’s location on the line.

She bit out a curse, spun away from the brother’s and took the call. She had half an ear on the caller and the rest of her attention on what was going on behind her.

“Look, my business is my business,” Bowie grumbled, and she heard the low rumble of a growl that came from the man, and that sound spoke to the bear within her.

“I’m having a pup,” Roland growled. “So, that makes your business my business as well, don’t you think?”

“No…” Bowie grumbled.

“That’s right, no, you don’t think, because if you did then you’d be back at your cabin wooing your mate.” Roland looked at Dane. “You wanna help me out here, alpha?”

“It’s Bowie’s business,” Dane said with a shrug of his broad shoulders and he noted the look of surprise on his brother’s face and the way that Rayner turned a curious scowl in his direction. He didn’t meet that look, but he was sure he was gonna hear about it when she got off the phone.

“See,” Bowie said, somewhat shocked by Dane’s attitude, but grateful to have someone on his side.

He had to wonder if maybe his brother had finally given up on him, but he figured that it didn’t matter much anymore.

“Now, hold on there a minute…” Roland started, but Bowie was already turning towards the truck.

“Nothing more to say,” Bowie said.

“You?” Roland shot a furious look at Dane and the man shook his head, warning him off.

“If Bowie isn’t man enough to claim his mate, and Joshua, what more needs to be said?” Dane shrugged again. “They’re better off without someone who doesn’t want them.”

“Yeah, but…” Roland scowled.

“Doesn’t want them?” Bowie growled long and hard in warning at his brother’s words.

“You can lead a stubborn headed mule to water, but you can’t make him drink, same applies to Bowie,” Dane tossed out to Roland, ignoring Bowie completely.

“I guess,” Roland tossed back, but he was still scowling. He knew what Dane was doing, at least he hoped he did, because Bowie was starting to look mighty pissed off.

“So, Bowie’s right, and Mitzi would probably be better off with the jerk that ran out on her and Joshua than a bad mood bear that just doesn’t care enough to even try and…”

A heartbeat later and Bowie had taken Dane clean off his feet.

“Gotta go, thanks,” Rayner snapped into the phone and didn’t wait for a reply as she cut off the call. “I’ll take odds on Dane.”

“Mercenary,” Roland growled, watching his brothers knock fifty shade of crap out of each other.

“Nope, I just know my man,” Rayner said with pride.

 

~

~

~

 

“I’ll take Roland with me,” Rayner said, eyeing Dane and Bowie as the two men said in the dirt, bloodied and bruised after the fight.

“No, you won’t,” Bowie growled out, pushing up to his feet and spitting out blood.

“What he said,” Dane growled as he pushed up to his full height beside his brother.

“You two are finished trying to beat each other unconscious and now you’re ganging up on me?” Rayner said and followed it up with a grunt as she folded her arms and pushed out one hip.

“Yep,” Bowie grumbled as he shot a look at her from under his dark lashes.

“Damn right,” Dane growled.

“What? You don’t think Roland can handle Colt?” Rayner said, challenging Roland’s bear to rise up at that slur.

“Hey, now hold on a…” Roland growled, but Dane cut him off.

“Dunno,” Dane shrugged.

“But we ain’t about to find out,” Bowie said.

“This isn’t about if Roland can take Colt, this is about keeping you safe, and while Roland’s busy with Colt who’s gonna watch you?” Bowie said.

“Watch me?” Rayner prickled.

“Make sure you don’t do anything…”

“If you say stupid…” she warned Bowie.

“I was going to say anything Rayner, but it’s the same thing,” Bowie offered back, deadpan, but Roland spat out a chuckle that annoyed her right down to the fur beneath her skin.

“And you?” She turned her attention towards her mate.

“What he said, but in a nicer way that doesn’t get me a kick in the balls,” Dane offered her a sexy, cocky grin.

“Or a night on the couch,” Roland chuckled.

“Too late,” Rayner growled. “Look, I got a tip on where Colt might be – Bowie needs to stay here to woo his mate, and you need to stay to make sure that Bowie does what he’s supposed to do…”

“No,” Bowie got in there before Dane could.

“Yes,” she snapped at the bad mood bear before she turned pleading eyes on her mate. “It’ll be fine, Roland and me can kick Colt’s…”

“No,” Bowie growled.

“Seriously annoying me now,” Rayner bit out.

She got the whole mate – alpha – protection thing, but did Bowie have to chime in?

“Don’t care,” Bowie shrugged.

“Go to your cabin and don’t come out until you’ve wooed your damn mate,” Rayner snapped out as if she was his mother and his room was a mess.

“Seriously?” Bowie looked at if she’d just grown another head.

“Just wait,” Dane said. “I’m going to change my clothes.”

“Because turning up in clothes covered in blood will give entirely the wrong impression of why you’re there,” Roland chuckled.

“I’m not changing my clothes,” Bowie said on a rumble of a growl that annoyed Rayner’s bear.

“Well, aren’t you just being Mr. Annoying today?” Rayner snapped at him.

“I can think of a word to describe him that starts within an A,” Roland said and got a dark glare from his brother for his trouble.

“Do not leave without me,” Dane tossed back over his shoulder as he started back down the dirt track for home.

“Well, I’ll just stand around and file my claws, shall I?” Rayner said, impatiently tapping her foot against the earth.

She was eager to get going. Who knew how long the man would still be at the location that she’d just been given — not her.

It still annoyed her that only a short while ago before she had even known Dane existed, she was her own kickass person, her own boss — except for Bute who only handed her assignments anyway — and she could pick and choose what she wanted to do when she wanted to do it.

Now she had a mate — now she had a bear — life was so much more complicated.

“Stop pouting,” Roland chuckled and she tossed him the middle finger in reply.

“Go change your clothes, Bowie,” Rayner sighed.

“I don’t want to,” Bowie tossed back, and when Rayner shot him an inpatient look the man sighed. “All my clean clothes are in my old cabin.”

“Even better, while you’re there woo Mitzi,” Roland said.

“That’s not going to happen, so why don’t you just drop it?” Bowie growled back.

“I swear,” Rayner said. “If you two start fighting next; I’m going to shift into my bear, rip your damn heads off, and shove Bowie’s head up your backside, and your head up Bowie’s backside. Does that sound good to either of you?”

“It doesn’t sound like a view I would be interested in, no,” Roland offered back.

Bowie just grunted in reply. He was back to not looking her in the eye again.