Nine

Lexington spent the morning getting a feel for the track. It was different than Mac’s. Looser, and more sandy. But that wasn’t what had her sliding all over the place and getting jammed in the fresh ruts her and the girls had created. She was having trouble concentrating.

Angry Aaron had turned to mush last night right before her eyes.

She hadn’t expected it. She’d been trying to create distance after his scuffle with the alpha, and angry at herself for not knowing who she brought with her for the first meeting. Angry and sad that the male she found so intriguing had a beef with the pack she wanted to be part of.

But when she’d been clear what was at stake, he’d dropped the hard shell pretense. He’d listened to her plight, and as if they were old friends, he’d promised to stand back-to-back with her as they muddled through it.

Besides Mac, she’d never known a male so willing to take on trouble with her. She’d only known males who wanted to take from her. Men with grubby grabby hands. She was beginning to think those men were the exception, and maybe these small town, home grown males were the rule.

And if that was the case… she wanted one for her own.

Him, her fox purred. Mine.

Her animal’s insistent declaration was what had her so on edge.

Having a mate was never a good idea before. Not for the females. Actually wanting one was completely new territory for her, and she couldn’t decide if she was up for it yet. Even if he’d given her the most epic whirlwind of butterflies when he’d dried her tears. Even though he’d shown her the utmost respect when pretending she hadn’t broken down crying.

But she sure was curious about him. He was an entire iceberg and she’d only seen the tip.

Gunning the engine, she surged forward.

They were taking the straight, when she spotted Aaron watching from behind the fence. He’d joined Waldo, Mac, and Kit, and he wasn’t alone. Two of the males he’d been drinking with at Red Cap were there too.

Lexington grinned. They had an audience.

She accelerated, preparing to head into the first turn. She was just a hair ahead of Ragan on the inside. As her bike dipped low, Lexington flung out her left leg for balance.

Focus, focus. Hold tight.

Coming out of the bend, her back wheel fishtailed and she hit the gas hard to dig out of the rut. Glancing back, she watched dirt spray up in a huge arc, and let out a laugh. She might be riding bad, but the dirt don’t lie. She was ahead, and Ragan was wearing her mud.

“Haha! Roosted!”

Zooming forward, she was a full bike length leading going into the next turn, but Sera came out of nowhere, cutting her off on the inside before she could tighten up. Lexington was forced to the outside, and right into the bumpy ridge that sent her skidding sideways.

“Aw, hell no.” She wasn’t getting put in the weeds while her man was watching. That just wouldn’t do.

Coming around the edge, she did a brake check right in Barb’s line, forcing her to slow, and giving Lexington just enough time to get her momentum back.

Kit waved the flag for the last lap, and Lexington felt the adrenaline course through her veins. She knew her girls would feel it too. They all liked winning, but there could only be one victor.

Be fast or be last.

She was neck and neck with Seraphina, her throttle pushed to the max as they jockeyed for position. The turn was coming and she had to block her out if she wanted the lead. To her advantage, Sera took the corner too wide, creating just enough space for Lexington to slip past, gaining her inside line once again.

And now all she had to do was keep it. One last turn and she’d win this.

She pushed her bike as hard as it would go on the straightaway, eyeing the others over her shoulder. She had this win in the bucket. As long as she didn’t screw up this turn.

She took it tight and fast, sliding the entire way around the bend, and digging a rut so deep it would certainly slow the others down. Once she was clear, she opened the throttle wide, speeding to the finish, the dust in her wake her only The End.

Boom, baby.

Slowing, she brought her bike to a park and shut the engine off, waiting for the girls to catch up.

Sally was next, followed by Seraphina and Barb, with Ragan pulling in last.

Sally came off her bike fast, ditching her helmet and chucking it to the ground.

“That was bullshit,” she yelled, but it didn’t sound as loud as it probably was. Lexington was still hearing phantom engine noises. “You were riding squirrely the entire time, and in the end you just ghost us? What the hell?”

Lexington laughed, removing her mask. “Don’t be a sore loser, Sally.”

“She was sandbagging,” Seraphina groused, being a touch more careful with her helmet.

They thought she was riding bad on purpose, to make them think she was having an off day. Well, let them think it. They didn’t need to know she was actually having an off day.

Lexington looked up to find Mac. He nodded slowly, a satisfied gleam in his eye, and she warmed under his obvious approval. It was as close to a pat on the back she was going to get from the lug.

Waldo strolled over, Aaron and the others following him.

Her eyes caught on her human. His jaw was set, his lips drawn tightly together as his gaze pressed into her. She felt it like an invasion. Maybe it was the hot way his eyes raked her, maybe it was simply adrenaline from the race. Whatever the case, his presence had her trembling and struggling to find breath.

Waldo whistled, and she dragged her gaze away.

The track owner crouched low, shaking his head in dismay, and whipping off his trucker’s hat to smooth down the twelve hairs that topped his head before replacing it again. “Well, I’ll be...” His potbelly pooched out as he inspected the raised dirt. “You girls did a number on my track.”

Lexington shot the girls a warning look, but Sally didn’t catch the hint.

“Spshh. Ain’t our fault your track can’t handle us. When it’s hot, it’s hot. We can’t go putting a fire extinguisher to things.”

“Wheeeewy,” the one in the baseball cap hooted. He had a Megadeth t-shirt on, ripped to hell jeans, and… hunter orange Converse shoes? He grinned lazily, giving Lexington the idea that he didn’t care much about anything. “She told you, Waldo. And she can do that because she’s right.” He put his palm to his chest. “Rod Turner, ladies. And can I just say, if the track can’t handle it hot, I surely can.”

The one with the greased up hair and tar-stained shirt elbowed him with a scowl. Rider, from the bar. Rider Daley.

“Whaaa?” Rod shrugged. “If watching that didn’t give you a boner, what will is all I got to ask.”

Sally eyed him. “If that’s you with a boner, it looks like there’s not much to work with there.” She glanced at Seraphina. “Two point oh, with the possibility of an upgrade to a five.”

Rod looked back and forth between the two. “Wait… what are you talking about? What’s that mean?”

“The Dick-ter scale,” Seraphina told him.

He frowned hard. “The Dick-ter scale,” he mouthed.

“Aw, damn,” Waldo muttered. “The idiot’s right though. The fans will love your style of riding.” The old man was clearly seeing dollar bills behind his eyelids, but that just meant the vixens had made quite an impression.

“So what do we do about this?” Rider asked, nodding at the torn up dirt.

Waldo sighed, standing. “Hell, I suppose we’ll knock it down tonight before it gets hard. Scrape it good and then get a dozer in here to compact it.”

“Making the track harder is going to piss off the drivers who are used to it being soft.”

Waldo shrugged, spitting tobacco juice on the ground.

“Meh. Who cares. The fans will appreciate me changing things up a bit. They getting too used to those Dirt Track Dogs winning all the time.”

Lexington caught Aaron’s eyes, and somehow she felt like maybe he hadn’t ever looked away. Like he’d been watching her with that bottomless gaze. Like he’d gotten lost in just looking at her. And as if his stare was a hook and she was a helpless fish, she was snared. She couldn’t look away, didn’t want to.

Locked in his gaze, her chest warmed and tightened with growing emotion. Her fox pranced inside, relishing the human’s attention. She really didn’t have time to fall in love. She needed to secure her vixens and Kit. But this wonderful ache that grew in her middle with every second that passed didn’t like being ignored. She wanted to explore it. Wanted to be an adventurer to her own love story—if that’s what this was to become.

He strolled forward, never taking his eyes from her as the others bantered on. Each step brought him closer, and made her fox giddy with excitement until her animal was yipping at his nearness.

Get closer to mine.

He eased to a stop just inches from touching her, but still, he didn’t feel close enough.

“Hey there, baby girl.”

His husky words rolled over her skin bringing chills in their wake. It was the third time he’d called her that. She was keeping a tally.

“Cowboy,” she breathed.

The corner of his mouth turned up ever so slightly. It was like his mouth had a comma, leaving her hanging on to whatever came before while she waited for what came next.

His eyes left hers and traveled down over her neck, lower.

“You’re all dirty,” he murmured, tipping his chin at her.

“Part of the gig.” Her voice was wispy thin, but she didn’t care. He took her breath away. She wouldn’t be ashamed of it. Maybe she should be, but she’d never done what she was supposed to. It was why her and the girls were rogue in the first place. Playing by the rules wasn’t her style.

He reached forward with his thumb and wiped softly under her eye. “It’s just nature’s glitter, baby.”

Her smile grew, transforming into a giggle. Like, a full-on teenaged girl with a high school crush… giggle. She was horrified, but she couldn’t stop. It felt too good. And Aaron liked it too. She could tell by the way his eyes widened and got that soft look they got when he cared about something.

Did he care about her already? She knew humans didn’t fall as fast as shifters did. Humans had to grow the bond, where shifters felt it almost instantly because of their animal.

The noise around them went suddenly quiet, and Lexington looked up to find that her and Aaron had become the center of attention. Mac frowned hard, Sally mimicking him. Seraphina and Barb both had that curious mouth shrug going on. Ragan was giving a disgusted look that had no name.

And it was the same with the humans.

Waldo arched an eyebrow and then shook his head like he had better things to worry with. But Rider and Rod both seemed uncomfortable, fidgeting as they eyed Aaron.

“Mama, mama!” Kit came running from behind the fence, barreling past them with his little booted legs until he reached Ragan.

She squatted to meet him eye to eye. “What is it, Kit-Kat?”

But his eyes were so big and he couldn’t seem to make his mouth work fast enough. All the sounds coming from him were spits and sputters.

Seraphina bent down, running her hand along his back. “Breathe, Kit.”

He drew in a long shuddering breath but the terror in his expression didn’t fade.

Lexington crouched next to Ragan. “Kit, baby. Tell us what’s wrong.”

He hiccupped, trying to catch his breath. “The bad guys, Auntie Lex. The bad, bad guys. I-I can’t remember the code word, but they’re here. They’re coming, I saw ‘em.”

The bad guys.

“Orange,” Lexington murmured. “The code word is orange.”

They’d taught him to use the word if he ever sensed another shifter nearby. It was a hard lesson to teach a six year old, to constantly be on alert for danger, but it was necessary.

Lexington felt Ragan’s fox flare like it wanted out of her body, sharp energy that made the hairs on her arms stand at attention. “How did they find us here?”

“Bastards,” Barb hissed.

“Orange,” Lexington called loud, standing and ripping off her riding jacket and tossing it over her bike. “Ragan, go. Now. Take Kit out of here. Sera, go with her. No one touches the boy, hear me? No matter what.”

Seraphina nodded, urging Kit to move, but there was a war in Ragan’s eyes.

“What are you going to do?”

“Fight,” Sally said. She’d already ditched her riding gear, leaving her in her tank and leathers. “What we’ve prepared to do this whole damn time. It’s here, it’s now.”

“You won’t win,” Ragan moaned, her eyes moving back and forth between Kit retreating with Seraphina, and Lexington. “This will never end, will it?”

“What the hell is happening?” Aaron barked, and Lexington found his frustrated gaze.

“They’re here,” she said. “We’ve been found.”

His face went deadly, his expression tightening to reveal a hardened fighter. Even his dirty looks at the bar hadn’t been any indication of the person she saw before her now. Her human had a deadly air about him.

He was exactly who she needed by her side. For now, and for the future. Her mate was capable and it pleased her animal greatly.

“Who’s here?” Waldo asked, scowling so hard his mouth actually looked flipped on its end.

Rider looked at them like they’d lost their minds. Rod stared after Sera and Kit, frowning hard.

“Mac, get Ragan out of here,” Lexington demanded.

He gave a furious nod. “Let’s go, girl.” He pulled her by the arm in the direction Seraphina had gone.

“Don’t got a clue what you’re going on about,” Rod muttered. “But hell, I’ll go too.” He shrugged and followed after the others. That left Barb, Sally, and Aaron. She needed to get Rider and Waldo out of the fray.

She glanced helplessly at Aaron, hoping he was catching her vibe. Get the innocents out of our way.

He gave her a nod, and turned to Rider. “Better take off your watch. Keep your knife though.”

Wait… he was bringing Rider in on this?

“You boys in some kind a trouble?” Waldo asked. “Shoulda known it. Y’all was always in trouble. Gahdamn it.” He stalked off toward the ticket office muttering and shaking his head.

“What the hell is this?” Rider demanded, unbuckling his utility watch and placing it on the back of Sally’s bike. Pulling a black bandana from his back pocket, he skillfully wrapped it around his forehead and tied it off. “Who are we fighting?”

“Assholes of epic proportions,” Sally muttered.

“There’s something you should know,” Aaron started, eyeing his friend, but he didn’t get a chance to finish.

“Where are they, where are they?” Barb shuffled from foot to foot, fists clenching and releasing with her adrenaline. “I’m gonna shift,” she warned. “My fox is going apeshit. Gonna shift, and be ready for ‘em, okay, Lex? Gotta do it. Can’t hold it in.”

Lexington took a breath to stop her, but it was too late. With only a pop of air to alert them, Barb transformed, her body becoming loose brown fur tinged in red. Her pointed ears flicked as she shook out her tail and bared her razor sharp teeth with a soft snarl.

Lexington glanced at Aaron, who looked nonplussed. Rider, however, had grown eyeballs ten times his normal size.

“What. The. Fuck?” It was barely a breath before flipping up at the end to something pitched high with shock. “She… she just turned into a… fuck, a…”

“A fox,” Sally said. “We can all do that. Take a deep breath and get over it, okay? And please, do it fast.”

Sally said please. It was an indication of how dire she deemed the situation.

Barb’s nose raised, sniffing the air, and then she let out a yip, circling around and scenting some more. Without warning, she bounded forward, forcing them to follow her. Aaron had already unsheathed his knife from the holder on his waist, and he led the way around the pit entrance to the back fences while Lexington followed.

“Come on, Rider Daley,” Sally murmured, taking off after Lexington. “You look scrappy, and we’re going to need some of that.”

“Or not,” Aaron called back.

Lexington couldn’t see up ahead to know what he was talking about, but when she caught up to him and Barb, it all made sense. Puzzle pieces clicking into place.

Three Dirt Track Dogs strolled toward them, going from lighthearted, carefree chatter to frowning in the time it took them to set eyes on Barb in her fox form. The alpha was one of them, and two others Lexington hadn’t met yet.

One sported a nearly shaved head and a pair of aviator sunglasses, and had a long stem of grass hanging out the side of his mouth while he chewed the end.

The other was severely scarred on one entire side of his face. It looked like he’d been in a fight with one asshole of a fire and survived. His mouth twisted grotesquely at the corner and the mottled burn marks streaked down his neck and disappeared beneath the collar of his t-shirt. If you’d seen him only in profile, you wouldn’t know the other side was any different. But even with his stark brutal scars, something about his eyes told Lexington he was safe. Safe as a shifter could be anyway.

She cut a glance at Barb. The fox was low to the ground, head down, eyes averted, showing the alpha his proper respect. Barb knew she’d fucked up, but not a single vixen could blame her. Kit had given the code word, put them on alert. They’d done what anyone else would do to protect their young.

But it wasn’t another fox Kit had scented. It wasn’t their past coming for them. It wasn’t a threat at all. It was these three wolves.

“Well, what the higgity hell is this?” The one with the sunglasses said as they came to a stop. “We heard some bikes were showin’ up at the track, so we hop in the truck and get our asses down here for a look… and find this instead. I’m thinking there’s an explanation worthy of a campfire retelling, but I still ain’t sure how you’ll get it out after Drake here chews your asses up.”

There was an awkward moment where no one knew what to say, and then Aaron sighed, holstering his knife.

“We thought you were someone else.”

“Yeah, human. Got that much. The question is who?” The male talked with a hint of amusement even though he seemed serious as hell.

Aaron’s eyes flicked to Lexington, then to Barb the fox.

“Blister,” he nodded to the scarred one, ignoring the question, and then to the alpha who hadn’t taken his eyes off Barb. “Drake.”

“Why is she shifted?” Drake gritted out, vibrating with the dominance of his wolf. “And in front of a human?”

“Motherfucker,” Rider muttered under his breath as he paced a tight circle, hands planted on his hips. “What is happening here?”

He looked pissed, and like he planned on ignoring them all until he got a handle on this whole transforming thing. Which… he was obviously attempting to explain away in his head while his boots ate up the dirt behind the fence. Lexington wondered what possible explanations he was coming up with. A weird reaction to something he’d eaten and now he was hallucinating? A psychotic break? Stress and lack of sleep had made him crack?

Humans were resourceful when faced with justifying the paranormal.

Drake stared hard at Lexington like she had the answers to Barb’s predicament and he planned on digging them out of her brain one by one until the scene before him made sense.

“There’s an explanation,” she started, but before she could find words, Waldo came running across the field lugging a shotgun and waving his hands like he was going to battle with a bear.

“Outta the way!” he roared, twelve hairs flapping in the wind as he rushed forward, expertly maneuvering around the ruts in the track. That was the only warning before he planted his feet and lined up a shot.

BOOM.

The shot was a warning meant to get them all moving, and it did. Barb flinched, skittering left then right, looking for a place to hide. And that’s when the rest of them realized what Waldo was doing.

“Geet on outta here, ya mangy fox!”

But Barb had nowhere to go. She was surrounded by human legs that were shocked at the gunfire and trying to rally for a quick solution that wouldn’t end in a hit shifter.

A volley of NOs and WAITs and STOPs sounded off, but Waldo kept right on coming with his gun. In a panic, Rider threw himself on top of Barb’s fox, covering her body with his so Waldo wouldn’t shoot.

The rest of them breathed a sigh of relief as Waldo jogged over, scowling the whole way.

But Barb’s animal was in a tiff, clawing and scratching to get out from under Rider. He grit his teeth at her attack while his uncle regarded him like he’d lost his mind.

“You can’t just go around shooting animals whenever you feel like it,” Rider ground out.

“Sure as hell can if they on my property. Didn’t know you had such a tender heart in ya. You gonna just let it claw you up, son?”

Sunglasses whipped off his shirt and strutted forward. “We’ll take her outta here for ya, Waldo. Release her in the woods behind Drake’s house.”

“She’ll just find her way back. And she ain’t the first I’ve seen. There was one around back, with strange black markings.”

Ragan.

Sunglasses shot a look at Drake, and the alpha seemed to harden even more, glowering at Lexington.

“Nah. I’m betting you’ve scared the piss out of her by now.” Sunglasses nodded for Rider to move and he dropped his shirt over Barb, wrapping it around her wriggling body so she couldn’t panic-claw anymore. “You’ll thank me for this later,” he muttered. “Boy, will you thank me.”

Sunglasses lifted her into his arms and headed back toward the parking lot.

“Yeah, yeah,” Waldo muttered. “Fine. You do what you want with it. But I see any more wild animals around this track and I’m shooting first asking questions later.”

“That’s what you did this time,” Rider snapped, lumbering to a stand. Blood dripped down his arm, making a red map of his skin until it reached the destination of his fingertips.

Waldo grumbled and tossed his nephew the middle finger salute before chuffing off in the direction he came.

When he was out of earshot, Drake growled, “Find the others and meet at the club.” His eyes landed on Rider. “Humans too. We’re gonna sort this shit out before the whole damn town finds out what we are.”

He turned on his heel and stalked off.

Blister went to follow, giving Aaron’s shoulder a good-natured shove.

“Hey,” Aaron said, pitching his voice low. “Any chance you could keep this off my sister’s radar?”

Blister smiled, his scar keeping one side of his mouth straight. “Not a chance. My mate’s going to be thoroughly updated on your hijinks as soon as I see her.”

Aaron sighed. “Yeah, fine. We’ll catch up soon.”

Blister shook his head, looking exasperated. “Don’t make me come looking for you.” And then he trotted off to catch up with Drake and Sunglasses.

“Will Barb be alright?” Sally asked, sounding more than a little shaken. She cleared her throat, but it couldn’t erase the freaked look in her eyes.

“They’ll take care of her,” Aaron murmured, turning to meet Lexington’s gaze. “They won’t hurt her. I promise.”

“They’re good guys—” Rider added, and then stopped short. “Well, I guess I don’t know what the hell they are.”

Aaron glanced at his friend. “You’re fixin’ to get a crash course. And Rod too, I’m guessing.”

Rider swallowed hard, straightening his shoulders so he looked a little more badass. The action had the desired effect. “We’re going to need a lot more beer for this.”

Aaron nodded in full agreement. “Let’s go find the others.”

Lexington followed him, because she was still shaking and at this moment in time, he made the better leader. And because she had the distinct feeling she’d follow him just about anywhere anyways.

He was hers.