It was cold. Karis never got cold. It made her irritable. She hunched deeper into the cardigan she’d only brought along to look human and glared at the snow between Remedy’s twitching ears. Her butt hurt from riding all day, but Colt had said it would be good for her to get some time in her own saddle. Her legs also hurt. And she was hungry again. And cramping because any second now it was her lady-time, as Colt liked to call it.
And she was sick. Her bear was now invisible, and she’d spent two days worrying silently that she’d somehow gotten Genie’s animal-sickness and now wasn’t a shifter at all. She couldn’t even see or hear that well. The injuries from the war with the Darby Clan had stopped healing, and her whole body hated her.
Everything was stupid.
And for the hundredth time, she glanced over at Genie, who was lying across Ranger’s neck like a dead squirrel as Colt rode silently beside her. In front of them, the Ives family chattered happily with Trig and Ava, but here in the back, there was a cloud of gloom over them.
“I’ve thought about it,” Trig said, stopping his horse on the side of the trail to wait for them to catch up.
“Thought about what?” Colt asked quietly.
“I think we should give them Genie.”
“Fuck you, man.”
“Colt, look at her. She’s practically dead. Give them the sick squirrel, and we can focus on the ranch, trail rides, and for fuckin’ once, not have to worry about a war with someone. The trade solves a lot of problems.”
“If you trust the word of a crow,” Colt growled.
“What choice do we have?” Trig asked. “Especially when something so simple could give us peace.”
“Fuck peace. Have you thought about why they want her, Trig? Huh? Why would they want a wishing squirrel? To use her powers, that’s why. They’ll drain her. I only wish for important stuff.”
“Bullshit. Last month you wished you could get your beer for free at the GutShot for a night.”
“And she granted my wish.”
Trig rolled his eyes. “We got in a fight so Eric threw us out and forgot to charge us for the drinks.”
“It’s still a wish granted.” Colt ran his finger behind Genie’s little ear. “Trig, she got me through some tough times. I can’t even imagine handing her over to those crows. I’d rather she was free in the wild somewhere.”
Genie canted her head weakly and looked up at Colt with her soft brown eyes. Karis would do just about anything to hear that little rodent’s thoughts about now. How much did she understand?
Trig ran his hand down his face and said, “Look, I know she’s special to you—”
“Do you, Hairpin? Do you know how special she is? You’re talking about giving up one of our Clan to the crows without even knowing the real reason they want her.”
“She’s a squirrel.”
“She’s Clan! She’s been there for me since she was a hairless little blob fallen out of a tree. She’s gone to war for me, man. She’s put her teeth on I-don’t-know-how-many people she thought were threatening me, and you saw her in that Darby war. I know you did. She was going after everyone who was coming for Ava and Karis. You owe her sanctuary, but you’re telling me to give her up to people who don’t deserve a bone thrown to them? Fuck them crows, and fuck you too, Trig.”
“That’s enough!” the Alpha growled, power blasting against Karis’s skin with the force of those words. “You’ll watch how you talk to me.”
“And you’ll watch how you talk to your Clan. You want loyalty? This little squirrel is the epitome of it. I’m not givin’ her up. Let them burn a death oath. I don’t give a shit. Let them come for us.” Colt jammed a finger at Trigger. “Grizzly.” He pointed at himself. “Grizzly.” Karis. “Polar bear.” Ava. “Polar bear.” He flicked his fingers toward the sky. “Birds. Fuck Red Dead Mayhem. They gave me two days to think about it. I thought about it. They can pry my squirrel from my cold, dead grizzly paws.”
“Fuck, Colt.” Trig looked pissed, his teeth all gritted, muscle twitching in his jaw, eyes on fire, cheeks red from the cold or from fury, Karis didn’t know which.
Trig turned his attention on her. “Have you figured it out yet?”
She pulled her cardigan even tighter around her stupid shivering body. “Figured what out?”
“Why you feel like shit.” His eyes locked on hers, Trig kicked Harley, and the horse bolted forward. “Hyah!”
The Alpha took off and left Karis staring after him, wondering what the hell that crazy man had just gone off about.
“What is he talking about?” Colt asked.
“Hell if I know!”
“Well, why does Trigger know stuff about you that I don’t?”
Karis growled. It sounded pathetic and human, which pissed her off even more. She went to make her epic exit like Trig had done, but when she kicked Remedy and yelled “Hyah!” the horse swatted her in the leg with her tail and then reached around and tried to bite her ankle. And she kept walking at the same dang pace!
When Colt snorted, Karis looked for something to throw at him, but all she could muster was the pink mittens Ava had given her last week. She missed his stupid face with the first one, so she threw the other one too, kicked Remedy a bunch of times, but drew about six inches ahead of Colt’s horse. And then she had to ride the rest of the way home, sulking and ignoring Colt’s amused chuckles beside her.
Hang it all, those crows weren’t getting Genie. Genie was her friend and wasn’t pissin’ her off at the moment.
Ramsey could have Colt instead.