The fire didn’t make sense. Not when it had just begun to lightly snow.

The smoke, smog, and flames were so displaced and unexpected out here on the bank of the river. But even more strange was what the fire looked like.

It was in the shape of a crow.

Its head was turned to the side, beak open like it was cawing, wings outstretched…the flames were twenty feet long from wing-tip to wing-tip.

And under the left wing stood her mate. Colt’s head was arched back, his attention on the sky.

Karis was on a hill above but made her way down to him, careful to take a wide berth around the fire. It reeked of lighter fluid down here, and she nearly gagged on the stench. Colt turned around as her shoes hit the riverbank. “Stay close,” he murmured.

Coming to a stop beside him, she whispered, “Why?”

“Because they’re here.”

He lifted his gaze back to the sky just in time for three ravens to stretch their wings to slow their momentum. All three dropped to the bank and Changed just before their black talons hit the snow. Three musclebound, tall, dark-eyed men stood to their full heights. The one in front had short, dirty-blond hair and a scar from the corner of his mouth down to his jawline. Another scar-face like Colt. A warrior perhaps. The one behind him to the left had long brown hair that whipped in the wind, and the other had short, jet-black hair. And all three were naked as the day they were born. Politely, Karis kept her eyes up, and not on their big swinging dicks.

“Ramsey,” Colt greeted the one in front.

“Warmaker.” The leader twitched his face like it was a tick, like a bird did when it was curious. “Pretty lady. More to lose, and yet here you are burning a death oath into the ground.”

“And I’ll back that death oath up if you push me, Crow. I would’ve been burning your fuckin’ Clan to the ground already if I didn’t have shit to do. Your Clan is a thorn right now. You keep testing us, and I can’t figure out why. What do you want?”

“You shot three of my crows today.”

“Three of your crows were trespassing and don’t make me remind you your fuckin’ Clan tried to draw my mate out into the open for an attack, also in our territory. You’re lucky you’re breathing right now, Ramsey.” In a tone as hard as steel, Colt repeated, “What do you want?”

“The wishing squirrel,” the Alpha said coolly.

Colt’s head snapped back like he’d been slapped. “What?”

“We want the squirrel.”

“Why?”

It was the man with the long hair who took a step forward and spoke up, “Because she’s—”

“Enough,” Ramsey demanded, giving the man a warning look that chilled Karis’s blood. There was evil in a look like that. Or perhaps it was just his raven-black eyes that made him appear wicked.

With an irritated sigh, Ramsey dragged his attention back to Colt. “That squirrel ain’t what you think. You want peace? You can have it. Red Dead Mayhem will never bother you again, will never attack, with never even breathe your Clan’s name again if you give us the wishing squirrel.”

Colt huffed a humorless laugh. “Fuck you. She’s mine. I raised her from a baby.”

“Did you?” Ramsey asked, cocking his face the other way.

“Yeah, you feathered mother fucker. I did! Get your own squirrel. The answer’s hell no.”

Ramsey’s smile was hard as stone and looked like a death oath in itself. “Think about it, Warmaker. She’s just a squirrel, and you can barter your Clan’s safety. You can barter an ally.”

“Oh, you’ll be our ally now?” Colt’s voice was a deep, gravelly rumble, and she could smell his fur over the smoke. “You attack our Clan for no reason, and you think I would give a shit about having a fair-weather ally?”

Karis squeezed his hand and spoke up. “Can we have time?”

At Colt’s fiery glance at her, Karis stepped forward and asked again, “Can we have time to think about the trade? It’s your word, right? You’re trading our Clan peace for Genie? This is a shocking offer, and we need time to get off this trail ride and discuss it. Genie is a part of our Clan—”

“She’s a squirrel,” the long-haired man gritted out.

“And we would ask for the same amount of time if you were asking for a horse from our stable. You attacked us in our own territory, allied with the Darby Clan, drew me into the woods and ripped apart our cabin. Surely you can understand us not chomping at the bit to give you whatever you want. Two days, and you’ll have an answer.”

“And until then?” Ramsey asked.

Colt let off a soft, rattling snarl as he dragged his gaze back to the crow shifter. “Until then, you leave us the fuck alone, or this death oath stands.”

There were three breaths of silence before Ramsey spat on the snow and nodded. “Two days, and then we’ll be burning a bear into the snow.” In an instant, the three men took a step back and shifted into their crows. Beating their big, black wings, they lifted up on the snowy wind currents until they disappeared into the night, leaving Karis and Colt to watch after them in the heat of the burning raven.