The youngest VonBrandt brother stayed long after the other enforcers—and Julian VonBrandt—had left. It was almost like Adam was waiting for Ryan.

Maybe he was.

They’d done business before, and they knew each other fairly well.

The room had cleared out. If Ryan could just outlast everyone else, he’d have a shot at talking to Adam alone. Beau had started in on one of his incessant tirades about his last rodeo run.

It hadn’t quite sunk in yet that he wouldn’t be joining his brother at the next rodeo. He was approaching thirty, nearly middle-age in rodeo years. Even if he hadn’t been leaving to become alpha, it would have been close to quitting time.

Beau didn’t seem to understand that, and it took all of Ryan’s willpower not to gag his brother or start a fight. His life was going to change, and his brother was oblivious to his growing pains.

Bracken put a hand on his shoulder as the alpha stood from the table. “You coming back to the cabin?”

“I think I’ll wait for Adam.” Ryan nodded at the cluster of VonBrandts, who were the only ones left in the room.

“Where’s Dee?” Bracken looked around, like he hadn’t noticed their ranch manager had been gone for an hour.

“She went to the bar with Kate.”

The alpha raised one dark brow, his face lined in concern. “Has she talked to him yet?”

“No.”

“You can’t talk to him about that horse until she does. This has gone on long enough.”

The words hung in the air, cutting off all of Ryan’s plans. He wasn’t going to openly disobey his alpha, even though he knew he couldn’t let Kate “win” the job.

There was no getting around the fact that he couldn’t work with her. Not if he wanted to retain his position as the Trewitt alpha. And he did. It was the only way he’d be able to do the work he wanted with the Oklahoma pack. Right the rift his father had made three years ago.

Sometimes, lust was just lust. It didn’t have to be Fate. There was no way Fate would be fickle enough to match him with a mate, given his responsibility to his pack.

He hadn’t picked Julian on accident. The rest of the single VonBrandts were too much like Ryan. Or Beau. They were either hard-set on rodeos or sowing wild oats. None of them had the stability and sanity to take care of a woman. Julian VonBrandt, on the other hand, was a harmless, safe kind of guy. Stable. Smart. He’d protect Kate in a way Ryan couldn’t.

A match between them would be for the best, really. Kate was a master flirt. She’d have Julian wrapped around her finger in no time.

Why doesn’t that make me feel better?

“You’re going to be the alpha.” Bracken gripped Ryan’s shoulder. “But we need this girl. Unless you have another non-Trewitt wolf in your back pocket who can run that ranch with you. It’ll be easier for you and Kate to start at the same time. Like you can train each other for the job.”

Ryan just about choked on dead air, imagining himself in the ranch office with Kate. All he could think about was bending her over the desk and…

“She’ll be great at that job, by the way,” Beau interjected, having apparently stayed silent for too long.

There was no such thing as silent for too long in Ryan’s book. He preferred it.

“I think she will,” Bracken said. “I have a good feeling about her.”

Ryan fought an eye roll. These two jackasses had absolutely no idea what they were talking about. Hiring Kate would be a disaster.

“I know one of her cousins.” Beau kept talking, not even bothering to lower his voice. Anyone walking by could hear everything they were saying. Dumb as a rock, Beau was. “Dean Quade. I was just telling him about—”

“What the hell?” Ryan’s attention snapped to his brother and he reached out, smacking him hard on the shoulder. “You knew not to talk about this hire here.”

“It’s just Dean,” Beau said with a shrug. “He does calf roping with me. He’s a good dude.”

“He’s a Quade,” Bracken said, leaning in and lowering his voice. “Shit, Beau. What did you tell him?”

“Oh, nothing. I just asked him about her. What jobs she did for them at the ranch. How she was in the sack, and all that—”

Ryan punched him this time. “What the fuck, man?”

“Hey.” Beau held his arm where Ryan’s fist had landed. “I didn’t really say that.”

Before he knew what was happening, Ryan’s palms started to sweat and his heart began to race and his vision narrowed down to a point. It felt like he needed to step up and protect Kate. Like he would have to fight. He didn’t like Beau talking about her at all. But especially not like that.

“What exactly did you say?” Bracken asked, his voice low.

“I asked him what kind of jobs she does on the ranch. Oh, and what events she used to ride—I’m pretty sure I remember her barrel racing when she was younger.”

Ryan tried to force his breath to even out, but he just couldn’t do it. He was practically seeing red, thinking about his brother talking to Kate’s family. Asking questions. Prying. Maybe referencing her sexuality or personal life—because, let’s be honest, that’s exactly something Beau the idiot would do.

“Maybe it won’t be so bad.” Ryan leaned back in his chair and tried to flex his hands to get some blood flowing to them again. “Maybe they’ll just think we want to check out the competition or something.”

“If it gets back to Phillip Quade, he’ll probably just think I’m reconsidering you and Kate.” Bracken ran a big hand through his graying hair, but Ryan’s heart skipped a beat.

“Me and Kate?”

The alpha looked around the room and leaned in to the boys. “A couple of years ago, Phillip Quade approached me about setting you up with Kate. He doesn’t have a bulldogger.”

“Doesn’t have a bulldogger?” Ryan repeated, dumbfounded. “Like he’s gonna collect me?”

“Not collect you. But he does like to run a full team, and none of those guys are really any good at it.” Bracken’s shoulders went up, like he was excusing the creepy behavior. There were so many weird things about that West Texas alpha, and this was just another entry on the list. He didn’t like the idea of Kate having to go back there. Ever.

But wasn’t that exactly what he was doing by trying to keep her away from the Trewitt pack? Making her go back home?

No, you’re going to come up with another solution. Dammit. This is so fucked up.

“Then he wanted Beau and Kate to pair up,” Bracken continued.

“Dude, that would have been sweet. She’s smokin’ hot. She’s probably a tiger in the—”

Ryan didn’t even realize he’d punched his brother in the face until he was standing over his body, sprawled out on the floor, and Beau was making angry noises. His alpha pushed on his shoulders, backing him up against the wall, and the VonBrandts all came around the table toward them. Ryan was shocked, practically dumbfounded. It was almost like his memory, maybe even his free will, had gone blurry in his anger. For a split second, he thought about pushing away from Bracken. But he deserved to be restrained.

Beau was a Travis, which made him pack. He was his brother, by the gods. He never should have attacked someone in his own pack. It made him as bad as Pops.

Everyone was talking to him at once, getting angry or being curious, and Ryan just stood there, shaking his head, looking down at his brother. Beau had said crude things about Kate, and that was not okay.

“He’s fine,” Bracken was saying to the Texas alpha. “He’s just a little on edge. Ryan, why don’t you go cool down outside?”

The blonde VonBrandt woman was helping Beau up off the floor, and Ryan felt a hand apply pressure to his own shoulder. He looked behind him, only to find Adam VonBrandt escorting him out of the dining room. They went through the foyer and out onto the porch, before either of them said a word.

“Man, what the hell was that?” Adam asked, a little bit of awe in his voice. “I’ve never seen anyone move that fast before. Not even another wolf.”

“I don’t know,” Ryan said, leaning over and putting his hands on his knees. His body was still on the edge. He’d had a momentary flash of Kate being pawed by his brother, and he’d lost his mind. A part of him registered that he’d actually repressed the violence he’d wished to do to Beau. That’s how bad this was.

“Well, that was impressive, to say the least.” Adam clapped him on the back, like he was congratulating him on a battle well-fought.

“He’s just my brother. We get on each other’s nerves.”

“I know the feeling.” Adam nodded back toward the house. “My brother gets on my nerves, plenty. He camps out on them. He has a timeshare on my nerves, for fuck’s sake.”

Ryan allowed himself a little laugh, and felt a bit of the tension diffusing. But he’d still tense up if he even thought about Kate. Who knew what she could be doing at the moment. Or who. Suddenly, he wasn’t okay with the thought of her being with sending her off with anyone else—even the professor.

Ryan found himself questioning every choice he’d ever made about Kate. He didn’t like that she was so far away from him, and that he couldn’t check on her. He didn’t like that he’d sent her after another guy. He didn’t like that he even cared at all.

“Feeling any better?” Adam asked, at last.

“A little.” Ryan stood, walking from one side of the big porch to the other, letting his hands rest on the columns. He had orders from his alpha not to do anything until Dee talked to Adam. But he wanted to talk to him about the horse and get it over with. He was ready to move past this…whatever this was.

The buzz from Adam’s pocket jangled Ryan’s last nerve, and he turned around to look.

Adam was standing near the door, looking at his phone. He smirked and looked up. “You know that Kate Quade girl?”

Ryan’s insides tensed. “Yeah.”

“My cousin says she’s at the bar, looking for me.”

So, the jig is up, then? Ryan just about reached for his own phone to text Dee. Dammit.

“You ever been to Joe’s bar in town?” Adam continued, clicking his phone off and putting it back in his pocket.

“I haven’t.”

“It’s a pretty interesting place. And it’s Thursday, so it’s Ladies’ Night.”

Ryan kicked at a speck on the porch with one booted foot. He didn’t like where this conversation was headed. He didn’t want to take Adam right into the lion’s den. That would be like admitting defeat.

“Do you think Dee’s there?” Adam asked, his voice a little softer than Ryan had expected from the sarcastic younger brother of the big alpha.

“I’m not sure, anymore. I think she was there.”

“She’s mated, y’know.” The man’s voice was even lower, and Ryan’s hackles started to bristle. “She doesn’t think I saw the tattoos, but I did.”

Ryan just nodded, trying to think of how to counteract the damage to come. Because there was no chance he could bring the conversation back around to the horse now that it had swung to Dee. There would be no recovery.

“Why would she hide them from you?” he asked carefully.

Adam snorted. “Because we’ve been sleeping together for ten years and I was probably going to end up asking her to marry me.”

He didn’t dare respond to that. It was like stepping into a trap. Instead, he redirected the conversation into neutral territory. “I’m not much of a bar guy, really.”

“Well, you wouldn’t like Joe’s, then. It’ll be rowdy on Thursday night at ten o’clock.”

Ryan looked at his watch. It really was almost ten. The time had gone by so fast—first with Kate, and then in the summit. He already felt like he’d been thinking about her for his whole life. Like his world had been reoriented.

“My cousin said this Kate Quade girl wants to talk to me about a horse, though,” Adam said, pressing his fist into one of the white columns near the door. “I should go.”

“I’ll go to the bar with you,” Ryan blurted out, half pissed at himself as he said the words. He wanted to keep Adam away from the bar. Not take him right to Kate. But there might be no other option.

“I thought you didn’t like bars.”

I like Kate Quade was the first thought that fluttered across his consciousness, like a little butterfly he wanted to shoo away. Or kill. “I should see what the nightlife is like here.”

“Lots of humans.” Adam pushed off the column. “If you want a one-night stand.”

“Not looking for that,” Ryan said.

“Oh, right. You’re the new Trewitt alpha. Don’t you have to be single, or whatever?” The VonBrandt brother pointed toward a red truck parked right alongside the porch. “Here, come with me. We’ll go check out the local talent at Joe’s and I’ll meet this Kate Quade girl who wants to buy a horse.”

Ryan followed him, reluctantly. But he couldn’t think of another reason to keep Adam on the ranch. Kate had put out the siren call, Adam was on his way, and there was nothing Ryan could do about it.

They got into the truck and Adam pulled out, carefully dodging the other vehicles in the round. Adam glanced over at him, “You don’t want to talk about the single thing?”

“It’s not that.” Ryan waved a dismissive hand. “It’s more that it’s not up for negotiation, so talking about it is sort of a waste of time.”

The truck came up toward the back of the big gate and it opened automatically. Ryan pulled out his phone and considered texting Dee, telling her to vacate the bar, but he didn’t like the idea of her leaving Kate there, unattended. Plus, it was always possible that a quick pull-off-the-Band-Aid talk with Adam VonBrandt would put Dee’s mate thing behind her.

“Why isn’t it negotiable?” Adam asked.

With a shrug of his shoulders, Ryan let out a long sigh. This seemed to be everyone’s favorite topic lately, but he just didn’t want to talk about it. The whole conversation would involve a discussion about Pops, and about the feuding, and it was just too much drama for an already drama-filled night.

“The feud began before I was born, and our first alpha had to give everyone a vote in pack business, or he risked a revolt,” he finally said. “That seemed to work at first, except there are outlying families that always feel like they’re being ignored.”

“How outlying?”

“Across the state. So they’re mostly fine until we have to make another decision, so when Bracken announced that he wanted to retire, it all started up again. The families were on the verge of breaking apart, and we only recently got them to stay united, but the cost is an impartial alpha.”

“Shit, man.” Adam snorted. “I don’t envy you that job.”

Ryan’s chest burned, as he listened to himself describe his family. No one would envy him the job. But he and Bracken believed so strongly in a united pack…they’d seen the difference. When the families were on their own, they languished. The feud flourished. When people put aside their own prejudices and made decisions for the good of the family, then everyone flourished.

But it wasn’t easy.

“Given how spread out we all are, and how much power the alpha has, they assume there’s some preference given to the alpha’s kids when it comes to decisions about assistance and mediation, so—”

“Mediation?” said Adam. “You have to mediate?”

“Oh, yeah. There’s always somebody fighting about something.” Ryan watched the dark trees fly past them as they headed up toward town on the main highway. It was such a different landscape from his home, but it definitely had the same kind of dark. He liked the dark.

“What do they fight about?”

“Access to the alpha, financial assistance, place in the pecking order…shit… what don’t they fight about?” Ryan fisted his hand against his thigh. It was just so frustrating. It was also part of why he wanted to be the alpha so much.

“Sounds complicated.”

“I have some plans to uncomplicate it.” And the same excitement bubbled up in his chest that was always there when he thought about what he wanted to do as alpha. When he thought about how much good he could do for the struggling families in his pack, he felt this fatherly determination kick in, and it almost pushed him along. “I’ve been watching a couple of other packs, and I have some ideas about how to change our pack structure in a way that will make the families stop feuding.”

They started to pass into the town, where there were a few more lights. The highway took them up through town and across the tracks, and Ryan kept his mouth shut for the rest of the drive, while he looked out at the passing buildings. He didn’t mind the silence, and he didn’t want to talk about his obligations anymore. It was a daunting task ahead of him, but he would do it. He would fix his pack.

“Our pack isn’t like that,” Adam said, matter-of-factly. “We’re not that big.”

“You’re centrally located, and your family all lives close to you. That helps.”

The pounding of a bass line interrupted his thoughts and they came up to a long brick building with the flashing sign: Everyday Joe’s Bar. Ryan took a deep breath. He was gonna see Kate again, and she now knew that he’d sent her after the wrong man. She was going to be pissed.

But, in all honesty, he could deal with pissed. It would be better for them if she hated him. Never wanted to see him again. Thought he was the scum of the earth. That would be the best.