Barrett didn’t enter the house immediately. He stood on the porch, taking in deep calming breaths and trying like hell to get his anger under control. After shifting into bear form for days on end, coming back down was never easy. It was all instinct and action with very little reasoning involved. He tried to do one of the things he’d learned from his father—figure out his goal.

It was easy enough. Don’t let Logan leave. Don’t let the family be split up, no matter what. Those things were like a mantra for them. When he was ready to face his brother, he stepped inside. The damage was pretty extensive. There was hardly a stick of furniture left intact. Under other circumstances, it would have pissed him off, but at the moment, he had bigger things on his plate.

Following the sounds in the house, he found Logan in his room throwing clothes into a bag.

“You’re not leaving here,” Barrett said abruptly. “You’re not leaving this mountain.”

Logan looked up at him, his expression harder than Barrett had ever seen it. “I kinda thought that was what you were after.”

Barrett sighed. “You don’t have to leave this mountain. That might be a better way to say it.”

Logan paused then. “I want to be with Zoe, if she’ll have me. And even if she won’t, I’m not gonna stay here and be treated like a kid by you. I get that I’m the baby brother, but the days of any of us being babies is long gone.”

“You’re not a kid. I know that. But you are my little brother. I got used to telling you what to do for so long that I don’t know what to make of it when you don’t,” Barrett admitted gruffly. “Don’t go.”

“Are you telling me or asking me?” Logan demanded.

“Asking,” Barrett stated firmly. “This family was split up for too long. I don’t want to see that happen again.”

“And Zoe?”

He was like a damn dog with a bone, Barrett thought grimly. “If she wants to stay, she’s welcome. If she doesn’t want to stay… I still don’t want to see you go.”

Logan stopped packing. He didn’t unpack, but he paused in the act of gathering his belongings, which Barrett took to be a good sign.

Hands on his hips, Logan looked back at him and said, “This isn’t a dictatorship. Yes, you’re the clan leader, but I’m not some kid for you to order around anymore. And you don’t order Zoe around either. No barking at her, no yelling and cussing and scaring the piss out of her. Hell. Sam did enough of that already.”

Barrett leaned against the doorframe. “I know. I know you’re not a kid, and I know that when you take a mate, that connection supersedes all others. That’s the way it’s supposed to be, anyway. I’ll honor that. I’m not going to say I’m sorry…because, well, I just don’t do that. But I will say that I was out of line.”

That was as close to an apology as Barrett would ever come. They both knew it. Barrett waited there for a moment and when Logan nodded his acceptance of it, he turned and walked away.

* * *

Sam knocked on the door of the cabin. It had been easy enough to locate hers because all he had to do was follow his brother’s scent. As he neared the cabin, another scent invaded his mind. Apples. Sweet and tart, delicious and tempting—the scent of apples overwhelmed him.

He was trying to figure out where the hell it was coming from as he knocked on the cabin door. Zoe, with her blonde hair and ridiculous curves was just his brother’s type, but it was the woman on the couch behind her who caught and held his attention completely. Dark haired, dusky-skinned, and wearing a body hugging dress and mile high heels, she was a stunner.

As he looked her over, she lifted her hand to her hair and brushed it back. Apples. It was her. Fuck.

“Are you here for a reason?” Zoe asked.

“Barrett’s back at the house. He and Logan have decided to kiss and make up. Thought you might want to be there for the group hug,” he explained.

“What do you mean kiss and make up?” she snapped. It was easy to see from the cautious way she eyed him that she had not forgotten their first meeting. Not that he could blame her.

Sam looked pointedly at her friend seated on the couch, “I’m going to say this as discreetly as possible. Barrett was super pissed that our baby brother decided to share the family secret with you.”

She rolled her eyes. “He didn’t have to. You’d already let that particularly furry cat out of the bag!”

“How was I supposed to know the stranger in my house was a lot more friendly than foe?” Sam countered. “Look, you can do what you want, but the two of them are down there and could be fucking up everything royally. Before Logan tosses away his family on a whim, he deserves to know if there’s even a shot with you to warrant that."

“Fine,” she said and stepped out into the porch. He didn’t move. “Are you coming?”

He ought to. If he had a lick of sense in his head, he would. But he couldn’t take his eyes off the dark-haired beauty on the couch eyeing him with just enough disdain to make it challenging. “I’ll stay here and keep your friend company,” he offered. “I’m not much for big emotional scenes.”

“India?” Zoe asked.

The sexy brunette smiled, but it wasn’t a friendly expression. It was tight and even a little mean. “It’s fine. I’ll wait here while you to deal with this hillbilly Jerry Springer mess you’ve landed yourself in the middle of. Be smart, Zoe. Do not fall for a pretty face and a good line.”

Sam didn’t even notice when Zoe stepped off the porch and headed toward the cabin he shared with his brothers. His eyes were glued to her friend, and he didn’t have any plans to take them off her any time soon. India had more walls than a prison, and in that split second, he decided that he’d scale every last one of them.

Zoe brushed past him and Sam stepped into the cabin before she closed the door much more forcefully than necessary. “She’s got a temper.”

“She’s not the only one,” India warned. “Don’t try your good ol’ boy charm with me. It won’t work. I don’t know who you are, but I’m not interested.”

“I’m not your type?” he asked.

“You’re exactly my type,” she answered breezily. “Handsome, sexy, charming…less than a passing acquaintance with the truth and thinks commitment is an STD.”

He laughed, not in the least offended. “If I’m going to carry that much of your baggage, darlin’, I ought to at least get a tip.”

“Then maybe you ought to leave it where it lies and find something a little less challenging,” she suggested, her voice sugar laced venom.

Sam leaned back against the wall, crossed his feet at the ankles, and tucked his thumbs into his pockets. Her gaze moved over him, pausing at his crotch and sizing him up. He grinned and let her. “I’ll drop my pants if you want a better look.”

“So you’re an impressive dick with an impressive dick,” she mused. “Congratulations.”

“Did he cheat on you? Hit you? Take your credit card to the strip club? Or is it all of the above?”

“He told me my ass was too big, hired a trainer for me, and then fucked her in my bed.” The answer was offered blandly, her tone too casual, and her expression schooled to the point of plasticity.

Sam nodded. “I guess you’re pretty well acquainted with dicks, after all.”