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“X-nay on the anger-ay,” Ellis called from behind him.
Aiden bit back a snarl. “Number one, the wolf doesn’t speak English, so you can. Number two, you’re terrible at Pig Latin. I’m fine.”
“My son’s been here the whole time,” Nathan said, jumping up from the couch.
Aiden spun to face him. “You sure you know why you’re faking an alibi?”
“He’s done nothing.”
“He kidnapped a woman, knocked her out, threw her on a horse, and locked her up.”
Nathan took a step back. “He would never.”
Aiden stepped forward, and his wolf quieted, readying for a fight. Some sane voice in the back of his head said it was not a good thing when the beast went silent, but he didn’t stop. “And worse than that, there’s magic and blood all over the woods.”
“I just went for what’s ours!” a voice shouted from the stairs.
The beast twitched. Aiden was halfway across the living room before he caught the reins, crouched with one hand down and one hand extended, a breath away from shifting.
“Easy boy,” Nathan said. All aggression bled out of his voice, replaced with naked fear.
“Aiden,” Ellis said, matching the older man’s tone.
Aiden put both elbows down and then his knees until he crouched on all fours. He took a breath and pushed himself to his feet in one smooth move, pulling on a cloak of calm as he did so.
“Buck, get out here,” he said, each word slow and distinct. “Now.”
The teenager slouched into view. He was shifter-strong with a wisp of a beard. He looked like his father if someone sucked half the older man away.
Aiden stepped forward, and Buck leaped back.
Aiden’s human half was angry now, not the beast, but the kid was halfway across the room before he got hold of himself. The kid rolled his eyes, trying to put his swaggering mask back on.
“Buck, you have five seconds,” Aiden said because that’s all his wolf would allow.
“What did you do?” Nathan asked, believing maybe for the first time that his perfect son hadn’t been a total angel.
“Just took what was ours,” Buck said in a whiny voice, sounding about eleven.
Surprisingly, Aiden had no trouble controlling the beast because he was going to kill the little shit himself. He got up in his face.
“Aiden!” Ellis said, leaping forward.
He twisted, showing his cousin his eyes. “I’m fine.”
Ellis stepped back after a long minute.
“She’s ours,” Buck whined.
“She’s mine,” he said through elongating teeth and then stepped back in shock. He meant to talk about things like consent and idiocy.
“I took her!” Buck shouted.
Aiden looked the kid up and down and laughed. The sudden vision of Buck trying his pathetic moves on Goldie sent his gut spasming. She’d eat him alive.
“You’re not mine to deal with,” Aiden ground out. “Or lord knows you wouldn’t have that smile on your face for months. All I care about are the wards. Open them.”
“What?”
