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The exception to that was standing in front of him. Kian was different than any of the other tigers Ian had met, War Cats or not. And far removed from how a prince would act, though he still had some of that rigid formality. Kian had a soft spot for Shelby, and came to Eagle Creek to spend some time with her. That had been months ago, and yet the prince was still here. Ian wondered if there was a reason behind the extended stay that went beyond spending time with Shelby.
“I wouldn’t know,” Kian replied, bringing Ian back to the conversation. “I do not speak to those at home.”
Curiosity burned through Ian, but he wouldn’t pry. If Kian wanted him to know, he’d tell him.
“What about Zane? Have you heard from him?”
Spine going ramrod straight, Kian’s frown deepened. “No, I have not. I don’t know why he didn’t stay with the War Cats when I ordered him home. But it has been months since then, and he hasn’t caused trouble. Despite his proximity to Eagle Creek, I do not believe he means anyone here harm.”
Ian frowned as he thought of Zane. Second in line to be alpha of the War Cats, Zane had been raised to believe he was superior to everyone, and he showed how much he believed just that with his every word and action. He’d finally gone too far a few months ago with Amelia, Seth’s mate. Kian had ordered him home, despite the rules of his tribe. Kian was never to be alone. But he ditched that rule in favor of sending Zane home, likely to avoid one of the Rocky River fighters killing him when he
went too far.
Only he hadn’t stayed home. Disobeying a direct order from his prince, Zane left the War Cats and was headed back in this direction. Cammie’s mate, Alex, was a skilled hacker, and was tracking Zane’s credit card activity. He’d been circling Eagle Creek, never staying in one place long, and rarely going back once he left wherever he stopped.
It made Ian uneasy, despite Kian’s insistence that Zane wasn’t going to cause trouble. Part of Ian’s shifter gift was being able to tell if people were good or bad, and Zane was toeing the line between the two. While Ian never told anyone that, he made sure his fighters were on guard and watching the tiger shifter. Maybe he should have told the truth to his crew, and to Kian, but he wouldn’t accuse Zane of being one of the bad guys when he wasn’t quite there yet.
But it wouldn’t take much for him to go there. The slightest breeze could be enough to knock Zane into either good or bad territory. And the fact that he disobeyed a direct order from his prince made Ian believe that he might have already stepped into bad territory.
He was just opening his mouth to come clean to Kian when Jax walked in, looking grim. “There are new shifters here. Five of them walked in about a minute ago. They told us they wanted to fight, and it was the truth, but I still don’t like it.”
Ian left the stall, coming to a stop in the hallway as the shifters headed to the back. They were all huge, muscled up and imposing, wearing jeans and leather jackets. He opened his senses, using his shifter gift. Relaxing a fraction when he didn’t get a bad vibe from them, he searched for their animals.
The other half of his shifter gift, that not many knew about, was he could sense what kind of animal shifters had. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to identify them right away. When Alex showed up, it took Ian a full day to sense he was a dragon, and sometimes it took longer. But these shifters animals’ came to him right away.
A grizzly, two lions, some sort of flight shifter, and—something else. Ian focused on the shifter to his right, but he got the same reading. He sensed a flight shifter and a mammal, in equal measure. That couldn’t be right. Unless he had mixed parentage. That had to be it, but Ian had met quite a few mixed breed shifters, and he never felt both sides. Only the animal the shifter was born with.
“You’re Ian?” the grizzly shifter in front of him asked as they came to a stop.
“I am. I heard you guys want to fight tonight. We don’t normally get outside shifters in this little town.”
The man shrugged. “We’re not here to cause trouble. We heard about the fights and thought we’d come check them out. We’ve heard about how good you and your crew are, so we wanted to give it a go, see if we could maybe beat the shifters everyone says are unbeatable.”
Ian relaxed as the truth in the grizzly’s voice washed over him. “I don’t know about that. I’m sure you all have a good shot. This is Jax, Seth, and Kian. We’re all fighting tonight,” he said, gesturing to each in turn. “And over there are Cammie and Alex, who are just watching tonight.”
“Good to meet y’all. I’m Blake. This is Luke, Noah, Liam, Dmitri, and Damara.”
Ian searched for the sixth person, not noticing her until she stepped out from behind the men. She was by no means short, but the men were all tall, blocking her from view. And she was giving off the same vibes as Dmitri—equal parts flight shifter and mammal. As they all exchanged greetings, he ran his eyes over them again, committing names and animals to his memory.
Blake was the grizzly, Luke and Noah the lions, Liam the flight shifter, and Dmitri and Damara—still unknown. It made him uneasy, but Blake was telling the truth when he said they weren’t there to cause trouble, just wanting to pit their skills against Rocky River’s fighters.
“Is Damara fighting, or just you men?” Seth asked, bringing Ian back to the conversation.
“Nah, she just came along to watch.” Blake was either the leader of their crew, or just the spokesperson.
“You’re welcome to sit with me and Alex,” Cammie offered to Damara. “Amelia and Piper will be sitting with us, as well.”
“I’d like that,” Damara replied, her words accented.
Damara turned to walk out with Cammie and Alex. Ian watched her leave as he tried to place her accent, but he was unsuccessful.
“She’s Greek,” Blake said. Ian glanced at him in surprise and Blake laughed. “I could tell you were trying to figure it out. She and Dmitri are both from Greece. They’re brother and sister.”
Greg walked into the hallway. He was one of Amelia’s employees at the Anderson ranch, and he had the fighters’ matches and orders ready. Eager to get out there and test his skills against Luke, Ian went back to warming up.
He loved fighting, and he never cared that he fought the same set of people week after week. As long as he got to fight, he was fine. But he couldn’t deny that he was looking forward to fighting someone new, and he hoped these new shifters stuck around for longer than tonight. He’d love the chance to fight each of them.
HOLLY CREPT, AS MUCH AS SHE WAS ABLE, into the Anderson’s barn. Cursing the need for her cane today, she found a shadowed patch against the wall and settled in to watch.
