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“I bet he’s a loner,” Bruce said, walking up and joining into the conversation.
“What makes you say that?” Zane spoke for the first time.
“Because most packs know better than to mess with Zelda’s area,” Bruce said with a knowing look. “Assjacket is Zelda’s town, and anyone who messes with Zelda messes with Mac. Big mistake.”
“True.” Wicked frowned, then sighed. “It’s always something. Trouble seems to always show up here.”
Zane watched Raina look away from Wicked as she spoke those words. Her eyes looked down at her phone before she put it in her back pocket. If she was trying to hide the worried look on her face, she wasn’t doing a very good job. There was something not quite right with this woman. He glanced at Wicked to see her also watching Raina’s reaction. He wasn’t the only one thinking the same thing.
“Okay, let’s get something to eat.” Wicked said, leading them to the kitchen. “I slaved over a hot stove all day preparing this meal.”
Both Raina and Bruce snorted at the same time. “Yeah, I bet you’re so worn out from twirling that finger.” Raina chuckled, shaking her head.
“I forgot how much I missed you.” Bruce chuckled, walking beside her. Zane followed, his eyes not missing the sway of Raina’s hips as she climbed the few steps into the house.
“Like what you see?” Thorne mumbled up to him with a huge, toothy grin.
“It’s been a while since I punched you in the mouth,” Zane mumbled back with a growl.
Thorne cocked his eyebrow, then laughed. “Been a while since I beat your sorry ass.”
Zane stopped, hearing Raina’s phone go off again. He watched as she quickly checked, swiped, and then put it back in her pocket before entering the house.
“What do you make of that?” Thorne asked, watching Zane closely.
“Not sure, but she was very anxious to get her phone back and now ignoring the calls seems strange to me,” Zane responded with thought. He had a gut feeling, and usually, those feelings were dead on. “How well do you know her?”
“I don’t,” Thorne replied with a frown. “Only what Wicked has told me, but that was usually just things they had done. She and Wicked opened up a tattoo place together years ago before Wicked came here. They have been close friends for a long time. I do know that Wicked was shocked when Raina texted her asking for our address and that she was going to make a visit.”
“A visit, huh?” Zane glanced his way after staring at the ground in deep thought. “It looks like she has been living in her car.”
“My thoughts exactly.” Thorne agreed, then sighed. “I don’t think the wolf is tied to anything with her other than the wrong place at the wrong time. I’ll talk to Wicked and see if she knows anything. Should be hearing from Mac soon.”
Zane nodded, following Thorne inside his eyes automatically finding Raina sitting at the table listening to Wicked. That overwhelming feeling of wanting to protect this woman hit him hard as he watched her play with her food. Her phone sat next to her, lying face down, but he could see it light up, meaning she was getting either a call or a text. He realized she had switched it to silent, and yet her eyes flickered to the phone every time it lit up.
“Get yourself something to eat, Zane.” Wicked drew his attention away from Raina.
“I’ll get me a plate soon,” Zane said with a nod to Wicked before his eyes went back to Raina. Their gazes met and held. “How long did it take you to drive here from New York?” Zane surprised himself by asking, but something wasn’t right, and not only was not knowing driving him crazy, but his panther was more restless than he’d ever been. Something wasn’t adding up, and he was determined to find out what it was. Why he needed to know so badly was a mystery to him.
Raina just stared at him, and he could see that behind those beautiful eyes, she was trying to figure out how to answer because as surprised as he was at asking that question, she seemed just as surprised to be asked.
“Oh, ah, I don’t know. I took my time and stopped a few places.” Raina avoided directly answering the question.
“When did you leave?” Thorne continued the questioning.
Raina shifted in her chair, putting her fork down before glancing at Wicked and then back to Thorne. “What does that matter?”
“When did you leave?” Thorne asked her again, but in a harder tone, ignoring her question.
“Thorne. What is wrong with you?” Wicked warned with a frown, then glared at Zane. “Both of you are being extremely rude?”
“Don’t care,” Thorne said, then glanced at Raina and sighed. “A wolf Shifter running around loose threatening women—”
“And handsome cats,” Bruce added with a nod.
“is something I don’t take lightly.” Thorne finished looking from Wicked to Raina. “I apologize if my questioning you is rude, but I need to know if you are connected in some way with this new threat.”
The look on Raina’s face said it all, and Zane’s body vibrated with rage as he stared at the defeat as well as fear on Raina’s face. His rage was in no way directed toward her but on who or what threatened her.
