around them before he’d forego the pleasure of playing with his kids. Touchy-feely as his pack and her clan could be at times, she’d never seen an adult male who doted on his babies the way her mate did.
“We’ve got a situation, Brick.”
“What?” her wolf asked, his smile contented and lazy. Life was good for them now. The clamoring voices of his packmates and the unwanted visions of their deaths no longer haunted him, befuddling his mind. It’d take an exploding stack of dynamite to move him from his zone of comfort at the center of his little family. He tickled the padded paws and soft underbelly of the small kitten cub trying to climb his torso to nip at his solid chin until Autumn shrieked.
Unfortunately, Summer was about to let loose just such a bombshell on him.
“My Uncle Cal’s got your brother in his jail in Shady Heart.”
“My what? Your what?” Brick scrambled to his feet, clutching the cub to his heart and nuzzling the top of her furry head before releasing her into the pen with her sibling. He stared at Summer, his brandy-bright eyes wide with shock. “My brother ? In the Shady Heart jail?”
“Yeah, Chance Northridge, Cal said. I didn’t even know you had a brother. Were you ever going to tell me?”
“Jesus.” He brushed a hand through his dark, coffee-colored hair. “I haven’t seen or heard from Chance in more than ten years. Bastard fled Los Lobos before I did. Left us to rot there. Didn’t care what the hell happened, what insane cruelty Magnum could devise.”
“Yeah, well. Looks like he needs you now. It appears he’s back. Or in Shady Heart, anyway. The jail to be precise. Cal, um, suggests, you come spring him ASAP. He says to bring cash. A lot of cash.”
“Holy Hunter’s Moon. Chance has always been hotheaded and reckless. Goddess only knows what kind of trouble he got up to in Shady Heart.”
Her uncle’s town, the stronghold of the feline shifter clan to which as half cougar and half skinwalker she’d once belonged, beckoned shifter adventure-seekers and tourists and a few feckless humans to its mecca of mischief and more sordid delights. Especially those indulgent pleasures available in and around Calhoun Bartholomew Seven’s Graymarket Trading Company Saloon and Casino. Like Los Lobos, Shady Heart couldn’t be found on any map. Unlike Los Lobos, its rumored existence spread through a certain class, and Cal encouraged them to empty their wallets to fill the cats’ coffers.
Brick should know. Before they’d mated, he’d occasionally sampled the decadence Shady Heart had to offer during the ten years when he’d been banished from the Black Hills Wolves pack for challenging the crazed former Alpha, Magnum Tao. Brick had been a beaten and bloodied eighteen-year-old when the giant Werebear Gee, Los Lobos’ historian and keeper of its secrets, had taken pity on him, scraping him off the floor of Gee’s Bar and bringing him out here to what was then a deserted cabin in the glade deep within the woods between Los Lobos territory and Goldspark land. An isolated lone wolf with little interest in anything aside from his beautifully intricate carvings, he’d lived without companionship, rattling around the cabin he’d rebuilt and renovated, until Summer had befriended him in her raven form. Now the place of his former exile from Los Lobos was home, glowing with the warmth of family.
“You have any other siblings I should know about?” she asked her mate.
“Well.” Brick hesitated and then pressed his hands to his temples, closing his eyes, as if in the throes of a sudden, agonizing headache. He dragged in a deep breath, expelling it in a whoosh.
“Are you all right, baby?” She tensed with concern.
“Yeah.” Brick turned toward the mantelpiece and slanted the painting above it to one side to reveal a wall safe. “I may. Haven’t seen any of them in years. Have no idea if they’re alive or dead.”
“Maybe they’ll start coming home now. Like
“We’ve got a situation, Brick.”
“What?” her wolf asked, his smile contented and lazy. Life was good for them now. The clamoring voices of his packmates and the unwanted visions of their deaths no longer haunted him, befuddling his mind. It’d take an exploding stack of dynamite to move him from his zone of comfort at the center of his little family. He tickled the padded paws and soft underbelly of the small kitten cub trying to climb his torso to nip at his solid chin until Autumn shrieked.
Unfortunately, Summer was about to let loose just such a bombshell on him.
“My Uncle Cal’s got your brother in his jail in Shady Heart.”
“My what? Your what?” Brick scrambled to his feet, clutching the cub to his heart and nuzzling the top of her furry head before releasing her into the pen with her sibling. He stared at Summer, his brandy-bright eyes wide with shock. “My brother ? In the Shady Heart jail?”
“Yeah, Chance Northridge, Cal said. I didn’t even know you had a brother. Were you ever going to tell me?”
“Jesus.” He brushed a hand through his dark, coffee-colored hair. “I haven’t seen or heard from Chance in more than ten years. Bastard fled Los Lobos before I did. Left us to rot there. Didn’t care what the hell happened, what insane cruelty Magnum could devise.”
“Yeah, well. Looks like he needs you now. It appears he’s back. Or in Shady Heart, anyway. The jail to be precise. Cal, um, suggests, you come spring him ASAP. He says to bring cash. A lot of cash.”
“Holy Hunter’s Moon. Chance has always been hotheaded and reckless. Goddess only knows what kind of trouble he got up to in Shady Heart.”
Her uncle’s town, the stronghold of the feline shifter clan to which as half cougar and half skinwalker she’d once belonged, beckoned shifter adventure-seekers and tourists and a few feckless humans to its mecca of mischief and more sordid delights. Especially those indulgent pleasures available in and around Calhoun Bartholomew Seven’s Graymarket Trading Company Saloon and Casino. Like Los Lobos, Shady Heart couldn’t be found on any map. Unlike Los Lobos, its rumored existence spread through a certain class, and Cal encouraged them to empty their wallets to fill the cats’ coffers.
Brick should know. Before they’d mated, he’d occasionally sampled the decadence Shady Heart had to offer during the ten years when he’d been banished from the Black Hills Wolves pack for challenging the crazed former Alpha, Magnum Tao. Brick had been a beaten and bloodied eighteen-year-old when the giant Werebear Gee, Los Lobos’ historian and keeper of its secrets, had taken pity on him, scraping him off the floor of Gee’s Bar and bringing him out here to what was then a deserted cabin in the glade deep within the woods between Los Lobos territory and Goldspark land. An isolated lone wolf with little interest in anything aside from his beautifully intricate carvings, he’d lived without companionship, rattling around the cabin he’d rebuilt and renovated, until Summer had befriended him in her raven form. Now the place of his former exile from Los Lobos was home, glowing with the warmth of family.
“You have any other siblings I should know about?” she asked her mate.
“Well.” Brick hesitated and then pressed his hands to his temples, closing his eyes, as if in the throes of a sudden, agonizing headache. He dragged in a deep breath, expelling it in a whoosh.
“Are you all right, baby?” She tensed with concern.
“Yeah.” Brick turned toward the mantelpiece and slanted the painting above it to one side to reveal a wall safe. “I may. Haven’t seen any of them in years. Have no idea if they’re alive or dead.”
“Maybe they’ll start coming home now. Like
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