glass of wine with me? It might drown out some of the testosterone in the room,” she joked. “Thank you. That would be amazing.” Brianna moved to stand. Jaxon held her tight. “I’ll get it.” Juliana shook her head as she wandered to the attached kitchen. “Chardonnay?” she asked over her shoulder. “Sounds perfect.” Brianna glared at Jaxon, but he ignored her. “Little highhanded, don’t you think?” “Nope. I just like having you near me.” “And the kitchen is too far away?” “Yep.” Jaxon looked down at his mate. She smelled so fucking good. He knew he was being a bit of an ass right now, but he wanted her next to him—touching him. Juliana handed Brianna a glass while Micah spoke. “Seemed like McKinney was tracking you two. The way he circled that cave, not even paying a bit of attention to me and Serg on his tail—it was just weird.” “When did you first notice him?” Jaxon squeezed Bri’s leg. “Right after we split up and you found Brianna. Who knows how long he’d already been there.” “Do you think it was a trap? Or a coincidence?” “I’m not sure, but I wouldn’t rule anything out.” Micah stood and began to pace. Sergius sat up next to his mate and rubbed his chin. “Should we go after him?” Jaxon flinched. “I’d like nothing more than to kill that bastard, but I don’t think we have enough information. I’m not letting my guard down for an instant though.” Sergius stood now too. “I think it’s time we put the word out to some other packs and see if anyone knows anything about other vampires in other parts of the world. This jackass is starting to royally piss me off. I had hoped we’d seen the last of him after he kidnapped Jules and tried to get away with her. If he threatens us again, I don’t think we can simply chase him off and assume we’re safe. Enough is enough.” “After all these months, I secretly hoped he’d been killed in that mineshaft blast.” Jaxon cringed to think how lax they’d all gotten in recent weeks, silently hoping McKinney was out of their lives. That bastard had rocked their world last spring when he’d lured Juliana off her hiking path with his mind games. And then, after Sergius determined the missing hiker was his mate and claimed her, the vamp still tried his best to get her back. He’d even set up an elaborate ruse, sending the three brothers in separate directions to hunt down three separate women. As soon as they’d fallen into his trap, he’d kidnapped Juliana from the sheriff and taken her to an abandoned mine shaft. Luckily, Sergius had been sharp enough and quick enough to thwart McKinney’s designs and the vampire had found himself on the inside of the mine where he inadvertently set off his own antiquated dynamite. God how Jaxon wished he’d died in that explosion. Such did not seem to be the case now. If that bloodsucker thought he was going to sink his teeth into Brianna… Jaxon grit his teeth and squeezed Brianna’s thigh almost too tight. And his sweet mate wondered why he didn’t want her wandering away from him. “Wait.” Brianna glanced around at everyone, her hand trembling, sloshing the wine inside the glass. “You think this vampire is after me?” Juliana spoke up. “It’s possible. Trust me. You don’t want to get caught by him. It’s disheartening to say the least. He tried to get away with me in the spring. If Sergius hadn’t outsmarted him, I don’t know what would have happened.” “Jesus. Does he have something against you people…er…wolf-people?” “Seems that way,” Jaxon stated. “Motive?” Brianna turned to Jaxon. Her look stopped his heart. “I don’t think he likes the fact that we took up residence in his national forest ten years ago. We keep chasing him off. We might have been able to live harmoniously at one point, but we wolves don’t care for anyone who threatens humans.” Jaxon rubbed Brianna’s thigh. She stiffened under