“There’s something freeing about it.” She flashed him a farewell smile before hopping into the Mustang.

Ryan wondered how it was possible that a smile could irritate him and made his cock twitch at the same time. His little loner was—

Inwardly, Ryan scowled at his mental dialogue. She wasn’t his loner. But, he mused, he’d found her first. Besides, it was a debate that was only happening in his head, so it made no difference.

It wasn’t until the Mustang was out of sight that Ryan crossed the lot to the Chevy. The moment he slid into the passenger seat, Dante switched on the engine.

Jaime was the first to speak. “Well, it would seem that it wasn’t a trap after all.”

Ryan grunted his agreement. There was no denying that Zac was Damian’s son. They looked too much alike.

“He’s such a nice kid. Sweet. Polite.”

“And scared,” added Trey.

“I know,” said Jaime. “It was heartbreaking.”

“Did you notice he was especially distrustful of Ryan, Trey, and Dante?” Taryn asked Jaime. “Something tells me that whatever happened to Zac happened at the hands of a male.”

A growl built in Ryan’s chest. Whoever hurt him, Ryan would kill him.

Taryn’s voice was sensitive as she asked, “You okay?”

No, he wasn’t fucking okay. He hated that a member of his own family was staying with an outsider, especially at a damn shelter. He believed firmly that people should protect their own and take responsibility for their family. Which pretty much made him the exact opposite of his mother. He took pride in that.

“I know it had to be hard to walk away from him,” said Taryn, “but yanking the kid out of the shelter would just distress him. I have a feeling he’s been through enough already. The last thing you want is to make it harder for him, right?”

Ryan grunted, unable to argue with Taryn’s reasoning.

“Makenna will keep him safe,” said Jaime. “She’s got a wild vibe about her. The kind you’d see from a lioness guarding her cubs.”

“I like her,” announced Taryn. “And I like that she’s not intimidated at all by Ryan’s terminator snarl.”

“Terminator snarl?” chuckled Dante.

“When we first met, I thought you seemed kind of robotic,” Taryn told Ryan with a smile. “But I soon realized that you were so tense all the time because you were always on guard. You’ve settled a lot since the pack grew in strength. But you’re still stoic . . . like a Shaolin Monk Master that’s the epitome of cool because he knows he can snap your neck before you blink.”

“And it seems to reel females in,” said Jaime. “Even though you intimidate them.”

Taryn shrugged. “Lots of females like the strong, silent, dangerous type.”

Ryan decided not to contribute to what was, in his mind, a pointless conversation.

“When are we next seeing Zac?” Trey asked.

“Tomorrow,” replied Ryan. “The sooner he’s comfortable around us, the sooner he’ll agree to join our pack.” Where he’d be surrounded by people who would keep him safe.

“He’ll fit into our pack nicely,” Trey commented. “But I don’t think it will be easy to win his trust. And there’s something else that might complicate things.”

“What?” Dante asked.

“Zac seems pretty attached to Makenna.”

“If she saved him, it might just be a minor case of hero worship,” suggested Jaime.

“Maybe,” conceded Trey. “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

CHAPTER FOUR

Hearing a beeping sound, Makenna took her gaze briefly off the road to glance at Zac. He was reading a message on his new cell phone. “If that’s Ryan asking where we are, tell him we’re literally two blocks away.” They were running a little late.

“It’s some guy called Marcus. He says he’s another Phoenix enforcer.”

“Really?”

“The Phoenix wolves have all been texting me to say hi and tell me a little about them.”

“Yeah? That means the pack as a whole will definitely welcome you. That’s a good thing.” And a relief, because it didn’t always work that way. “Are they nice?”

“Dominic’s pretty fleek”—“fleek” meaning “cool” to Zac—“he keeps sending me jokes.”

Something about Zac’s tone made her ask, “Dirty jokes?”

“I’m not going to answer that. I’m pleading the seventh.”

“You mean the fifth.”

“Whatever. I’m pleading.”

She laughed. “Fine. But if you—” She broke off at the chiming of her own cell phone. Seeing that the caller was Madisyn, Makenna swiped her finger across the screen and answered, “Hello.”

“Shithead’s back.” Madisyn then hung up.

Makenna swore. “Send Ryan a text, tell him we’re going to be even later than what we already are.”

“Why?”

“Remy turned up at the shelter.” At the next junction, she did a U-turn and slammed her foot on the accelerator. In under a minute, she was pulling up outside the shelter. And there was Shithead, standing at the front door with two of his wolves—most likely trying to coax Dawn into letting them in. Dawn knew better than that. She’d also be busy holding Madisyn back; the feline had a wicked temper that made her easy to provoke. Engaging in a confrontation with a powerful Alpha wolf could lead to many complications, however.