Blackwing Defender (Kane's Mountains Book 1) (2 page)

“Did you just turn off your hearing aid?” Dustin asked in an offended tone.

Winter snorted. She liked the human already.

When she looked up at Logan, he was showing the first signs of a smile. She bet the monster was beautiful when he let a real grin rip.

A car horn blasted, and the crowd parted like the red sea as a jacked-up pickup truck approached. One redheaded muscle-bound titan was yelling out the window, “Out the way before I run you over!” Air Ryder Croy pointed to some brownnoser who had actually worn cut-off shorts for extra points. “I like your shorts. Move! Oh, wait!” He rocked to a stop and leaned farther into his truck, then reappeared at the open window and flung a stack of papers into the air. They rained down like giant white snowflakes. “Applications! Fill them out! Oh, here’s a pen.” He chucked a single pen out the window into the surging crowd.

“One pen, seriously?” someone yelled.

“Crew shit 101—learn to share,” Air Ryder called out over the noise as he began inching his truck toward the cabin again.

Logan cast Winter an unreadable glance. His eyes had lightened from pitch black to smoke gray. “I’ll get the applications.” The rest in the circle had stood, including Winter, urged by the chaos of the mob scrambling for the fluttering papers, but true to his word, Logan brought back a stack in less time than Winter had expected. They took them as he passed them around the circle. All but the giant scar-faced bruiser, Beast. He snarled and stood, disappeared into the crowd, and returned thirty seconds later with his own. A team player he was not.

She thought he would stay on the other side where he’d been standing, but Logan handed her an application and took his seat beside her again. “You sure got a big purse,” he said. “Any extra pens in there?”

“Yeah,” she said on a breath as she dug around the depths of her oversize handbag. She carried everything in it—way more than she needed. There was even a pair of purple hand wraps for boxing, a back scratcher, and four pocket knives. Like she needed all those weapons. She had teeth and claws.

Winter found three pens and tossed Emma one since she was looking right at her like a brave little human. Dustin snorted a disapproving sound, but so what? He smelled like dog fur, and she wouldn’t ever go out of her way to help a werewolf. They were crazy and manipulative, every last one of them. It was ingrained in them since birth. He might be acting normal, but he wasn’t. That was just a show to play nice and try to get into Kane’s crew.

The other pen, she handed to Logan. His fingertip brushed hers as he took it, but he didn’t flinch away from her touch. He sat there, frowning down at her, linked to her by the pen and this tiny brush of skin.

“These questions are bullshit,” a shifter yelled from behind her. “How many times do you jack off a day? Would you consider yourself a sexual delinquent? And they aren’t yes or no questions, but a scale from one to fifty!”

Winter giggled when she read the first one. Clearly, Air Ryder had put this application together himself. Instead of asking
Male or Female
it said
Dick or Treasure Cavern
.

Another car horn blasted, and a late-model, jacked-up Bronco slowly came to a stop. The windows were rolled up, but when the door opened, a tall man with black hair hanging to the side in front of his face got out. His bright green eyes were chock full of fury. The crowd went eerily silent.

“What the actual fuck are you all doing on my lawn?” Dark Kane barked out.

“Interviewing for the crew,” one of the men answered. “The announcement said today.”

“Announcement?” a blond woman said as she stepped out of the passenger’s side of the Bronco. Her eyes were bright gold, and she made the air feel too heavy, right along with her mate. Winter had no doubt this curvy beauty was none other than the infamous Rowan Barnett, formerly of the notoriously violent Gray Backs, now the queen of these mountains and Second in Kane’s Blackwing Crew.

“Air Ryder Croy—”

Kane held up his hand to cut off the man. “Stop right there, say no more.” He slid a furious glance to the redhead sitting on his front porch in a rocking chair with his work boot up on the railing as though he didn’t have a care in the world.

“Hi, fourth best friend.” Air Ryder wiggled his fingers in a wave.

Under his breath, Kane murmured, “I’m gonna kill you.”

Winter believed it. Kane’s face was twisted into a feral expression that terrified her. A low rumbling noise filled the clearing. “Crew’s full. Now get off my property.”

“What? Hell no, I traveled all the way from Nevada to get in this crew!” one of the men yelled.

The mob went wild, yelling, questioning, surging toward him, but despite Kane’s deep limp, he wasn’t backing down. He strode right up to the first shifter and closed-fist blasted him across the jaw. While the man went down like a sack of rocks, Kane caught the fist of the next one, then head-butted him hard. The sound of the man’s nose breaking was audible even over the roar of the angry masses. Rowan leaned on the hood of the Bronco. She looked bored as she slurped on a red sucker and watched her mate level the rampaging idiots one-by-one. Ryder was on the front porch with a shit-eating grin stretching his freckled face. Winter would’ve laughed if an all-out riot wasn’t happening in front of her very eyes. And also if she hadn’t wasted her time driving all the way out here and getting her hopes up on a crew that wasn’t even recruiting right now. They’d all been obviously duped by Air Ryder.

Logan stood.

“Where are you going, boy scout?” Dustin asked. “Don’t you hear Kane breaking their bones? That dragon will kill you and laugh at your corpse.”

Logan shook his head, and ignoring Dustin’s warning, pushed his way through the fight. Winter stood on the log, balancing on her tiptoes to see what Logan was doing. Dustin had been wrong. He wasn’t going after the dragon at all, but he was pulling the mob back one by one, yelling at them, making space for Dark Kane to fight. And then Beast was there too, pushing the masses back with Logan.

“Fuck,” Dustin muttered as he made his way toward them. “Move!” he yelled at someone who was standing in the way. When Dustin snapped his teeth at them and growled, the gooseflesh rose on Winter’s arms.

“I’m out of here,” the goth girl murmured. She strode off for the gravel road, but Winter stood there stuck. Did she get in the middle of a dominant male fight? Or did she make like Goth Girl and get the hell out of here?

Emma was standing on her log, too, neck craned as she watched the fight. If the human was brave enough to stay and see this thing through, then so could Winter. If for nothing else than to make sure the fight didn’t migrate this way and hurt the frail girl. Winter wasn’t as dominant as the brawlers, but she was a fast Changer, and her animal could fight well enough to protect Emma. She could at least buy her time to run.

The man who bumped her shoulder earlier Changed into a big, blond-furred grizzly and charged Kane. Two echoing clicks sounded and then fire, the shape and size of a soccer ball, struck the ground in front of the bear, stopping him in his tracks. And now Rowan, the fire-spewer, looked good and pissed. She jammed her finger at the grizzly. “You want to die today, you keep it up. You want to get into a Change-off in dragon territory, really? I’ll fucking eat you. Leave.”

The fire had brought the fight to a stop, and now the clearing was heavy with shocked silence and the scent of smoke and blood. Winter wondered how many noses Dark Kane had broken today.

The dark dragon himself stood close to the cabin, shoulders heaving, face like a beast, skin on his bulging arms cracking like concrete and cinching back together, cracking then cinching with every breath. And now Winter could see why Rowan had lost it. Dark Kane didn’t have the best control, and mass Changes would summon his hellish monster from him. Rowan had probably saved everyone in this clearing, and they didn’t even realize it.

Logan was standing closest to Kane, Beast next to him, then Dustin, glaring down the crowd. This is what happened with hordes of dominant shifters. One mistake could trigger an avalanche of violence.

Kane snarled and spun, limped up the porch stairs, and disappeared inside, slamming the door behind him hard enough to rattle the tiny cabin. For reasons unknown to her, Logan slid a lingering glance to her. His eyes were bright silver, and crimson streamed from his lip. The neck of his T-shirt had been ripped, and there was a seeping gash on his neck. He didn’t look in pain, though. He looked…concerned.
You okay?
he mouthed.

Winter checked behind her, but she was alone. Was
she
okay? She wasn’t the one bleeding all over the dark dragon’s front lawn. Jerkily, she nodded and mouthed,
You?

Logan ripped his gaze away and spat red in the grass. Okay then.

Rowan disappeared inside, but Air Ryder was still leaning against the railing looking flushed. About half of the crowd was already drifting back to their cars, but to the rest who lingered, he said, “Fill out your applications, and I’ll be back out with you shortly.”

“So the crew recruitment is still on?” Dustin asked.

Air Ryder shrugged coyly. “Maybe.” Then frowned down at his phone. “Is there a Winter Donovan here?” His attention went right to her, and his ruddy eyebrows arched high. “Winter of Red Havoc?”

Winter swallowed hard under all the attention that had suddenly been cast her way.

“No,” she said, lifting her chin higher. “I’m Winter of Nowhere.”

Air Ryder’s lips stretched into a slow smile. “Good. Come with me.”

What was happening? Winter’s legs were numb as she stumbled off the log and made her way toward the lair of the dark dragon. It wasn’t the cliff mansion she’d imagined. It was just a small cabin, and she was about to shove herself in that tiny space with two mother-freakin’ dragons? And Air Ryder, who was one of the most battle-proven flight shifters in the entire universe. Oh, he might joke and look relaxed, but his eyes were blazing gold, and the closer she got to him, the heavier he felt.

Logan stood tall in front of her, head cocked as if confused by her, but he stepped out of the way as she approached. The clearing was silent, as though everyone was waiting for her to make her way to a guillotine or something. On a whim, she stopped at Logan and parted her lips to say something, but what? Her brain was on shut-down mode. Save me if I call? Come in there with me? He had no reason to do her any favors. She was a stranger. Something deep inside of her, some tiny instinct, told her she should fear this man, but she could also trust him.

When she looked up into his eyes, they were churning like silver storm clouds, and his teeth were gritted. He smelled of blood, and her animal reacted. Winter hissed at him before carrying on to follow Air Ryder up the porch steps.

Her cheeks heated with mortification. She’d hissed at a monster and then given him her back? Her instincts were broken. At the door, she cast a quick glance over her shoulder at Logan, but where she expected fury etched in his features, she found calculation and curiosity instead.

With a steadying breath, she stepped inside and closed the door behind her. Ryder was already making his way toward a hallway door where Winter could hear crashing and stomping from inside.

Ryder flung it open with an expectant smile and said, “Honey, I’m hooome,” and then neatly ducked as a glass of water shattered against the wall behind him. “You wait here,” he said, pointing Winter to a spot near the door.

“That close?”

Air Ryder ignored her and disappeared inside the room with Dark Kane. Brave snowy owl. Winter wanted to survive, so she stayed right where she was, near the exit and nearest Logan because she’d somehow convinced herself if she needed protection from dragon’s fire, he was the monster to see.

Her inner panther nodded in agreement.

Ready to bolt at any moment, she sat on the very edge of a leather couch, hands clenched in her lap.

Movement caught her attention in the small kitchen, and Winter jumped as Rowan appeared. She filled a glass of water and leaned back on the counter, lips quirked up in a half-smile. “Rowan,” she introduced herself.

“Winter.”

“Of Nowhere, I heard. Are you one of Ben’s panthers?”

“You know Ben?”

“I met him once. Kane knows him better.”

“What the fuck, man?” Kane yelled in a muffled voice through the wall. “You’ve done some dumb shit since I’ve known you, Ryder, but this is next level messed-up. I don’t want a crew.”

“But you have a crew, registered and everything,” Ryder argued.

“I have Rowan. She’s all I need. I’m not cut out to be a real alpha, or have you lost sight of that completely? God Ryder, have you seen me Changed lately? I don’t have perfect control, not outside of Damon’s facility, and now I’m supposed to build a crew under me? To protect? Fuck! You way overstepped on this one, man.”

“You’re freaking out—”

“Damn straight I’m freaking out! I’ve lived my whole life in the shadows. My whole life, and now I’m trying to build a friendship with the Bloodrunners, trying to be a good mate for Rowan, and trying to be a normal, decent—fuck! I’m the End of Days, Ryder. I don’t need a crew under me. I need as little stress on my dragon as possible. I don’t even like people!”

“You like me!”

“You forced me to! You with your surprise moonshine visits and fourth-best-friend talk, and…and…matching keychains, and Beer Fridays, and invites, and social media pictures, and hashtag-bro-dates, and aaaaaaaah!”

When Kane’s yell tuned into a roar, Winter whimpered and hunched into herself. Rowan nodded and put her hand out in a comforting gesture that said everything was all right, but everything did
not
feel all right. The air was nearly un-breathable, and the house was vibrating with a power she’d never felt before. Discreetly, Winter leaned forward and pressed her palm onto the cool wood floors. The house was actually vibrating from Kane’s rage.

“Winter of Nowhere, come in here,” Ryder called.

“Who?” Kane asked in a gravelly demon voice. “And who the fuck are you calling?”

“Winter! I need you!”

Hell no, she didn’t want to go in there. Kane was rattling the house, and she’d seen his dragon on TV. Fire breathing beast that looked like he was from Hell itself, nope!

“It’s ringing,” Ryder said. “Winter move them legs, woman!”

“Oh, my gosh,” she murmured as she forced her feet to move in the direction of the office. “I’ll be okay, right?” Winter asked Rowan as she passed, desperate for her terror to be put at ease.

Rowan shrugged. “Probably.”

“What?” she whisper-screamed. But then Ryder appeared out of the open doorway and dragged her inside as Ben’s voice came over the speaker of his phone. “Hello?”

Winter couldn’t take her eyes of Kane’s enraged face. She was gonna die today, right here in the lair of the dark dragon. She pressed herself against the wall as flat as she could make herself, and for the first time in her life wished her tits were smaller.

“This is Ryder. And Winter. And”—Ryder gave Kane a significant look—“Dark Kane. Kane, you remember Ben.”

Kane’s face went completely slack as he took a step back as though he’d been hit. “Ben?” he asked.

Ryder had the phone on speaker and was holding it out in front of him. Slowly, Kane approached, limping only slightly now. “Is it really you?”

“Yeah, man. It’s me.” Ben sounded tired, defeated even. “It’s been a long time.”

“I looked for you after…after…”

“I know. I didn’t want to be found.”

Kane exhaled a shaky breath and ran his hands through his dark hair, smoothing the longer tresses on top away from his face.

“You’ll fight being alpha,” Ben said low. “I know you will, but it’s something you need that you don’t realize you need. I was the same way and wanted to push everyone away after I lost my animal, but when I got him back, he needed something to stay good for. Do you understand?”

“I have Rowan. I have the Bloodrunners.”

“You’ll watch Rowan wither without a crew, and it’ll make the dragon unmanageable. She’s a Gray Back, man.”

“No, she’s a Blackwing,” Kane gritted out, locking his arms on the desk and staring at a cork board of pinned, scribbled notes.

“But she was raised in Damon’s Mountains around other people. Around other shifters. And even if she could deal with the loneliness, you can’t. Your dragon needs anchors, Kane. He needs reasons to not burn the world to the ground when shit gets hard, and it
will
get hard. No more hiding, you’re out there now. A problem shifter with black marks on your permanent record, in the news, in the media, speculated heavily about. You didn’t want fame, I get that, but that little public dragon battle has landed you right at the top of everyone’s attention. Not only does a crew need you for protection, but if you and Rowan get to breeding, you’ll need them, too. Do you understand what I’m telling you?”

“Yes.” Kane’s voice broke on the word. He stood up straight and linked his hands behind his head. “Is Winter yours?”

“I’m hoping she’ll be a Blackwing if you find she fits. She’s good. A loyal one, but unpledged to any crew. This is me vouching for her.”

“You calling in a favor?” Kane asked.

“Nah, brother. It’s me who owes you. You were there for me when my brother died. You were there for me all those months in Apex. Winter is a gift. Not me begging a favor.”

Kane narrowed his eyes at Winter and let off an explosive sigh. “
If
I decide to add to my crew, I’ll consider her.”

Ben murmured, “It’s good to hear your voice again, Kane. Good to know you’re okay after…well…everything.”

Kane’s frown deepened. “You too, Ben.”

Ryder was smiling at Kane with the mushiest expression in existence when he ended the call.

“Shut up, man,” Kane muttered as he strode past them both and exited the room. “We’re still not okay.”

Ryder dragged Winter out of the room with him, following on the heels of the dragon.

Kane paced in front of the kitchen. “Roe, what do I do?”

“Make the decision to add to our crew or not. As Second and as your mate, I’ll back your play.”

“What do you want?” he asked, approaching her. He placed his hands on her hips and rested his forehead on hers in such an intimate moment, Winter’s cheeks heated with a blush. “Roe, do you need a crew?”

Rowan clutched his shirt and kissed him gently. “I need whatever makes you happiest.”

Kane sighed and eased back, leaned his shoulders against the refrigerator and rocked his head back until he was staring at the rafters of the ceiling. “Winter will be my first interview, but this doesn’t mean I’m adding to the crew—and stop clapping, you asshole,” he griped at Ryder, who was in fact performing a victory slow-clap. “We’ll see how I feel about this after all the interviews are done. If my instinct is to keep my crew how it is, just me and Roe, then that’s what’ll happen. And no pressure from you,” he barked out, jamming a finger at Ryder as he passed. “Roe, Second or not, you have just as much say as me.” Kane threw open the front door and strode out onto the porch. “Listen up!” he yelled over the chaos and noise. “I will be taking interviews for my Blackwing Crew, but my decisions will be slow or none-at-all. It could take months for the final applicants to be fully considered, so if you’re in this for the quick pledge, fuck off.”

A few muttering shifters in the back spun and made their way back up the road.

Kane didn’t seem to care at all because he continued. “Also, my territory is small, just a few mountains, so if I accept a crew, it will also be small. And I’m not going to be floating you. While you are going through the interview process, you will find your own job and lodging—”

“That’s not how a crew works!” one of the shifters called out.

“It’s how my crew works.” Kane pointed to the gravel road. “If you don’t like it, I trust you’re smart enough to remember where you parked your car.” He slammed his hands down onto the railing and locked his arms against it. “Moving on!
If
you get through this grueling interview process, and
if
I decide to pick up a couple members, and
if
you make the final cut, I still won’t be floating you. There’s a level stretch of land up the road I will make available for trailers, built to my specifications, which
you
will be paying for. And if you ever decide to leave my crew for any reason, you will forfeit said trailer, no matter how much of an investment you put into it. Is that understood?”

“Fuck this,” another muttered, and several more turned and left.

None of this scared Winter off, though. It all sounded fair, and she liked the way Kane said it like it was. He reminded her of Ben, just way more terrifying.

Winter stood in the doorway, stunned to be on this side of the speech, eyes trolling for Logan, hoping he wasn’t one of the leavers. He wasn’t. He stood front and center, arms crossed, lips pursed thoughtfully as he nodded his head as though he thought the same thing she did. Sounded reasonable enough.

And for the first time in months, she looked forward to something. She looked forward to the challenge that lay ahead. From the small amount she’d seen of Kane, he wasn’t an easy man to befriend. He would pick the best of the best here, the cream of the crop, the best combination of shifters that would mesh with his crew, and she suddenly hoped she would be one of them.

And she hoped Logan would be, too.

She would never admit it out loud, but Logan and Kane had just given her the most beautiful distraction from the shit-storm happening with Brody back in Red Havoc.