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Matt leaned back in the lounge chair next to Nolan's, staring at the fire and occasionally lifting his beer to his lips. The taste of barbecued ribs was still on his tongue, his fingers were slightly sticky with the sauce, and the crisp January night washed over him just like it used to.
I'm home, he thought. Then he slapped the thought away, because he wasn't home, he was here for information, nothing more. Probationary membership, too. Jameson hadn't completely accepted him yet.
He felt bad for abusing Jameson's goodwill, but at the same time, he could tell Jameson wasn't entirely trusting of him. Matt would be able to run around and help patrol the territory, but Jameson wasn't all that worried about anything right now, and Matt suspected Jameson would keep the others on their regular rotations.
Rex, a wolf shifter and Jameson's second, trusted Matt even less. Most of the other old guard of the Rock Creek Clan had accepted his reentry into their territory, but Rex seemed to be holding himself back. It stung a little. He and Rex had been friends before Matt left the RCC with Bronson. Now, Rex's eyes seemed to be on Matt all the time.
That was Matt's own fault; Matt had left soon after Asshole Jake arrived at the RCC, during a time when Jameson probably could have used Matt's help in enforcing some of the clan rules. Instead, Matt, Bronson, Sloan, and Kayla had all taken off rather than stay to help deal with Jake. They'd wanted to form a misfit clan of their own. Matt still felt bad for abandoning Jameson.
And now he was lying to him.
"I'm a piece of shit," he said out loud.
"Yep," Nolan agreed.
Matt sent a glance over to the giant polar bear shifter. Even in the middle of winter, Nolan was shirtless, the tribal tats covering his torso on full display. "Well, you don't need to agree so quickly."
"It's a spade, I call it a spade," Nolan said. "It's a piece of shit, I call it a piece of shit."
Yeah, that was Nolan, all right. Matt sighed.
Across the bonfire, Kayla was getting along with everyone. Rex’s mate, Gemma, had given a loud squeal of happiness as soon as they saw each other, and the two of them had roped in Jameson's mate, Nina, as well as another woman, Margot. She was sister to Erena, the blond fox shifter he'd met at the cupcake shop. He glanced around the fire, but Erena was nowhere in sight.
"Anything new around here?" Matt asked Nolan.
Nolan shrugged. "Jameson's mate. The Lamphier sisters, Margot and Erena. Parker's new."
Matt followed Nolan's gaze to a brown-haired, amber-eyed man sitting a few chairs away. The guy looked even broodier and quieter than Nolan. "What kind of shifter is he?"
"It's rude to ask," Nolan said.
"Yeah, fine," Matt said, huffing. "So that's all the news? Surely something happened since I left."
"Jake took off."
Matt frowned. He needed more than basic gossip. Bronson would flay him if he didn't get what they needed. "Yeah. And?"
"And some douche from the Corona Pride came to teach us 'Guardian skills' like for fighting and shit."
Distracted from his goal of real information, Matt laughed. "Someone tried to teach you fighting?"
Nolan shrugged. "Emphasis on tried."
Matt took another sip of his beer and sent his gaze around the ring again, surreptitiously searching out Erena. He wanted—no, he needed—to see her again.
But he also had a job to do.
"Anything else, like, anything going on weird with the territory itself?" he asked Nolan.
Nolan gave him the side-eye. "No."
Nolan's tone said the answer was obvious, and the unspoken word dumbass hung in the air between them. Matt nodded, accepting defeat. If there was information to be had, he wouldn't get it from Nolan.
He took stock of the clan, trying to get reacquainted with it. There were eight members. Two pairs were mated—Jameson and Nina, and Rex and Gemma. Then there were the sisters, Margot and Erena. And then Nolan, next to Matt, and then Parker, the mystery shifter. Matt gave a subtle sniff, trying not to be obvious about scenting the guy. He must’ve failed at being sneaky because Nolan laughed.
A cabin door opened and closed, and Matt turned his head to look. Erena had finally emerged. She wore her blond hair down. Matt wanted to feel the smooth strands between his fingers. Her long legs were shown off by a pair of faded jeans, and the red hoodie she wore did very little to hide her beautiful curves.
When she saw Matt looking at her, she immediately turned her gaze from him and walked over to sit next to Parker.
Kayla and the three other women laughed, and Matt caught sight of Erena watching the group with something like yearning. Why wasn't she sitting with them and laughing along? He tried to watch her without appearing to stare. She had such beautiful eyes, a deep blue, full of soul. They were asking for something, and he wanted to get it for her.
If only he could figure out what it was.
He had to go talk to her.
Eyes on his prey, he stood up.
"That's a losing battle," Nolan said.
Matt fought the urge to dump the last of his beer on Nolan's head. "I'm going to talk to her."
Nolan just shook his head, the bastard.
Matt nodded at Rex and Jameson, who were deep in conversation on the other side of Nolan. Jameson raised his bottle. "Welcome back, Matt."
"Thanks, man," Matt said. "It's good to be home."
It wasn't a lie, although it was supposed to be. Dammit, already the magic of the Ring of Fire was getting him twisted up. This place had been more of a home to him than anywhere else he'd lived.
Although he noticed Rex wasn't echoing Jameson's sentiment.
"Is your cabin all set?" Jameson asked.
"It's perfect. I mean, it's not the same as my last one, but I've been told my old one's getting put to good use." He flashed a smile at Jameson. It turned out that Nina, Jameson's mate and the only other mountain lion shifter in the clan, had taken over his cabin as her writing studio. When he'd met her earlier in the afternoon, she'd offered to move into a different one, but he could see from the new curtains in the windows that she'd already decorated the place as her own. He didn't know how long he'd be staying—forever, his inner mountain lion whispered—so it was better to let her have that cabin and he could move into an empty one.
"It is going to good use," Jameson said proudly.
Matt envied the old grizzly shifter—Jameson's happiness was palpable, and the love he had for his mate shone in his eyes when he spoke about her.
"What does she write?" Matt asked.
"She has a book blog," Jameson said, "and now she's thinking of writing fiction."
Matt raised his eyebrows. "That must be interesting, with your job as a literature professor. Has she asked your opinion on her work?"
Rex, seated next to Jameson, laughed. "She asked him exactly once."
"It was a disaster," Jameson said with a sheepish smile. "Her book review blog is incredible, but I couldn't lie to her, and when I gently corrected her dialogue punctuation marks and said maybe she should consider making the heroine more likable—"
"He slept alone for two nights," Rex said, hooting with laughter.
"And she named the antagonist after me," Jameson added.
"I like her," Matt said with an approving nod.
"Now she asks Gemma to read her work," Rex said, too involved in the conversation to glare at Matt with distrust, "and she must be writing something steamy, because Gemma always tries to jump me after reading it."
"When she publishes it, we'll all have to buy copies," Matt said. "I'd love to read a story where the bad guy is named Jameson."
While Jameson and Rex chuckled behind him, Matt continued toward Erena. She held a beer in her hand, but she wasn't drinking it. She'd stopped looking at the group of women and was now staring into the bonfire. Orange and yellow light flickered on her skin, giving her a rosy glow that Matt wanted to touch.
An empty folding chair rested a few feet away. Matt grabbed it and began yanking it over.
Someone past Erena—her sister, Margot—shook her head at Matt. Don't do it, she mouthed.
Frowning, he ignored her and brought over the folding chair, then sat next to Erena.
She turned, startled, and her dark blond eyebrows immediately furrowed. Without a word, she turned back to the fire and lifted her beer bottle to her lips to take a sip.
"Hey," he said.
She didn't respond. Her shoulders were rigid, her posture stiff. She looked tough, strong, impenetrable.
Who the hell had hurt this woman so bad that she had to hold herself this way? He wanted to find that asshole and rip their skin from their flesh.
It was perplexing, though, why he felt that sudden surge of protectiveness. He didn't know this woman.
But he wanted to.
"I think we got off on the wrong foot," he said in a low voice.
She shivered in her hoodie and he had to fight the urge to take off his coat and wrap it around her shoulders. He doubted she'd appreciate it.
"Can we just not do this?" she said in a weary voice.
"Look, we're both going to be living here for a while. And you're very pretty—"
She stood up, brushed off her pants, and walked away. Matt had to remember to close his mouth.
He looked around the fire pit. Everyone was staring at him, waiting to see what he would do. Kayla was openly laughing—she seemed to be getting a kick out of seeing him shot down.
Frowning, he stood up and started after Erena. From the corner of his eye he could see Margot shaking her head. Trying, once again, to warn him off. Her expression seemed to say, Don't follow her if you know what's good for you.
Well, Matt had never paid much attention to what was good for him. And as Erena disappeared within the trees, his inner mountain lion perked up. The very attractive woman was retreating, and cats loved nothing more than to give chase.