“My younger brother has gone to Mason’s house tonight, actually. Idiot.”
Ramon froze. “Say again?”
“Yeah, he went with a couple of his friends. The Browns are having a party for Mason’s sister or some such. I warned him to stay away, but he wouldn’t hear of it—said they weren’t going to start trouble, just for shits and giggles.”
“The damn fools will get themselves killed,” Ramon ground out. Keeping the peace was hard enough when both sides wanted it.
All the color drained out of Felipe’s face. “You don’t think they’d get seriously hurt, do you?”
“They’re adolescents,” Ramon spat. “What do you think?”
Felipe frowned. “Well, sure, but they wouldn’t cause any real trouble, they’re not that stupid.”
“They’re hawk shifters,” Ramon said. “Who are walking right into the lion’s den. Literally. How long do think they’ll last before they’re found out? What if they get into an argument and get het up and shift? They’ll be torn apart.”
“Oh God, I didn’t think about that.”
Ramon shook his head and exhaled heavily. Idiots or not, he couldn’t let them get hurt. They were still family. Apparently. “Do you know the address of the party?”
Felipe nodded. “Carlos tried to get me to take them there, but I told him I didn’t want any part in it.”
At least one member of this family had some sense. “I’m going to get the fools before they start something they can’t get out of.”
Gabriel frowned. “I’d come with you, but I’ve got to take Carlos home and pick Angela up from her shift at the hospital on the way.”
“You don’t need to explain,” Ramon said. “It’s better if you don’t come. We don’t need any more hawk shifters there than absolutely necessary. The last thing any of us need is them getting it into their heads that we’re declaring war.”
“You can’t go alone,” Gabriel said.
“I could come with you,” Felipe suggested.
Ramon shook his head. “Same deal. I’ll call one of my SWAT buddies, see if he can ride shotgun.”
Ramon pulled out his cellphone then scrolled through his phone book to find the right number. His friend picked up after a couple of rings.
“Hawk?” Nash greeted him. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah. Well, not really. You remember that favor you said I could ask of you?”
The one Ramon had chalked up a few months ago by looking into the bear shifter’s mate’s husband—which was all kinds of messed up by itself—who used to work for one of the cartels. Ramon hadn’t minded doing it—Diego was bad to the bone and had since been extradited back to Mexico to answer to his crimes there, where he’d hopefully never see the light of day again. Ramon had never intended to collect on the favor, but a bunch of hawk shifter kids walking into the heart of lion territory changed things.
“Name it,” Nash said, without hesitation.
“My cousin has got himself into a situation and I need to go and rescue him before the idiot gets himself killed.”
“Now?”
“Yeah, can you back me up?”
“Of course. Already on my way. You want me to meet you there?”
Ramon felt a weight lift from his shoulders. It was the true sign of a friend that Nash would agree to help him out, no questions asked. But then Ramon would have done the same thing for any of his SWAT teammates, too. They were more than just his colleagues; they were his extended family. Each member of the team was a different shifter species and it occurred to Ramon that iftheycould all get along so well, why couldn’t his flock learn to get along with the pride? It also occurred to him that he didn’t have time to waste on philosophy right now.
“Uh, no. I’ll pick you up. Then I can fill you in on the details on the way.”
“Sure thing. I’ll text you my address.”
“Appreciate ya.”
