The men glanced at each other uneasily, and their faces flushed red. They’d be able to feel the crackling in the air, and it would make them uncomfortable and afraid.
Jason Washborn strode up to Austin, bristling with anger and self-importance. He’d inherited his father’s high cheekbones, white-blond hair, and pale blue eyes, but not his self-discipline. From what Austin had been hearing ever since Jason took over, Christopher had been an icy control freak, and Jason was a volcano constantly threatening to erupt.
He was wearing his usual over-the-top ensemble of expensive designer jeans, hand-tooled ostrich-skin cowboy boots, and a leather belt with a buckle shaped like a wolf. He was a couple of years younger than Austin, and a couple of inches shorter, but broader, because he worked out obsessively. He was all flash and show, but it was pure theater. He had nothing to back it up with.
Austin’s lips curled in a savage grin.
Hell, dying in a fight with Jason and his men wouldn’t be the worst way to go. He’d make sure to go straight for Jason. Jason’s men would be packing, with silver-coated bullets in their pistols, but Austin was pretty confident that even as his body was dying, he could still make himself kill Jason. The state of Washington would be better off without him.
“Stay back,” he muttered to Tully as the two men faced Jason and his packmates. “This is my fight.”
Tully let out a non-committal, rumbling growl.
Austin’s gaze swept over Jason’s men, assessing them. Four members of his security team, his healer Korbin, a tall dark-haired man in his sixties with a white streak in his hair, and…a Truthmaker? That was an odd choice to bring to a fight.
Jason stepped forward, with Korbin by his side. Korbin gave Austin a gentle, pitying look. Austin ignored him.
“You know, I always knew you were a pussy, but seriously, a supposed Alpha bringing this much backup to a fight against one man? You need four armed guards to take me down?” Austin barked out a harsh laugh. He flexed his hands, his eyes glowing with eagerness. “Well, thanks for making my morning more interesting. I like a challenge, Jason.”
He saw the briefest flicker of fear in Jason’s eyes. Jason clenched his fists, baring his teeth, and rage burned away the fear in his gaze. Rage and pure hatred. Before he’d fought with Austin, he’d been known as the strongest wolf in Washington State. As long as Austin was alive, Jason would be number two.
Jason clenched his fists and shuddered all over. The bones of his face rippled hideously as he fought to keep his wolf contained.
Austin could practically see the wheels spinning in Jason’s head.
If he released his wolf, it was almost certain the animal would go for Austin’s throat – and even if Jason’s guards opened fire on Austin, it was a near certainty that Austin would kill Jason before dying.
Jason shuddered, and his face settled back into its normal lines of arrogance and contempt. His attention snapped to Tully. “You were hired to take him out, not sedate him.”
“His family wants him back,” Tully said, keeping his tone even and his head slightly lowered, to show respect to Jason’s Alpha status. “They think they can treat him. They’re his home pack – they have the right to deal with him as they see fit. We are removing the threat from your area, and once he is back on their pack property, if he flips out, it’s not your problem anymore.”
Jason’s eyes glowed with malice. “Oh, but we still have a problem. You knew he was here all along and failed to tell me where a rogue wolf was. A rogue who was known to be going feral. I can’t have a pack like that operating in my state. I can’t have a pack like thatexistingin my state.” Jason grinned at them nastily, letting the implications of that sink in.
Tully was here. Austin was here. They were the two strongest wolves in the pack.
Tully’s pack had some badasses, for sure, but Jason’s pack was twenty times their size, and if Jason wanted to wipe them out down to the last cub, he could, and he could say that it had been justified because they had let a rogue run free.
Austin’s lip curled back. “You want to threaten Tully’s pack? Let’s throw down, shitbag. I will make sure that you fucking die before you walk back to your car.” His voice slurred as his fangs descended. “You may think that your men can get me first, but I’m very hard to kill. Want to test me?”
Jason’s men fingered their weapons and glanced at him for direction.
Jason flicked a quick glance at the convenience store. His eyes narrowed, brows pinching together. There were easily fifteen people standing outside now, watching, as was the family who had been eating at the picnic table. Too many witnesses if he just tried to have his men mow Austin down. It would make him look weak, undermine his authority. An Alpha who relied on a squad of armed men to take down a rival was an Alpha who was begging for a true, official Challenge. He’d lose the respect of his people, pack members would start migrating to other packs, and sooner or later somebody bigger and badder would come along.
And also, for all his bluster, it was clear that he knew that Austin was right. Even if he did order his men to kill Austin, he knew the chances of him surviving such an attempt were slim.
He sucked in an angry breath and let it out slowly, shaking his shoulders and jogging in place. Then he grimaced and shook himself hard, and his jaw receded. His pointy ears rounded themselves off.
He held up his hand in a commanding gesture. “I have every right to take out Tully’s pack, but I am a reasonable wolf.”
Austin choked on a scornful laugh, earning him a glare from Jason and his men.
Jason cleared his throat and started again. “I have a different proposition for you. You’ve all heard of the rogue shifter, Roy? Former Alpha from some little pack near the coast, who flipped his shit and went on a killing spree?”
Austin made a gesture of impatience. “Yeah, yeah. Fled the state a week ago after he killed a family of hikers. He’s supposed to be somewhere in Montana now. As of today, the bounty to bring him in is a million dollars, but nobody will go after him because it’s a guaranteed death sentence. What the fuck does this have to do with me?”
“I’m the reason Roy’s bounty is up to a million dollars.” Jason shifted where he stood, meeting Austin’s gaze and then dropping it. “I donated half of that amount this morning. I want to see this situation resolved. I want you to capture Roy and bring him back to my pack. Alive. I can even tell you where he was last seen. I’ll text you the GPS coordinates.”
Austin stared at Justin suspiciously. “Say what, now?” This made no sense. Roy had never been part of Justin’s pack, and he’d never been part of one of his tribute packs, those smaller groups who paid for protection from a larger pack.
