Page 22 of The Enforcers: KANE

Rafe dropped back down into his seat, looking stunned. “You dissed us and made other friends?” he said. “You suck. I’m never making you coffee again.”

“Shut up, Rafe,” Kane muttered.

Jace said, “You’re allowed to invite people out here, as long as they can be trusted. You don’t need to ask permission.” He paused. “Is he a shifter?”

Kane said, “It’s a she, and yeah, I think so.”

“A she?” Rafe’s eyes got wide. “Oh my God. Kane’s got a date.”

Kane barely resisted the urge to rip Rafe’s shirt off his back and stuff it in his mouth. “It is not a date,” he said through clenched teeth. He turned to Jace. “I met her at the resort. She’s an old friend from when I lived in Seattle.”

He didn’t say from the streets, but he knew Jace got it. Jace knew more of his story than anyone else in the pack did, but still not that much. Probably not as much as Kane should have told him, if he were honest with himself. Which he tried to be—maybe too hard. But that time with Selina had made him realize how far down the road of darkness he was capable of going. He didn’t want to lie to people, but he didn’t want to share the details either.

Emma said, “That’s good, Kane. It’s nice that you ran into each other.”

Kane nodded. He liked Emma. He hadn’t at first—he hadn’t thought the alpha should have a human for a mate. But she’d proven her worth and her courage—and her compassion. And she was good for Jace, which meant she was good for the pack.

He turned back to Jace. “I’ve never seen her shift, but she knows what I am, and she’s seen me shift. She’s okay. We don’t have to hide anything from her.”

He got up. “That’s all, I guess.” He walked to the door, then turned back. “Except, don’t fucking embarrass her. Or me.”

He went out the door and down the steps of Jace’s cabin, aware of the stunned silence he’d left behind him.

Probably none of them were as stunned as he was, about finding Rachelle in the first place. But he couldn’t talk to any of them about how he felt. There was only one person who would understand.

He pulled out his phone and dialed Israel’s number.

“Hey, bro,” came his friend’s quiet voice down the line. He could hear the traffic noise in the background; Israel was on the highway.

“Hey,” Kane said. “How’re you doing?”

The question wasn’t just small talk. It wasn’t like he and Israel were two girly besties, who couldn’t take a leak without the other one. They were just…codependent monsters who were used to looking out for each other. And he knew Israel’s wolf didn’t do well on his own, sometimes.

“I’m okay,” Israel said. “Nash was a sick motherfucker, but he ran a tight ship, and most of his security guys are okay. And I had a pretty easy gig, just keeping an eye on Emma and Sophia. I mean, Sophia—girl’s a fucking tiger, man. She could take me out. And everyone in Nashville is scared of Jesse, ‘cause of what he did to Nash, which makes them scared of Jace, because they figure anybody who’s more alpha than the ninja mind warrior has to be badass as hell. It works.”

Kane grinned. “So you basically got a Nashville vacation.”

“Yep. Jammin’ on the country club lifestyle. I may take up golf.”

“Fuck that, man.”

“Come on. You and me at your fancy resort. We could golf the hell out of that place.”

Kane gave a huff of laughter. “You keep telling yourself that, asshat.”

Israel said, “How are you doing? Rafe made you crazy yet?”

“Working on it,” Kane said. “Made me judge a beer can sculpture contest the other day. All because he bet Mick his idiot kindergarten sculpture could make me laugh. Fucker.”

“Did it?”

Kane sighed. “Kind of.”

“Damn, he’s right,” Israel said. “You are starting to like him.”

“Fuck you.”

Israel laughed. “So how are you really?” he said. “You sound…I don’t know. Up.”