“Not technically—”
“You’re Blackwood enough,” Ethan said, his eyes flashing black. “You’re family. Me and Rike talked last night, and if it was us, we would want immediate retaliation. We wouldn’t draw this out. We would go in early.”
Kade huffed. “Well, you aren’t me.” He choked down the breakfast in three bites, then finished tying his shoes.
When he made his way to the back door, Ethan stopped him in his tracks. “If you’re worried about going out the front because of the wolves watching the house? You don’t have to be.”
Kade looked back over his shoulder. Ethan’s eyes were black as pitch.
“Why not?” Kade asked.
“Because Rike locked them up in the woodshop. The woods are clear.”
Huh. Clever crows.
“Well…thanks,” Kade muttered, making his way quietly to the front door. “Tell Trina not to worry when she wakes up.”
“No, thanks,” Ethan said, following him right out the front.
Kade threw him a dirty look. “What are you doing?”
“Uh, going with you.” He jerked his chin in a greeting and threw up a two fingered wave to Rike who was jogging toward them.
“You’re not going with me, Ethan. Neither of you are. This is Lone Wolf shit. It’s my fight with the Wulfe Clan, no one else’s.”
Ethan kept following him, so Kade snarled and shoved him in the shoulder. Should’ve hurt Kade more than anything, but whatever medicine Momma Crow had sent over was dulling the pain in his shoulder by the minute.
“Go away,” Kade muttered.
Ethan stood there with his hands on his hips, grinning through his giant-ass beard. Kade wanted to punch him.
“My fight, my retaliation, piss off.”
“I know you’re used to this Lone Wolf shit, but I’m not staying in that house,” Ethan said. “That hellcat you call a mate will skin me alive if she finds out I just let you walk out of here to fight the Wulfe Clan alone. Mountain lion in heat, and I’m about to get her favorite dick snuffed out of existence? No, thanks. It’s brotherly bonding time.”
“Murdering a Clan isn’t brotherly bonding time.”
“It is to Blackwoods. You heard the story about our dad? It’s kind of our destiny to kill off the wolves. No offense to your wolf.”
What the hell was happening right now? This wasn’t how this was supposed to go. “I was going to sneak out, go on a small to medium killing-spree, save Trina’s dad, and be back by lunch for roast beef sandwiches and an epic blow job for saving her dad!”
“I’ll drive,” Rike offered, tossing an apple in the air and catching it as he approached. He looked like a damn goliath in his black tank top, tattoos on display on his tree-trunk arms.
“I’m not riding bitch on your motorcycle, man. That means putting my nuts on your back. I would rather stick my dick in a mouse trap,” Kade whisper-screamed, following his stepbrother toward where the bikes were parked.
“We’re taking the truck, numbnuts,” Rike said. “Bikes are too loud, and we won’t get to murder anyone if you get us busted before we even get there.”
“You drive like shit. I’m driving. Give me the keys,” Ethan demanded.
Rike snorted. “You aren’t the Alpha of me.”
“It’s my mate’s truck,” Ethan retorted, shoving Rike hard into the back end of Leah’s old Ford. He blasted into it so hard the thing lifted on two wheels and settled hard.
“Shhhh!” Kade hissed. “For fuck’s sake, tweedled dee and tweedled dip-shit. This is why I wanted to do this on my own.”
“You’re not going on a killing spree without us!” Rike hissed back. “I fuckin’ hate Leah’s dad, and you’re gonna off him without me to witness? I don’t think so. It’s not just your retaliation! And I haven’t murdered anyone in a long time!”
“Me either,” Ethan said, yanking open the driver’s side door. “And Rike is tweedle dip-shit. You pointed at me when you said that, but you should’ve pointed at him.”
All those years following Rike and Ethan, and Kade had been so wrong. Having brothers was the worst.
The front door creaked open loudly. “Kade?” Trina called from the house.
All three of them froze. The apple Rike had just tossed in the air hit the ground and rolled into Kade’s boot. Ethan had one leg hiked up into the truck already, and Kade was thinking of ten ways to kill the Blackwood Idiots.
Kade narrowed his eyes at Ethan and mouthed, Mother fucking fucker.
He wanted to rip that stupid smile off Ethan’s face as he formed the words, Oops.
Great. Now there was double hell to pay.
Chapter Nineteen
“What’s going on?” Trina asked as she padded through the yard barefoot.
“Uuuuh,” Kade said, turning around slowly. “We were going to get you girls some donuts?”
“Bullshit.” She held up the note he’d written her. “You wrote me a note that says, and I quote, ‘Even when I’m not here, I’ll always love you.’ You never write mushy stuff like that, and some trip to the donut store isn’t going to get you to write a goodbye letter to me. That’s what this is, right? A goodbye letter for just-in-case? And you drew a heart by my name. A heart! And why the hell would all three of you be dressed like Johnny Cash to go get some donuts?”
“What’s happening?” Leah asked sleepily from the house.
“Where are you guys going?” Bailey asked from beside Leah.
Fury blasted through Trina as it all started making sense. She stomped her foot. “I’ll tell you where they’re going. They’re going to fight your dad, Bailey!”
Bailey yawned loudly. “Darius isn’t my dad. Not anymore. He’s an asshole and probably better off dead.”
Trina glanced behind her to see if Bailey was serious, but yep, she was leaned against the banister, white hair and pale skin practically glowing like a ghost as she chewed on her thumbnail.
“Well, I want to go,” Leah said. “Are we still getting donuts, though?”
Ethan was chuckling now, Trina was feeling very strongly about Kade marching off to war injured, it was way too early in the morning, the goodbye letter had scared her, and she was feeling eighty-three percent dramatic right about now. “This isn’t funny! Kade is on his death bed!”
“Actually, I feel totally fine,” Kade said with a shrug.
He wore a crooked smile, and he hadn’t shaved. His muscular arms were stretching the thin fabric of his black V-neck T-shirt, and why did he have to be annoying and hot at the same time? Her brain was mad, but her ovaries were panting like overheated chihuahuas.
“What do you mean you’re totally fine?” Trina asked, stomping her way right up to him. “You were groaning all night.”
Leah stopped beside her and murmured, “That’s what she said.”
Now Bailey and Rike were laughing, and this was too much.
Kade cracked a smile and then cleared his throat as though trying to cover it. “Momma Crow gave me some drugs, and now I feel fine. To…you know…go get some donuts.”
Trina blinked slowly and counted to three, praying for patience. “Okay. Go on then.” She put her hands up in the air and backed away a few steps. “Have fun. Bring me back a chocolate-covered donut with sprinkles.”
Kade narrowed his eyes to suspicious little silver slits. “Seriously?”
“Yeah, seriously. I’m super hungry. Maybe get a half-dozen.”
“She looks scary,” Rike whispered. “Just go.”
Suspicious-looking as hell, Kade made his way to the passenger’s side of the truck with Rike, and just before he got in, he said, “We’ll be back in two hours.”
“I can’t wait to see you again,” she sang out.
“Dude,” Rike said, “your mate is not a morning person.”
Leah raised her hand at Ethan. “Babe, get me a glazed one and a white coconut—Ack!” she screeched as Trina dragged her by the hand to the bed of the truck.
Bailey was already lowering the tailgate like she knew exactly what Trina had in mind, and the truck engine roared to life.