Page 13 of Bitter Discord

“Ranger, what the fuck?” I demanded, turning to him. “You’re the older wolf and know how to handle it. He’s been one for six months. You could have talked him down or ordered his silence. You’re more dominant.”

“It’s not about the dominance,” Ranger reminded me.

I knew that, but there had to be a better way than egging Dirk on to attack him. Before I could say anything, Ranger finally got to his feet.

“I’ll wait in Heath’s office. There are probably things he hasn’t filed this week that needs to get put away correctly, or he’ll misplace them somehow.”

“What was your job in Dallas?” I asked as he started walking away. He didn’t immediately answer and kept walking, making it clear he didn’t intend to. “Ranger.”

“In packs the size of Dallas, the inner circle takes board and upper management positions in the pack’s holdings if they can. If not, they’re paid from the pack funds to handle what they can do. Not every dominant werewolf has a high level of education or the mind for business. Some of us just need to be the pack’s muscle.” Ranger looked over his shoulder at me. “I was a soldier once. I was human when I saw Normandy beach for the first time. Eighteen without a single day of college.”

My mouth dropped open.

“When I went back to civilian life, I worked in law enforcement. In the pack, I was always someone Heath could ask to look into something. Packs have internal policing. I played that role for werewolves lower in the pack than me, and the pack paid me through its holdings.” He walked away as that sank in.

When he was locked away in Heath’s office, I sank into the couch. He couldn’t do the job he had always done. It wasn’t available to him anymore. That had to be brutal.

I considered texting Heath but left it alone. He would be home soon, and I could keep things from getting out of hand a second time. When Dirk came back, I didn’t look at him, but I could smell his sweat across the room.

“Go shower. You can use my bathroom or the one Carey uses. Ranger is in Heath’s office. Don’t even consider it.”

He disappeared quickly. I hadn’t paid attention to the time, but as the water started, I realized Heath, Landon, and Carey were nearly home. Ranger was still hiding in Heath’s office, and Dirk was still in the shower when they walked in.

“I have a project to work on. I’m hoping to finish it today, so I can see Zuri tomorrow before riding lessons,” Carey was explaining as the door opened and closed.

“Then go…” Heath trailed off.

“Dirk and Ranger almost got into a fight. I handled it,” I said blandly, knowing they could smell the scents still hovering in the air.

“Werewolves.” I could hear Carey’s eyes rolling.

“Hey, now, I don’t appreciate that,” Heath said, sounding mockingly hurt, playing off the problem. Landon came over to me, silently sitting next to me. He stretched out, an arm going over the back of the couch behind me, then leaned in.

“How bad?”

“I put them back in their seats.”

Landon muttered a curse while we listened to Carey and Heath poke at each other until her door closed.

“I didn’t think about Ranger coming over,” Heath growled as he came into view. “Ranger really pissed Dirk off. It’s in the entire room. What happened?”

“Ranger was asking me if there was anything he could help with, but I didn’t have anything for him to do today. He was about to say he would wait in your office, do a bit of filing he knew you would neglect, when Dirk pissed him off. Probably annoyed with how…” I couldn’t find the right word. “It doesn’t matter. Dirk muttered good lord or something, and Ranger demanded he say what he was thinking. It escalated. Comments were made.” I leaned back, not caring that my head hit Landon’s arm. Heath was pacing between the coffee table and the television.

“I’ll talk to Dirk. He’s still—” Landon started, but it was the wrong response.

“Dirk wasn’t the problem,” I whispered. When Heath stopped pacing to look at me, I continued. “Ranger was practically asking for a fight. He intentionally egged Dirk on and ignored me when I tried to deescalate it without getting physical.”

“I’ll handle it,” Heath promised, shaking his head. He didn’t seem mad, more disappointed.

“Six months and there have been no fights in the pack. A day before fifteen werecats show up and these two nearly tear chunks out of each other in my living room. Just bad timing?”

“Yeah…” Landon sighed. “Pa didn’t think about Ranger making his way over when he thought leaving Dirk alone with you was a good idea.” There was something accusatory in his words.

“I had to talk to Dirk,” I said, reaching out to whack his thigh. “Heath just made it easy for me to corner him. You didn’t say anything, either. You could have.”

“What Landon is saying is he and I go out of our way to make sure those two are not the only werewolves in any given space,” Heath clarified. “And he’s right. I didn’t think about Ranger, but Landon mentioned it as I forced him to get in the truck. I wasn’t expecting him to come by since everyone in the pack is supposed to stay out of trouble. They’re all supposed to keep their heads down right now and through the next week. I’ll reiterate that to them tomorrow before you come with Zuri.”

“He found out you asked Teagan and Shamus to help. He came to be helpful, too.” I clicked my tongue on my teeth. “Why did he try to pick a fight with Dirk the moment he had the chance?”

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