Page 2 of Dane's War

“You know what,” Karsyn remarks, glaring at me. In the past year, the woman has really come out of her shell. It kills me to think about what she’d been through for so long in her life.

It sucks that she’d been held captive by the blood witches and that they used and abused her. I’d been pissed when we first found her. Dad had been crushed. He lost not just his mate but his daughter as well. I hate that I hadn’t even known he had a mate. He’d been with my mom until she died at the hands ofblood witches. He was faithful to her and sought revenge in her name, but she hadn’t been the love of his life.

“There’s plenty to be pissed with me about, so just tell me what assholishness I’ve done and forgotten?”

Karsyn narrows her gaze. “It’s how you treated Sloane. I didn’t think that was something you could do to a woman. You hurt her. Humiliated her.”

“Hold up, you’re pissed at me over a woman? One I haven’t seen in over a year?”

Hell, I hadn’t even thought of Sloane in nearly as long. The woman, human as she’d been, was just that, a woman to me. I’d taken her out. I enjoyed it when we spent time together, but that was just it. That and she’d been a good lay. It might make me a dick, but I’m a fucking shifter. I have needs that she just couldn’t handle. Sloane had been someone you give sweet to, and I’ve got a taste for many things, and sweet is just one of them.

“What you did to her was hurtful and cruel,” Karsyn mutters, snuggling Asher to her chest.

His soft breathing settles when Corbin reaches around Karsyn to curl a hand around to touch his son. “Syn, you can’t hold it against him when you only know her side from what you saw.”

“Yes, but for him to be able to have his mate, he’sgot to not do that kind of thing,” my sister states, speaking to Corbin like I’m not even standing here.

“My mate?” I scoff. I don’t have one, and I sure as hell ain’t going looking for one.

“Your mate,” Karsyn confirms, nods, and glares at me. “The way you’ve been known to treat women isn’t a secret, but I hadn’t seen it until I touched Sloane’s hand.”

“What’s that got to do with me finding a mate?” I ask, careful of my tone yet feeling my anger rise.

“Because when you find her, you’re going to have one helluva fight on your hands,” she mutters, spins on her heel, and walks away, leaving Corbin and me standing in the middle of the clubhouse.

“Look, Dane,” Corbin grunts, “I don’t give a shit what the fuck you do with your dick. It ain’t my problem. That’s on you. What I need is for you to make your sister happy. Show her you’re not the fucked-up asshat she thinks you are toward women.”

“How the fuck am I supposed to do that?” I demand, my anger growing.

“Guess you can apologize for being a dick when she gets here for the cookout.” Corbin shrugs, a smirk tugging at his lips.

“The fuck is she doing coming to the clubhouse for the barbeque? It’s supposed to be family and clubonly.” Our club and Iron Howlers were both coming. Since Corbin and Cyrus settled their differences, they’ve been drawing their clubs together for family events. Anything else they refuse to discuss. I think they only tolerate each other because of their mates who all but force them to get along.

“Yeah, and she’s Bandit’s mate,” Corbin states, walking off.

The fuck?

I thought she left town. The fact she’s coming to the clubhouse is one thing, her being Bandit’s mate is another. Bandit being Cyrus’s VP, I don’t want to cross him. It could get ugly. The big bastard isn’t someone to be afraid of, but I’ve got respect for him. I guess I’ll have to talk to the woman and hope in doing so that it doesn’t cause problems between him and me.

The last thing our clubs need right now is a war, and one thing I’ve learned is male shifters will do whatever the fuck it takes to protect their mates physically and emotionally.Even if it means going to war over them. Hell, Tucker was ready to war with the dragons over Lake and even took on the Drakon King himself when the other dragons backed off. Now, both our club and Cyrus’s hold a truce with the dragons, and in the time since so far, they’ve kept it.

We’ll have to see when I speak to Sloane if Banditcan keep his shit together while I make my little sister happy and apologize for being a dick to someone she seems to like. There are not many people out there she befriends. For that matter, there’s not much I won’t do for Karsyn. She’s had a fucked-up life, and for her, I’ll do just about anything. Even talking to Sloane again and taking whatever the fuck Bandit’s sure to throw my way.

Chapter Two

Raine

“You sure you don’t want to come with us?” Sloane asks, eyes watching me closely, head cocked slightly. It’s like she’s trying to figure a puzzle out.

“I’m good. I’m just going to stay here and relax. Working the night shift isn’t all that grand,” I tell her. All I want to do is fall back into my bed and sleep for days.

It’d been two months since I moved home, back into my old bedroom, and thankfully, I was able to avoid not having to give my parents or brother an explanation. It doesn’t mean Bandit didn’t demand answers as to what was going on. He wasn’t stupid by any means. Thankfully, he left it alone when he sawthat I wasn’t going to talk. He just said he’d be there for me when I was ready.

After moving back home, I found a job right away at the local hospital. It’s not a big town, so we didn’t have a large hospital, but it was the only one within the county, so it’s relatively busy. Since I’m new, they stick me with the hours no one else wants, and I’m okay with that. It keeps me busy and allows me not to think while I’m there.

At the hospital, I don’t have to look over my shoulder constantly like I do when I’m out on my own. Even at home, I’m afraid he’ll show up, but thankfully, he hasn’t. He hasn’t even called. According to my old boss, he sent a few people to look for me when I didn’t come out of the hospital after my shift. She’d spoken and said that she’d not seen me. Even showed them footage of me walking into the hospital, but there was never anything of me coming out. Not even when I’d gotten into her vehicle. I don’t know how she’d been able to do it, but she did.

It wasn’t until a few weeks ago that I met Sloane. She’s my brother’s mate and my friend. The two of us became quick friends the moment I met her. She’s easygoing and seems to adore my brother, but still, everyone has their own story. I don’t know everything that happened between her and my brother. It’s hers toshare, though I do have a feeling what they have means something more than even I can understand. I’ve also got the feeling their story isn’t over with, not by a long shot.

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