him, Lowe sat upright, stifling another yawn. Two shovels had been propped against the other end of the log he sat on, and Lowe had removed his gloves. He leaned forwards, warming his hands on the fire, and looked over the flames at Saint.
“Cougars?” His deep voice was a rumbling growl, laced with fatigue.
Saint nodded. “They seem to be overwintering at the Creek this year.”
Knox muttered something beneath his breath and Saint could feel his mood degenerating, turning blacker.
He pinned his blue eyes on Saint. “Why? What the hell are they doing there? They know we’re sleeping here.”
Lowe just looked at his brother and placed his hand on his back. He had never been the talkative one out of the twins. Knox said enough for both of them.
“There’s some kind of celebration going on. I heard Rath ask Cobalt about a certificate, and the male said something about being ordained.” Saint rested his elbows on his knees and stretched his hands out towards the fire, almost moaned as the heat of it chased the icy numbness from his bones.
Knox grunted, “Sounds like a wedding.”
“Makes sense.” Saint rubbed his hands together, warming them further. “Two of their mates are human. They probably wanted a traditional wedding ceremony to go with their mating.”
“We still owe Storm and Flint,” Lowe growled, and the cougars must have really pissed him off by waking him up because it really wasn’t like Lowe to be out for blood.
“Believe me, I know that.” Saint remembered all too well what those two brothers had done to him, but getting into a war with them wasn’t going to change the past.
Although, it would probably improve his mood.
His bear side had been restless since Flint had rolled into the Ridge to pick a fight, wanted a rematch with the cougar.
He tried not to listen to that tempting voice inside him that said he could have revenge, and in the process teach the cougars a lesson for waking him and his kin from their winter sleep. His bear side had a tendency to make bad decisions if he let it take the helm, ones that usually got him into a lot of trouble and landed him with a whole heap of regrets.
“Saw a female in the woods too.” Saint lifted his head and debated whether to say much more than that, some part of him growling at the thought of sharing her with Knox and Lowe, making him want to clam up and keep her to himself. He managed to shake off that urge as Knox sat up, giving him the whole of his attention. “Black hair. Petite. Grey eyes like the rest of them. Definitely cougar.”
“Black hair?” Knox rubbed his blond beard. “Sounds like Cobalt’s mate. I saw them from the other side of the river in summer.”
Acid scoured Saint’s insides as he thought about the fact the female belonged to Cobalt. It was what he had thought, but for some reason hearing Knox confirm that she was mated to another had Saint on the verge of shifting, made him want to roar and unleash his fury on everything in his path.
He pinched the bridge of his nose. Rubbed it. He was just tired and cranky. Just wanted to sleep.
“Did she cross into our territory?” Knox’s voice held a dark note, one that warned Saint his thoughts were treading dangerous paths. “We could get some payback. The cougars messed with us. We mess with the cougars.”
Tempting, but he tamped down his desire to let anger steal control of him, pulled back on the reins and cleared his head, refusing to let his bear side rule his actions. He wanted a fight right now, and it would be all too easy to let that part of him take the helm. Maintaining the peace between his pride and the cougars was more important than revenge.
Especially when only three of them were here and there were four cougar males at the Creek.
While he, Knox and Lowe would have the advantage of brute strength, the cougars were quicker, worked well as a team, and they were cunning too.
He dropped his head into his palm. And he really just wanted to sleep.
“I’ll get some food on.” Lowe stood, grabbed the shovels and went back to his cabin, taking a detour via the small outbuilding they used as a larder and storage room.
Knox continued to poke at the fire, showering sparks into the cold air, his expression slowly darkening. Saint could practically feel his mood taking