A shrill scream came from the paddock. Storm reared, her ears flat to her skull and teeth bared. Hooves crashed against the bars. Spike put himself between Zach and Kade, every hair bristled erect.
Kade’s lips peeled back in a snarl. “Shut it down, Zach,” he ground out. “Or I won’t be responsible for what happens next.”
“Zach.” Jessie reached but didn’t quite touch him. “You’re projecting. A lot.”
Willow came trotting from the shadows of the barn, her long ears flattened. And Buffy appeared out of the hedge. Her fur stood on end, and her blue eyes widened. At least one Were face peered at him from the house windows.
Zach didn’t want to stop. But the door opened, and Cara stepped onto the porch.
He swallowed. And tried to turn it off.
Apparently, by Kade’s expression, he was less than successful.
Cara ran across the yard and stepped between him and Kade. She brought her calming energy, and the undercurrent of soothing music. “Breathe, Zach. Think of something pleasant. Like riding Tucker. The horses you’ve helped.”
Zach tried to breathe, but his chest was tied in a knot.
Cara reached for Jessie. The instant boost in her calm energy wrapped around Zach and gave him the anchor he needed to ramp down. In moments, he was able to breathe. He risked a glance at Kade. The seams of the Were’s tee shirt had torn free, and his jeans stretched tight across his oversized thighs. He was still human, not beast.
He was also, however, glowering at Zach.
Cara turned to him. “You standing there glaring is not helping, Kade. Go.” She tried to shoo him away.
“If he can’t control it, he’ll be as much a liability as an asset,” the Sabre growled.
“Is that what is upsetting you?” Cara put her hands on her hips.
Zach frowned at the Were. The emotions boiling off Kade were complex. Anger, yes. But frustration, too. And something that he’d only just glimpsed.
He seized hold of it, this time.No.Couldn’t be.
Zach’s eyes narrowed and his anger threatened to twist free from Cara’s influence.
“Breathe, Zach,” Jessie coached.
He breathed. It took everything he had to lock it down.
“He’s dangerous,” Kade snarled.
Cara rounded on the Were. “He’s untrained, Kade. What part of that don’t you understand?” She pointed to the house. “Git,” she commanded, as though he were a dog.
“I was on my way out to patrol,” Kade spat.
Cara reversed her point, gesturing to the wild beyond. “Then git that way. Either way, remove thyself from here.”
With a final glare in Zach’s direction, Kade got. Or gitted. He ripped the remnants of his shirt off as he stalked away into the night.
Both Jessie and Cara watched the muscular back disappear into the darkness. And Zach sensed theirappreciation. From Jessie, he caught something more.Admiration.Reluctant, but there.
Zach’s teeth ground together. When Cara swung around with a clash of crystal and fastened her blue eyes on him, he winced.
“Lock it down, Zach. Or I’ll call him back.”
Zach swallowed and tried.
Cara recognized the struggle. “Focus. Pull it back. Build the walls around it, one brick at a time if you have to.”
Buffy jumped into his lap. He almost sent the cat packing, but as soon as his fingers touched her soft fur, he got a wave of Cara’s calm.
