“Damn, he showers fast,” she muttered. She ran to find the front door.

She glimpsed him disappearing into the woods when she peeked out the window. He didn’t have curtains covering them. The cabin had to sit above the rest of the homes, since she could see lights down in what appeared to be a valley. She eased the door open and moved outside into the chilly night. She made sure to close it softly before she sprinted after Drantos.

He didn’t seem to notice when she followed from a distance. She figured he had to be pretty distracted not to pick up her scent. It probably helped that she wore his clothes, and the socks were nearly silent on the forest floor. She nearly lost sight of him a few times before catching glimpses of his bare back gleaming in the moonlight. She tried to stay behind tress, there were plenty of those, and hoped she wouldn’t run into any.

“I’ve lost my damn mind for doing this,” she muttered under her breath, jogging from one tree to the next, and grateful he didn’t seem to be in much of a hurry to get to his destination. She wondered where that would be.

He walked into a well-lit backyard where she recognized one of the men who stood waiting by the back door of another cabin. Velder looked grim when he faced his son. Dusti hid behind the thick trunk of a tree, peering around it, wondering if she should just step out there to find out what kind of trouble Drantos faced. She should be included in the punishment, since she felt responsible.

She held back for now. When they went inside, she’d go sneak a peek into one of the many windows. She frowned. They didn’t appear to own drapes, either, since she could see inside the back of the house.

Irritation flared when she saw their lips move but she couldn’t hear the words spoken. Velder did most of the talking but another older man also had words for Drantos, whose back remained to her. He nodded a few times. The older guy moved for a bag on the back steps while Drantos walked toward a swing set in the yard. It looked old, rusted, and the seats had been removed, only the frame of it looming there in the floodlights.

What the hell?

She tensed when Drantos reached up to grip the top of the frame with both hands, spread far apart above his head. Her gaze traveled to the old man, who carried something close to his chest that she couldn’t see as he followed Drantos. He stopped about eight feet behind him.

“Ready?” the older guy called out. “It’s twenty-five.”

“Do it,” Drantos said. He lowered his chin to his chest.

Do what?

The thought had barely crossed her mind when the older man’s arm flew back.

In horror, she saw something black, long, and thin sail through the air, and then his arm arched, flying forward, and so did the thing gripped in his hand.

The sound when the whip hit Drantos’s back nearly crumpled her to her knees.

A silent scream froze inside her throat when the older man threw his arm back again and lashed down hard. A red line tore open down Drantos’s back when the whip struck him once more. The sound cracked loudly in her ears. It took this second time before what she was seeing totally sank in and she found her legs.

“NO!” That one word flew from her mouth.

She ran into the clearing before she realized she could even move.

Drantos snapped his head around and released the bar but she barely saw the movement out of the corner of her eye. Rage had her fixed on the asshole with the whip, who turned to gape at her. He just stood there slack-jawed, obviously stunned, and watched her barrel toward him.

She turned her shoulder, tucked her head, and slammed hard into the man. He gasped and they both went down.

“Dusti!” Drantos roared her name. “No!”

She landed on the guy, who’d cushioned her fall nicely, then pushed up quickly. He lay on his side, his green eyes wide, shocked, and locked with hers. She sat up to straddle his legs, pinning one arm between their bodies, and yanked the whip out of his loose fingers from his other arm sprawled on the grass near her knee.

“What the fuck is wrong with you people?” She fisted the thick handle of the whip to shake it at the guy under her, wanting to hit him so badly she knew she probably would. “How would you like this shoved up your—”

A big, warm hand clamped over her mouth while another arm wrapped around her waist. Drantos yanked her off the guy, lifted her high in his arms, and backed away.

“I’m sorry.” He snarled the words. “She didn’t know, Carlos. She doesn’t understand our laws. I didn’t realize she’d followed me.”

Velder was suddenly there, helping the older man—in his fifties, Dusti guessed—up from the ground, and he gaped at Dusti as well. Drantos clutched her against his chest, kept his palm over her mouth, and backed up farther. He took ragged breaths before he spoke again.

“She meant no harm.”

“Bullshit,” Dusti muttered against his skin but it came out muffled.

“Silence,” Drantos hissed in her ear. “You just tackled an elder Lycan from our clan who volunteered to punish me so my father didn’t have to do it.”

Carlos brushed off dirt as he frowned at Dusti. His green eyes started to take on a scary look and she realized she probably shouldn’t have tackled him. “Was she going to threaten to shove that whip up my ass?”

“No,” Drantos denied, though he didn’t sound convinced.

Velder sighed. “She’s been raised human. We apologize, Carlos. Did she harm you?”

The older guy snorted. “As if she could.” He brushed off more grass and dirt from his pants. He didn’t turn his disturbing gaze from Dusti. “Is that what you were going to say, young lady? Don’t lie to me.”

She nodded against Drantos’s hand.

Drantos groaned. “Sweetheart, just be quiet.”

Carlos crossed his arms over his chest, his focus lifting to Drantos. “Your mate, I assume?”

“Yes.”

“Put her down.”

Drantos hesitated. “I will take her punishment if you want someone to pay for what she’s done to you. I state my right as her mate to protect her from all harm.”

“I said put her down,” Carlos demanded.

Drantos removed his hand, and then his arm around her waist eased to slide her down the front of him until her feet touched grass. She didn’t move away from him though. Fear made her press back against his chest.

Carlos focused on her again, his eyes still glowing, and he pointed to the area in front of him. “Come here, human-raised female.”