She knew he was referring to the feline’s idea that Makenna should let Ryan “take that bite he seems to want.” Makenna personally wasn’t convinced he was attracted to her. Even if he was, and even if it didn’t matter to him that she was a loner . . . “I don’t have the time or ability to handle this particular individual.”

He snorted. “You handled me just fine. I pushed you too hard, too often. You pushed right back. Never took any crap from me.” He bumped her shoulder with his. “I just want you to be happy. There’s more to life than the shelter.”

“Hmm.” She peeked through the glass door just as a familiar Chevy pulled up. “Here’s Ryan.” Her stomach clenched and her wolf sat up, pleased. “Let’s go.” By the time she and Zac reached the bottom of the path, he was opening the front passenger door. “Hey, White Fang. No pack mates to protect you from me?”

Ryan grunted, taking a swift inhale of her scent. And he scowled. There was a slight whiff of Colton there. His wolf raked his claws at Ryan, demanding he challenge the male. It was tempting.

Body unnaturally stiff, Zac shyly tipped his chin at him in that way teenagers often did. “Sup?”

Ryan gave him a brief nod before his attention darted to the car lurking a short distance from the shelter. The two males inside the vehicle looked everywhere but at them, pointedly avoiding his gaze. They had done the same thing the previous day. It would seem that Remy was having the shelter watched.

“Zac, why don’t you ride shotgun?” suggested Makenna. “That way, you guys can talk.”

Once they were all in the Chevy, Ryan put the car in gear, pulled away from the curb, and scowled at Remy’s wolves as he passed. Then a silence fell. For the first time that Ryan could recall, he found silence uncomfortable. Knowing he had to talk to Zac, get to know him, was the kind of pressure that made him edgy. And the more minutes that passed, the edgier he became.

What did fourteen-year-old boys like to talk about? What interested them? His mind came up empty. Zac had seemed to hit it off with Dominic. What would Dominic ask him? Probably nothing suitable for a fourteen-year-old to talk about.

What Ryan wanted to know most of all was what had happened in Zac’s pack to make him run. He wanted to know who’d hurt him—or, more to the point, who needed to get their fucking throat ripped out for doing so. But until he’d earned Zac’s trust, he’d have to keep his questions casual or the kid might close down. He needed him to relax, but Ryan wasn’t exactly a relaxing person to be around.

Shit, he should have taken Zac somewhere else so his pack mates could have come along. It had been Jaime’s idea to take Zac to the game. She thought the only way Ryan and Zac could truly get to know each other would be if they didn’t have lots of company. Ryan would do what came naturally and say very little to Zac if his pack mates were there and asking questions he should be asking. Yeah, okay, she was right. But this was awkward as fuck.

“You know,” said Makenna, breaking into his thoughts, “I think I’d have a decent shot of surviving a zombie apocalypse. What about you guys?”

And just like that, the tension melted away.

“She does that a lot.” Zac chuckled. “Ask weird questions, I mean.” He twisted slightly in his seat to reply, “Um . . . yeah, I think I could.” Then he looked at Ryan. “You?”

Ryan opened and closed his mouth three times. “I don’t know how to involve myself in this conversation.” It was totally pointless. But if she’d been aiming to ease Zac’s nerves—though he had the feeling it was simply that her brain shot into weird directions—she’d succeeded. And yeah, okay, Ryan had also lost some of his edginess. Enough that he could think of a decent question. “Are you a big fan of football?”

If the way Zac’s eyes lit up was any indication, it was the right question to ask. “Hell, yeah. The Grizzlies are the best.” Grizzlies being a bear shifter football team that was playing in the game they were going to watch.

“Who’s your favorite player?”

Makenna listened as the boys bonded over football. It was almost cute how hard Ryan found it to simply have a casual conversation. He was the epitome of socially challenged. But she liked that he didn’t wear a social mask—too many people did, too many people said and did what they thought others wanted them to. It was difficult to build a friendship with someone based on falsities.

As she watched Ryan push past his comfort zone in order to get to know Zac, she saw just how important the kid was to him, which made her smile. Ryan Conner, she thought, was a good guy. But not a well mannered, safe, comforting kind of good. No, Ryan was hard, dominant, and dangerous—someone who wouldn’t hesitate to kill if the need arose. But he had strong pack values and a solid sense of duty that she admired.

By the time they arrived at the stadium, the boys were much more relaxed with each other. She remained silent—except when it came time to order food and drinks, of course. She noticed that a lot of females were ogling Ryan and even sending him welcoming smiles. Tramps. Harsh, yeah, but it wasn’t like Makenna had said it aloud, so she figured it didn’t count.

Ryan led them down to their row and ushered her and Zac to move along first . . . but she came to an abrupt halt as she reached her seat.

“What’s wrong?” asked Ryan.

“I can’t sit in this seat.”

“Why?”