Are you two okay?

SHAWN

“You two look intense,” I say lightly. “Should I come back with popcorn?”

Neither of them laughs.

I glance between them. “Did I interrupt something?”

“No,” Mike answers quickly.

“Yes,” Kane says at the same time.

I blink. “Okay.”

Mike exhales through his nose. “We were just discussing pack matters.”

“Ah.” I nod slowly. “The kind that requires staring at me like I’m part of the agenda?”

Kane’s jaw tightens. Mike’s eyes flick to him in warning.

I cross my arms. “Seriously. What is going on tonight?”

I look at Mike first. “Your uncle has been acting… weird.”

Kane’s gaze sharpens. “Define weird.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” I reply, turning to him. “The intense staring. The territorial hovering. The random ‘stay inside the boundary’ order like I’m about to wander into a horror movie.”

Mike coughs lightly.

“I gave you a safety directive,” he says evenly.

“You gave me a command,” I correct. “I’m not in your pack.”

His eyes darken slightly at that.

“I am responsible for every life inside this territory tonight.”

“Right,” I say. “But you weren’t looking at everyone else like that.”

The air tightens around us.

“Shawn—” Mike interrupts.

“No, I’d actually like to know,” I cut in. “Did I break some unspoken rule? Is there something I missed?”

“You didn’t break a rule,” he says.

“Then why do I feel like I did?”

Mike shifts his weight. “He’s just being cautious.”

“Cautious?” I scoff. “He looks like he’s about to either arrest me or—”

I stop myself.

Or what? The thought hangs unfinished.

“Or what?” he asks quietly.

My throat goes dry.

“I don’t know,” I mutter. “That’s kind of the problem.”

Mike’s tension spikes. “Uncle,” he says sharply.

Kane’s attention flicks to him, then back to me.

I rub the back of my neck. “Look, if this is some Alpha transition stress thing, I get it. Big night. Emotions high. But I didn’t sign up to be glared at for existing.”

“You think I’m glaring?” Kane asks.

“Yes.”

“I’m not.”

I stare at him. “You absolutely are.”

“It’s not hostility,” he says.

“Then what is it?”

Mike cuts in again . “Shawn, maybe give him space.”

I look at him incredulously. “He walked up to me.”

I turn back to Kane. “You keep closing distance like you’re about to say something important. Then you don’t.”

His breathing is steady.

“If you have something to say,” I add, “just say it.”

Mike goes rigid beside me. Kane’s gaze locks onto mine.

For a second, I think he will. Instead, he says, “You should stay close to Mike tonight.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Words bursting out of me before I could stop them.

“It’s what I’m saying.” He grunted back.

Frustration sparks under my skin. “You’re doing it again.”

“Doing what?”

“Redirecting. Deflecting. Acting like I’m fragile.”

His voice lowers. “You are human.”

“And that makes me breakable?”

“Yes.”

The bluntness catches me off guard.

I huff out a short laugh. “You don’t even know me.”

His eyes hold mine steadily. “I know enough.”

Mike steps forward, inserting himself literally between us now. “That’s enough.”

“This isn’t about pack security,” I say slowly.

Neither of them responds.

“This is about me,” I say.

Mike exhales.

“I don’t like not knowing what’s happening around me,” I add quietly. “Especially when I’m the common denominator.”

Kane’s voice softens by a fraction. “You’re not in danger.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

The fire crackles behind us.

“Irritable,” I mutter under my breath. “That’s what you are.”

Kane’s brow lifts slightly. “Irritable.”

“Yes,” I say firmly. “Intense. Hovering. Moody. Pick one.”

Something almost like amusement flickers in his eyes.

l

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he says.

I stare at him. “That’s it? No denial?”

“No.”

Mike runs a hand over his face. “Shawn, maybe head back toward the fire.”

I glance at him. “You’re dismissing me?”

“I’m protecting you.”

“From what?”

My frustration sharpens. “You both need to figure out whatever this is and stop acting like I’m a landmine.”

Kane’s voice drops low.

“You’re not a landmine.”

“Then stop treating me like one.”

“I’m not your responsibility,” I say more quietly now. “You don’t get to act like I am.”

His jaw tightens. “You’re wrong about that.”

The certainty in his voice sends a ripple through me.

Wrong about what?

Before I can press him, Mike steps forward fully, physically placing himself between us.

“That’s enough for tonight.”