The generator’s problem was age and lack of lubricant. Kendrick cut out old corroded wires and spliced in good ones, then greased up the contacts. That would help out for a while. The entire generator would have to be overhauled or replaced, but Kendrick’s trackers could do that once the house was his.

Kendrick nodded at Charlie to start up the machine again, and Charlie flipped a switch then pressed a dirt-encrusted button. The generator coughed once, then clattered to life.

“Hot damn,” Charlie said. He slapped Kendrick on the back, which felt like a brush from dry twigs. “You did it, son. Will make a huge difference when it gets hot tomorrow. And a better breakfast.”

Kendrick and Charlie cleaned up, then Kendrick told Charlie he’d go for a walk. He agreed to Charlie’s warning to watch out for the snakes and coyotes—he’d lived in Texas for a while and knew what it was like.

The challenge of repairing the generator had kept Kendrick’s mind off things for a while but now he needed to explore, to find out where they were and what was out here.

At least, that’s what he told himself as he walked away into the dark, quietly setting down his flashlight once he was far enough from the house.

Kendrick did need to roam the bounds and make sure they were truly alone out here, but another reason he needed to leave was Addison.

She’d gazed wistfully at him as she’d leaned against the bed, her top with its floaty material outlining every soft curve of her. She’d looked worried when she mentioned their sleeping arrangements, but then when he’d touched her hair, she’d closed her eyes, her body relaxing, wanting to move against his.

Kendrick’s dormant mating frenzy had taken another breath. He’d had to get out of there before he did or said anything stupid—and irreversible.

I wouldn’t want just sex with you, Addison. Not like your “normal” human couple.

I’d want it hard and fast, basic and raw. I want you on the ground, against the wall, you riding me, me on you, locked together, inseparable. I want you groaning my name while I shout yours, and I want you begging me never to stop . . .

Kendrick started to run. Faster and faster, until his breath came in gasps, and his mouth was parched.

He paused long enough to slide out of his human clothes, then he hit the ground on all fours as tiger.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Kendrick ran until he could run no more. Even tigers got tired, especially after they’d battled, rescued a woman in distress, and then ridden the rest of the night.

He slowed to a walk and ambled along, breathing hard, paws barely making an indent on packed Texas earth. The run had calmed him enough that every beat of his heart didn’t make him want Addison, only every other beat. Still, he was too agitated, too charged with adrenaline. He needed to climb down from frenzy and think.

He’d liked the ranch as soon as he saw it, and now, slowing to stroll its perimeters, he liked it even more. Kendrick didn’t know the exact boundaries of the property, although a barbed wire fence along the east side likely marked it from its neighbor. He scented no other Shifters out here, and not even any humans. Few would come this far from a road. A determined hiker might strike out across country but Kendrick could deal with that as it came up.

He only cared that the ranch was hard to find and the house was out of the line of sight from the roads due to a slight rippling of the land around it. Defending such a large area wouldn’t be easy, but Kendrick’s top trackers—Seamus, Francesca, Dimitri, Jaycee—could do it.

He wondered momentarily whether they, his closest friends, had also turned on him, like the Shifters who’d cornered him in the diner. He hadn’t been in touch with any of them for a long time, though he knew that Seamus and Francesca were well. He hadn’t heard anything from Dimitri or Jaycee.