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“It’s been a long time, Rafe,” Jack said, voice even, hand outstretched.

Rafe stared at it for a heartbeat too long before finally clasping it. “It has. Congratulations on the Alpha status.”

“Well, that tells you how long it’s been. Thank you,” Jack said with a half grin. “I take it Mac called you in?”

“He did.” Was all Rafe responded.

“We appreciate the assistance, but we are here now and will take care of it,” Jack said as if his words meant anything to Rafe. They did not.

The words were diplomatic. The tone wasn’t. Jack was drawing lines in the sand, and they both knew it.

Rafe didn’t blink, but did give a sinister grin, stepping over the line. “I’m staying.”

Before the tension could boil over into something primal and territorial, Bruce’s voice rang out, slicing through the heavy silence with the sharpness of sarcasm honed to a fine edge.

“Well, isn’t this a touching little drama?” Bruce drawled, leaping gracefully onto one of the outside tables. He sat with his tail curled around his paws, completely unimpressed. “All this puffed-up chest energy and brooding stares make me feel like I walked into a deleted scene fromShifters of Our Lives.”

“Bruce, shut the fuck up,” Rafe growled, not even bothering to look at him.

Bruce ignored the warning, tail swishing lazily like he was the only sane creature in the yard.

Jack, however, narrowed his eyes at the cat. “You’re Wicked’s furball.” The disdain in his voice dripped like tar, but Bruce just gave an exaggerated sigh.

“I’ll show you furball, you overgrown Edgar Allan Poe reject,” Bruce snapped, hopping to his feet on the table. “Say that again and I’ll cough up a hairball in your boots. Maybe even enchant it to sing show tunes.”

Jack arched a brow. “You even come near me with that witchcraft shit I’ll skin you alive.”

Bruce sniffed indignantly. “In your dreams, birdbrain.” Bruce glanced back at Jack, eyes gleaming. “You know, for a guy who turns into a giant crow, you sure do strut like a damn peacock.”

“Bruce,” Billie Ann warned, of course, he ignored her.

Jack opened his mouth, but Bruce cut him off with a dramatic paw wave. “No, no. Save it. Let’s just agree I’m fabulous and you’re tragically feathered, and move on before someone lays an egg.”

Billie Ann let out a snort, quickly covering her mouth, and even Jack seemed momentarily thrown off, blinking like he wasn’t sure if he’d just been insulted.

Rafe was starting to like Bruce more and more. His gaze landed on Billie Ann, who was walking away from the man who glared at him. This made Rafe very fucking happy, and the man Rafe didn’t know very lucky.

Bruce curled back down on the table with a smug little smile. “You’re welcome, by the way. The tension is broken. Carry on with your territorial pissing matches.”

With one last sharp glare at Bruce, who was currently grooming his paw, ignoring everyone, Jack turned his attention to Billie Ann. The hardness in his face softened a fraction, though his voice still carried the weight of old Shifter ways.

“What did Davey decide to do with the bar, Billie Ann?” Jack asked, his dark eyes locking on hers.

Billie Ann didn’t even blink. “I’m staying and going to run the bar.”

“He left the bar to you?” Jack’s tone was even as he stared at her.

“Yes,” Billie Ann replied with a nod.

Rafe didn’t move, didn’t breathe. His gaze shifted from Billie to Jack, watching every twitch of the Crow Alpha’s posture. This wasn’t just small talk. In their world, such a declaration could have consequences.

In the old ways, the Shifter ways, when a Shifter died, their business, land, anything of value didn’t just go to family. It reverted to the Alpha, who would then decide its future: pass it along, sell it, or burn it down if they saw fit. That was their law. But Davey hadn’t followed the law. He’d followed love.

He gave everything to his human stepdaughter. And now everyone was watching to see what Jack Crow would do about it.

The other Crows stood silently behind their Alpha, still as stone, eyes like black glass as they waited. Rafe didn’t miss the flicker of surprise in a few of their expressions, but it was the expression of the man who had pulled Billie Ann to him that piqued hisinterest. He had the same surprised reaction as the others, but there was also a narrowing of his eyes that Rafe zeroed in on. A human, claiming what belonged to one of their own? It was a challenge to the old order, and whether anyone liked it or not, the line had been drawn.

Billie stood tall, shoulders squared despite the grief still heavy in her eyes. “I’m not leaving,” she added, voice clear and sure. “This bar was Davey’s life. And now it’s mine.”