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Caius grimaced, but instead of snapping at Max to mind his own business, he sighed and set his coffee down. “Medically retired.”

“I served my eight years and didn’t reenlist.” Quinn tipped his head towards Caius. “He offered me a pack, so I joined him instead.”

“It’s just the three of you?” Weren’t packs supposed to have dozens of shifters?

“Four of us,” Quinn said firmly, poking Max in the shoulder. “You’re pack now.”

Max made a face, ignoring the fresh burst of warmth in his chest as he shoved another bite in his mouth. He doubted pack meant family like the movies liked to portray, but it was still more than he’d ever found at home.

“Ready?” Caius asked.

“You don’t actually need me to go, do you?”

Caius raised an eyebrow and stood. “You don’t want me picking out your things for you. ”

“You really don’t,” Quinn agreed. “Everything will be beige and scream ‘old man.’” He returned Caius’ dark look with an unrepentant grin and headed for the door.

With a groan, Max followed and hoped he didn’t set the car on fire. Especially when he saw the sleek cobalt-blue sports car in the driveway. He let out a low whistle as he dragged his fingertips along the side before getting in the back seat.

Quinn settled in the driver’s seat and slid his sunglasses on, popping a piece of gum in his mouth before backing out. “So, other than a phone, laptop, and clothes, what else do you need?”

“Nothing.” Max winced when Caius shot him a glare over his shoulder, his mouth dropping open when Quinn smacked the back of his hand into Caius’ chest.

“Stop with the scary face, O captain, my captain.”

Caius turned his glare on Quinn. “It’s colonel.”

“O colonel, my colonel doesn’t have the same ring to it.”

Caius sighed, muttering under his breath about corporal punishment.

Ignoring him, Quinn continued. “Seriously, Max, whatever you need. Or want. Might as well take advantage of the colonel’s platinum card. Any hobbies you need supplies for?”

Were they testing him? “No?”

Quinn let out an exaggerated sigh. “We’ll figure it out along the way.” He braked at a red light and turned on the wipers when the snow flurries started. “How about a gaming laptop? Lukas and I play some online games sometimes if you wanna join in.”

“Really?” he asked before he could help himself.

Quinn glanced at him in the rearview mirror and grinned. “Yup. We’ll get you set up.”

BY THE time Max was “set up,” they’d fought their way through an insane holiday shopping crowd to get him a new laptop worth a few grand that he was frankly terrified to touch, an art tablet and one of the newest phones on the market, several bags of winter clothes, two pairs of shoes, and a pair of combat boots almost as expensive as the laptop. And that was only the “necessities.”

He also had a bag of nail polishes, eyeliner, and skincare products Quinn had insisted on when he’d caught Max staring at someone’s stunning makeup.

The shifter had even waved down an employee for a quick tutorial, since Max had never dared touch the stuff before, no matter how much he’d wanted to.

His father would have skinned him alive, literally, to remove it.

Caius hadn’t said a word, which wasn’t as surprising as the fact Max had caught him watching more than once with a look of interest.

After that, Quinn had dragged them past every hobby shop in the strip mall until he found Max’s kryptonite: an art store.

Max spent almost half an hour drooling over the wide selection of sketchbooks, paint pens, felt-tip pens, alcohol markers, acrylic markers—every type of pen and pencil he’d ever wanted to get his hands on.

Quinn, having finished programming Max’s new phone and adding their contacts, grew tired of waiting and started grabbing one of everything despite Max’s weak protests.

Honestly, he couldn’t find the will to protest much more when said protests had been summarily ignored for hours.

And he wanted the art supplies. He clutched the bag to his chest as they headed back to the car, only to nearly run into Caius when he stopped, a low, feral growl rumbling out of him.

Max backpedaled into Quinn, who caught him and nudged him to the side.

Max risked leaning around Caius to see what was going on, expecting to see his father or his men, but all he saw was a guy in torn jeans and a loose black hoodie.

He couldn’t have been older than Max, but he was a mage.

Max could feel it. A strange pressure in the air, like a storm about to break.

The fact that the falling snow swirled away from the guy as if blown by a wind might have been another clue.

“Who’s that?”

Quinn growled, shifting to put himself partially in front of Max. “Someone from the Order.”

Fuck.

“You’re not taking him,” Caius snarled.

The man held his hands up as he strolled closer. “Just here for a look, wolf.” He flicked two fingers in a clear order for Caius to step aside.

Caius tensed, his growl deepening as he adjusted his stance as if to fight .

Max took an involuntary step back as he realized that’s exactly what Caius intended to do. Something rippled along the edge of his senses, a twist of energy gathering around Caius, though he couldn’t tell if it came from the shifter or the mage. No, it was definitely from the mage.

“Stop it!” he yelled, silently cursing himself even as he waved a hand, like that would do anything to dispel the strange energy. He was not prepared for the surge of heat that rushed through him, unleashing itself in a wave of flames.

They ripped through the air, tearing apart the energy pressing around Caius before swirling over their heads and diving for the mage.

With a shocked curse, the man threw his hands up.

Fire wrapped around him in a tunnel of blinding orange flames that circled higher like a tiny tornado.

A moment later, it dispersed with a sharp crack like thunder, the snow around them turning to freezing rain that reached all the way to the edge of the parking lot.

The man glowered at them, his clothes smoking and a small lick of fire still flickering in his hair, but otherwise unharmed. “You,” he snarled, fresh flames of his own cascading around his hands as he stepped towards Max.

Caius stalked forward to stop him. “Attacking us would be a violation of Article 29, section 4B.”

The man stopped, flicking a frustrated, wary glance at Caius. “You’re military?”

“The mage is bound to me and my pack. Tell the Order to fuck off.”

He sneered, lifting his chin but snuffing his flames. “You won’t be able to keep him.”

“Try me.” Whatever face Caius made, the man paled in response and stepped back with his hands splayed.

With a last considering look at Max, the man turned. A translucent doorway appeared in the air in front of him and he stepped through before both vanished.

Quinn let out a gusty breath and sagged against Max.

“Car. Now,” Caius ordered.

Max was all too happy to oblige, hurrying to the car with Quinn still holding on to him. Once on the road, he glanced behind them, expecting to see another doorway appear or a black SUV following them. “That was bad, right? ”

Caius growled. “We should have had another day or two. Either the shield the healer put on you wore off, or she sold us out.”

“No way is our place gonna be safe now if they found him already,” Quinn murmured.

Caius hissed before swearing and pulling out his phone. When the line connected, he said, “The Order found Max. Did you ever get in contact with Rían?”