“So what’s stopping you from staying here until that happens? Then you go back, take the title, or crown, as it were, and start making changes. Turn your tribe into something to be proud of, not something to escape.”
Looking thoughtful, Kian was just opening his mouth to reply when a loud cracking sound split the air. Frowning, Ian looked around for the source, and his gaze landed on the beams above their heads. Understanding hit him a split second before the roof began to cave in, and he let out a shout of warning as he put on a burst of shifter speed, crashing into Kian and throwing him out of the way as wood and debris began plummeting to the ground.
Wincing as a board struck his shoulder, he shoved Kian back farther, and they both watched as the roof where they’d been standing settled onto the hard-packed dirt of the barn floor. While the dust settled, Ian glanced up, noticing that the only part of the roof that had given away was right above the sparring area.
“Son of a bitch,” he exclaimed, adrenaline rushing through his veins as his heart pounded in his chest. His tiger was alert, hackles high as he growled unendingly. “What the fuck was that?”
“What were you thinking? You could have been killed.”
Surprised by the intensity in Kian’s tone, Ian raised his eyebrows as he looked over. “I was thinking I didn’t want either one of us to get hurt or die.”
“So you call out a warning as you run. You do not put yourself at risk for me,” Kian answered, glaring.
“First, I’m the leader of this little group of fighters, and I consider you one of us. And this is my property. It’s my job to protect those who are here. And second, you’re a prince. How would it look if I let a prince die on my watch?”
“How many times must I tell you not to call me a prince?” Kian retorted in exasperation. “And before you say it’s true, being prince of my tribe doesn’t make me more important than you. And you’re a father. What would happen to Shelby if something happened to you? She’d go back to Farrah.”
Ian said nothing, the truth of that hitting him in the gut, riling his tiger up further. Shelby was everything to him. The last thing he wanted for her was for her to go back to Farrah and the War Cats. He’d do anything to keep that from happening.
“You have a point,” he acknowledged. “But I’m not sorry for what I did. I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if I just stood by and let something happen to you.”
“We will just agree to disagree on this subject,” Kian replied stiffly. As he looked at the hole in the roof, his brow furrowed. “I thought Seth was a genius with wood. It’s his gift, no? I would have thought he kept this place in good shape.”
“He does,” he said, frowning as the adrenaline eased and he realized just how inexplicable the roof collapsing really was. Seth didn’t make mistakes when it came to wood, especially not on something as important as a roof. And it hadn’t been long since he’d inspected it. Something was definitely wrong here, and his instincts were screaming that this wasn’t an accident.
Walking carefully into the rubble, he examined the fallen remains of the roof, his eyes finally landing on the beams. He was just bending down to examine it when Jax and Seth ran into the barn.
“What the fuck happened in here?” Seth exclaimed, looking around at the mess, his eyes going to the ceiling.
“Are you guys okay?” Jax asked, coming forward to check for injuries.
“I’m fine. Ian pushed me out of the way. But I think he was struck by the falling roof as he did so.” Kian kicked debris out of the way.
Seth and Jax both started forward, but Ian waved them off. “I’m fine. Just glanced off my shoulder. Not a big deal.”
Seth shook his head. “I don’t understand this. I just did a routine check on the barn last month. Everything was in good shape, including the roof. I don’t know what happened.”
“I do,” Ian replied, standing up, anger burning through his veins, his tiger clawing to get out of his chest. Pointing at the beam, he said, “The roof had help caving in. The beam is cut nearly in two.”
Seth squatted and examined the piece of wood. “Son of a bitch. Someone did this deliberately.”
“This end has been sawed, too,” Jax told them grimly, looking at the other part of the beam.
Ian studied the length, glancing between the beams and the roof. “They were cut the exact length of the area we spar in.”
“So someone was trying to take out as many of us at once as they could.” Jax clenched his fists with a scowl on
his face. “We need to figure out who did this and put an end to it. Or them. I’m fine with either one. You two could have been killed. Our mates could have been in here. This needs to end now.”
“We take every precaution necessary until we catch whoever did this,” Ian told the group, fighting to stay calm and be the leader they needed him to be right now. “Especially with the more fragile human mates, Shelby, and Cammie, since she’s pregnant. Ready to finally call in a person to be with you all the time, Kian? You shouldn’t have gone without one after you sent Zane home, and even you have to admit you need one now,” he said with a pointed look.
“I don’t believe I’m the target,” Kian retorted with a raised eyebrow. “This was done in your barn, and this is the first time I’ve come here to train.”
“It was probably Zane, anyway,” Seth muttered darkly, certainty in his voice and a frown darkening his normally lighthearted face.
“We don’t know that,” Ian said sharply. “I know you have beef with the guy, but you need to cool it. You want to blame him anytime something goes wrong around here. We need to think about this logically, not go off in the heat of the moment and accuse without proof.”
“Tell me we weren’t all thinking it,” Seth snapped.