Free Fighting for Wolves (Shifter Country Wolves Book 3) by Roxie Noir

to say to his mate when they got home.

    They lived in a small ranch house on a couple of acres just outside of town, a place that they’d bought two years ago. It was just big enough for the two of them, and they’d gone back and forth on whether they should buy that place or rent until they’d completed their triad, and then buy a bigger house.
    The whole drive home, Isaac’s head swirled, full of Grey and Dane. Grey was theirs. He was completely, positively, a hundred percent sure of it; sure the same way he’d been sure about Dane, that long ago night in that distant holding cell. The night that they’d been utterly unable to stop themselves, even in public.
    He wished he knew what Grey thought. Humans mated in pairs, not triads, and Isaac had never really negotiated a relationship with one before.
    Would she be interested in both of them? What if she only wanted one?
    The thought had never occurred to Isaac before.
    Well, I’m not leaving Dane , he thought.
    But I don’t want to give up Grey either .
    He pulled into his driveway, somehow feeling worse than before, every thought and anxiety swirling through his head at once.
    This is why I like fighting, he thought. It gives me solvable problems. That wolf is going to attack me, so I have to attack him back. In a few minutes, there’s a winner.
    Sometimes it hurts, but it’s easy .
    He shut off the car, got out, walked into the house, and flopped on the couch, waiting for his mate to come home. That only lasted about two minutes before he got off the couch and started pacing.
    I wish I’d just told Dane, he thought. He’d still be pissed, but then at least I wouldn’t be a liar.
    The front door opened, and Dane walked through. He had his jacket back on, and even from across the room, Isaac could smell Grey’s faint scent, floral and musky and just the tiniest bit smoky.
    The two men looked at each other. Dane shut the door behind him, and Isaac crossed his arms over his chest, waiting.
    Nothing. Dane hung his jacket in the coat closet, all his movements a little more precise and jerky than usual.
    “Grey get home okay?” Isaac asked.
    Dane walked to the couch and threw himself on it, not looking at Isaac.
    “Yeah, she’s fine,” he said.
    “I’m glad she’s not a murderer,” said Isaac, trying to break the silence with a little levity.
    “I knew she wasn’t,” said Dane.
    Isaac went silent, not sure what to say. The silence stretched out for a long time, and then finally, Dane spoke.
    “Don’t fight tomorrow,” he said.
    “It’s the last one,” Isaac promised.
    “That’s not what I said,” Dane told him.
    Isaac walked around the couch and sat gingerly next to his mate.
    “I swear,” he said.
    Dane looked away, his face clouding with anger.
    “You didn’t even tell me,” he said. “I’m the one who’s going to be changing your diapers and you didn’t tell me.”
    “I’m sorry,” Isaac said. “I didn’t know how. I knew you’d be mad.”
    “You chickened out from telling me,” Dane said. “You’re fighting in the wolf fights again and you couldn’t even face me .”
    “Yeah.”
    Isaac had no idea what else to say. It was all true, horribly, painfully true. He’d rather face off with ten vicious, snarling wolves than hurt Dane. But he also couldn’t turn down one more final fight. Every fiber of his being itched for it.
    “I can’t stop you, can I?”
    Isaac swallowed and shook his head.
    “Everything’s set up already,” he said. “I got a fifty-fifty split on profits from Pete.”
    “Make sure you see the receipts. You know that old bastard is crafty and if you don’t see what he spent, he’ll try to tell you that there was twice as much overhead as there was.”
    “On it,” said Isaac. He let himself smile, just a little, then looked at Dane’s face again. His smile fell.
    “That’s not why you won’t cancel,” Dane said. “You won’t cancel because you miss fighting and you want to do it