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Travis’ tirade but directed his question to Boris. “The human female, where is she?”
    Boris, who’d also shifted and stretched his massive shape, marked in knotted scars, replied, “Sleeping. I tranquilized her before the fight began. She didn’t see anything.”
    At least Boris showed good sense. All of Reid’s trucks had tranquilizer darts, a just-in-case that served them better than guns and bullets, especially when they needed to capture someone and question them, or if a shifter got drunk in town and needed some sedating. Alcohol didn’t just loosen inhibitions and tongues. It sometimes gave rise to the beast within.
    The cold did its best to steal his heat as he strode back to his snowmobile and his pile of clothes. Making sure he’d wiped most of the blood off his skin first, he then calmly dressed while Travis, still yelling, finally gave in to the climate and put back on his own garments.
    Straddling his sled, Reid gave it a bit of gas and brought it alongside the truck. He let it idle as he regarded his cousin, who huffed and puffed, still irritated but quiet at last.
    “Are you done having a temper tantrum?” Reid asked in a low tone.
    Travis opened his mouth—must have seen something on Reid’s face—and shut it in favor of nodding his head.
    “Good. First off. If you ever disobey a direct order from me again, family or not, I’m going to beat your ass until you can’t fucking sit for a week. I told you to get in the goddamned truck and wait for me.”
    “We were under attack.”
    “And you jumped in, without waiting for backup and without thinking. What if there’d been guys with guns in the woods? Or more shifters?”
    “There wasn’t, and I had Boris with me.”
    “Not the point, there could have been. And what about the human?”
    “She’s sleeping.”
    “Did you know that before you stripped down and went grizzly?”
    His sheepish expression and hanging head said it all.
    “Stupid. Unbelievably stupid.”
    The boy didn’t know when to quit while he was still in one piece. His sullen expression took on an angry edge as he retorted, “So what was I supposed to do? Lock the doors and pretend they weren’t there?”
    “Yes. That would have worked. Maybe screamed and freaked out a little with the human girl. It’s what a normal person does. Instead, you were stupid, and we had to take desperate measures.” Well, not so much desperate as difficult to explain. Now Reid would have to think of a lie to feed the woman when she woke up.
    “As stupid as letting them get away? Why the hell didn’t you let me chase them down?” Travis still wouldn’t admit he was wrong. Young fool.
    Reid’s brows arched. “Do you really have to ask why? Let me see. Waddle off in the dark after a werewolf and his pack, who, for all you know, was part of a larger group. Leave the truck, the trailer, not to mention a human unguarded, again without knowing if there was another larger group waiting in the shadows. And, oh, the most obvious reason, because you wouldn’t have caught them. You might be fast on four feet, cousin, but you’re not that fast.”
    With each verbal strike from Reid, Travis’ mutinous expression sobered, and it was a very meek grizzly who said, “Sorry, Reid. I didn’t think of any of that.”
    “Of course you didn’t,” Boris announced with a slap on the boy’s back that almost sent him flying. “That’s why Reid here’s the leader of our clan and not any of us pea-brained minions.”
    Reid snorted. “Minion? Really?”
    “Should I have gone with henchmen instead?” asked the normally taciturn man, surprising him with his question. Someone was in a good mood, probably because he’d gotten to fight. Boris’ sly grin almost drew one from Reid.
    “How about we don’t call the folk I’m trying to lead anything.” Except pains in his ass when they wouldn’t listen.
    “I’m going to get the tools to change the tire.”
    “I’ll help,” Travis