So when the Reeds raised their pups, they raised them to “protect their own,” which meant protecting blood kin and Pack kin. It meant protecting their siblings and their cousins as well as old Missus Sandy Mae up the street who often ended up on the wrong side of full-humans in a nearby town because she was kind of crazy.

And protection was something the Reeds did not take lightly.

That’s why working for Llewellyn Security was such a great job for Ricky. Not only did it allow him to protect the New York Smiths, a job he’d been born into, but also protect others for money, a job that helped him have a very healthy retirement fund as well as go on little excursions like this one.

Of course, it didn’t hurt that he was getting to go with sexy little Toni Jean-Louis Parker. Nope. That didn’t hurt at all.

“Speaking of protection . . .” Ricky studied the unopened box of condoms in his medicine cabinet. After a moment, he shrugged and grabbed one box . . . then the second. “Couldn’t hurt,” he murmured after tossing the boxes into his duffel bag.

Ricky lifted his head, sniffed the air. Rory.

By the time he made it back into the small living room, his brother was walking through the door. His expression told Ricky he was not happy.

“You’re going to Siberia?”

“No. We’re going to Russia. Probably some place close to Moscow. Right, Toni?”

She reached into her backpack and pulled out the itinerary she’d been given by Cella Malone.

“We’re going to Lake Baikal. Wait.” She blinked, lowered the paper. “That is Siberia.”

Ricky’s eyes crossed. Good Lord.

“We’re going into Siberia?” Ricky demanded.

“That’s probably where the team is from. Most of the Russian teams likely train there off season.” It made sense. She doubted any nosey full-humans were going to bother the shifter-only teams while they were training for games in Siberia. And Lake Baikal had freshwater seals, which the polars probably loved.

She looked at the wolf and immediately felt bad for him. He hadn’t signed on for this. Moscow, or a place close to Moscow, was one thing, but asking him to travel to Siberia was definitely asking too much of the man.

“Look, Ricky, you don’t have to—”

“I’ve already contacted Vic,” Ricky’s brother said, and walked around the couch Toni was sitting on and laid a case he had on the coffee table. He opened the case. “He’ll be meeting you at the airport and he’ll get you to Lake Baikal.”

Toni, confused by all this, held up her own papers. “I have an itinerary.”

“I know, darlin’,” Rory said while at the same time removing the paper from her hand and putting it back into her bag. “It’ll help you once youget there, but I want to make sure y’all get there safe and then stay safe once you arrive. Vic will make sure of that.”

“Who’s Vic?”

“Dee recommended him awhile back. He helps our company when we need contacts in Eastern European countries.”

“He was born and raised in Chicago, but his area of expertise is Eastern Europe,” Ricky explained.

“You look worried,” Toni told Rory. “I feel like I should be freaking out. Should I be freaking out?” she asked Ricky.

“No. Everything’s going to be fine. This is just a precaution.”

“How come Cella Malone didn’t have to take these kinds of precautions?”

“You said it yourself, darlin’. She’s a Siberian tiger and a Malone. No one’s messin’ with her.”

“But it’s probably best she’s not going,” Rory admitted. “Her reputation ain’t much better than Novikov’s with the Russian teams, and she probably would have asked Dee-Ann to go with her . . .”

The brothers stared at each other, then started laughing.

“Lord,” Ricky finally said, “that would have been very bad.”

“What does that mean?”

“It’s just better that you are going,” Rory insisted. “Now, you have your passport, right?”

“As much as my family travels? My mother’s agent actually has a schedule when we all have to get our passports renewed.”

“Excellent.” Rory waved off his brother. “I know you’ve got what you need. I’ve already touched base with Llewellyn and he’s arranged with that company y’all are flying with. Madra Air?”

“Yeah.”

“He says just bring your nine, but nothing else.”

Toni sat up straight. “You’re bringing a gun on a plane?”

“Don’t worry about that.”

“I’d rather not end up on Madra’s Do Not Fly List if you don’t mind.”

“Don’t worry about that.” He looked at his brother again. “So Dee-Ann has already contacted Vic for us. And he’s still in Russia?”

“For now, yeah, he’s been helping with tracking Whitlan.”

“Wait,” Toni cut in. “Who the hell’s Whitlan?”

“Vic will get you whatever you need once you get to Russia,” Rory went on, ignoring her.

“Better be more than a nine,” Toni muttered, and she realized that both brothers were staring at her. “These are bears and Siberian tigers. A nine isn’t going to do anything but irritate them.”

“How do you know that?” Rory asked.