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Instead, I lugged my suitcase and swords over to my own vehicle and headed west. Ten years ago, I’d parked in a secluded spot within McCallister territory but past the boundary of their daily patrol runs. That time, I’d snuck in to speak with my father and snuck back out again with no one the wiser.
Tonight, I intended to repeat the trick.
First, though, I needed information from Marina. When I called to tell her I was heading in tonight, I’d been shunted straight to voice mail. Now, though, a text response chimed as my headlights illuminated the narrow pull-off of my destination.
“Send me a photo of Rowan’s bedroom,” Marina ordered.
His bedroom? I deleted the incriminating evidence and pursed my lips.
Marina wanted me to take Rowan up on his offer, not only the overt one of joining his pack but the insinuated one of becoming his mistress. That would certainly be one way to get her photo.
But I wasn’t that desperate. Instead, I intended to use my own skillset. Scout out the lay of the land tonight. Then, tomorrow, make a plan for a fast in-and-out.
After all, stealing a photo wasn’t that much different from planning a heist.
So I slid out of human clothing, shivering for one split second before warm fur clad a lupine body. It had been only a few days since my last shift, but exhilaration consumed me. I leapt over a fallen log as easily as if gravity had reduced to lunar levels. Then I followed my nose to a muddy slurry of half-rotten leaves.
This was just what I needed to cover up any residual human aromas. The damp leaf litter rustled as I rolled and scratched, paying most attention to my paw pads. As long as I didn’t drink so much my bladder threatened, feet were the biggest threat to passing the sniff test.
So I worked rotten leaves into my paws then shook most of the debris away from me. Specks of mud splattered out to stain nearby tree trunks and I couldn’t resist huffing out a laugh. I’d forgotten how much fun it was to inhabit my lupine skin in a wild environment where I could act like a real wolf.
But I wasn’t here to play. I was here to work.
So, just as the moon rose, I got down to business. Racing upstream, I crested a hill and peered toward the McCallister home place. Their lights were barely visible in the distance, just where I’d expected them. Probably a dozen houses. Not such a big pack that I needed to be overly concerned.
I’d thought their settlement would have grown in the last decade, actually, but it hadn’t. I, on the other hand, was older and considerably wiser. So rather than making a beeline for the lights the way I had last time, I ran in the opposite direction. Up the crest of the hill I was on, then swinging a sharp left onto a taller ridge.
Because I’d planned ahead before making the drive today, checking a map and plotting a more circuitous route. The result should have made my foray even less likely to catch the pack’s attention. But I was only halfway through the planned loop when a howl rose off to the east. Another to the north. A third one between me and my vehicle.
Coincidence. It had to be. Rowan couldn’t have known I was coming, had no way of guessing my plan to sneak into territory that didn’t belong to me. Most likely, this was a Saturday night hunting party. Just my luck that I’d stumble into the center of a clan out chasing deer....
I flattened my body against the ground as I slunk closer to the lights of pack central. It was the only route open to me, but I was no longer engaged in a simple scouting mission. Instead, I intended to swerve around the settlement and run as far as I had to in order to escape the semi-circle of werewolves. Then I’d hightail it back to my car and regroup.
That was Plan B, Plan A having been ditched at the first eerie howl.
And...it looked like I’d be moving on to Plan C. Because the darkness in front of me moved. I’d thought there were only trees in my path, but now I caught the flick of ears, the sway of a wolf tail.
Then four sets of eyes glowed back at me out of the night.
***
DID I SAY FOUR? FOUR in front of me maybe, but there were dozens present. Dozens of wolves seething through my personal space as I spun in a tight circle seeking escape.
There was none. No way out and no way through. Instead, I froze as wolves padded closer. A damp nose made contact with my butt and I snapped at the personal-space intrusion. Someone else slammed into my shoulder, knocking me off my stride.
They darted in and out so fast I couldn’t get a handle on their locations. And while I was trying, teeth closed around my neck.
I couldn’t breathe. Was this what Kira felt like when Ryder grabbed her in a chokehold? It felt worse than when Rowan had squeezed my throat in human form. I tried to swallow, but the obstruction wouldn’t budge.
It was madness to try to fight free, but I couldn’t help myself. I snapped into the darkness, making contact with nothing. Dropped to the ground, hoping that would dislodge my attacker.
Instead, I ended up at the bottom of a pile of fur and paws.
Surrender. My lupine nature clawed at me, begging me to roll over and show my belly. That might stop my attackers...or might make it easier for them to tear me apart.
Instead, I growled. These strangers weren’t my pack. I couldn’t afford to surrender to them.
While my human and lupine natures battled, my opponent’s fangs dug in deeper. I not only couldn’t breathe now, I was also bleeding. Salt stung the insides of my nostrils. Hot liquid slid down my chest.
I couldn’t think inside my fur. Couldn’t catch my breath. Couldn’t wriggle free....
All I saw was Harper’s face. If I died now, Nick would have no reason to keep sending my sister to boarding school. He’d probably demand a refund of the money I’d paid ahead, then drink up every penny of it before taking his daughter home to wait on him.
And while Harper was able to drive, she was also sixteen. Stuck in his household for another two years as far as the law was concerned. Without me, she’d have no reprieve.
I had to be there for my sister, so I gambled on werewolf morals. Sucked in my fur and croaked out a plea with my human voice.
“Stop.”
I hadn’t expected words to come, actually. But the instant I regained humanity, the wolf who’d been chewing on my throat dropped me like a hot potato. Something cold and electric passed over me as an alpha compulsion pressed the pile of wolves aside.
The compulsion pressed me also, but in a different direction. Forced me onto my butt so I could peer upward....
Then human fingers were gripping my feet, inspecting the muddy soles. “You didn’t run far,” Rowan noted.
He sounded so urbane. So human. But his eyes were wolf yellow and I was unable to move my body. The moon came out from behind a cloud and his gaze settled on my naked breasts.
“Where did you park?” he asked, speaking to my nipples. His fingers prodded at the arch of my foot, a touch which should have tickled but instead threatened my gag reflex.
I wanted to snarl a denial. To save my car for quick escape just the way I’d intended.
But Rowan was all that stood between me and sharp wolf teeth. And at least he was two-legged, even if he had yet to release my foot.
Plus, his alpha command was pressing at me. Pressing at my throat, at my lips, at my windpipe....
So I told him. Told him the location of my car and the key I’d stashed on top of a rear tire.
“Troy, get it.” His command bit at everyone alike but only one wolf peeled off into the darkness.
“The rest of you,” Rowan continued, “it’s time to head back.”