by Dianna Love
Rory stayed in the wooded area paralleling Highway 1 as it ran up the coast from Portland.
The scent he followed became more distinct out here without so many human smells to sort through. Breathing in a lung full of pine scent beat the city any day.
When he realized he had one chance of catching up with Siofra, he’d made the gamble to shift and give Ferrell his head. His jaguar had been behaving better lately and had a single-minded focus when it came to Siofra.
Ferrell’s ability to scent and move at hyperspeed made it worth the risk of being spotted.
Someone would have to catch Rory’s jaguar to figure out if he really was a jaguar. With Ferrell clocking over seventy miles an hour even with leaping obstacles, the odds were in his favor right now.
If he’d had the time, he’d have gotten another phone and tried to call Scarlett, but time was the one thing he couldn’t spare. He’d made the decision to not waste any of it when he’d reached the grocery store so close behind Siofra that her scent felt warm.
Besides, she’d made a conscious decision to help Siofra get away from him. That hurt.
He’d actually thought Scarlett was someone who could become a trusted friend of his people and the boss would eventually tell her the truth about Gallize shifters.
Not now. The Guardian would never trust her again.
Rory sure as hell wouldn’t.
After finding the slit tires on his ride in the garage, he’d raced in human form to the grocery store, probably looking like a crazy jogger wearing jeans and no shoes.
Siofra and Scarlett had already been there.
But he picked up another scent as soon as he entered, of someone who had been at the bulletin board. A nonhuman scent, but not a shifter. He’d bet it belonged to Baatar.
That person had been here many hours ago, maybe last night.
He’d caught one more scent, which disturbed him the most.
A wolf shifter.
Rory had spun around and rushed out of the store, following all four scents across the parking lot. Scarlett and Siofra’s had ended at a parking space, but the one he had tagged as Baatar’s continued into the woods, turning north up the coast.
Just as the wolf shifter had right behind him.
Even with Ferrell’s speed and agility, Rory’s jaguar had to stop a couple of times to cross the road to follow the scent. That had meant pausing to wait for an opening where cars were far away and would mistake him for some local wild animal.
In a little over two hours, Ferrell ran through woods where Baatar’s scent zigzagged back and forth until a large open space with an old fort came into view.
Rory told Ferrell to not leave the woods, but finish tracking the scent.
His jaguar reached a place where Siofra’s scent entered the woods ... then four other shifter scents converged on Siofra and Baatar.
If not for being shifters, Rory might have thought the others had been there to help.
Ferrell roared and snarled. Kill wolves!
Yep. Two of those scents matched the wolf shifters who had escaped the Black River Pack compound that he and his team raided. The same pack that had captured Siofra.
But the other shifter scents were new.
He had no phone, no vehicle and no idea where they’d taken them.
But he knew who might.
Chapter 33
Scarlett looked at the unknown number on her mobile phone and debated answering since her stomach grumbled that noon meant food.
Sighing, she hit the button on her mobile. “Your dime.”
“You better be able to find them,” Rory warned.
Shit, she hated getting in the middle of domestic issues and Siofra had smelled heavily of Rory. Scarlett said, “Don’t be pissy with me. Siofra called and told me you were going to lock her up. She begged me to help her find her brother.”
“You left them at Fort Knox, right?”
How did he know that? “Why?”
“My jaguar ran the hundred-and-twenty-miles there and back.”
She looked at her watch. Just after noon. Impressive, but she said, “You’re lucky no one saw you.”
“No. I’m not even a little bit lucky,” Rory snapped. “We followed Baatar’s scent from the grocery store. His trail stopped in the woods next to the fort where six shifters captured them. Two were Black River Pack wolves. I could also smell a chemical. They were drugged.”
“Fuck!”
“Exactly. I called the office and—”
She yelled, “You said you wouldn’t tell your boss about what I’m doing.”
“Don’t interrupt me again,” he warned in a voice that threatened serious harm.
He didn’t scare her but this guy sounded terrified for Siofra, so she let him finish.
“I called my people to say my burner phone had a problem— but not that it was tossed by you two—and that I needed your number. I asked what they knew about the tiger you were looking for and they said they suggested you search Vermont. The only two people I would trust to bring into this are out searching with my boss. If Baatar turns out to be a tiger shifter, we’d have to call in my boss just to keep everyone safe. I can’t tell you more than that, but it would turn bloody in seconds. So that leaves you and me. We’re going to find Siofra and Baatar.”
She might have argued or just hung up on him, but she felt a level of responsibility for Siofra getting caught. Not Baatar. That asshole could suck hind tit.
Pounding the steering wheel of her truck, she said, “There’s an auction happening somewhere in western Maine. That would be the first place I’d look. I’d planned to wait until it was over and I got word of someone buying the tiger to track him down without a crowd.”
“Where are you?”
She gave him the general location since she was almost to New Hampshire.
“Since you trashed my ride, come and get me.”
She gripped the phone so hard the plastic squealed from the pressure. No one ordered her around.
“Stop, dammit,” Rory’s voice yelled from the phone she’d pulled away from her ear. “You don’t want to smash your phone any more than I want to crush everything in my way. We can’t do this if we don’t work together.”
Easing her grip, she said, “Fine. I’ll pick you up, but if you give me one more order I’m going to rip your balls off.”
“You must be a joy to date.”
“I don’t date,” she shouted. “Hard to do when men are such pricks. So pull your head out of your ass before I get to you.”
“What the hell? Why would you say that shit?”
“Siofra’s a nice woman. You must be a major jerk for her to run from you when I could smell your scent all over her. I’m coming to get you for her. Not for you. So don’t screw up or I’ll dump your ass on the side of the road.”
He muttered a curse and said, “I’m in love with her. I will go through anyone and everyone to get her back and keep her safe.”
Scarlett had no words for that, but told him, “See you in an hour.”
She’d thought Tess had been crazy to mate a shifter, but that wolf would lay down his life for her, too. Tess had also told Scarlett about Justin, the bear mated to a woman named Eli. According to Tess, Justin would destroy the world for his mate.
This jaguar sounded like them.
She didn’t know where these men came from, but she’d never met any males she’d trust to stand beside her.
Chapter 34
Rory clenched his fist for the hundredth time, impatient to get his hands around the neck of anyone harming Siofra. Had to be the worst Friday of his life and with the clock approaching eight in the evening it was still far from over.
Riding in the passenger seat didn’t lower his blood pressure at all, especially since he’d rented this Mercedes, but Scarlett had made a solid point about being in character as much as possible. Her character in this dangerous game would be the driver.
Also, he hadn’t wanted to waste time in a
power struggle.
She could drive as long as she didn’t lose time. So far she’d kept a steady pace of five miles over the speed limit. This had better work.
He would not lose Siofra.
“Cut it out,” Scarlett snapped.
“What?” How could this woman find something wrong when he’d been quiet for most of the trip?
“Your anger is generating some nasty energy and it’s crawling across my skin.”
Sometimes his Gallize brethren would power up to the point it was irritating to one another, but that was because their energies were equally strong and battling for dominance.
Was Scarlett that powerful?
First he calmed down and felt his body relax, then he asked, “Just what are you?”
“Oh, I’ll show you mine then you show me yours? Pass.”
“What crawled up your ass and died?” Rory asked. “I’m trying to have a conversation with you and understand why my energy clashed with yours. I already told you I’m a jaguar. What’s the big deal about your animal? You already said it’s a cat.”
He must have gotten through to her, because her stiff profile relaxed and she ran a hand through her thick hair in an agitated motion. “I’m a cougar.”
“Not many of those around.”
“Nope.”
“You’re powerful. Don’t deny it, because I felt your energy rise in defense against mine.”
“I’m strong enough for what I need to do. End of discussion.”
That was fun for the ten seconds it took her to shut him down. What a loner, and crabby as hell.
Ferrell had been worked up around Scarlett at first, but he’d settled down during the ride. Now he sent Rory an image of Rory and Scarlett lying next to each other in a giant pea pod.
Wiseass.
Damn. Had he been just as difficult as Scarlett to be around before he met Siofra?
Ferrell sent him an image of a smut-black pot and kettle.
You’re fucking hilarious, Rory grumbled telepathically.
But his jaguar was right. Rory kept seeing his life as before Siofra and after Siofra.
It still hurt that she’d run away from him, but not because he’d been mean in any way. He’d known all along that she could be a flight risk. He’d gotten confortable and assumed they were still on the same page.
He asked Scarlett, “Did Siofra really think I was going to lock her up?”
“In hindsight, I don’t think so. She thought the night you talked to me on the phone that you were talking to your people about catching Baatar to take in. I think she assumed that would mean her being contained, too, which she clearly doesn’t want.”
“I wouldn’t have done that.”
Slicing a look of disbelief his way, she asked, “You mean if Baatar turns out to somehow be a tiger shifter that you have no plans to take him to your boss?”
He opened his mouth to explain his job, but Scarlett didn’t care about his duty any more than Siofra had when it came to her brother. In truth, he did need to take Baatar to the Guardian if Siofra’s brother turned out to be a tiger shifter, but the Guardian wouldn’t lock him away.
The problem was that Rory would have to explain the Gallize to Scarlett and Siofra to convince them his intentions were honorable when it came to Baatar.
As for Siofra, Rory would allow no one to lock her up.
He said, “She was right and wrong. If Baatar is a tiger shifter, I would have to take him to headquarters. But my boss would not put him in a cage or misuse him. Baatar would be treated really well and given specialized training, then he could be free once he could control his beast.”
“Why would your boss even think Baatar might be a tiger shifter?”
“We have a seer in our group. She told him.”
Scarlett’s eyebrow lifted at that. “Hmm. She a shifter, too?”
“Yep.”
After another stretch of silence, Scarlett asked, “What kind of shifters are all of you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Now you’re insulting me. I’ve felt a load of power over the years, but what you were generating earlier was substantial and not close to full strength. Then there’s your boss. His power is off the charts when he’s at rest.”
She was right, but Rory couldn’t talk about the Gallize. “I don’t mean to insult you, but we both have our secrets. Ask my boss that question. He’s the best one to answer it.”
Nodding, she said, “You guys are like dealing with a bunch of shifters trained to be SEALs. A bunch of ghosts. I never knew you existed until I got to know Tess and then met Cole at that meeting. He’s not cut out to be a pack member unless he takes the alpha role. That goes for you and the bear as well.”
“You’ve pretty much summed us up. I’d tell you more if I could, but I can’t. Let’s work on our plan.”
“Nothing to work on. My contacts will have everything in place for us to get inside the location and spend just long enough to survey everything. We locate Siofra and Baatar. You make an offer, like we talked about, then tell them you’ll be back tomorrow for the auction. We’ll know exactly what we have to do to break them out tonight by the time we leave.”
She sounded too confident, just like he had on his first big mission. Everything looked good on paper, but the minute things went to shit he’d been glad Sammy had gone in with a backup plan.
Damn, he missed that big grizzly shifter.
Thinking about how the Black River pack had killed Sammy would only piss Rory off and flood this cab with energy again.
He said, “If it goes down like that, I’m thrilled, but we need to think of contingency plans.”
“Like what?”
“Like we walk in and they don’t buy our story, so they capture us too.”
She pfft. “Not going to happen. They might get you, but they won’t cage me.”
Damn, he hated overconfidence, but from what he could tell she’d worked alone a long time. It might not be arrogance speaking so much as a deep survival instinct and the fear of losing her freedom.
Still, if she was his partner in this, they had to be on the same page.
Holding back his warning tone and going with a conversational one, he said, “I’m in agreement on not wanting to end up caged, but we have to get our signals straight now so there’s no confusion if something does go fubar, don’t you think?”
Flipping on her blinker, she turned off Highway 27 to take a back road that hadn’t been resurfaced in a long time. The sedan bounced through the occasional rut and pothole as she delayed her answer.
Running her fingers over her hair again, she said, “I’m definitely in on rescuing them, but I am not allowing anyone to cage me. All the signals in the world will not change that.”
Shit. He let it go.
He had his own contingency plan, though it had a few holes.
The deeper they drove into the backcountry of western Maine, the more Rory felt eyes on their car.
Could be his imagination or that sixth sense keeping him alert. Scarlett’s contacts were wolf shifter bounty hunters, of all things, a group she swore by. She said they ran down criminal humans, not shifters. For that reason, she’d developed a relationship with them where she paid them well to hunt for female shifters in trouble and feed her intel from the shifter communities.
Without that connection, they’d never have been able to find this auction site so quickly or be allowed to enter. Her bounty hunter allies had connections inside the auction system so he and Scarlett had to be careful not to blow their covers.
North of Saddleback Mountain, she slowed to watch for a tree with an X carved into it. Humans would have to be walking up closer to the tree to see it, but Rory spotted the mark right away.
“There it is, Scarlett.”
She slowed all the way to a stop, keeping an eye on her rearview mirror. “No one coming from either direction.”
Rory jumped out and strode to the tree where he could see two paths carved by tir
es a little way in behind a fallen tree. He found the upper area of the downed tree and lifted it, then walked the tree up enough for her to drive under. Once she was inside, he lowered the trunk across the path again, then moved the tall brush back in place.
If they had to make a run for it with the car, this would be a problem.
Climbing back in, he lifted a pair of shooter’s glasses with yellow lenses from the seat next to him and slid them into place. Scarlett had unloaded a treasure trove of useful items from hidden compartments in her truck before they left it at his last hotel and took off.
He pulled the black ball cap with a hockey logo onto his head. He and Scarlett had discussed the plan by phone while she’d driven to pick him up in Portland. They’d spent most of the afternoon acquiring anything they didn’t have, such as the Mercedes sedan, needed to make an impression.
She’d told Rory he would play the part of a financially independent, but reclusive, shifter who bought exotic shifters. She had an identity already built for the recluse, and she’d used it with another man two years back, which gave it some depth and credibility. As for her, she’d enter as arm candy who attended auctions, representing the recluse.
Before Rory had hung up, she’d given him a list of clothing to have ready when she arrived.
He’d had a hell of a time finding the top she wore on short notice. He’d never shopped for women’s clothing, but she looked the part in a sheer red top that could be see-through if she turned just right in the light. Tiny sequins covered the red material, catching any light when she moved.
The male shifters would probably be too focused on her prominent boobs to notice any sparkles.
She’d changed into a tight pair of silk shorts with bling along the sides, unbraided her hair and dropped her head down to brush the wavy mass. Pretty amazing when all those small braids turned into a full head of brunette hair. Gave her more of a wild and exotic look. The last things she’d put on had been a pair of fuck-me shoes, long, flashy earrings, and layers of fine chains. She’d finished it off with red lipstick.
He’d found a black sport coat and coordinating dress pants for his part, and wore a tie-dyed T-shirt beneath it.
