Outcast Box Set

by Emilia Hartley

  She spun away from him and stomped toward her kitchen. Her stomach grumbled with need. The fear of moments ago, washed away by the anger burning through her veins. So, what if she died in the line of duty? So, what if she was hurt trying to help someone?

  It was her penance, she thought. It was the least she could do after what she’d done.

  Sydney pulled a loaf of sourdough off the fridge and threw it onto the counter. She followed up with a container of roasted vegetables she’d made a couple days ago and a small jar of red pepper mayo she’d bought at a specialty store.

  Angrily, slamming any set of utensils she could get her hands on, she made a pair of sandwiches and threw them into a hot frying pan. The longer she worked, the more her anger leeched away.

  “What the hell are you doing?”

  She jumped, clamping her hand over her heart. She hadn’t heard Jax’s footsteps, and her heart pounded a furious beat.

  Still, he looked down at her with confusion, eyes flicking to the sandwiches in the pan. “This is technically a crime scene, and you’re making food?”

  “I’m hungry,” she replied as if it explained everything. “Are you done… sniffing my foyer?”

  He gave her a flat, unamused look before turning to glare at the room behind him. “There wasn’t much. I could pick up a couple of scents, but they were faint. Like people had been here a week ago.”

  She chewed the inside of her cheek. “Shit,” she breathed. “I had a housewarming party two weeks ago. I just moved in.”

  He rolled his eyes and sank into a nearby chair. “So, I’m just scenting your guests?”

  She pulled the frying pan off the burner and shut it off. With her fingers, she plucked the grilled sandwiches off the hot pan and dropped them onto plates, shoving one toward Jax. He looked at her hand with wide eyes.

  “What? My hands are clean!”

  “No, it’s not that. I just can’t believe you grabbed a hot sandwich with your bare hands.”

  She looked down and laughed at herself. “Oh, I guess I didn’t think about that. I guess I’ve just built up a resistance.”

  “You laugh, but that’s dangerous.”

  “Meh, I’m used to it. My dad is worse. He used to run a kitchen. He got to the point where he grabbed hot pans out of the oven without potholders. I guess I just take after him.”

  Jax smiled, the first hint of joy she’d seen on his face in hours. It warmed her, and she had to turn away from it to hide her response. Her cheeks flushed with heat. What was it about this man that seemed to twist her into knots?

  “I never meant to stay in Fangway,” Jax began. She turned to watch him pick at the melted cheese leaking out the side of his sandwich. His face was drawn, forlorn with a story he refused to share.

  That was fine. She had her own stories.

  “You don’t have to stay. You could keep moving, get to your destination. I’m not forcing you to stay.” Even as she spoke the words, a part of her screamed in agony at the thought of Jax leaving her. She put a clamp on it and fought the screaming voice back, trying to keep her face neutral.

  Jax shook his head. “No. I can’t. I have to do this. I have to believe this was placed in front of me for a reason. I was meant to help these shifters.”

  “That’s an awful lofty assumption.”

  His smile was thin. “I have a lot to pay for. Excuse me if I see chances to repay everywhere. It doesn’t matter. None of them will equal the debt I owe the world.”

  That was a feeling she knew well. It was the one that weighed her into the mattress every morning, the one that made her wish she hadn’t woke up. His voice rang in her ears, telling her she needed to get up and go to work.

  Strangely enough, she hadn’t heard his voice since Jax arrived. What could have happened in his life to make him feel that way? As much as she wanted to ask, it wasn’t her business. They had business to tend to, though.

  “Alright. What’s our next plan of attack?” She cut her sandwich in half and forced herself to take a bite. It didn’t taste half as good as she would have hoped, the flavors falling flat as her soul.

  She was a whirlwind of confusion, grief, remorse, and guilt pulling against the draw that summoned her toward Jax. It was confusing and made her headache. The best she could do was focus on the case.

  ***

  A smirk curled the corner of Sydney’s mouth, sly and sparkling with mischief.

  “What?” he snapped.

  “So, you’re a wolf… Right?”

  He narrowed his eyes, wondering where this was going. “I thought we already covered that. You saw the wolf in your bedroom last night.”

  She nodded, the secret smile still on her lip and a glimmer in her eyes. Sydney felt the double meaning in his words and wished they leaned toward the sexual and not the literal. Had she not been in the middle of an investigation, she could have had fun with his wolfish side. “You’re right. I was just wondering how good your sense of smell is.”

  He pressed his lips together, glaring at her. “Are you suggesting what I think you are?”

  She shrugged, a laugh trapped behind her lips. “I mean, it’s basically what we did yesterday.”

  Sydney also yearned to see the wolf again. She wanted to know if everything she’d been through was real. Had she truly seen a woman turn into a fox? Was the wolf she’d met really Jax? The beast’s eyes haunted her memories and invaded her dreams.

  “I’m not a damned bloodhound, woman!” He growled. The sound should have scared her, as animalistic as it was, but it only served to twist further the desire growing inside her. What was wrong with her? She’d faced death the night before. She should have been scared, but she turned into soft butter when he made sounds like that. “But, I want to find Becca as much as you do. If this is what it takes, I’ll do it. Just don’t think about putting a damned leash on me.”

  She smiled as she thought about the harnesses the canine units wore. Even if she could have gotten her hands on one without questions, she highly doubted it would fit his massive body, anyway.

  He tore off his shirt, turning to put his back to her. She watched the muscles of his back flex and stretch. Heat pooled in her core, her mouth going dry. The sunlight cascaded over the dark muscle to reveal shades of copper and gunmetal in his skin. He was Adonis in her eyes. Her throat caught when she heard the metallic clank of his belt buckle breaking free.

  Her rational mind told her to turn around and give him room, but her feet stuck in the ground as she watched his jeans slide over his hip. Of course, she’d seen him naked a few times already, but each time it struck her like it was the first. The wonder of his dark and coppery body addled her brain.

  She’d never seen anything as wonderful as he was. As his shoulders hunched and his muscles rippled, she felt like she was looking into an intimate experience. Like a peeping tom outside a woman’s window. Sydney knew she should turn around. She commanded herself to do so several times, but her body still betrayed her.

  The man she was getting to know bent and his body broke. The sound of shifting bones grinding on one another filled the air. She cringed and told herself to turn. Jax let out a pained sound that morphed into the whine of a dog. Before she could regain control of herself, a wolf laid, panting on the ground.

  Jax slowly rose to his feet. He shook, and fur bloomed in the air like a small cloud. The massive creature, larger than any animal she’d ever laid eyes on, turned to face her with a goofy smile. Its tongue lolled out the side of its mouth. She rolled her eyes and called him a ham.

  “There are some back roads that wind around the Lodge. Let’s start there, grab what Trisha wore when we found her, and see what you can find.” She turned toward the SUV and paused. If they were going to track this scent, it might lead them off the road. She jogged toward her garage and grabbed a bag of supplies.

  On the way back to the SUV, she gathered Jax’s dropped clothing and shoved it all into the SUV’s trunk space. Before she could close it, Jax l
eaped in. His abnormally large body got stuck between the back seats and the ceiling when he tried jumping between them. He looked at her with a pitiful expression, between self-loathing and acceptance of defeat.

  “If you had just waited for me to put the seats down, we wouldn’t have had this problem.”

  He simply glared at her, unable to reply in his current form. Sydney was astonished at how well she was taking this. Shifters existed. He wasn’t the kind of beast she’d watched in B-grad horror movies as a kid, but she could see the lethal strength in his dark body.

  It was rather beautiful. She couldn’t help the jealousy that sang through her blood. If she’d had such a gift, the strength, and the speed, would she have been able to save her last partner? Would it have allowed her to save more lives?

  Or, was there a side she wasn’t seeing? One that was dark and filled with death that would have brought more vengeful souls to her doorstep? Sydney said nothing, laying down the back seats for the massive creature before pulling herself into the driver’s seat.

  The trip to the Lodge went by quickly. They grabbed what was left of Trisha’s clothing, dirty rags that reeked with every smell imaginable. How Jax could tell any of them apart was beyond her. He sniffed the thing and pointed her toward a side road. In the car, he let his head hang out the window, pointing his muzzle in the direction they needed to go. Cool air filtered into the car, slamming her already aching cheek. It throbbed uncontrollably. Annoyingly.

  Jax let out a sound that seemed like a bark, and she pulled over. The minute the car stopped, he bounded out the open window. His body barely fit, the sound of muscle scraping fiberglass. She cringed and slid out to follow him.

  Her phone vibrated in her pocket. She paused and held up a finger as she answered. Jax pranced nervously, ready to follow the trail ahead. The trees bent into one another forming a canopy budding with a pale, green haze. The trail itself was wrought with rocks and twisting tree roots as it led into the mountain wilderness.

  “Detective Meyer,” she answered.

  “Haven’t seen you in a while,” her chief said. “Anything to tell?”

  Her heart flipped. Her voice threatened to leave her, but she held onto it and forced its cooperation. “Trisha Bantiff is home safe. She reappeared yesterday morning. We have questioned her and returned her to her family without fanfare. While the perpetrators are still at large, I thought it best to keep her appearance under wraps for the time.”

  “You didn’t think your boss needed to know?” his voice grew sharp. It cut into her and made her half the person she was. “And, who the hell is we?”

  “That was a slip, sir. I am the only one on this major investigation.” She looked at the wolf watching her talk, grateful he had no voice to give her away.

  “I’m sending someone out to check on Ms. Bantiff later. You should have told us, so we could have a detail on her house at all times.”

  With a cop placed outside her home at all times, Trisha would be safe, but her privacy would be compromised. Sydney had a feeling the shifter wouldn’t like that. They’d worked hard to keep their secret under wraps.

  “I don’t think that’s necessary, sir,” she ventured.

  “You don’t think Trisha deserves the protection of our resources?”

  Her lips flapped, fighting for a response. “That’s not what I meant. I just thought she might appreciate the privacy in which to heal. I will listen to your wisdom, sir, and stop questioning you.”

  She heard his chair squeak as he leaned back. When he spoke again, his voice softened. It was nearly a whisper, filled with pleading desperation. “There’s nothing else you can tell me?”

  She shook her head before remembering she was talking on a phone. “No, sir. But, I do hope to have something to present by the end of the day.”

  His sigh echoed over the phone. “Good, Meyers. I’ll talk to you later, then.”

  She hung up, tucked the phone into her pocket, and rolled her shoulders. Ahead, the sky was darkening with the threat of spring rain. She turned, grabbed the bag from the back and shoved Jax’s clothes into it before slinging it over her shoulders.

  “Off we go,” she muttered.

  Chapter Twelve

  The wind howled between the mountain cliffs. It was a monster that tore through Sydney’s hair and clothes, slamming her with abrasive pebbles and dirt. While Jax had tracked the scent clinging to Trisha’s clothing to this valley, they weren’t going to get much further if these winds persisted.

  He looked at the blonde woman, a determined grimace on her red face. The wind was burning her skin, and she would regret that stubborn determination in the morning. The wolf wanted to wrap itself around her and protect her from the winds. It wouldn’t be enough. He mountains would grow cold and dangerous once the sun fell.

  They needed to find shelter. Sydney looked at him expectantly and asked if they were getting close, her mind on the mission and not on her own wellbeing. Jax nodded and sniffed the air. Finding shelter in the wilds was going to be difficult, but Sydney wouldn’t know he was leading her away from the scent until they were safe.

  He picked out the scent of faded smoke and made a ninety-degree turn. Sydney questioned him, but he couldn’t reply so she just had to follow him. He hoped she wouldn’t hate him for this trickery. He knew that finding Theo and Becca was a high priority, stopping the shadow masked figures was all she could think about, but she could do nothing if she died in the harsh mountain winds.

  After a few moments and a bit of treacherous ground between a pair of cliffs, Jax found the source of the smoke smell. Ahead of them was a small hunting cabin. It sat low to the ground with a stubby chimney rising above the roof. The smell of humans and gunpowder was faint as if no one had been there for months. Slightly stronger was the smell of coffee and… paper? Jax figured that was right. Hunting seasons had passed, letting animals repopulate during the spring months.

  “Are you sure this is right?” Sydney’s hand reached for the gun at her hip as her back bent forward. The crouch was professional and defensive, already on alert for the shadow masked figures.

  If he’d been human, he would have sighed. He was going to have to change soon anyway, but first he ran ahead on his long legs to scout the hunting cabin. Ears straining to hear the presence of life, Jax made a circle around the cabin. He smelled nothing and only heard the rustle of a family of mice in the walls.

  He didn’t know what kind of condition the interior of the cabin was like, but they would have to deal with it. While Sydney clutched her gun in both hands, the wind continued to assault her face. It whipped and tore at the vest around her chest, at the thin sleeves of her shirt.

  The wolf refused to let her put herself in danger any longer. If she wouldn’t take care of herself, he would do it for her. As much as he admired her drive, he needed her to stay alive. He needed it like he needed the air itself. The feeling hit him hard and strong, making his feet stagger beneath him.

  He needed her.

  But, he didn’t deserve her.

  Behind the cabin, Jax took a moment to peel the wolf back. It gave in, knowing a human mouth was better for communication with humans. As it gave in and fell back, it told him to reprimand their woman for her foolish behavior. Jax swallowed the words.

  She wasn’t their woman.

  The wolf snorted and called him a foolish man. Jax never wanted to glare at the creature more, never felt so bereft knowing he could never do such a thing.

  “Hey,” Jax called as he rounded the corner of the building. He did his best to hide his cock form her this time, but it was damned difficult as he jogged. “I found a place for us to stay for the night.”

  Sydney’s face hardened. Her lips puckered in defiance, eyes trying to kill him from a distance. Tucking her gun back in its holster, she jerked the bag off her back and chucked it at him. It hit his chest with more force than he expected. He shrugged it off. She would be safe, and that was all that mattered. She could live with being
mad at him for a short while.

  Sydney twisted the doorknob to show that it was locked. “How the hell are we supposed to get inside. It’s not like I have a key to every house as a cop.”

  Jax entered her space, still naked, and reached past her to twist the handle. The mechanism snapped in his hand, and the door swung open. Sydney glared at the damage he caused.

  “This is breaking and entering,” she reminded him even as she stepped over the threshold and out of the wind.

  “And your safety means more to me than borrowing someone’s empty cabin for a night.” He followed her inside, pulling a shirt over his head.

  “What if someone finds us here? It’s not like the kidnappers are dumb. They found me in town. I’m sure they can find us here.”

  Jax fought back the urge to roll his eyes and grabbed the gun safe leaning against the opposite wall. The metal lining made it heavy and the perfect object to block the door with.

  “Feel better?”

  Her shoulders sunk. All the fight was taken out of her. Exhaustion slammed into her the moment she stopped moving. There was no energy left to fight with him, as much as she might have wanted to. Jax saw her sway on his feet and jumped forward to catch her before she fell. He held her close to his chest and watched her eyes start to drift shut.

  She frowned. “What if we’re too late? What if we can’t help them?”

  “Shhh,” he whispered. He had to believe the other two would hold on.

  He moved to place her on the narrow bed, peeling her constricting jacket away from her shoulders so that he could tuck her beneath the heavy quilt. Once she was wrapped in the blanket, her hands folded beneath her cheek, he staggered back and fell into a wooden chair. Behind him was a simple desk with a typewriter and a dirty coffee cup.

  It seemed the cabin had last been used by a writer, not a hunter. He smiled and ran his fingers along the keys. Pausing, he lifted his nose to the air. He did not smell any shifters or the scent he’d been following from Trisha’s clothing.