Page 12 of Alpha Hunt

“Which means someone’s been transporting them. And not willingly, either.” His deep voice is a rasping rumble. “No wolf would allow themselves to be caged up like cargo unless they had no choice. Something is going on here. And it’s not a one-time thing.”

I give a curt nod, my mind already whirring. Transporting wolves against their will? That’s beyond messed up. Whoever is behind this won’t get away with it, not on my watch.

“We need to get word to the others,” I say briskly, shoving aside my lingering irritation for the moment. As much as I hate to admit it, Edirn’s right – this is big. “Find out if they’ve uncovered anything similar on their end.”

Edirn is already pulling out his comms device, flicking switches with those long fingers of his. I determinedly look away, refusing to dwell on how those hands had felt when he tackled me earlier. All hard muscle and searing heat…

I give myself a mental shake as Edirn’s voice rumbles out a greeting.

Get it together, Stone.

This is no time to indulge in inappropriate thoughts. Whatever those thoughts might be. So what if I’d felt a strange surge of…something…when I landed on him? My breath had been knocked from me, that’s all.

Edirn is talking. “Tarkin. Any luck on your end?” There’s a pause as he listens. “We may have a lead,” he says. “You and Barrett double back to the rendezvous point. We’ll compare notes and figure out our next move from there.”

He ends the call, and those unsettling eyes find mine again. For an endless moment, we simply stare at each other in silence.

Then, I give a brisk nod. “Let’s get moving then. Time’s wasting.”

Without another word, I turn and start making my way back down the darkening road, trusting he’ll follow.

We don’t speak until we get to the point we’d left earlier. We’re met by Tarkin, who seems to have been waiting for a while. We’d made the five-mile trip at a steady lope, staying out of sight of cars on the road. I’d used the exertion to clear my mind. But I’m confused again at the sight of the tall shifter standing alone.

“Where’s Barrett?” Edirn asks the question that’s on my mind.

“He stayed behind,” he tells us. “Said he had a hunch about something.”

“And so you just left him?” I frown.

“He’s a big boy. He can take care of himself.” Tarkin shrugs.

“That’s not acceptable, Redburn,” I snap. “He could be in all sorts of danger right now. I—”

“Leave it, Stone,” Edirn interrupts. “The male knows what he’s doing.” He turns to Tarkin. “What did you find out?”

“Seems there’s a conservation group running an operation in the foothills nearby.”

“Operation?” Edirn tilts his head. I grind my teeth, pissed at how easily he shut me down, but I’m interested in what Tarkin has to say.

“Some sort of conservancy,” he tells us. “A wolf sanctuary.”

We’re all silent as that soaks in.

“That’s too much of a coincidence,” I mutter.

“We picked up a scent at a truck stop in town,” Edirn tells Tarkin, extending the swatch of fabric to him. “Someone’s moving wolves through here.”

Tarkin frowns as he inhales. “You’re thinking these are the Wildview wolves?”

Edirn shakes his head. “Can’t say. Seems odd that they’d still be on the move with them, though. The twins had been held for weeks when we found them, and that was months ago.”

“Wefound them. You, not so much,” I say under my breath.

“What was that?” Edirn looks at me. I’m pretty sure he knows exactly what I just said. In fact, when I meet his eye, there’s a glimmer of something there that feels like he knows a lot more about my thoughts than he lets on. No surprise there; it’s not like I hide them.

“We’d better get back,” I say, starting off down the trail we’d begun on. Edirn falls in behind me. If he’s annoyed, he doesn’t say anything. In fact, he seldom says anything. The man is a closed book. Which pisses me the hell off. If only he’d do or say something to give me a reason to stay mad at him. I don’t understand why he riles me so much. There’s just something…

“So what do you say, Stone?” Tarkin has been speaking to me, and I hadn’t noticed.

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