Page 11 of Alpha Hunt

Casey sprawls half on top of me, our faces mere inches apart. Her cheeks are flushed, lips parted, and I can feel the rapid rise and fall of her chest against mine. We stare at each other, transfixed. Her eyes are like jewels, and for a second, I lose myself in them. Everything fucking tightens within me as I feel a swirl of confusion in her that matches my own. Some primal part of me wants to haul her closer, to claim those lips with mine…

Her breath is on my face, and it’s sweet and warm as it catches. Then her eyes narrow suddenly. “You asshole!” she snaps, breaking the spell. She shoves off me hard, rolling away and springing to her feet. She sways for a second, and I can feel how unsettled she is by what just happened. She glares daggers at me as she dusts herself off. “I had everything under control back there. I don’t need you playing white knight.”

Without another word, she storms off, leaving me clambering to my feet, bewildered on the side of the road.

What the fuck just happened?

Chapter 5

Casey

I can’t believe the fucking nerve of that man!

I’m breathless as I march away in the direction we’d arrived in. The back of my neck tingles as I wait for him to catch up, but for some reason, he doesn’t. Maybe he’s giving me space.

Good thinking. Dickwad.

I wrap my arms around my waist as I walk. Not to protect myself but because I’m afraid of what I might do if my fists were freed. I want to hit something. Those guys were so close to telling me about something important. I’m sure of it.

There’s some sort of operation that goes on here. Something weird that they’ve noticed. And I never found out because that idiot dragged me away before I could probe deeper. Saving my ass? What bullshit! He was just pissed because he wasn’t the one taking all the glory for himself. That’s all it was. Coming in there and acting like some sort of superhero.

I could just spit!

I’m so hopping mad that I walk several loops around the rest stop to calm myself down before heading back to where the trucker had deposited us earlier. As I get there, a tall form peels away from a nearby wall.

“Don’t!” I raise a hand. “Don’t even speak to me!” I could cheerfully kill him. Instead, I frown as he holds something up and moves toward me. Some sort of peace offering? As he gets closer, I see it’s a torn scrap of clothing.

“What the fuck am I supposed to do with that?” I scowl.

“Sniff it.” He holds it out to me, inches from my face. I resist the urge to step back as I remember how my body had reacted when I fell on top of him earlier. I’m sure adrenaline and anger will do that. Make things seem tense and tingly.

But I do as he says, my nostrils flaring as I take in the mingled scents that are infused in the weave of the fabric. I stiffen, then sniff again.

“Wolf.” I stare at him.

He nods. “Here not long ago.”

“Fuck.” I look around as if I might see some sign of them around us.

“They’re gone. I found this in one of the truck bays back there.” He jerks his head in the direction of the yard we’d seen earlier. “Dan says they have liners come in often that need air-conditioning units regassed. Never asked what’s in the back, but he figures it’s dangerous because there are always warning signs slapped all over them.”

“Dan?” I ask.

“The guy we spoke to earlier at the yard.”

I remember the surly mechanic. He hadn’t seemed particularly chatty when we met him. “And he just told you this?”

“You’re not the only one with powers of persuasion.” A dark eyebrow quirks up. “Besides, I thought I should be productive while you took some time to…cool down.”

My jaw sets as he says that.

I resist the urge to snatch the scrap of fabric from Edirn’s hand. Instead, I force myself to examine it closely, nostrils flaring as I take in the scents woven into the material.

“I get she-wolf from it.” He’s watching me.

“You’re right,” I grudgingly admit. “That’s definitely a female wolf shifter.”

My eyes narrow as I look up at him, taking in the sharp angles of his face, the intensity in those deep blue eyes. For once, his expression isn’t that infuriatingly calm mask he usually wears.

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