Page 16 of Hunted

“She’s still getting used to being in a pack,” he says.

I nod.

We all know what it is to be a lone wolf. Joining a pack after being on her own is going to take time for her to get used to.

Chris lifts his bottle to his mouth and says, as if it’s an afterthought, “And she knows Penny is dying to speak to her. Penny hasquestions.”

We all grin.

“More like Penny wants to find out everything there is to know about her and then some,” Colton grumbles. “I had to remind Penny that Zoe might not appreciate having her life story dragged out of her.”

“And how did that go?” Chris asks.

“How do you think?” he asks.

To Penny, talking things through helps her feel better, but not everyone heals the same way.

More laughter drifts from the house behind us, signs the girls are having fun. Conversation too, though it’s too quiet to hear what they’re saying.

“Do you think we should go back?” Warren suggests.

“I don’t think Penny would ap—” My nose twitches.

My wolf is instantly alert, and from the way Colton, Warren, Bennett, and Chris abandon their beers to rise to their feet with their heads angled into the forest, I’m not the only one troubled.

My home comes with a couple acres of the forest I’ve left mostly untouched. It’s private property, so I should not be hearing the unmistakable sound of someone trampling this way.

“Bennett, you’re with me. Colton too. Warren and Chris, watch the house,” I say.

“Should I wait in the house with the girls?” Chris asks, abandoning his beer, like the rest of us. We’ll deal with the trash later, after I’ve found out why someone is on my property.

I listen to Aerin’s laugh drift from the house and shake my head. “I don’t want to worry Aerin if it’s nothing. Stay close, but leave them to enjoy their evening.”

Trouble rarely finds its way to a quiet town where humans come to retire, but after the vague warnings I’ve been getting from my dad and Ivy, I’m more on edge than I ordinarily would be.

The footsteps have stopped now, and although I strain to hear more, I can’t tell if whoever was there has gone back the way they came.

“I’ll keep an eye on the front of the house,” Warren says, already walking away.

Good. Between the two of them, Aerin and the others will be safe.

I shrug out of my shirt, toe off my sneakers, and step out of my pants. Then I drop into a crouch, and I reach for my wolf. Behind me, Bennett’s clothes rustle as they hit the soft earth. Colton is on my right side, and Bennett is on my left as we sprint into the forest.

Someone has entered my territory, and they could be a threat to Aerin and the baby.

We follow tracks that ventured onto my property for a few feet and then retreated. They didn’t come too close to the house, but that someone approached at all, and a stranger no less, is something I’m not comfortable with.

The scent is of a regular human, which is a relief.

Stopping under one of the tall oak trees that border the road that goes to town, we shift to our human form and approach the scuffed earth.

I frown as I study them. They could be boot marks. Flat. A man from the scent I’m picking up. But who? And why? “Do you think they realized they were on private property?”

Bennett drops into a crouch, bending his head to study the scratches near the base of a tree. “Or they heard us talking and realized there was no sneaking into the house. I imagine most people are asleep this late in Winter Lake.”

“I could follow those tire marks,” Colton offers.

He doesn’t move from the tree shade. None of us do. It’s late. Most residents of this town are sleeping, but no one needs to see three naked men wandering around the forest. A sight like that would soon lead to some pretty awkward questions about us.

---