Page 21 of Wed Or Dead

She had to hate the shifters as much as he did. They were all monsters. They destroyed everyone and everything they touched.

And she’d married one of those freaks?

He’d thought it was just cover. Just her following orders. Until he’d seen the way she touched the guy back at that cabin. When the wolf had fallen, she’d rushed to his side. Her fingers had trembled. There’d been fear in her voice.

Then when she’d looked at Jonah, he’d seen the anger in her eyes. His big sis had been furious at him for taking down her wolf.

“Great job,” one of the other hunters praised as he slapped Jonah on his back. “Another pelt for you.”

Jonah didn’t respond. Did the hunter even realize that Jonah’s sister was in that cage on the screen? Lyle was walking toward her now. The boss had better get her out of there. Sure, Kayla had made the wrong choice, but Jonah wasn’t gonna let her be caged.

I shouldn’t have shot her.

His stomach twisted and bile rose in his throat as he remembered that desperate moment. The others on his team had all been convinced that Kayla had turned traitor. He hadn’t believed it, not until he’d seen the truth with his own eyes.

Bring her in or take her out.

Those had been his orders, and he sure hadn’t planned to let the trigger-happy hunters with him get a shot at her. Max and Bryan tended to shoot first and celebrate immediately. Of course, right then, they weren’t celebrating anything.

They were being stitched back together, courtesy of Kayla’s wolf and his killer claws.

“Sorry about your sister,” the hunter next to him said. Travis. One of the new guys that Lyle had brought in recently. So hedidrealize that Kayla was the one being held like an animal.

Only she’s not.

“The boss will clear this up,” Jonah said. Lyle had to fix this mess. Kayla was the one thing that mattered to Jonah, and he wouldn’t watch as?—

Lyle wasn’t heading toward the cage. He walked right up to the video camera. Smiled into the lens. Then Jonah heard the boss say, “I got this,” right before the lead hunter reached up and yanked out the video and audio surveillance system.

The screen before Jonah immediately went blank. What the hell? This wasn’t protocol. All interrogations were to be monitored. Those were orders that came straight down from the federal government.Allof them had to be recorded.

Jonah spun on his heel, but Travis grabbed him and pulled him back. “Sorry, man,” Travis said, with a shake of his blond head. “But I’ve got orders—and you’re not leaving this room.”

The door opened. Two more hunters entered the surveillance area.

“When family’s involved, hell, it’s just a bitch.” Travis exhaled as he shook his head again. “You just sit tight, and this will all be over soon.”

The hell it would.

“What are you doing, Lyle?”Kayla demanded, grabbing at the bars with white-knuckled fists. “That camera is always supposed to stay on!”

Gage realized that his little hunter sounded furious.

She didn’t realize what was happening.

Gage stood in the middle of the cage—he hated cages—and watched silently as the one she’d called Lyle turned to face them. What the bastard was doing was pretty obvious.

He was making sure he didn’t have an audience for this little party. And Gage knew exactlywhy.

Laughter pulled from him. Deep. Mocking. Did the hunters even realize what was happening?

Lyle smiled, flashing white and very sharp teeth.

“You know, for a hunter,” Gage kept his voice bland, “you sure as shit smell like a shifter.” Because there was no mistaking that scent. Wild. Woodsy.Animal.

It was a little bonus that Mother Nature had given the supernaturals. They could always recognize their own kind. Demons could always see right through the glamour and find their brethren. Witches could feel the pull of magic exerted by others like them.

As for shifters? One smell was all it took to recognize another animal.

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