Page 8 of Stealing His Human

Feeling his eyes widen, Nedrick flipped his phone around so Kade and Rierdon could read Preall’s warning.

Kade scoffed as he shook his head.

Rierdon wrinkled his nose. “Yeah, I got that vibe off her.”

“Well, at least you’ll have plenty of backup if Jason and Michel and their crew are joining you.” Kade gripped Nedrick’s shoulder and squeezed lightly. “Keep me posted on how it’s going, okay? And I’ll give Alpha and Beta a heads up about the situation.”

“Yes, sir,” Nedrick replied automatically to the stronger wolf. “Thank you.”

Nedrick knew that Jason was Trina’s older brother and a very out and proud gay man. Michel was a wolf shifter only a couple of decades shy of four hundred years. He was big, grizzled, and didn’t take shit from anyone. If Karissa made the mistake of saying something homophobic to Jason, woman or not, Michel would put her in her place.

There were several other mated couples in their tight-knit circle of friends, so it would be interesting to see who turned up to hike. They were all fated pairs, and with a number of them, one look was all a person needed to peg them as gay. Any comments toward any of them wouldn’t be received well.

Not at all. This may be a train wreck in the making.

Kade nodded once before looking at Nedrick’sJeep, then at Rierdon. “And I’ll get Baker to go get your truck, Rierdon.” He slung his arm over the smaller shifter’s shoulders and began guiding him toward the shop. “Your shifts will be covered for the foreseeable future while we help you figure this out, Ned, so get out of here,” he called over his shoulder. Peering back at him, Kade winked. “And good luck.”

“Thanks.”

Needing no further encouragement, Nedrick hopped back behind the wheel of hisJeepand headed toward Lake Donita Flats trailhead.

Chapter Four

Spotting the sign for Lake Donita Flats trailhead, Brett barely held in his sigh of relief. He couldn’t help how uncomfortable Karissa’s continued possessiveness was plaguing him. He enjoyed a pair of boobs pressed against his side as well as the next man, but she was being ridiculous.

Somehow, Karissa had, during the drive, managed to lean across the gap between their front chairs and touch him...a lot. Considering his prick was not interested... at all... the contact was making him feel more than a little uneasy. She was a very pretty woman. He’d always thought so, but she was acting way over the top, in his opinion.

Once Brett had parked, he was more than happy to jump out of hisGMC. It allowed him to extricate himself from Karissa’s sudden clingy-vine-ness. He watched her hop out, too, and move around the front toward him, so he headed toward the back and popped the back hatch.

Brett noticed Tyler exiting from the backseat behind him, a smirk on his good-looking features. He could see the mirth in his best friend’s green eyes. His buddy was getting a kick out of Brett’s discomfort, which he knew his long-time friend was able to see in him.

Asshole.

Fortunately, Tyler exiting theEnvoymade Karissa detour a little, giving him a little extra time.

Just give me a few goddammed minutes without her trying to rub against me like a bitch-cat in heat.

By the time Karissa reached him, Brett had located her shoulder bag and picked it up. He did his best to smile as he held it out to her. “Here ya go, K.” After she’d taken it on instinct, Brett returned his attention to the other peoples’ supplies that had been tossed into his vehicle and began pulling things out. “Okay,” he muttered, doing his best to ignore Karissa’s hovering. “Who else needs what?”

To his relief, Brett really didn’t need an answer as Tyler slipped between him and Karissa and began grabbing his and Tabatha’s stuff from the back. He took a step backward, watching. Brett felt Karissa grab his arm again, having slipped between the other couple, and he just managed to keep from rolling his eyes.

As gently as he could, Brett extricated himself. “Gotta get my own bag,” he explained as he moved toward hisEnvoy.

Before more could be said, Brett heard the low rumbles of motorcycle engines. He’d thought about getting one once or twice, but there was no way that he could afford even a halfway-decent one without getting into debt. There really was no way to justify racking up that expense while he was a starving college student.

Brett turned his attention toward the other side of the parking lot and watched three bikes of varying styles and ages glide into the lot. Each had a pair of men on them. Pretty large men drove two of them with much smaller guys on the back. The third was driven by a huskily muscular-looking male with a slightly taller, slenderer guy behind him. All the machines, while older models, appeared to be in great shape.

Nice lookin’ grouping.

Almost as one, the bikers parked. The guys on the backs hopped off, and the men in front followed suit.

As Brett watched, the driver with the thick, gray-threaded beard removed his helmet, then his passenger’s, setting them on the motorcycle’s seat. He dropped to one knee before the small man who’d ridden behind him. He unbuckled the much younger guy’s chaps, then reached down and unzipped them halfway up his calves. Finally, with the smaller man’s hands on the large man’s shoulders, he helped him step out of them, revealing the shortest jean shorts Brett had ever seen on a man.

While the pair had an obvious age difference, they were clearlynota father-son pair. That became obvious when the bearded biker rested his hand on the other man’s calf. He skimmed his hand up the back of the guy’s knee... and thigh... only to palm the younger man’s pert derrière. It was even obvious from the flex of the biker’s thumb that he was giving it a squeeze.

Obviously not shy, the man laughed while grinning down at his... partner. His green eyes were filled with heat, and a second later, he bent and pecked a kiss to the bearded man’s lips. That drew a smile and softening of the big man’s hard features.

Brett thought it was actually kind of... unexpectedly sweet.

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