Page 26 of Hollow Moon

“And how did you get hit?”

“You probably figured out this is a drug lab. I was stupid enough to try and get some pictures.”

“Not stupid,” Cole said.

“I . . .”

Jonah stopped him. “Let’s not argue about it.”

“Maggie’s the woman who got frog-marched into the house?” Cole asked.

“Yes. The gang here was trying a drug experiment on me, but I got away. She found me in the woods after I escaped.”

The others also dressed and stood in a circle facing each other.

“Thanks for coming,” Knox said. “I thought I was on my own.”

“Did you try to send me a distress call?” Jonah asked.

He scuffed his foot against the ground. “Yeah, I tried.”

“I picked up something. I couldn’t bring it in clearly.”

“Sorry,” Knox muttered.

“It’s never a sure thing. Cole was the one who decided you were in trouble.”

“When you didn’t call in, we checked your phone and found it was disabled,” his cousin said.

“Yeah, one of the bastards crushed it. He was too dumb to get any information from it first. Of course, I was stupid, too—letting him get the drop on me.”

“Probably the stuff in the air affected your judgment. I’m having trouble thinking straight myself.”

Knox nodded, glad Cole was giving him an out. He launched into a quick account of the past few days—his finding the lab, getting caught, getting drugged, his escape, and being found by Maggie.

“The would-be drug kingpin is Maggie’s brother?” Zack asked.

“Yeah. But I don’t think she’s involved.”

The four other Decorah agents studied him. “Because you don’t want to,” Brand suggested.

He rounded on his cousin. “Because I got to know her,” he answered, punching out the words, his hands clenched as he dared Brand or any of the others to dispute him.

The three other wolves all took a step back, and he realized they were giving him space—in the way of their species. In the natural order of things, werewolves didn’t usually work together. Each guy was the alpha male of his own pack—even if it was a pack of one—until he bonded with a lifemate and raised a family. But at Decorah, they’d learned the advantages of not clawing each other apart over minor disputes.

Knox sighed. He knew the other three wolves had all found their lifemates while nosing around dangerous situations. Probably they understood that he and Maggie hadn’t been playing patty-cake out in the woods. Probably Jonah did too, because he’d connected with his now wife under very trying conditions.

“Okay, we’re involved.” He didn’t say he’d probably bonded with Maggie. Because he was afraid it wasn’t true? Or the opposite?

“And if she was working with these guys, would they have been marching her to the house at gunpoint.”

The others nodded, not pushing the explanation.

“We need to get busy,” Brand said. “It looks like we have a couple of jobs. Shut down the drug operation and rescue the woman.”

“And call in the DEA?” Jonah asked.

“Maybe just turn them over to the local cops and letthemhandle the feds.”

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