Page 1 of Cold Foot Croc

Chapter One

Garret Hoffman slammed on his brakes and slid to a stop on the ice, barely missing the pedestrian in front of him.

“Hey!” the thirty-something bearded man yelled, slapping the front of Garret’s truck. “Watch where you’re going!”

A low snarl rattled up his throat and his inner bear whispered,Kill him.

Garret shook his head hard. “Stop,” he gritted out, staring at his steering wheel so he wouldn’t see the anger in the man’s eyes and get set off. He held that steering wheel in a stranglehold.

It was his fault, the animal inside of him reasoned.He was the one who ran out of the store and expected everyone to just know he’s going to bolt across the parking lot. He isn’t the center of the universe. Teach him a lesson. Kill him.

Garret held his breath and closed his eyes.

Honk!

He startled and glared at the rearview mirror. Some lady in a car was behind him. She laid on the horn again, but what the hell did she want him to do? Two more people were using the crosswalk in front of the general store now.

Honk!

“Stop!” he roared at her. Oh hell, when had he even opened his door? His hands had been gripping the steering wheel one second, and the next he was hanging out of his open door, glaring at the woman.

“Move!” she screamed. Good gah, she had no survival instincts at all.

“There are people crossing!” he yelled, getting out. “What the fuck do you want me to do?”

“Hit them! They’ll learn to cross faster. I’m in a hurry.”

Forcing himself to get back into his truck, he gritted out, “I hate everyone,” and he meant it. Since the day the monster had been put inside of him, he didn’t feel the same about people.

Now, he paid too much attention. He had to. The hypervigilance was one of the worst parts of being a shifter. He noticed every dirty look, the grit in everyone’s voice…the general unhappiness that hovered over the population like a cloud.

He wanted to yank that woman out of her car, toss the vehicle across the parking lot, and teachhera damn lesson. He probably could, too. Garret was scary-strong now.

Walkway clear, he pushed the accelerator down, but then slammed to a stop as a woman strode out from behind a car and headed into the store. He wasn’t angry this time though. He recognized her.

Raynah of the Cold Foot Crew.

She looked up at him with a distracted expression, gave this cute little smile, and then offered a little wave. Her lips formed the words “Thank you,” as she waddled toward the entrance of Murdoch’s, her cute pregnant belly leading the way.

The woman behind him honked again, but before he lost it, Raynah laughed cooly and lifted her middle finger—not to him, but to the woman behind him.

The laugh that escaped him shocked him. He didn’t laugh as much now.

She made her way inside, and for a second Garret sat there, his heart beating a little faster.

It was the smile, and the wave, and the “thank you” that lightened his mood.

Garret pulled his truck down a row of parking spots and backed in quickly.

Had she recognized him? He hadn’t seen her since the night he’d died.

He’d gone to war with a crazy Komodo dragon in an effort to protect his neighbor, Sasha, and her Crewmate, Raynah. Raynah was a shifter, but couldn’t Change on account of that gorgeous swell of her belly. That’s what he’d learned in a hurry that night. She couldn’t help her friend, and he’d died stepping in.

Garret had died, and Wreck Itall—the only living phoenix shifter and the Alpha of the Cold Foot Crew—had brought him back to life.

Not that he’d felt particularly thankful for that last part. The two weeks that followed Wreck’s green-flame, life-saving superpowers, Garret had been barely able to eat, or sleep, or be in the light. His body and head had hurt so badly. Even now, just remembering that time, an acute pain built behind his eyes. As long as he lived, he didn’t want to cross to the phoenix’s bad side. Garret had thought his Maker was a monster, but Wreck was something else entirely.

That night though…he did remember the moments before he had died. He remembered how fierce and fearless Raynah had been, hand cupped protectively over her belly, giving him orders on how to save Sasha, forming a plan in an instant. No hesitation. She’d led a very-human Sasha into those woods knowing she might not be able to save either of them from that Komodo dragon’s wrath, but she was going to try.

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