Page 85 of It All Started with a Bite

I spotted Priscilla sitting in a booth past her shoulder. The werewolf matriarch’s face displayed surprise before she schooled her features into a neutral expression.

Bo stepped closer to me. “What are they doing here?”

Helen heard him. Her mouth pressed to a thin line. “I could say the same about you two. Aren’t you supposed to be working?”

I frowned. “Last time I checked, I didn’t need the Council’s permission to buy a coffee.”

Helen bristled. “How impertinent!” She crossed her arms and scowled. “Then again, I guess I shouldn’t expect anything better from the Hawthorne luna.”

My hackles rose at her contemptuous tone.

The noise level in the coffee shop dropped as we became the focus of attention.

Priscilla had risen from their booth and was approaching. “Helen, lower your voice. This is not the place to be discussing—” She froze, her gaze locking on something behind me. Confusion flared in her eyes.

A scent I had never smelled before danced across my nostrils. Bo’s ears flattened.

I whirled around, my inner wolf on alert.

The blonde I’d followed into the coffee shop had put her phone away and was staring at us over her shoulder.

“Holy Moly!” Bo mumbled.

The woman’s features literally changed as we watched. Her height, build, even her clothes rippled and morphed into an entirely different figure. One I recognized instantly.

It was Clayton Wheeler.

27

Run, Wolf, Run!

He movedbefore I could react and vaulted over the counter. The baristas cried out in alarm as he pushed past them and made a run for the kitchen.

Instinct kicked in. I bolted after him and cleared the counter in a single jump.

Thank God the dress code for surveillance was civilian clothes instead of a suit.

Bo scooted under the serving bar and followed me. By the time we burst out into the alleyway behind the coffee shop, Wheeler was nowhere in sight.

“He went that way!” Bo turned left.

My inner wolf caught the mimic’s scent as I started after my dog.

I overtook Bo, half-skidded around a corner, and caught a glimpse of our suspect as he disappeared over a wall. I yanked my cell out of my pocket and dialed Didi’s number as I picked up speed again.

She answered on the first ring. “What’s up? You short on cash? Didn’t Janet give you a business?—”

“The blonde who came out of the apartment building was Wheeler!” I barked. “I’m chasing after him! Head north! Bo will catch up and guide you!”

I reached the wall Wheeler had climbed, crouched, and leapt.

I was on top of it in the blink of an eye.

“Find Didi and Gavin!” I told Bo as he slid to a halt beneath me.

He backed away and fidgeted and whined uncertainly before taking off toward the main road.

I dropped down into a narrow lane that backed onto several businesses and emerged onto a side street one block over. I stopped and looked around wildly, the noise of the traffic rumbling past and the smells around me blinding my senses for a moment.

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