Page 20 of Bear Facts

He heard no pursuit by the time he thankfully caught sight of his pickup, the roof gleaming in a chance beam of sunlight. Shane slowed to catch his breath, but Freya didn’t try to break away from him.

Waiting for the right moment, Shane concluded.

Around them the woods were quiet, except for the rushing noise of Shane crashing through the underbrush around the pickup.

Freya said nothing when Shane finally set her on her feet on the passenger side of the truck. He shrank down to human form, his ragged clothes settling on his body.

Second set of clothes screwed today. Shane would have to start keeping a spare wardrobe in his back seat.

He leaned both hands heavily on the truck around Freya. Hemmed in by his body, Freya glowered up at him, more anger than fear in her eyes.

“If you want to run back to them, I probably can’t stop you,” Shane said in the harsh timbre of his bear-beast. “Take my advice, though, babe. Ditch them.”

“I was going to.” Freya jammed her arms across her chest, which formed a nice cleavage in her sweatshirt’s neckline. “I was going to tell her to let you go, and then I’d walk away too.”

“Yeah?” Shane dragged in a long breath, battling lethargy from the tranq. “What makes you think Althea would have said, Sure, no problem. See ya? She might now be ordering her crew to get rid of both our bodies.”

“It was worth a shot,” Freya said in irritation, but her eyes flicked from his evasively. She was telling the truth, but not entirely. “If she threatened me, I planned to take off. Her human goons can’t outrun a wolf.”

“Her Feline Shifter can.”

Freya shrugged. “I figured that if Ewan went after me, you’d take him down. If he went after you, then I’d have a chance to get away.”

Shane studied her to see if she was joking. Maybe she was. Or not.

“Good strategic thinking,” Shane said. “No wonder Althea wanted you. Who the hell is she?”

Freya met his gaze again. “I admit, I don’t know much. I found a card for her security firm and made this appointment with her.”

“Huh. I’d like to hear all about it.”

“I can’t tell you much more than that.”

Hmm, back to lies. Or at least not the full truth.

They regarded each other, Freya’s mouth a tight line. Shane tried to ease his breathing but didn’t want to calm down too much. His adrenaline was helping him fight the tranq, so he needed to keep it high.

“This isn’t the place to discuss it.” Shane dug out his keys, which luckily were still in his ripped-up pocket, and unlocked the truck. He could hot-wire the pickup if he had to, but replacing keys was a bitch. He swung open the passenger door. “Offer you a ride?”

Freya eyed him warily. “Where to?”

“Anywhere you want.” Shane held the door as though they were on a date. “Promise.”

Freya hesitated a long moment. Shane saw her weighing the pros and cons of taking his offer of transportation, her body heat increasing as she debated.

He liked her scent—lemons and a hint of ginger. So much better than those of the male Lupines he’d had to deal with today.

“All right.” Freya, to his surprise, slid quickly into the pickup. She yanked the door from his hand to slam it shut.

Shane wasted no time in getting himself around the truck and plunking into the driver’s seat, where he shifted all the way to human again. The rearview mirror showed that he looked awful, his face sweaty and dirt-streaked, with shreds of what used to be a black sweatshirt clinging to his arms.

“I say we get off the mountain,” Shane said as he started the engine and pulled carefully across the slushy ground. “I know a lot of people in Vegas. Any one of them can help you.”

“I can go my own way.” Freya drew up one leg and folded her arms around it, studying the trees as Shane bumped the truck back to the road.

“Accepting help doesn’t mean you’re weak,” Shane told her.

She skewered him with glittering eyes. “You sound like a motivational app.”

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