Page 50 of Mitchell's Untamed Mate

He had also insisted that he was alone.Stout said he lost the keys to the SUV while out in the woods.Van said Stout had a few misdemeanor arrests for assault and theft, but after the shifter demanded to speak to a lawyer, the SBSI had released him.The importance of hiding the identity of his victim combined with the opportunity to learn more about his involvement by observing him after his release made this the best course of action.

The question was: who was behind this?Could it just be a group of random shifters searching for humans to traffic?She didn’t think so.Van said Stout had been unemployed for the last six months, but he visited the pub nearly every night.Financial records showed Carter only had a few hundred dollars in the bank.That wouldn’t seem strange, except the balance hadn’t changed in the past year.There had been no deposits or withdrawals.Carter also lived in a relatively nice section of the city where the monthly rent averaged around three-grand-a-month.That didn’t jibe with a bank account with no money in it and no job.

She looked through the windshield when they pulled up to the ferry terminal.Van pulled in line behind the other cars and turned off the engine.Peterson stretched and groaned.

“We’ve got thirty minutes before the ferry arrives.I’m going to grab something to munch on and a drink.Do you guys want anything?”Peterson asked.

“I’ll take a hot chocolate and a bag of chips,” Tracy said.

“I’ll go with you.Mitchell, you want anything?”Van asked.

“I will take what Tracy is having, please,” Mitchell requested.

“You got it.”

Tracy watched as Van and Peterson walked across the parking lot to the convenience store.She pushed opened the door and slid out.Mitchell opened his door and exited the other side.

“I need to stretch my legs.Want to take a walk?”she asked.

He looked around at the row of vehicles.“Will it… be safe?”

Remorse filled her and she scanned the area.From a distance, it wasn’t likely anyone would recognize Mitchell as a human.Still, he was right.Maybe this wasn’t a smart move.

“I have an idea,” she said.

She reached in and grabbed Peterson’s jacket out of the back.She pushed it across the seat.Mitchell shot her a puzzled look before understanding dawned.He grabbed the dark blue puffy and slid it on.

“Pull up the hood,” she suggested.

He reached up and pulled the hood over his head.“Great idea.Keeps me dry and covers my own scent.”

She grinned, grabbed her jacket, and pulled it on.“I’ll have to test it out.”

She shut the door and walked around the vehicle.Sliding her arms around his waist, she leaned into him and sniffed.Her nose wrinkled.

“Yep, you stink,” she teased.

Mitchell chuckled and kissed the tip of her nose.“You better hope everyone else feels the same way.”

“Let’s take a walk while we can,” she suggested, threading her arm through his.

They walked over to the retaining wall.Tracy studied the water.Barnacles covered the concrete structure.The water was crystal clear, giving them a fish-tank view of the variety of marine life.Her lips curved at the awed expression on Mitchell’s face.

“First time you’ve ever seen something like this?”

“Yeah.I’ve seen the fish in the rivers and lakes, but nothing like this.There are so many.They are so colorful and different,” he agreed.

“If we’re lucky, we might see a pod of whales on our way across.There is a pod that lives specifically in the sound,” she said.

“A whale?”

“I’ll show you some videos.You’ll be sucked down a rabbit hole watching them.There is a guy who does nothing but create videos about this specific pod.He has a gazillion views on his ShiftTube channel,” she said.

He shook his head at her.“Your world is complicated.”

She laughed, hugging his arm.“Love me, feed me, hold me.That’s really that all that matters.Everything else is irrelevant.”

He stared out across the water.“I can do that.”

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