Page 27 of Mitchell's Untamed Mate

“No, ma’am.I’m Agent Darlene Southpaw.I’d like to ask you a few questions, if you don’t mind.”

Tracy leaned to the side and looked at the men and women surrounding the vehicles.She had a few questions of her own that she would like answered.Her heart skipped a beat when she noticed a group of wolf-shifters in their wolf forms sniffing the vehicles.

“What’s going on?”she demanded, her voice sharper than she intended.

Agent Southpaw glanced over her shoulder before returning her attention to Tracy.The woman sniffed, and Tracy took a step backward.Gripping the straps of her pack, she focused on her own scent, trying to determine if Mitchell’s scent was noticeable above her own and the citronella spray.

“Nothing to concern yourself with.A couple of abandoned vehicles.Have you seen anyone else out here?”

Tracy shook her head.“No.Do you know who the vehicles belong to?”

“They were reported stolen.The truck belonged to a wolverine rancher,” Agent Southpaw said.

Tracy looked at the truck again.“I bet he’ll be happy to get his truck back.”

“He would have… if he hadn’t been murdered.His name was Clevis Shackle.Does the name ring a bell with you?”

Tracy frowned and shook her head.“I don’t recognize it.”

Agent Southpaw tilted her head.“It would appear he had a run-in with your brother.”

“Ty?Ty doesn’t have a run-in with anyone unless they are messing around on protected land.Even then, the worst thing he would do is fine them.Are you suggesting that my brother killed Mr.Shackle?”Tracy asked.

“Not at all.May I ask what you are doing here?”

Tracy raised her eyebrow.“What does it look like I’ve been doing?”

Agent Southpaw’s eyes narrowed at her sarcastic retort.“Have you seen anyone else?”

“Nope.You already asked me that once and the answer is the same as it was the first time I responded,” she replied before she nodded toward the group.She frowned when she noticed the wolf-shifters were gone.Sweat broke out between her shoulder blades.“Do you think whoever abandoned the vehicles might still be around?”

“It’s possible.How long have you been out?”

“Five, maybe six days.I work for the Observatory,” she replied.

Agent Southpaw nodded.“In the anthropology and archeology department studying humans.”

Her lips tightened.“The history of humans and their extinction,” she corrected.

“Yet they aren’t extinct—or so I’ve heard.”

Tracy was on the verge of replying when Agent Southpaw’s cellphone started buzzing.Her concern grew as she watched the agent walk a few feet away before finally responding.She quickly shifted her eyes towards the two vehicles being loaded onto a flatbed.Thus far, the sole piece of information she had gathered was that the wolverine rancher Ty had conversed with a couple of months prior was dead.

She fought against the temptation to glance back the way she came.Instead, she strained to hear what Agent Southpaw was saying.Her alarm spiked when the agent glanced at her with an intense expression before she partially turned.

“I’m sending a team down now.”

“What’s going on?Did you find the shifters you were looking for?”Tracy demanded when the agent lifted her hand and signaled to a group of agents near a large black van.

Agent Southpaw tilted her head.“Not yet, but I will.”

Tracy jumped to the side when the van revved up and sped past her—heading in the direction she had come.She started to follow only to stop when a firm hand grasped her upper arm.She turned on the agent with a low growl of warning.

“Let me go,” she snarled.

Agent Southpaw released her arm.Tracy unfastened the straps holding her backpack on and dropped it to the ground.She was already in motion before it hit.Terror built inside her.Unable to control her bear, she shifted in a flurry of shredded clothing.

In her bear form, she shot forward.Her claws dug into the road, sending a dust cloud of dirt and gravel behind her.She released a loud roar of warning, hoping that Mitchell would hear her and know there was danger.

---