Page 18 of Coral Rustling

Ulkna definitely hadn’t been kidding about his horsemanship abilities.His mate moved with him with ease.Reagan did as well, but Ulkna had taken his nephew on rides plenty of times, and he was familiar with the man’s movements.

Trey didn’t even bother waiting for Reagan’s signal and began trotting, taking them back the way he and Ulkna had so recently come.

Once they were a distance into the trees, Reagan asked, “You wanna tell me what the hell is going on, Ulkna?”

As Trey jogged through the woods, Ulkna explained the little bit they knew.Once back near their campsite, he slowed to a walk.The sound of several guys chatting could be heard through the trees.

“Why am I up this early?”Payson whined, sounding grumpy as hell.“I wanted morning sex with Land.”

“I need you to track Ulkna and Trey,” Sam responded, sounding a little exasperated, as if he’d already explained once.“We need to know—”

“No tracking necessary,” Payson grumbled, cutting in.“They’re right—” His words were cut off by the distinctive sound of a yawn.

When Trey entered the small clearing, which still contained their tent, he watched as a grumpy-looking Payson lowered his hand from his mouth, having obviously finished yawning.

Trey would have laughed had he been in human form.

“Ulkna,” Sam rumbled, striding toward where Trey stopped.“I received a call from Alpha Kontra.He says Vail and Draven overheard chatter on the police band about a cop being dispatched to the trail guide business.”The man’s frown caused Sam’s scarred cheek to twist oddly as he asked, “What the hell is going on?”

“Stolen horses,” Ulkna revealed, slipping from Trey’s back to land on his feet.“Not this one,” he added, snickering as he patted Trey’s flank.“Any of the guys hear a commotion last night?”

“Let’s go ask.”Sam glanced at Trey and ordered, “Shift and come,” before pivoting and heading toward the trees.

As soon as Reagan slipped from his back, Trey began to shift.He’d just finished changing form when a pair of sweatpants were being dangled in front of his face.Lifting his gaze, Trey found Ulkna standing before him, holding them, and the other three men were heading away from them.

Grinning, Trey swiped the sweats from Ulkna’s fingers.“Thanks.”He quickly yanked them on before pecking a kiss to his thoughtful mate’s lips.

Ulkna winked as he grabbed Trey’s hand and threaded their fingers together.“Wasn’t totally altruistic,” he admitted as he led the way after the others.“Didn’t want to share the view any more than necessary.”

“I get it.”Trey squeezed Ulkna’s hand in understanding.“You’re a coral snake, so not real big, right?”Seeing his mate nod, he smirked and told him, “I guess I got lucky then.”

Arching a brow, Ulkna asked, “How do you mean?”

Trey grinned at his clearly confused mate.“Well, I’ll only have to worry about your nudity when you shift back to human form.”Raking his lover with a lascivious gaze, he pointed out, “You can shift while clothed and slither out.”

To Trey’s pleasure, Ulkna barked a laugh as he nodded.“True enough.”

Reaching the secluded area where the rest of the group had camped for the night, Trey peered around at the men milling about.Some were tending fires, while others prepared food and drink.A few more were taking down their tents and cleaning up their supplies.

All in all, the group appeared to be keeping everything tidy.

Trey bet that when they were done, there would be little to no trace of them having been there.

Huh.A conscientious shifter gang.

Sam was already calling attention to himself, sharing about the missing horses.Everyone exchanged glances even as they continued with their tasks when Sam asked if anyone had heard anything during the night.After a minute, Ryan rose from near a fire, holding a...teapot.

“Uh, yeah, actually,” Ryan claimed, his dark brows furrowing.“I did.Around about three-fifteen this morning.”

Looking concerned, Sam asked, “Having trouble sleeping?”

“Not due to dreams, handsome,” Ryan replied with a warm smile, obviously catching on to Sam’s concern.Then he shrugged, his expression turning wry.“Just had to piss.”

Clearly relieved, Sam headed to his human mate and slipped his arm around his waist.“Okay.What did you hear, babe?”

Ryan blew out a quiet breath, narrowing his eyes as he stared at the teapot.“Well...there was a bit of thumping and some snuffling of animals,” he began.He absently thanked Yuma, who handed him a metal mug.As Ryan poured the tea into the cup, he added, “Then I heard what sounded like a couple of different voices on the wind, followed by the sound of a diesel engine.”Handing off the teapot to Lamar, Ryan used his cup to point east.“The noise came from that direction.”

Sam nodded.“Okay.”He pecked a kiss to Ryan’s temple as his human took a tentative sip of his drink.Then he glanced around the group.“Payson and Ryan, you’re with me.”Sam pointed in Trey’s direction.“You three, come with us.Let’s see what we can find.”As everyone began to move, the beta scoffed and rolled his eyes.“Yes, Reuben, as long as Lamar doesn’t mind, you can come, too.”

---