Page 25 of Coral Rustling

Instead of doing as ordered, Mark lifted his weapon as if to search out Ryan.

He didn’t get the chance.

Rueben lunged from around the opposite side of the tent and tackled Mark.In a swift move, he disarmed the man, laid him out on his stomach, and rested a knee on his spine to hold him in place.With his own gun in hand, Rueben pointed it at Perry...who slowly lifted his hands in surrender.

“I got’em,” Rueben claimed.“Come on down, Ryan.”Without taking his gaze off of the thieves, he hollered, “You good, Hunter?”

“Yup,” Hunter replied, patting Trey’s neck as he grinned.“Good timing, man.”

A smirk curved the redhead’s lips.“’Course.”

Epilogue

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As Mark whined abouthis snake bite, Hunter discreetly tossed Ulkna’s clothes behind a rocky outcropping.Ulkna shifted as swiftly as possible, and he rested on his back in the dirt and panted quietly, catching his breath.When he heard Mark moan about suing them, he rolled his eyes and grabbed his jeans.

Once dressed, Ulkna made his way out of hiding and took in the scene as he crossed to the backpack Rueben had left where they’d been hiding earlier.He noticed Perry sitting in the dirt, his hands tied behind his back.Mark rested with his hands tied in front of him and his leg elevated on a nearby rock.

“Come on, guys,” Mark cried.“One of you needs to suck out the poison.”

Curling his lip, Ulkna shook his head as he pulled out a bottle of water before slinging the backpack over his shoulder.He took a big mouthful of the slightly warm fluid, swished it around, then spit it back out again.He did that twice more, getting rid of the foul taste of Mark’s flesh.

Yuck.I hate having to bite people.

Still, Ulkna knew it had been the easiest way to distract the gunman, giving his fellow shifters time to subdue him.

And it worked.

After taking a deep drink, Ulkna returned to Trey and Hunter’s side.“You guys okay?”he asked quietly, offering the bottle of water to Hunter.

“We’re all okay.”Hunter smiled and shook his head.“I’m good for now, thanks.”Lowering his voice, he murmured, “Quick thinking.Totally forgot you could do that.”

Ulkna winked.“Happy to help.”

“Do you have a signal jammer stopping calls, or is this really a dead zone?”Ryan asked from where he stood over Mark, his arms crossed over his chest.When the wrangler’s expression turned mutinous, Ryan stated, “I can’t call my doc friend to get you antivenom if my phone doesn’t work.”

That did the trick.

Mark told Ryan about the jammer in the tent, and the beta’s mate headed into it.A moment later, Ulkna heard Ryan on his phone with Alpha Kontra.Trey noted the words Doc Eli and antivenom and tuned out the rest of the conversation.

Wrapping his arm over Trey’s withers, Ulkna sighed deeply.He really wished his mate could shift, allowing him to hold him.Unfortunately, since the thieves had seen him in horse form, he knew he would have to wait to fulfill his desire.

Ryan’s next call was to Sam, letting him know what had happened.

Fortunately, they didn’t have long to wait until the police arrived.Reuben had gone and talked with Barny, explaining what had happened, so the old guard wasn’t surprised by their arrival.The cops quickly took control of the situation, the thieves were read their rights and taken to the patrol cars, and statements were being asked for.

Ulkna helped remove the crates from the horses’ pack rigs and carried them back into the tent.

“Hi, I’m Detective Reyes,” a man greeted him, holding out his hand.“If you’ll follow me out of the tent, I’d like to talk to you about what happened.”

Taking the detective’s hand, Ulkna realized he smelled the distinct scent of feline shifter.“Of course.”

After releasing Ulkna, Detective Reyes escorted him out of the tent and to Trey’s side.The slender, five-foot-ten male smirked as he glanced between them.He even shoved his hands into his pockets.

“So,” Detective Reyes began, glancing between them.“Should I just write up something similar to what Ryan, Rueben, and Hunter told me?”With a grin, he continued softly, “Reuben and Hunter wanted to check out the excavation.You, Ryan, and your friend”—the detective glanced pointedly at Trey—“tagged along to keep them out of trouble where you stumbled across the thieves and stopped them.”

“Well, if you don’t mind,” Ulkna responded with a chuckle.He appreciated the strange shifter’s sense of humor and willingness to help.“That’d be great.”

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