Page 24 of Under the Moonlight

“Who is going to eat all that?”

“You’ve never seen the Larson’s take down their food. It may not even be enough. Trust me.”

Greer shook her head, but while she went off to order, Xander looked over the paper Pax had generously left for him on the windshield of his truck. He’d hidden it before the girls had seen it, but according to the front-page story, the police had found Sam’s body at the base of the mountain. It appeared he’d been mauled by a wild animal, but that wasn’t all. Sam’s companion, Patty hadn’t been seen since Thursday after work. They were asking the publics help with any information to her whereabouts. Whoever wrote the story obviously had no idea Sam had been involved with Patty.

He read on and his blood ran cold. The police were baffled by the string of animal attacks, and had called in an expert to see if the murders were the work of a rogue shifter.

Shit.

It was obvious Pax wanted the heat in Moonlight Ridge in case Xander did kill him. If Xander was the last shifter standing, all the deaths would point to him. It was the only reasonable explanation that he could come u

p with for why Pax was allowing his kills to be so easily found.

It was insane, but then again, Pax was a crazy son of a bitch.

It was the only real information he’d ever been able to drag out of the other shifters from Pax’s gang. That they were all scared of him because he was unpredictable. It was only when they realized how lethal Xander really was that they started talking, but none of them had the information he wanted most.

“Why my family?”

None of them had known or admitted it. They’d all just said that Pax has set it up as a robbery and they’d gone along. That the murders and what they’d done to his mom…it wasn’t part of the plan.

Greer came back into the room, and when he started to throw the newspaper away, he stopped. He wasn’t going to lie or hide things from her anymore. If he really wanted to have a future with her, he had to let go of his solitary lifestyle.

“They found Sam’s body. And Patty is missing. The local police are bringing in an expert to determine whether it was a shapeshifter.”

Greer stopped at the edge of the kitchen, her face drained of color.

“And they’re going to find two bodies. One killed by a were-cougar and the other a werewolf. Xander…”

It all clicked. “He turned Jill so she’d take the fall for him.”

“And you’ll take the fall for the other shifter. You found Sam’s body and I bet they were counting on that. Your scent will be all over the crime scene.”

Xander sat down at the kitchen table and rubbed his hands over his face. “I have to end this, now. Before they kick off their end game.”

Her arms slipped around his neck from behind and he could feel the press of her breasts against his shoulders. “We will stop them. It will be all over soon and you can move on.”

He released a shaky breath, letting her embrace calm and strengthen him. He pulled her around until she was seated across his lap, her ass cradled against the front of his jeans. He held her to him, and just breathed her in.

The sound of pounding feet on the stairs alerted him Jill was coming, but he held tight to Greer before she could pull away.

“Geez, what’s the matter with you two, you look like you’re in mourning.” When they didn’t answer, she cursed. “Oh, shit, who died?”

“Patty Simcox is missing,” Greer said softly.

“Probably not the best time to bring up karma, right?”

Xander turned in his seat to glare at Jill, and found Greer already scowling over his shoulder.

Jill threw up her hands in surrender. “Sorry, poor taste!”

“Greer thinks she knows why Pax bit you and why they killed Kelsey and Sam,” Xander said.

Jill sat across from them at the table. “Enlighten me.”

Greer filled her in on the theory and Jill’s mouth tightened, her pupils becoming slits. Xander could sense her beast, and held his hand up. “Breathe, Jill.”

She closed her eyes, obviously trying to find her calm again.

---