Page 8 of Alpha Rising (Secrets of the Northland Shifters)

“I can say with confidence that Reese wouldn’twantto hurt you,” Toby said.

An idea came to me. “How about if you came with me?”

Toby laughed, but without any humor.

“What’s so funny?” It seemed like a perfectly reasonable idea.

“Right now,” Toby said, “with Reese in his animal form, if he saw or evensmelledanother male near you… No. That’s one scene I would like to avoid.”

I frowned, trying to process what he was saying.

“So if you insist on driving up there,” Toby said, “you’ll have to go alone. Just, please,stayin the Jeep. If you spot anything from the road, call me.”

I let out a breath. “I can do that.”

Then I glanced over at Melanie who, throughout this exchange, had been watching me with what felt like keen interest.

When our eyes met, she said a quick, “Good luck.” Then she twirled her set of keys around her finger and added for Toby’s benefit, “Off to get some milk.”

* * *

Ten minutes later,I was driving up the county road. It was June now, and it was nice to feel summer on its way. I’d even worn a short-sleeved red cotton T-shirt dress and flip-flops, though admittedly, I was pushing it with the summertime wardrobe. The forecast was for a high of sixty-eight.

Sunlight streamed through the thick canopy of trees, dappling my windshield and drifting in and out from light and shadow. It made me wish I’d brought a pair of sunglasses along, and I doubly wished I’d done so when I hit a bump in the road that I never saw coming.

I hit the brakes and looked in my rearview mirror, halfway expecting to see a huge pothole, a fallen branch, or—God forbid—a dead animal. But the road looked perfectly smooth behind me, without any obstacles or roadkill.

I let out a sigh of relief, then hit the gas. But I didn’t go more than fifty feet before I felt another hard bounce followed by the distinctive rudda-DUB-rudda-DUB-rudda-DUB of a flat tire.

“Shit!” I quickly pulled onto the shoulder and set the parking brake. I grabbed my phone from the center console to call Toby and…

“Awesome.” I had no signal.

Well, I wasn’t completely helpless. There was a spare tire mounted on the back of the Jeep, and I knew how to change it, so long as there was also a lug wrench and jack in the back.

If not…well…I estimated it would be a seven-mile hike back to the lodge. If need be, I’d hoof it. In flip-flops. And pray I didn’t run into dangerous animals of the non-Fitzpatrick variety.

I glanced warily, left and right, at the forest that surrounded me. Thoughts of DaBruzzi crept in too—they could never be helped—but staying in my car wouldn’t make them go away, so…

With a deep sigh, I swung out of my seat and walked to the back to check things out. The left tire was totally flat, and the Jeep was sitting on its rim. A giant nail stuck out of the rubber.

“Thanks a lot, you rusty bastard.”

Talking to myself helped minimize the nerves, but I couldn’t help think this was how the last episode ofDatelinehad begun. The sun was even cut off by the trees on this section of the road, plunging everything into dark shadow. Damn my obsession with true-crime shows.

I glanced around, expecting to spot a creepy cabin in the woods with smoke coming from its chimney. I’d go in search of a working phone and...

I shivered, telling myself to stop. There was no need to scare myself unnecessarily.

Pushing all thoughts of serial killers from my head, I looked for a rock on the side of the road that I could use to brace the right front tire before I jacked up the back of the Jeep. Finding a good sized one, I set it while saying a little prayer that the rest of the tools I’d need would be inside.

I yanked the handle for the Jeep’s back gate, but it didn’t open.Locked. Fine. I returned to the driver’s side to hit the unlock button, but when I tried to open that door, it didn’t budge either. “What the…?”

I yanked the handle again. Nothing. “No no no no no.”

I cupped my hands against my temples and peered through the glass. And—yep—there were the keys. Right there in the ignition. All the doors were locked. Damn these older model vehicles and their lack of idiot-proof technology.

“Un-fucking-believable.” I punched the side of my fist against the door. And that’s when something wet splatted against my shoulder.

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