Page 72 of Alpha Rising (Secrets of the Northland Shifters)

And then there was Sam, Angel, Toby, and Melanie. I didn’t want to say goodbye to any of them either. Not to mention, I had so many unfinished plans.

I glanced at my desk. There was the upcoming staff softball game, and the high school tennis banquet. I had reservations to fill for next month, and a marketing company who was helping me improve the resort’s online presence.

I couldn’t leave now.

Yes, the day would come when I’dhaveto leave to give my testimony, but that was different. That was leaving to fulfill a civic duty, to keep an evil man from hurting other women.

Right now, John wanted me to leave out of fear. And last night I’d vowed not to be afraid any longer.

“No,” I said, extending my own symbolic claws. “I’m not leaving.”

“Sarah, bereasonable.”

“I am being reasonable.”

I could hear a muffled conversation on the other end, as if John had covered the receiver with his hand and was talking to somebody else. When he came back to me he said, “Sarah, I have to go, but we’ll pick up this conversation later.”

I rolled my eyes to the ceiling. Why couldn’t he take “no” for my final answer?

John clicked off, and I settled myself behind my desk. The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur of phone calls, spreadsheets, and sample banquet menus.

That evening, there was still no sign of Reese. No word either.

Sam and Angel both told me not to worry. Reese often took off for periods of time. I’d been with the Fitzpatrick family long enough to see that side of him for myself.

“So you think he’s in his animal form?” I asked, trying to balance that with the fact he’d also taken one of the Jeeps.

Angel shrugged. “Maybe.”

“And that doesn’t worry either you?” Less than forty-eight hours ago, Toby had been caught in a net, swinging from a tree.

“We all go off on our own from time-to-time,” Sam assured me. “It’s the mountain lion in us. We have our solitary tendencies. But Reese will be careful.”

“Toby was careful,” I reminded them, “and he ended up in a net.”

“Toby didn’t know to be on the lookout for something like that. Now we know.”

I shook my head. “I still don’t like it.”

“That’s life with a shifter,” Angel said. “Reese is always going to take care of business, including his own. Are you now saying you’re not okay with it?”

I knew, based on their family history, they were all holding their collective breath, expecting me to decide their family truth was simply too much for a mere human to take.

“No. I’m not saying that.”

Angel smiled proudly, his wavy beach-blond hair brushing his shoulders as he turned toward Sam.

Sam pulled me into a hug. “Tell you what,” he said as he released me. “If Reese isn’t back this time tomorrow, I’ll go out and track him down for you.”

“Thanks,” I said, and we left it at that—though I didn’t like the idea of Sam out there either. Not while some unknown entity was making threats.

So what followed that conversation was another fitful night’s sleep, though this time the normal subject matter had changed. My brain couldn’t stop imagining all kinds of scenarios involving hunters, traps, guns, and mountain lions. I probably should have taken a sleeping pill, but I was afraid of missing a call from Reese.

As it turned out, there’d been no call for me to miss.

The next morning—exhausted and bleary eyed—I booted up my office computer for a little Sunday internet shopping when Lauren appeared in my doorway. “Knock, knock.”

“Hey!” I said, rising from my chair.

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