Page 18 of 3 Shifters to Break a Curse

My cheeks flushed with heat. “Thank you… I think.”

Was it really that big of a deal? I was running for my life. It couldn’t have been as impressive as he was making it out to be.

“You’re very welcome,” he said then turned toward Ezra. “Take Toni back inside and get her settled. Rin and I will be back in a few hours.”

He started removing his clothes and I couldn’t help but stare as Ezra approached me and gently started to guide me back into the house. Right before we stepped inside, both he and Rin shifted into bears.

It was so quick. One second, they were human. The next, they were bears. I had never seen a shift happen so quickly. Not that I was allowed to see very many in the first place.

Rin’s animal was a Grizzly, which made his mood and attitude toward me make a little more sense. Luke’s was close to Rin’s bear but there were some differences in size. Luke’s was larger. I believed his was called a Kodiak.

I wasn’t able to get too much of an idea as the door closed in front of me. Ezra escorted me back to the couch and I wondered what his bear was. An image flashed through my mind of a black bear.

I smiled to myself. Somehow, that animal suited him.

8

LUKE

I had followed Toni’s instructions explicitly. Rin followed behind me as we ran the several miles it was to where she had left her car. Once we got close to the location, I stopped and shifted back into my human form.

“What’s going on?” Rin asked after following my lead in shifting back.

“I want to make sure we’re alone,” I said. “We’re much quieter in this form.”

“Yeah, and squishier,” he said. “I don’t like this.”

I nodded. “I don’t particularly care for it either. But this is the best we can do.”

“And if we bump into Toni’s ex?” he asked. “Did you think about that?”

“Yes,” I said, keeping my voice low. “If that happens, we will shift and attack.”

“I like that plan.” He clapped his hands together and rubbed them with an eager smile stretching his lips.

I shook my head and continued walking carefully through the darkness for the rest of the way. We stuck to the side of the road, walking in the shadows, against the side of the mountain. We didn’t have far left to go. Maybe about two-hundred feet at most. Traffic from the highway echoed from overhead, and as we drew closer to the river, the sound of its rushing waters drowned out even that.

If we bumped into Jared, we would still be operating under the radar of human awareness.

The parking lot for the overlook was empty as we entered, which was expected, considering the late hour. Not many humans loved the idea of sitting in a dark parking lot surrounded by a roaring river and high mountain ridges. As it was, the only car around was the silver sedan Toni had told us about.

So far, everything was lining up with what she had told us. I was surprised things had added up to this point, but I wasn’t going to drop my guard when it came to her just yet. I was positive she still hadn’t shared everything with us. She withheld more. Something imperative. Something that still had to be uncovered. And I doubted she was doing so willingly.

But before we could hash that out, we had to grab her things and get back. Hopefully without incident.

As we drew closer, I caught a faint scent of something off-putting. I sniffed the air before approaching the car. I wanted to check and make sure no one else was around, especially whatever had caused that scent. Neither of us was able to afford any witnesses to a couple of men walking around naked, rummaging through a car that didn’t belong to us. And the last thing I needed was more trouble.

As I sucked in a large breath of air into my nose, I nearly gagged.

“Shit,” I muttered and coughed to expel the offending aroma from my lungs.

Rin did the same. He covered his nose and mouth with his hand. “What the hell is that?”

I shook my head. “I have no idea. But thankfully, the scent is faint. Whatever caused it seems long gone.”

“Faint?” Rin asked through a groan. “That isn’t faint. If it is, I truly would hate to find out about the real thing up close and personal.”

I raked my gaze around us. Rin was right. It might have been that whatever it was stood upwind, giving the impression that it had left the area. We might have just walked into some twisted trap.

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