Page 44 of Shifter's Dream

Troy stopped to consider. He had no idea. But of course she did. Who doesn’t like bacon?

Troy, one more thing, no more cat pranks, you hear me?

Troy grinned.How did it go? Did he freak out?

He did freak out, in fact, he’s pissed, and one of the cats won’t leave. We can’t catch it, either.

Troy nodded his head. Nice, but then Remington opened the little window over the sink and the fresh forest air filtered in to Troy. Did he smell…foxen?

He shot to his feet and headed outside, cats swirling in and out of his way in a never-ending stream as he went down the porch steps and out around to the back of the house. A portion of forest was close to the back of the property. Most of Serenity was like this, no one razed a property of its trees completely, and the public safety departments of the government bought up as much forest property as they could, wanting to ensure Serenity stayed as much forest as it was town.

The forest behind Remington’s place was small, only a few miles long, heading up a bluff, then petering out, and starting again down the other side, and only a mile wide to the next subdivision on the other side, but it was thick.

Just a fox, he decided. Notfoxen,but still… it wouldn’t hurt to take a lap through the woods, make sure nothing was hiding.

Troy plunged headlong into the trees, ready to do just that, when his wolf leaned in close. Troy turned and looked behind him and Remington’s house. There, on the back of the house, a place where Troy had never had a reason to go before, was a purple-pink door that must have led into a basement.

Troy abandoned the forest and headed for the door, walking straight up to it and putting his hand on it, then he turned around quickly. From this exact vantage point, he saw what looked like a slim trail leading directly into the center of the trees.

Troy started down the path at a quick pace.

He didn’t run until he smelled peppermint.

***

Grey lay flat on his back in forest, his heart pounding, his ears ringing. He stared up at the trees, imagining the KSRT swooping in on him at that very moment. He didn’t know how long he had been there or how he had gotten there or what in the hell had just happened, but he knew he wasn’t in thePravusanymore, that much at least was obvious.

He was back in Serenity.

Grey struggled to a sitting position and pulled his shirt away from his chest, peeking down the neck hole at his body. He had not been marked.

Before he could think about that, his senses told him someone was coming toward him through the trees. Grey went still, ready to fight or bolt, until he smelled fox. Rex and Soren’s disguise. He also smelled goofy assholes Zane and Bane, trailing behind them. Someone had gotten those bad bears out of prison, and hooked them up with Khain. Rex got Grey’s vote. Seriously, though, how had they disguised their scents so well? He sniffed himself, knowing he couldn’t smell if he smelled like himself, but imaging he smelled like fox just the same.

Rex sneered down at him, looking like Jeff Bridges on a good day, while Soren was still trying to play the part of doting, fatherly cowboy, with his too-big, silver mustache and his dour expression. Zane and Bane both looked like Grey felt. He imagined they wouldn’t be marked either, and so their trip out of thePravuswould have been a doozy, like his was, while Rex and Soren could pop in and out like Khain.

“Have a nice trip?” Rex asked him.

“Eat a dick,” Grey said. He pushed himself to his feet, hating that he looked and felt like an old man when he did it.

Soren gave them a cut-the-shit look, then addressed Grey. “What’s the plan?”

“Why are you asking me?”

“You’re the wolf.”

Great, so that’s how this was going to go? “Where is he?”

“At the cat doctor’s clinic.”

“Remington?”

“Yeah, Remington.”

Grey’s head swam, making him want to curl up into a ball on the forest floor. What was wrong with him? He could not think clearly.

“How many guards are there?” Grey finally spit out.

Rex and Soren gave each other a look.

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