Page 70 of Shifter's Dream

The path opened up onto the bluff, spilling them both out into an open rocky area. To Reed’s untrained eye, it looked like something in a movie, cops everywhere, milling around. There was even a table set up, with men standing around a terrain map, debating. She saw only one woman, tall and slim with sharp features, wearing the same gear as she was, but no gun, just like her.

Another sister?

Trevor pointed to the right of the edge of the bluff, over near the neighboring forest, to a copse of trees that did not look natural. “Troy’s in the middle of that. Can you get him out?”

Reed made a strange motion with her head, not quite a nod, not quite a shake. Maybe a little of both. “I think so.”She hoped so.

Trevor escorted her to it. Most all the people on the bluff stopped what they were doing to look at her. They were all staring at her. Her and Trevor peeled off to the right, away from them. Still they stared.

Reed flexed her fingers. She hadn’t touched a tree in twenty years before today, and she was about to do it one more time. She reached out her hand. The bark was rough and comforting. “Please,” she whispered. “Let him out.”

***

Troy lay on his back in the absolute darkness, bored out of his mind. Everyone was busy, no one would talk to him, and he couldn’t even stand up. It was a good thing he wasn’t scared of being closed in, because he felt like he was in a coffin. He reached up to touch one of the trees, when he imagined he scented peppermint. He tried to sit up and banged his head.

“Ouch,” he whispered, glad no one had seen that, especially not his mate. She was close by.She’d come for him.

The trees around him rustled, the ones closest to him pulling away, most of them retracting into the ground. Another row disappeared, and Troy was able to sit up. A bit of light came through from somewhere. “You’re doing it, Reed,” he whispered. “Get me out of here.”

Another row of trees disappeared, retracting into the ground like tire spikes, some of them making popping sounds as they disappeared. More light spilled in, and Troy could stand. He pushed to his feet, eager to see his female, hisReed.

Another row of trees gone, and then there was only the outer row. One by one, they sucked into the ground. The last tree disappeared, revealing the prettiest female he’d ever seen in SWAT gear, blinking at him, hands held up like she’d just touched something at chest height, then it had disappeared. Behind her, thirty or so police officers stared, open-mouthed, at the spot where the trees had been. Troy blinked in the heavy sunshine and grinned at them all.Check her out,he sent to the group inruhi. You’re impressed, right?

Troy reached his mate. He took both her hands, placing them around his waist, pulling her in close to him. “Thanks,” he whispered.

“I love you,” she whispered back.

“I know,” he said. He bent his head and kissed her, long and hard, telling her everything that was in his heart.

All around them, wolfen clapped. A few whistled and cheered. Troy gave them a good show, bending his female backwards and kissing her like he meant it. When he set her back on her feet, she was blushing and pawing at his chest. “Troy,”she breathed, her cheeks flushing. He pecked her on the cheek and grinned at her and she smiled back, mollified.

“How come no one ever claps when we kiss?” Mac asked Rogue.

The activity on the bluff swung back into full action, men hauling equipment and discussing plans. Trevor caught his attention from a nearby boulder. “Troy, get your female down to the house,” Trevor called to him. “We’re going to do a full sweep of this forest.” He switched toruhi.Out of uniform,he said, telling Troy at least half the teams would go out as wolves.

“Are you waiting for me?” Troy asked his brother, holding Reed’s hand, working his mouth carefully around that trickyW,but wanting to speak out loud so his mate could hear. He had the best nose on the police force, shifted or not, so good they would be handicapped without him.

Trevor nodded. “We are.”

“Let’s get you out of here,” Troy told Reed, leading her back to the path that would take them to Remington’s. She seemed distracted, staring at the edge of the bluff.

“Wait,” she said. “Is it safe to walk over there?”

“Trevor,” Troy called. “Is the edge of the bluff clear?”

Trevor was already strategizing the manhunt, but he raised his hand and nodded at Troy. “The north end only.”

Troy followed his female, senses on high alert, scanning the face of the bluff, and the 3-male team in full swat gear, guns out, clearing behind every boulder and in the middle of every thicket.

***

Reed held a hand to her temple, trying to sort out the feelings and images that had entered her mind. She’d finally sorted out that what she was seeing was a spider in a crack or a burrow, jumping out of it and snatching something out of the air, an insect maybe. The spider was awful, and she wouldn’t examine it closely. The image in her mind was zoomed in so close, she could see… she shook her head and refused to see it anymore. Instead she stared out at the bluff, shading her eyes against the sunshine. The SWAT gear was so hot it was stifling.

Men ran down the bluff face in front of her, checking behind rocks and boulders, marking the rocks with cans of spray paint.

“What are they doing?” She asked Troy.

“Clearing the area so we know no bad guys are hiding behind any of those rocks or in any of those cracks.”

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