Page 68 of The Alpha's Second Chance Mate

“Uh, sure, I guess. Why there?”

“It’s where your mom and I are. Try to hurry.”

“Did she get a new car?” he asked excitedly.

It was all I could do to keep calm and not beg him to hurry. “We’ll talk about that when you get here.”

“Okay. See you soon.”

“Hey, Ash?” I added before he could end the call.

“Yeah?”

“If anything weird happens on the drive here, likeanything,you give me a call right away. No matter what it is. If you hit a damn squirrel or something, I want you to call me.”

“Uh, okay. Weird. I’ll call, though.”

“Great. Be careful.”

I texted him the address as I heard Trent’s truck pulling into the driveway. I hurried around to meet him.

“What do we know?” Trent asked as he got out of his truck. He scanned the forest.

“Like I said earlier, we’ve got blood on the back porch. A lot of it. Whoever it came from, they aren’t doing well.”

“Human?” Trent asked.

“Nah. Doesn’t smell human. Some kind of animal. Could be a shifter, I suppose, but I don’t think so. Some kind of animal, if I had to guess.”

Trent cast a worried glance at the house. “Uh, Farrah doesn’t have a dog or a cat or anything, does she?”

“No, thank Christ,” I said. “That would have been my first assumption if she did. Farrah’s not the pet type.”

“Do you want to start tracking?”

I shook my head, gazing out at the main road that passed by Farrah’s. “Not until Ashton gets here. I want to make sure he’s safe inside with Avery.”

Ten minutes later, Braylen pulled in with Ashton in the passenger seat. I breathed a sigh of relief as he hopped out. It was all I could do not to run to him as he said goodbye to his new friend.

When Braylen backed out, Ashton finally turned his confused eyes on me. “What’s going on?”

“Go inside. Your mom will explain,” I said.

“You guys are being weird.”

“Yeah, it’s what adults do. Now go on inside,” I said, giving him my best smile.

He shook his head, but trudged up the steps and went inside.

“Ready?” Trent said.

“Let’s go.”

Trent tugged a pistol out of his waistband. “You track. You’re stronger in your wolf form than I am. I’ll be ready to put a bullet in anyone who decides they want to fuck with us.”

I shifted, my clothes vanishing as fur sprang out along my back and sides and my body morphed into that of a wolf. Falling to four paws, I raced around the house. Bending to the blood puddle, I took in the scent again, then turned and sprinted into the forest, Trent running behind me in his human form.

Once in the thick of the forest, I was forced to slow down, not wanting to lose the trail. The coppery scent led me deep into the woods. My paws moved soundlessly as I kept my nose down. Ididn’t bother checking the surrounding area, knowing Trent was there, ready to fire on anyone who might try to jump us.

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