Page 69 of The Alpha's Second Chance Mate

Almost five hundred yards into the forest, the smell grew exponentially stronger, and I realized what it was. I let out a low growl and stepped around a tree, shifting back to my human form.

“Found it,” I snarled.

Trent appeared a moment later, gun pointed at the ground. He looked down at the poor creature at my feet.

“Holy shit,” he cursed.

It was a full-grown wolf. Wild, not a shifter. Its throat had been cut, and a heavy Bowie-style knife was protruding from its chest, the handle pointing straight toward the canopy of trees above.

“Fucking savages,” I hissed. “This was needlessly cruel. Why?”

Trent shook his head. “I don’t get it. Why kill it on the porch, bleed it out, then drag it all the way back here? If it’s a threat, I’d think it would sink in better if Farrah stumbled across the whole body rather than some blood.”

“Theatrics, I guess. It’s a wolf. It’s dead, and it’s in the woods. We’re shifters. Maybe this is Kyle’s way of saying: pay up, or your wolf ass will be dead in the forest where no one will find you,” I said with a shrug.

“Probably,” Trent said. “A bit heavy-handed, but I get the symbolism.”

Reaching forward, I pulled the blade free of the beast and used it to cut into the soft, mossy earth beside the creature.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“Burying it,” I said as I dug. “Out of respect.”

“Fair enough.”

After slicing through the top layer of moss and thin plant roots, Trent and I shifted, taking turns to dig at the dirt with our paws, shredding the soft forest soil until we’d managed to scrape out a two-foot-deep grave for the wolf. While I rolled the dead animal in and scooped soil onto it, Trent searched for rocks to make a sort of cairn on top of it. Even though we worked quickly, it took nearly an hour. Upon our return to the house, we did our best to clean up the mess of blood, but Farrah would need to paint the porch or call a professional to get it back to normal.

When we headed inside, everyone demanded answers.

“What did you find?” Avery asked.

“I heard there was blood. What was it from?” Ashton asked, looking on with the eagerness only a teenage boy could show toward gore.

“Everyone, hang on,” I said. “Ashton, go upstairs. I don’t want you to hear this.”

“I’m old enough to hear,” he argued. “Why can’t I stay?”

“Absolutely not,” Avery said. “Do what Cole said. I’d rather you not hear whatever this is about.”

“Ugh. This is bullshit.”

“I’ve got an office upstairs,” Farrah said. “It’s got a TV. You can watch something while we talk. Okay, buddy?”

“Sure,” he grumbled, and shuffled off toward the stairs.

Once Farrah’s office door closed, I told them about the wolf and what had been done to it.

“Fucking bastards,” Farrah snarled. “That’s heartless. Though, I guess they got the point across. If they were trying to scare the shit out of me, they succeeded. This isn’t mean; it’s pure fucking evil.”

“That is what is becoming increasingly clear,” I said. “I’m starting to get the feeling that Kyle isn’tjust some small-town loan shark. This guy is unbalanced and willing to do shit that scares me.”

“And Dallas is with him,” Farrah said, a hint of desperation in her voice.

“Yeah. He may be part of Kyle’s crew or whatever, but he also has a connection to us. I doubt Kyle carries much stock in loyalty. If he thinks he can scare us by hurting Dallas, he will. We’ve got to do something to get him away from that guy.”

“Are we safe to go home?” Avery asked. “I don’t want to uproot Ashton again. We’re only just getting settled.”

“We’ll make sure you’re safe,” I said. “Actually, let’s grab him. I’ll take you guys home.”

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