Page 11 of The Werewolf Cowboy
Spotting something sparkling in the muddied slush in back of the dumpster, he squatted down. Nostrils flared, scenting something very odd and cold. So very cold, like ice that had laid upon the earth for more than a thousand years.
Grayson touched the glittering substance. It dusted his palm, made his heart beat uncomfortably fast. Mingled with the metallic stench was Katy’s sweet fragrance.
All the senses he’d suppressed for years howled, making it impossible for him to ignore. Impossible for him to pretend he was Skin, not Lupine.
His palm shaking like a leaf in the wind, he stood, grappling with his lost composure. Gaze riveted to the ground, he tried to shut out all the distractions, the voices of angry, worried males, the deeper and more commanding tone of the pack alpha, and a truck pulling into the parking lot, belching blue smoke that stung his overly sensitive nostrils.
She’s with him, goddess help her. She’s with him and I don’t know how to help her.Memories surged, the pitiful cries of a small, trapped girl, the terrible feeling of helplessness as he tried to reach her outstretched hand as she begged him to save her…
A door slammed, and the brisk clip of boot heels clicked across the parking lot. Grayson finally forced himself to focus on the present.
It’s in the past. You ain’t that wolf any longer.
He swerved and watched Nia Blakemore Mitchell, Aiden’s mate, stride across the parking lot, her long dark blonde hair swaying with each step. Nia was a force unto herself. Nothing, not even pregnancy, slowed her down.
“Aiden, what did you find out?” Nia demanded. “I can help.”
“Go home,” Aiden told her, resting his hand on his mate’s very large belly. “Do you want to have the baby here in the parking lot?”
Nia scowled. “I’ll have the baby anywhere I damn please, Mitchell, but you are not leaving me out of this. Katy’s one of mine—”
“Ours,” the alpha countered.
“—And we are responsible. Get it? We. Plural. Us. So stop coddling me. I’m fine.”
Katy isn’t yours. She’s mine.
Grayson looked at the dark glitter on his hands. Charles taking Katy was bad enough. But this was really bad news. Because it meant something sinister lurked behind this kidnapping, something that went deeper than a jealous cowhand spiriting off a female.
It had the stamp of a well-conceived plan.
“And Charles is one of ours, so if he’s gone rogue, I’ll help you bring him in,” Nia continued.
Grayson stepped forward, facing the frowning male alpha and the gutsy female alpha. “It wasn’t just him.”
They turned to him.
“Charles wasn’t working alone.” Grayson spread out his palm to reveal the pink and purple glitter he’d picked up. “Dark Fae dust.”
Silence fell over the parking lot. The other Lupines glanced at each other with unease.
“Dark Fae,” Aiden mused. “Damn.”
“A Dark Fae has Katy?” Darius growled. “Why would a Dark Fae want her? And how the hell is Charles involved in this?”
Good question. Could Charles have seen what Grayson had? Could Charles tell Katy was something special?
Doubtful. Hell, Katy herself didn’t know. Yet.
“Has Charles been acting odd, requested time off from you?” Aiden asked his beta.
Darius shook his head. “But he has been hanging out here more, and he also hasn’t been in his bunk earlier than two o’clock in the morning. I didn’t question it since he’s never late for work. Figured Charles needed to get out, get laid or something.”
Or something. A chill raced down Grayson’s spine. Charles hadn’t been out scouting for someone to warm his bed, but probably had found a hidden portal and let a nasty something through to plan this kidnapping.
The others had no fucking clue what they were dealing with. Only he did. And letting them know all the knowledge he possessed would blow his cover.
He wanted to appear a normal Lupine.
