Lainie sniffed around the ground, searching for any trace of Miles Hemingway, the stinging words of their fathers ringing in her mind, mocking her, thinking her weak. She was far from weak, and Miles would discover that as soon as she sunk her claws into him.The humid afternoon air caused her panther to pant as she searched the area. Dimitri stayed close for a while, but then moved off a bit to the south, still within shouting range, but pretending to give her some space. If she thought it was because he thought her as weak as their father did, she would have already chewed into him, but she knew Dimitri remained close more for himself than her. He needed to make sure she was all right. Besides, if they were going to catch Miles, they would need to span out more. Their animal's supernatural noses would pick out Miles' scent quicker than normal panthers, so they could cover more ground. Dimitri already sent Josh, Alanna, and Nathan Landry out searching the area and anyone else he could
Dimitri sped through the woods as soon as he heard Miles' voice calling out to Lainie, scolding himself for allowing the two of them to be separated as they searched for her stalker. Now, he only prayed he could arrive in time."Lainie, stop!" Miles screamed, and Dimitri could hear how out of control the man was by the fury in his tone. "Don't take another step. You need to shift back to your human form and join me. Keep coming toward me as your panther, and I'll assume you're still resisting. That would not be good on your part. Last warning."Don't do it, Lainie. Dimitri prayed. I'm almost there. Just stall him. At least, he hoped he was almost there. He wasn't even sure when Lainie and he became separated or for how long. Then, he finally heard his sister answer her stalker.I'm not shifting, Lainie sent, loud enough for anyone else nearby to hear her and get a read on her location. I'm not joining you. We're not going to be married. We're not going to be anything. Go home, Miles, b
Lainie walked into Everglades, relieved that her official first day of being a new deputy had ended. The boredom had almost killed her. Chet had offered for her to take the day off after everything that happened yesterday with Miles, but Lainie refused. She would not admit that the encounter in the woods shook her up, not in front of people who expected her to have their back in case of trouble. Luckily, her friends were there to protect her.She glanced around the inside of the bar and noticed Josh sitting alone at one of the high tops. Searching the rest of the bar, she noticed Alanna was nowhere in sight. Maybe at work? Then it dawned on Lainie, she had no idea what the other woman did for a job. She waved hello to Wes, asking for a beer as she did, and weaved her way through the tables toward Josh. He glanced up as she got closer, smiling at her. "Drinking alone?" she asked as she slid into one of the chairs. "Isn't that a sign of a drinking problem?" She giggled a little as she se
A leash ran from the collar around the capuchin monkey's neck to the music organ where the stocky dark-haired Colton Stokes ground out a shrill melody. Crowds gathered to watch as the small monkey floated around the people, hat held out, begging for tips from the onlookers. This is frickin' humiliating, Liam Lamont sent through the mindspeech of the shifters as he shook the hat in his hands at an elderly gentleman who couldn't stop talking baby talk to him. Why do people always talk to animals and babies like we're ignorant? "Oh, George, he's so cute," the elderly man's wife cooed as she leaned down and wiggled her fingers at Liam. "Aren't you cute, you little chimp? You are, aren't you? Such a cute little chimpanzee. Give the little monkey some quarters, Harold."The two of them set up at a fair celebrating carnivals, disguised as an organ grinder and his capuchin monkey. The fact that Liam actually was a capuchin monkey stuck him in the humiliating role of money collector. Everyone'
Ezra Havlin stood in the middle of the empty warehouse, searching frantically for Mary Johnson, Hoyt's most recent victim. He had already abducted seven girls and four boys, their families slaughtered as Hoyt sold the children off to eager buyers. Para-Force took the case because they discovered each of the kids possessed special powers of some kind. They spent months tracking the man and finally found him in Savannah. The plan was simple, set a trap, wait for Hoyt to hand the girl over to the buyer, then take them both down and save the girl.However, Ezra stood in an empty warehouse. He spun searching every direction as Hoyt's laughter taunted him. Ezra ran through the warehouse, frantically searching, the little girl begging for help. Lights flashed with a strobe light effect, blinding Ezra as he scrambled around, tracking the girl's voice. He didn't find Mary, but there was Hoyt right in front of him.Ezra lunged, wrapping his hands around the man's throat, twisting him to the floo
The name, Hoyt Cheffron, was one Ezra could have lived his entire life never hearing again. He took a deep breath and then pointed to Josh and Lainie. "They have a new alpha in their community," he said as he turned toward his tent. "I'm sure he'll be able to help you out. This one keeps saying they have empty cabins, so I'm sure you'll be able to find a safe house." He stopped before entering his tent, turned and looked over at Liam and Colton. "I'm sorry. I can't help you. You shouldn't have come." He glanced down at the girl, his expression solemn. "Good luck to you." And then, he dipped his head through the tent flap and disappeared inside, leaving the others to do whatever they decided to do."What the hell?" he heard Josh exclaim. "You suck at hospitality, do you know that?"Ezra plopped down on his sleeping bag, hands behind his head as he listened in on their conversation. If he knew Liam and Colton, they wouldn't just walk away. They'd try some of that psychology bullshit to g
Ezra sighed. "You're an irritating shit." He moved over to the trash bin, scraping the plates in his hands.Josh shrugged, not looking at all apologetic or offended. "I prefer to think of it as being tenacious. Now, why won't you help them? They're your friends, and they're in trouble. They came to you out of every other place in the world they could go. That means they trust you. So, why turn your back on them, not to mention that little girl?""I suppose you wouldn't leave me alone if I just told you it wasn't any of your damn business." Ezra dumped the dishes into a washtub to clean up later as he turned to face Josh, hands on his hips. "Why the hell do you even care? This doesn't concern you."Josh nodded. "You're right; it doesn't, but then again, I've never let that stop me before. These people need you. That little girl needs you. You can't just walk away from that.""I can bloody well do whatever I want," Ezra snapped, his bear roaring within him. Closing his eyes, he took a be
Lainie sat on the corner of Sheriff Einstein's desk, arms over her chest as she stared at the circle of men in the small office. Little Erin Fletcher sat outside the office, eating a bag of chips and sipping a soda, her little doll perched over her shoulder as if the thing stared into the sheriff's office. Johnson sat beside the girl looking very uncomfortable having been put on babysitting duty. It took all Lainie had not to giggle at the giant man."A cabin I can spare, no problem," Dimitri said as he leaned back against the wall, arms over his chest. Josh stood beside him almost in the exact same pose except his hands were in his pockets. Lainie tried not to smirk at the similarities, but Josh apparently caught her expression and gave her a puzzled look in return. She just shrugged and turned her gaze back to her brother."People tend to wander in and out of Bull Creek, some staying forever, others taking more of a transient interest in the community," Dimitri continued. "We also ha