Chapter Eight
Tracking Grace
Moonlight, Florida, 1:00 p.m.
“Where are we going to look for Grace?” Lucas asked.
“We should start at the spot Slater and his group came upon us where we planned to run the night before Grace disappeared. Grace preferred to run far enough away from the rest of our pack so her dire characteristics wouldn’t be discovered. When Slater and his wolves ran into us, we were both surprised. Thinking back, they were probably following us all along. Neither of us had shifted yet, so we were at a disadvantage because, except Slater, most of them had shifted. Besides, Grace had her mind on other things.”
“She should have known better.”
“We should have known better. And going out running in broad daylight today probably isn’t safe, either. But at least there’s less chance of humans being out this far.” Laurel checked her bag. “You aren’t used to our natural wildlife. Keep an eye out for those snakes I mentioned and gators. It’s been dry. Some of them are out looking for new waterways. The wild pigs can put up a fight, and we do have coyotes, panthers, and bears.”
“Impressive. Consider me warned. I’ll be careful.” Lucas walked to the other side of the truck, stripped, and shifted.
Then, she was the one impressed. She reconsidered everything she’d been thinking since she met him. For some reason, she supposed he’d be about Grace’s size, maybe a little larger since he was a male. His sheer size was something she was completely unprepared for, in spite of his claims. Suddenly, all the stories, all the warnings, and rumors of the danger of a dire wolf made sense.
She put his clothes in her bag and then took hers off, while he sniffed around in the brush. She added her things to his and slung the strap over her head so the bag hung around her neck then shifted. She would follow behind Lucas, let him take the lead, and she’d try to keep up.
Concern for Grace ruled her emotions, and probably Lucas’s, too. The sooner they found her—Laurel suddenly didn’t believe Grace needed rescuing—but finding her would free Laurel from dealing with Lucas and this relentless, pesky craving his presence triggered in her.
The damn need she had been fighting all day grew more distinct once she completed shifting and sniffed the air to memorize his scent. The male’s pheromones filled the air with an irresistible scent—not quite leather but definitely woodsy, something like citrus and spice, and pure unadulterated sex. She never imagined what an overpowering effect the right male pheromones could have. How was she going to prevent rolling to her back and offering herself in total submission?
The idea of possible rejection shocked her into a reality check more than the fear of dealing with a male his size or the possibility of death. What did that say for her pitiful self-esteem?
Although she was used to running on the rustic terrain of the overgrown paths choked with scrub palmettos and dead citrus, it wasn’t the same case for Lucas, yet he adjusted quickly. Once they’d shifted, both of them were able to pick up the subtle scents they couldn’t detect in their human forms.
He searched, looking for any sign of Grace, while Laurel carried their clothes and her weapons. They fit perfectly in the small knapsack she kept with her. The last thing they needed was to be caught out here as wolves. The second worse thing was shifting and getting caught naked and defenseless. Although, after trying to keep up with the dire wolf, she doubted Lucas was ever defenseless.
She continued to lag behind while he took the lead, tracking her previous run. The scents he followed smelled familiar to her. Finally, she caught up with him as he found a particularly interesting spot and stopped to investigate.
Along the dirt path, there was a narrower path worn down between the underbrush. Lucas veered off the trail close to where the pack members from Fort Myers intercepted her and Grace.
Lucas suddenly turned off the trail.
He picked upon a secondary trail and veered right before she even caught any other scent but his. The big wolf was well ahead of her and seemed to know where he was going. She didn’t have a clue who he was tracking. For now, she followed his scent and his scent only. It masked everything around her.
Lucas paused for a minute, waiting for her to catch up.
When she trotted up to him, the difference in their size was evident. He towered over her. Lucas bent down and gently nuzzled the bag she’d carried with their belongings and removed them. Not all their clothing was in there. Actually, there were simply the essentials.
He turned away and shifted then she followed suit. The next thing she knew, as she reached for her dress, she caught an eyeful of the most perfect ass she’d ever seen before he covered it.
She would not groan. She would not groan.
She bit her tongue and did not breathe. She stared, bewitched, observing him step into a pair of jeans. Commando.
While she stood transfixed, he turned.
For a moment, she was horrified at being caught gawking, especially by one who was so overwhelmingly perfect in every sort of way. But it was then she realized the tables had turned. Lucas stood frozen in place, his eyes drifting hungrily over every inch of her as if he wanted to devour her. Then he smiled, not the teasing leer she expected, but an appreciative grin.
Lucas caught her looking, trapped by her own curiosity. She stood under the Florida sun, naked and flawlessly formed after she’d shifted. It was his turn to stare, powerless to move, captivated by her beauty.
How long did he stare? Not long enough to his satisfaction.
She had turned away from him too quickly for his liking, but in the process of trying to cover her front, she left all that stunning suntanned skin exposed. Along with her athletic legs and her tight, plump ass, she stretched, revealing the lovely full length of her body, beyond a mere tempting peek for him to admire, before the dress dropped down and sinfully covered her angular shoulders, slender back, and rounded hips.
“Sorry about that,” she apologized. “I’m still not used to shifting in front of strangers.”
He understood. It wasn’t the being naked part as much as it was the frailty. Shifting took a lot of energy for some breeds. That meant they’d be temporarily vulnerable after the shift. It was about trust. It was one thing being with your pack. It was another thing being with a pack member you didn’t know or trust.
“You weren’t raised with this pack?”
“Yes and no. At the first sign of trouble in the pack, my mother sent me away to live with my aunt and grandmother. I was eleven at the time. The last few years out West in the Rockies, I spent investigating where the remaining members of the Georgia pack went after the attacks.”
“Your mother’s family was originally from the Rockies?”
“Yes. My mother’s family are elemental wolves, the ones who can see auras. You dires have similar abilities, don’t you? You didn’t need me to find this spot.”
“Aye, we do. Though nothing like yours. But you’re right…I could have done this myself.” He pointed to the ground on the other side of the path. “Can you tell me what you think of these tracks?”
“Looks like tire tracks…trucks. More than one set…two…maybe three.”
Laurel pulled her phone from her bag and began walking around the area carefully to avoid disrupting the evidence, checking her screen, and occasionally snapping pictures. She occasionally lifted her phone and checked the screen.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“I’m checking for cell coverage and coordinates for our location. Derek had a tower installed out here so we’d have internet and cell coverage, but some areas are still weak. There. I sent him the pictures.”
“What will he do? Can you identify the trucks from tire marks?”
“If we come across the vehicles with those tires, we’ll have something to go on. Proof they were here. And if we have to, we can check every car in the parking lot when we get to Slater Hall’s place.”
Lucas admired the way Laurel worked. She efficiently and professionally examined the surrounding area and clicked off photos with her camera phone. As he watched, she keyed in messages and then sent them to Derek.
“We should return to Moonlight. I sent Derek our coordinates. He said he’d have somebody pick us up. He doesn’t want to risk us shifting again in daylight. Humans occasionally wander out here to hunt the wild pigs, among other things. We can’t chance being seen. There are coyotes…but a wolf spotting going viral would mean chaos.”
“Wise. It wouldn’t do for one of us to get shot by some crazed human.”
“Lucas? You didn’t answer me. Why did you want me to bring you here today? Was it because of the scent of the wolves from Slater’s pack? Or something else?”
“First, I don’t know my way.”
Lucas liked the way her nose crinkled when she questioned him, and the way the patch of freckles, in the shape of a constellation, sprinkled the top of her nose. She captivated him. He wasn’t sure which constellation, but he would recognize it as soon as he searched the evening sky tonight.
“You could have done all this from following their scent.”
“How would I get back?”
“Bread crumbs.” Her eyes rolled up with exasperation. When she put a hand on her shapely hip, he was tempted to move closer. He wanted his hands on her hips. He wanted her hips pressed against his.
Her nostrils flared as if she’d read his mind, and he remembered his aura was probably producing all types of hues suggesting sexual overtones.
Her blush confirmed his suspicion and her inexperience.
They shouldn’t have left her alone with me.
The males in the agency seemed overly protective of this one. Ty probably wouldn’t have left them alone together if his concerns for Grace hadn’t been so muddled with fear.
Lucas was further convinced than he’d been before that she’d never been with another wolf sexually before. Her physical reaction to him made her extremely susceptible. More than most females. This one was an innocent.
He could have done this without her. She was right. Why had he included her? He inhaled her scent and edged closer. He couldn’t resist just one taste of her lips.
But as he narrowed the distance between them, her body shuddered at his nearness, and he realized she struggled to maintain control. Between his pheromones and his aura, he’d made his interest in her mercilessly clear.
He couldn’t do this. It was wrong. He backed up.
“You were right. I could easily have followed Grace’s scent, and the others. But I don’t know who any of them are or where to find them. You might. In the event we run into one of them, you’ll be able to identify them, right?”
“Sure. I can tell you that none of these scents belong to Slater Hall or anyone from our pack, but they could be rogues or wolves from Slater Hall’s pack. We haven’t met all of them.”
“You’ll be cautious?” Lucas stared deep into her eyes to make his point.
“Positively,” she said with a nod.
“But…I recognized a female’s scent at Grace’s apartment. She was one of our pack members.”
“You’re certain?” He paused, checking the road in both directions, and contemplated how much danger Laurel could be in if anyone realized how much she could detect. “I believe I also picked up a female’s scent.” Laurel’s perception and ability to judge auras was uncanny, and her sense of smell was almost as acute as his own. Maybe there was more to this little wolf. Derek respected her enough to trust his pack to her instincts.
Laurel nodded and kept walking down the dusty path. “I don’t know whether she was part of Slater’s plan to abduct Grace or if she’d been there at Grace’s invitation. I’m not even sure how long it had been since they were there or if it was that night. I just got an image of her being by the bar at the same time my image of Grace blacked out.”
“What did you pick up from Hall when you met up with him that last night?”
“He had an ulterior motive. It’s not just because Slater’s scent is unique. The problem I have with his aura is the darkness, and he leaves behind more than an elemental scent. It’s almost like the scent of scorched earth follows in his wake. For such a good-looking man, something about him repulses me. My skin crawls in his presence.”
“I picked up on the sulfur and brimstone back at the apartment,” he said. “I don’t see auras, but I usually can tell evil intensions when the sulfur scent hits me.”
“Who wouldn’t?” She giggled.
As they casually walked along the dirt road, Lucas caught Laurel relaxing her guard.
“At least now I’ll know who I’m looking at when I meet Slater,” Lucas teased.
She giggled again. The sound almost undid him. She was so competent and professional, yet so young. If not in years, at least in experience. The giggle confirmed it. Somehow, her smile and contrasting sarcasm were things he’d missed in other women. Being a purebred dire had been a disadvantage to him. Most females in the breed wanted him for what he could offer—the prestige of being his mate, the position, and his ability to sire desirable pups.
This woman only wanted him for himself, and she didn’t think he had any real interest in her. She believed he was playing her. He noted her apprehension around him and a modicum of fear. With good reason. They had to come up with a plan because, soon, the moon would wax, and neither one of them would be able to resist their inner wolves’ attraction when the full moon called.
Lucas’s super-acute hearing alerted him to the approaching vehicle long before it came into view.
“Shh.” He moved her into the brush and hid behind a scrub palm. The damn thing poked him in the thigh. Hopefully he’d taken the brunt of the sharp, pointed leaves and it hadn’t hurt Laurel. When she hadn’t resisted, he gathered the vehicle wasn’t one of theirs.
“Getting pretty busy out here.” She snorted sarcastically and reached through the plant to take a picture of the license plate. “Derek isn’t going to be happy about this.”
“At least, they weren’t humans.”
“Ha. True.”
She began to step out from behind the brush, and he said, “Wait, I hear another vehicle coming.”
“Let’s hope this one is for us.”
“Aye. I cannot take another bayonet poke to my ass.”
“Aww. I should have warned you about the plants as well as the animals.” When she laughed, her eyes sparkled.
It was strange being so in tune with a woman he liked, and one he finally wanted to spend time getting to know on several levels. The passion deep inside him burned out of control. Laurel tempted his very soul. But he’d resist. Indulging the desire and making her his would probably kill her, and he’d lose her anyway, along with her freckles and giggles and snark.
He moved slightly away from her. Distance was the only thing that would keep her safe.
“It’s Ty. Oh thank god he didn’t bring my truck. He picked up the van.”
Ty pulled to a stop, rolled down the passenger window, and unlocked the doors. “What did you find out here?” He’d grown frazzled and more desperate than he’d been earlier.
“We tracked the old scents then I didn’t recognize the new wolf scents. We found tire tracks near our border, and a truck just went down Briar Creek Path,” Laurel said. “I’ll call Derek and tell him what we discovered and see what he thinks.”
While they turned around, Laurel contacted the alpha and briefed him. She sent the image of the license plate to his phone.
After she hung up, she explained what Derek planned. “He told me they were taking the evidence and the computer to Alexa who can examine it. Did you find anything, Ty?”
He shook his head. His cold countenance matched his eyes. Lucas recognized the air of a soldier set for battle, ready to face death and cause it. Ty clenched his jaw and forced out his response. “Nothing of consequence.”
“Derek said he’ll meet us at the agency. He wants me to get Lucas settled in before we meet with the council later.”
Ty grunted and aggressively flipped through his notes then jammed the notebook in his pocket. He had to be in agony, worrying about Grace—any male whose mate was in danger would. His actions could become more erratic, even careless in spite of his extensive training.
Maybe Lucas could ease some of the former Ranger’s concern.
“I hope you both know Grace can take care of herself. Although I am not completely unconcerned, I suspect she set herself up to be abducted.”
“Good to know.” Laurel released a sigh of relief.
Ty grunted skeptically, but Lucas explained his reasoning. “For one thing, she’s familiar with Laurel’s ability. For another, before this happened, she bound herself to you, Ty. That means no other wolf can touch her.”
Ty allowed his shoulders to relax, turned his face to Lucas’s, and said, “But they can do other things….”
Lucas ignored the way his gut tightened. “She knows you can find her. But what I really think is she may be depending on us to help her expose this guy Hall and his pack, and she trusts us to follow through. She’s perfectly capable of tearing apart four healthy wolves if she has to. So, aye, I do want to know what is going on. Mainly because she wanted to know. But I am no longer worried about her. She has a plan, and, somehow, we fit into it. I truly wish she’d told someone.”
“Four male wolves?” Ty sounded a little more convinced and a lot less stressed.
Lucas slapped him on the back. “I’m confident we’ll find her. And as soon as we do, we should shake some sense into her.”
“I’m not even going to comment,” Ty murmured.
The Ranger had a brain. Impressive. Lucas approved of the way he respected Grace.
Lucas saw the first sign of civilization when a couple of buildings came into view up ahead. It would hardly qualify as a town, even in rural Scotland. “Is this the town?”
“No, this is the bed-and-breakfast Derek told you about.” Ty pointed to the east. “Moonlight is about a mile farther up the road. It isn’t very big, though.”
They pulled into the long driveway to a three story, white clapboard house. Like Ty said, there were no stores or businesses around so he hoped they stocked basic staples in the main house or the out building.
Moonlight Run Bed &Breakfast. The sign looked freshly painted. In fact, so did the main building, an old family home with gables and porches added on. It stood beside a small lake, surrounded by citrus trees. The whole setup appeared peaceful and cozy.
“Karl and Jolene Parker lost their families back in Georgia,” Ty explained. “They’ve been working on repairing and restoring this place since the pack got here. They serve good southern cooking all day and breakfast from six a.m. to eleven a.m.”
“Very nice. Thank you. But shouldn’t we go to the agency and start putting our facts together?”
“We’ll drop off your things here.” Laurel shuffled around in the back. “Ty has them in the cargo hold.”
Lucas’s skin prickled. He’d had forgotten all about his bags. He wasn’t sure exactly what the time difference was, but it was six or seven hours he was certain. In spite of the long hours, his wolf was just waking.
“Thank you. I’ll only need a minute.” He took the key from Ty and carried the bags inside. On the way out, he closed the door behind him without even looking the room over.
As he approached the van, he considered ways of getting Laurel alone so they could talk about this connection they’d formed. She sat in the backseat again, and he resumed his place up front next to Ty.
“Will you show me around your town before the meeting with the sheriff and the council later? I would like to familiarize myself with the area so I have some frame of reference as everyone is speaking.”
“Sure. Ty can take us on the short tour.”
After they pointed out a few landmarks, Laurel suggested Ty drop them at her place and go by the agency and check messages. “We’ll meet you there, in say, an hour?”
Ty hesitated.
“I should go with Ty.” They don’t trust me alone with Laurel. Not that I blame them. Ach, I don’t trust myself either. He was beginning to think they might be right. All his years of practiced control meant nothing in her presence.