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Cole drove down a dark road with his windshield wipers flapping. He’d rather be fighting Friday night traffic in Spartanburg than driving out here in the boonies to be disappointed yet again.

Tracking down Katelyn was turning into an extreme scavenger hunt.

Giving up was not an option, but this was beginning to feel like the definition of a wild goose chase.

The phone call he’d received had been from a woman, but when he met her it was not Katelyn, but a friend. Cole had made a mad dash to meet that person in the twelve minutes allotted only to find out that was the first of a series of trips.

He’d met three women so far and all in public places. The first woman ran a wand over him and his rental car, evidently checking for a tracking device. Then she handed Cole a note with directions to the next stop.

With his current instructions in hand, he’d driven forty miles outside of the last significant town into deep backcountry.

A human might be concerned, but to Cole this was beautiful land for running free.

Run with mate.

Annnd there was Gray Wolf.

Cole had to make Gray Wolf understand. “Tess is not our mate.”

Lie.

The wolf had him there.

Cole tried again. “She is the woman I would mate if I could. But she’s a human. Our power will kill her.”

Strong mate.

Scratching his head, Cole said, “Yes, she’s a strong woman, but still a human. Even if I took her as a mate, she isn’t a shifter and I would never try to change her into one. I won’t allow us to harm her.”

Protect her.

Cole was willing to protect her with his life and he knew Gray Wolf would too, but they would never have that chance. He wasn’t up for arguing. His wolf had always been obstinate, with a head of sold granite when he wanted his way, unless they had to fight an enemy.

In those moments, Gray Wolf and Cole had fought in harmony as the deadliest beast with teeth and claws.

Those times wouldn’t return either.  

When Gray Wolf settled back down, Cole sent a voice text update to Rory. The last woman Cole had met said she’d worked with Katelyn in an office more than six months ago. Another woman had known her when they waited tables, but neither woman said much before warning him to leave right away or miss her.

These women had to be tracking him from point to point to make sure he didn’t have backup hanging around behind him.

Cole was on his way to meet a woman he’d spoken to for less than fifteen seconds. She claimed to have a halfway house for women in need. That sounded like a shelter for abused females. His gut churned at the thought of any man harming a woman.

Was Katelyn afraid Sammy would harm her?

Cole never had a chance to get any information over the phone from this last woman. She said she’d only speak in person to Cole, rattled off her address and that if he passed this test, she’d set up a way for him to speak to Katelyn.

Meeting in person worked fine for him.

Cole had an edge.

Being a shifter, he could pick up on physiological changes that happened if someone lied. He’d carefully question her and get what he needed.

He turned off the country road onto a dirt drive two hundred feet long, which ended in front of a brick two-story home surrounded by trees. Everything about it, from the walkway being clean of leaves, to the short grass of the small yard and flowers blooming in window boxes, spoke of someone who cared for the house and land.

Stepping out of his SUV, he paused when he caught the scent of a shifter who had been through here.

Shit. Had someone else come by looking for Katelyn?

Please tell me I’m not too late.

Hurrying up the steps to a wide porch with a comfortable looking wooden swing on one end, he took in everything as he knocked on the door.

When it opened, a woman in her thirties stood there. She could be attractive if she smiled. Her overalls showed none of her shape, only that she was slender. Curly red hair sprung all around her face.

He planted a smile on his face to disarm the woman, but that smile fell sharply on his next inhale.

Shifter. Maybe one of the big cats.

Gray Wolf surged, snarling to get at her.

Cole gritted his teeth against the struggle to keep Gray Wolf quiet. “Who are you?”

“You can’t come up to my house and ask that, wolf. Told you on the phone my name is Isabella.”

So she figured out he was a wolf? What was she? “Have you done something with Katelyn?”

“What do you want with her?”

This woman clearly knew Katelyn and the way she was questioning him convinced Cole she knew where Katelyn was hiding. He couldn’t get a lie past her any faster than Isabella could get one past him. She was no young shifter he might be able to outmaneuver with words. She might look only thirty, but she exuded power. An alpha female.

She could be much older.

Decision time and the one thing he didn’t have much of was time. Plus, if he stayed here too long there was a chance Gray Wolf would get his way. The wolf snarled and prodded him, waiting for a chance to break free.

Cole went with the truth. “I want to talk to Katelyn.”

“About the bear shifter, I suppose.” She inhaled, closing her eyes. When she opened them she said, “Is he like you?”

She knew about Sammy? “What do you mean?”

“You don’t smell like any shifter I ever met. Your power is odd. No, not odd.” She narrowed her eyes and studied him as if she’d just realized the size of the predator hiding inside him.

Her voice thinned to a whisper. “Magic.”

How could she know that?

Non-Gallize shifters noticed a difference, but most weren’t able to pinpoint just what it was. Dividing his attention between her and the wolf trying to claw its way out demanded all his control. He waited to see what else this woman would say.

Closing her eyes again, her lips moved but nothing came out. As she did, Cole noticed an odd change.

Cole had been clenching his hands, but the tension in his chest eased. Gray Wolf calmed down. He didn’t know why, but he stretched his fingers, glad for the respite.

She put her hand to her head and blinked. When she looked up at him, she no longer appeared wary.

Now she was sad. “I’m sorry.”

He was afraid to ask, but he had no choice. “Sorry for what?”

“You’re sick. Dying.”

A shifter couldn’t know all that. He suffered a moment of disorientation and shook it off. “What are you?”

Her sympathy fled. “Rude, very rude. Go away, wolf. I have nothing for you.” She started to close the door.

Shit. “Wait.”

Opening it again, she crossed her slender arms and looked at him expectantly.

“I’m sorry. I just ...”  Hell, he had no idea how to deal with this woman. He wanted to find out how she knew so much about him, but this trip was to help Sammy. “I came to talk to you about Katelyn. She’s important to my friend, the bear shifter. The way I understand it, they’re engaged.”

“That happened before Katelyn knew he was a shifter.”

“True. It was wrong on his part not to tell her right up front, even if I do understand why.”

“Explain it to me.”

Cole recognized when he was being given an olive branch he wouldn’t be offered a second time. “Sammy would never treat a woman unfairly. He’s very protective of any woman. He told me he was in love with Katelyn and wanted the time with her that he had left. That’s all. He would never try to make her a shifter.”

That must have surprised her. She angled her head with a look of deep concentration. “Is he sick like you?”

“Yes.” No point in trying to hide the truth from this woman who knew way more than she should.

Isabella stared past Cole, but he didn’t turn to see what she looked at, because her eyes were unfocused. When her gaze returned to him a few minutes later, she said, “Katelyn loves him. She says Sammy is honorable, but he’s been acting strangely. What’s the cause of his illness?”

Cole had to draw the line somewhere.

Only Gallize shifters faced the mating curse—that he knew of—which meant he’d be exposing all of them by saying too much. “I’m not at liberty to say. If I could I would tell you, but I would be breaking my word to people who depend on me. I only want to talk to Katelyn to see if I can answer her questions and help her past her panic over learning the man she wants to marry turns into a bear. If she doesn’t want anything to do with Sammy, I’ll accept that, but my people want her to know we’ll protect her at all costs to allow them this time together.”  He swallowed against his next words. “Sammy doesn’t have long.”

As he said all that, he realized something that didn’t fit in all of this. “How does Katelyn know you? I mean if she knows you, I don’t understand why she panicked at finding out Sammy was a shifter.”

A slow smile lifted the corners of Isabella’s mouth. “She didn’t know I was a shifter either. I met her two years ago at a festival. We bumped into each other and when she turned to apologize for not paying attention, she put her hand on my arm. The minute she touched me, I saw her life at a point in the future when she would be running from a bear. Visions aren’t literal, so I had no idea if the bear was trying to kill her or not. When we finished talking, I gave her a card and told her to contact me if she ever had a question no one else could answer.”

This woman was the only hope of talking to Katelyn.

He knew that as well as he knew his wolf.

Cole straightened up. Why was his wolf quiet? Not that he didn’t appreciate a moment of peace for this meeting, but that was unusual, especially standing this close to another shifter he didn’t know.

“Your wolf knows there is no threat here,” she said.

“Are you a mind reader?”

“No. Your face said it all. You were in a silent battle the minute you walked up. Your wolf was unsettled. Katelyn is Sammy’s cure, isn’t she?”

“Possibly.”

“Lie. You know she is. I’ve never encountered a shifter who had to mate to remain stable. I’ve heard of some that had to be put down, but they weren’t stable from adolescence. It had nothing to do with being mated. I’m not sure what you are, but now I understand my vision of the bear chasing Katelyn.”

“Will you help me contact Katelyn? I give you my word I will not try to force her to do anything. I just want to talk to her and maybe fill in any blanks you haven’t been able to in spite of being clairvoyant and a shifter.”  He wondered if she’d clarify what she was.

“Nice try, wolf. I have my secrets too. I’ll have Katelyn meet you tomorrow morning.”

He wanted to argue, but he’d met his match with this woman. If he was the kind of person who would harm her, which he wasn’t, he doubted torture would provide any more than she willingly gave up right now.

“I’ll give you a number in case she wants to talk sooner.”

“She won’t,” Isabella declared. “I’ll have her here Saturday morning at ten. She knows she’s safe with me. If anyone besides you comes near this property, I’ll know it and she’ll be in the wind. You’ll not get a second chance.”

“I won’t risk that happening.”

“I didn’t think so, but you’re special, which means someone will want you. Watch your back.”

He felt that warning in his bones, but he knew the Black River pack was after him. “I’ll call you if anything changes.”

“Nothing will change. You’ll be here. Don’t call. I won’t answer. I don’t like the phone and only answered because I knew it was for Katelyn.”

Isabella had to be a witch or a mage as well as a shifter. “If Katelyn decides to see Sammy and I convince her that she’ll be safe with me, will you allow her to leave?”

“I have no control over Katelyn. She will do as she pleases. I only watch over her because, once she called me, I put her under my protection.”

“You’re not going to tell me if you’re connected to any of the Power Baron houses, are you?”

“Most likely not, but you never know,” she answered cryptically.

“I’ll be back tomorrow then. Thank you for talking to me and helping me meet Katelyn.” The weight of failing Sammy lifted considerably as Cole turned to leave. He’d made it halfway down the steps when Isabella called out, “One more thing.”

Turning half around, he said, “Yes?”

“You can be cured, too. You have to learn to trust your wolf and set him free.”

Gray Wolf rumbled, Truth.

Worst advice ever.

Cole had lived with this beast for too many years to make the mistake of turning him loose now when, with every day that passed, Gray Wolf shoved Cole further and further into the background.

To be polite, Cole nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

She withdrew and pushed the door shut, but he could swear he heard a muffled, “Foolish wolf.”