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Trey was pretty sure he wasn’t the only one who spotted the way Dwayne narrowed his eyes in disbelief.

“Well, thank you.”

The dark-haired wrangler stepped forward and held out his hand, obviously asking for the end of the belt.

“Didn’t think there were any campgrounds in the area.”

Ulkna scoffed as he shook his head.

“Naw, there aren’t,”

he replied, grinning. Clearly unabashed, he claimed.

“One of the guys’ motorcycles broke down, so we wheeled it into the woods. Then a few of us camped out to make certain nothing happened to it while the rest headed to town to source out parts.”

Handing over his belt end, Ulkna indicated Trey.

“He’s a friendly guy, so wasn’t too hard to catch.”

“So, uh, we’re only down three, officer,”

Silas stated into the phone.

“Yeah, one was just returned to us.”

After a pause, he added.

“By a guy who took a trail ride with us yesterday. Said he found him wandering and recognized him.”

Silas listened to whatever the officer on the phone was saying to him before turning his attention to Ulkna.

“The officer wants to know if you can stick around until they get someone out here, give a statement, then show us where you found our horse.”

“Yeah, sure,”

Ulkna agreed, sounding amicable.

“I’ll just need to phone my friends so they know what’s keeping me, but I’m happy to help.”

His brows furrowed as he glanced around the group, feigning ignorance.

“You’re missing more than just this handsome guy?”

Ulkna rubbed a hand over Trey’s neck affectionately.

Trey didn’t want to be led away from his mate, yet, and balked. Turning, he nuzzled Ulkna’s shoulder.

Ulkna chuckled and rubbed his forehead.

“Like I said. He’s a friendly fellow.”

Then he furrowed his brows, and his expression turned thoughtful.

“You know, I thought I heard a bit of a commotion down the road a piece from where me and the guys were camped out.”

Crossing his arms, Ulkna hummed.

“That was about...two AM.”

Trey wondered if that was true, but had no way to ask. At that moment, he suddenly had the odd wish that his mate was a vampire instead of a fellow shifter. If he had been, they would’ve ended up having a mind-link upon bonding, giving them the ability to speak telepathically with each other.

Immediately, a bit of guilt hit him.

Never mind. My mate is perfect just the way he is.

Hell, Trey would never second-guess Fate.

Silas had hung up the phone and tapped the back of his hand against Dwayne’s chest.

“Hey, maybe that’s where they were taken to be loaded.”

Turning his attention to Ulkna, Silas asked.

“Think you can show us where you found Bubba? Bet he got away from the thieves, and that’s how you ended up finding him.”

Silas kept adding to his line of thinking.

“Maybe we can find the direction they were taking them.”

Looking dubious, Dwayne asked.

“What would be the point of that?”

Shrugging, Silas muttered.

“Maybe we could get an idea of about the size of the trailer or something.”

“Right.”

Dwayne scoffed.

“You do that.”

He pointed back at the corrals.

“I’ll be right here getting ready for the first ride and waiting for the police.”

Then Dwayne began urging Trey forward once more. Following, he tipped his head a bit to watch those they were leaving.

Silas grimaced, appearing uncertain.

“Hey, what’s going on?”

Reagan called, trotting toward them.

“You guys are here early.”

“I woke up and checked our security cameras, same as I do every morning,”

Dwayne told him, frowning.

“Saw a number of horses missing.”

Pointing his thumb over his shoulder at Trey, he continued.

“Saw that this end paddock was empty.”

Dwayne frowned in the empty paddock’s direction.

“Didn’t realize you put Bubba in with Glen, Pixie, and Shirley.”

Trey knew he was referring to the trio—a gelding and two mares, respectively—that typically occupied that paddock each evening.

“Damn,”

Reagan muttered, frowning. He glanced between Ulkna and Trey and back again. “Uh.”

His attention snagged on the belt around Trey’s neck, causing his eyebrows to lift a notch.

“Uh, and I’m sorry. You look familiar, but—”

Reagan’s voice ended in a clear question.

Obviously, Trey’s nephew had no idea how to finish that without giving away the fact that he knew exactly who Ulkna was.

“I’m Ulkna,”

his mate jumped in, holding out his hand.

“Was here yesterday.”

As Reagan shook his hand while nodding once, Ulkna continued.

“Spotted this fella and returned him.”

“Oh. Okay.”

Reagan was clearly at a loss for words.

“He’s willing to show us where,”

Silas commented, his expression still troubled, and he no longer sounded so confident about his idea.

“But we need to get ready for the day, and...maybe I should be here since I’m the one who called the cops.”

“I’ll go with him,”

Reagan stated, pivoting. As he began jogging toward the barn, he called over his shoulder.

“I’ll grab a halter for Bubba. We’ll ride bareback and double on him. It’ll be quicker.”

Trey was pleased by that plan and happily acquiesced to Dwayne’s light tug on the end of Ulkna’s belt.

“I’ll start feeding,”

Silas stated and began throwing hay to the remaining waiting horses.

“I’m going to see if the security footage saved,”

Dwayne stated, handing the belt to Ulkna.

“Maybe it’ll show something.”

Reagan nodded as he returned with a halter and lead rope.

“Keep me posted,”

he ordered as he slipped the halter over Trey’s head and buckled it into place.

“And I’ll let you know if we find anything.”

Then Reagan handed Ulkna his belt, and he quickly threaded it through the loops around his waist.

Dwayne grunted, but that wasn’t anything new. The wrangler really wasn’t much of a morning person. With him out there so early, Trey was surprised he wasn’t carrying a massive travel mug of coffee.

It was a good thing Trey had never bothered developing a taste for the fragrant drink. With him living as a horse, he probably would’ve really missed it. Instead, he was more than happy with the bucket of lemon water Reagan offered him every day.

Mmmmmm...lemonade.

The feel of Reagan tossing the lead rope over his neck returned Trey’s attention to where it should be—the paddocks and the missing horses. His nephew had tied the end of the lead rope through the opposite side of the halter, creating make-shift reins. It wasn’t as if Trey was going to try to run off or anything.

Noting the way Reagan gripped his mane near his withers, Trey squared up his legs, readying himself. With a bounce and swing, his nephew leaped onto his back. He settled himself, using his thighs to squeeze lightly to secure his position.

Then Reagan reached down with his left hand. Without hesitation, Ulkna gripped Reagan—their hands clasping each other’s forearms—and jumped up behind him. Trey felt Ulkna shift his weight a little, apparently finding a comfortable position.

“Ready,”

Ulkna muttered.

Obviously taking him at his word, Reagan squeezed Trey’s sides with his calves as he used the lead rope like reins and asked him to turn toward the far paddock and the forest. Trey began walking. Easily handling the weight of the men, he felt the way they moved with him, and if he’d been in human form, he would have smiled.

Ulkna definitely hadn’t been kidding about his horsemanship abilities. His mate moved with him with ease. Reagan did as well, but Ulkna had taken his nephew on rides plenty of times, and he was familiar with the man’s movements.

Trey didn’t even bother waiting for Reagan’s signal and began trotting, taking them back the way he and Ulkna had so recently come.

Once they were a distance into the trees, Reagan asked.

“You wanna tell me what the hell is going on, Ulkna?”

As Trey jogged through the woods, Ulkna explained the little bit they knew. Once back near their campsite, he slowed to a walk. The sound of several guys chatting could be heard through the trees.

“Why am I up this early?”

Payson whined, sounding grumpy as hell.

“I wanted morning sex with Land.”

“I need you to track Ulkna and Trey,”

Sam responded, sounding a little exasperated, as if he’d already explained once.

“We need to know—”

“No tracking necessary,”

Payson grumbled, cutting in.

“They’re right—”

His words were cut off by the distinctive sound of a yawn.

When Trey entered the small clearing, which still contained their tent, he watched as a grumpy-looking Payson lowered his hand from his mouth, having obviously finished yawning.

Trey would have laughed had he been in human form.

“Ulkna,”

Sam rumbled, striding toward where Trey stopped.

“I received a call from Alpha Kontra. He says Vail and Draven overheard chatter on the police band about a cop being dispatched to the trail guide business.”

The man’s frown caused Sam’s scarred cheek to twist oddly as he asked.

“What the hell is going on?”

“Stolen horses,”

Ulkna revealed, slipping from Trey’s back to land on his feet.

“Not this one,”

he added, snickering as he patted Trey’s flank.

“Any of the guys hear a commotion last night?”

“Let’s go ask.”

Sam glanced at Trey and ordered.

“Shift and come,”

before pivoting and heading toward the trees.

As soon as Reagan slipped from his back, Trey began to shift. He’d just finished changing form when a pair of sweatpants were being dangled in front of his face. Lifting his gaze, Trey found Ulkna standing before him, holding them, and the other three men were heading away from them.

Grinning, Trey swiped the sweats from Ulkna’s fingers. “Thanks.”

He quickly yanked them on before pecking a kiss to his thoughtful mate’s lips.

Ulkna winked as he grabbed Trey’s hand and threaded their fingers together.

“Wasn’t totally altruistic,”

he admitted as he led the way after the others.

“Didn’t want to share the view any more than necessary.”

“I get it.”

Trey squeezed Ulkna’s hand in understanding.

“You’re a coral snake, so not real big, right?”

Seeing his mate nod, he smirked and told him.

“I guess I got lucky then.”

Arching a brow, Ulkna asked.

“How do you mean?”

Trey grinned at his clearly confused mate.

“Well, I’ll only have to worry about your nudity when you shift back to human form.”

Raking his lover with a lascivious gaze, he pointed out.

“You can shift while clothed and slither out.”

To Trey’s pleasure, Ulkna barked a laugh as he nodded.

“True enough.”

Reaching the secluded area where the rest of the group had camped for the night, Trey peered around at the men milling about. Some were tending fires, while others prepared food and drink. A few more were taking down their tents and cleaning up their supplies.

All in all, the group appeared to be keeping everything tidy.

Trey bet that when they were done, there would be little to no trace of them having been there.

Huh. A conscientious shifter gang.

Sam was already calling attention to himself, sharing about the missing horses. Everyone exchanged glances even as they continued with their tasks when Sam asked if anyone had heard anything during the night. After a minute, Ryan rose from near a fire, holding a...teapot.

“Uh, yeah, actually,”

Ryan claimed, his dark brows furrowing.

“I did. Around about three-fifteen this morning.”

Looking concerned, Sam asked.

“Having trouble sleeping?”

“Not due to dreams, handsome,”

Ryan replied with a warm smile, obviously catching on to Sam’s concern. Then he shrugged, his expression turning wry.

“Just had to piss.”

Clearly relieved, Sam headed to his human mate and slipped his arm around his waist.

“Okay. What did you hear, babe?”

Ryan blew out a quiet breath, narrowing his eyes as he stared at the teapot.

“Well...there was a bit of thumping and some snuffling of animals,”

he began. He absently thanked Yuma, who handed him a metal mug. As Ryan poured the tea into the cup, he added.

“Then I heard what sounded like a couple of different voices on the wind, followed by the sound of a diesel engine.”

Handing off the teapot to Lamar, Ryan used his cup to point east.

“The noise came from that direction.”

Sam nodded. “Okay.”

He pecked a kiss to Ryan’s temple as his human took a tentative sip of his drink. Then he glanced around the group.

“Payson and Ryan, you’re with me.”

Sam pointed in Trey’s direction.

“You three, come with us. Let’s see what we can find.”

As everyone began to move, the beta scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“Yes, Reuben, as long as Lamar doesn’t mind, you can come, too.”

The human in question grinned broadly and, after pecking a kiss to Lamar’s lips, began shoveling his breakfast into his mouth.