Page 9

Between Payson’s nose and the tracks in the dirt, it didn’t take them long to locate where the horses had been loaded into a trailer. The ballsy thieves were only a couple of miles away from where the gang had camped.

If Ulkna hadn’t been so exhausted from making love and bonding with Trey, he figured he would’ve heard them, too.

The problem was, with it having been done hours before in the middle of the night, Ulkna was sort of in Dwayne’s corner. Just what the hell were they supposed to do with the information? While Ulkna could guess that the truck and trailer had been pointed in the direction they were headed, there was no guarantee they hadn’t turned around. Plus, how could they locate their destination beyond that?

“Now what?”

Trey asked softly, clearly wondering the same thing.

Payson tipped his head back and inhaled deeply.

“They used a stock trailer,”

he declared, shoving his hands into his jeans pockets.

“No storm or breeze last night. The air’s pretty stagnant.”

The hyena shifter focused on Sam.

“The smell of horse hide’s still pretty heavy in the air.”

“Can you track them?”

the big beta asked.

Grinning broadly, Payson waggled his brows.

“Does a bear fuck in the woods?”

Sam rolled his eyes.

“Not how the expression goes,”

he grumbled, turning back toward where a few of them had parked their bikes.

“Let’s go.”

Ulkna led the way to Lamar’s borrowed Goldwing. The peacock shifter had stayed behind with Yuma and Land. The trio were finishing packing up their stuff. Ryan swung up behind Sam, having left his motorcycle behind so they would have transportation to take their supplies to the rest of Kontra’s gang in town.

Since Ulkna was the smaller of the pair, he swung up behind Trey. He was more than happy to hang onto his handsome horse shifter as they cruised down the road. They followed behind the others, Payson in the lead sans helmet, with his head tilted, obviously tracking.

Honestly, it was the slowest Ulkna had ever seen the speed-loving hyena shifter ride his bullet bike.

They’d been traveling along the windy road for nearly an hour when Payson slowed to a stop...right in the middle of the road. Lifting his nose, he inhaled deeply. A frown creased his features.

“Lose the trail?”

Sam asked, sounding concerned.

“Maybe a crosswind took it out?”

Obviously, the beta was trying to be understanding.

Huffing in annoyance, Payson grumbled.

“Stay here, guys.”

He growled under his breath as he declared with a snarl.

“I’ll find it again.”

Ulkna relaxed on the backrest as Trey followed the other guys’ lead and wheeled them to the side of the road. He watched Payson gun his bike’s engine and streak down the road for a couple of hundred feet. Then the hyena shifter tipped his bike left, stuck out a foot, and swept his rear end around in a one-eighty before racing back toward them, his engine roaring uncomfortably in Ulkna’s ears.

“How is that shifter not deaf?”

Trey muttered, tugging his helmet off to rub his ears.

“Not a clue,”

Ulkna replied, peering over his shoulder to watch Payson.

The hyena shifter slowed and began weaving all over the two-lane road. He swerved from one side to the other. It was a damn good thing there wasn’t any traffic so early in the morning.

Finally, Payson stopped nearly a hundred yards behind them and got off his bike. He stalked toward a closed yellow gate—the kind parks and recreation employees used to access federal land not open to the public for one reason or another. Standing before it, Payson took a deep breath. With a clearly pleased grin, he looked back toward them and pointed down the narrow gravel road.

The group U-turned and drove to the closed gate.

“Any idea where this leads?”

Sam asked, turning to glance between Trey and Reagan.

Trey shook his head.

“No, sorry.”

His mate looked at Reagan, who was seated behind Hunter.

“Any ideas?”

Reagan opened his mouth, then closed it again. Furrowing his brows, he cocked his head, clearly thinking. Finally, he stated hesitantly.

“If this is the access road I think it is, then there’s nowhere for them to go down there.”

Reagan scowled as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“This accesses a staging area that’s used by maintenance crews to keep a section of hiking trails cleared.”

“Why would it be closed?”

Sam asked what Ulkna was wondering.

“You sure there’s no other outlet?”

“Well, they closed all those hiking trails due to the archaeological dig.”

Reagan pointed further down the road.

“That’s accessed by a road five miles up that way.”

Shaking his head, Reagan confirmed.

“And nope. One way in and out.”

“Could they access the archaeological dig by horseback from here?”

Hunter asked, peering over his shoulder at Reagan.

“Well, sure,”

Reagan replied.

“But why when there’s a perfectly good road that leads right to it that way?”

He pointed up the road again, clearly confused.

Huh. Trey’s nephew has such a good heart.

“Is the road into the dig monitored?”

Ulkna asked, arching a brow pointedly.

Reagan frowned.

“Yes, of course.”

Groaning, Sam obviously caught on to what Ulkna was suggesting.

“Guys that steal horses aren’t above stealing priceless artifacts.”

Waving a big hand toward the gate, he added.

“And if this is supposed to be locked, no one is going to suspect that this is where they took the horses.”

Ryan nodded slowly, obviously following his mate’s logic.

“All they have to do is wait a day or so for the police activity to die down. Then they load whatever they want onto the horses, bring it back up here, and drive away with it.”

“Is the gate open?”

Sam asked Payson.

Payson inspected the gate. He even gave it a little jerk for good measure. Then he shook his head. “Locked.”

“There’s an inside man,”

Ryan surmised.

“Could be,”

Hunter agreed.

“Or someone with light fingers.”

Reagan scowled.

“Light fingers?”

Ulkna smiled.

“A pickpocket,”

he explained. Going further, he added.

“Or someone suave and skilled enough to lift them from a semi-secure park ranger cabin or office.”

“Well, best go and see if we’re right,”

Sam stated, turning to help Ryan from the bike. Then he glanced around, hesitating.

“We need somewhere to hide the bikes. If anyone comes around here, we don’t want to make it obvious someone’s looking into the area.”

Pointing up the road, Reagan told them.

“There’s a hiking trailhead in that direction. You could park them there.”

Payson frowned as he cocked his head.

“Didn’t you say the trails in this stretch of the canyon were closed?”

Reagan nodded even as he explained.

“This trail heads away from the canyon into boulder country.”

He pointed at the tall bluffs behind them.

“The trail leads to a viewpoint that offers a stunning panoramic view. Great for photos.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Sam began wheeling his motorcycle back onto the road.

“Payson, get on your bike unless you want Ryan to drive it.”

Even as Payson’s eyes rounded in clear dismay, Ryan rubbed his hands together, his expression turning gleeful, as he took a step toward the hyena shifter’s bright yellow bullet bike.

“No, no.”

Payson rushed back to his motorcycle and swung aboard.

“I’m comin’.”

Ryan tipped his head back and laughed.

Sam smirked as Hunter chuckled.

Even Ulkna couldn’t help but chortle a little. He’d never heard of anyone else riding the man’s bike. Clearly, he wasn’t a fan of sharing the powerful machine.

“Ryan, stay here with Ulkna and Reagan,”

Sam ordered, waving toward the closed gate.

“Stay under cover. We’ll be back as quickly as we can.”

Ulkna didn’t like being separated from Trey, but it wasn’t as if he could go against the gang beta. After swinging off the Goldwing, he pulled off his helmet. He held it in one hand while cradling Trey’s nape with the other and leaning in for a kiss.

It was a little awkward since Trey was still wearing his helmet, but Ulkna didn’t care. He slipped his tongue into his mate’s mouth and took his time. It wasn’t until a couple of the guys chuckled that Ulkna brought the kiss to an end.

“Aww...newly mated shifters,”

Payson teased, snickering while grinning broadly.

“As if you’re not like that with Land every second of the day,”

Ryan pointed out as he slung what was clearly a gun case over his shoulder.

“And you’ve been mated for years.”

Where the hell had he been carrying that on the motorcycle?

Land just grinned unabashedly as he brought his bike roaring to life.

“See you shortly,”

Sam claimed before leading the way in the direction Reagan had indicated.

A second later, Trey took the lead, having probably shared that he knew the trailhead Reagan had indicated.

Once the five bikes were out of sight, Ulkna followed Ryan around the gate. He ducked into some trees off to the side, found a rock, and settled in to wait. Appearing ill at ease, Reagan parked his ass on a rock nearby. Ryan decided to find a sturdy tree and shimmied up, perching on a forked limb, clearly keeping a look-out.

“So, uh...you think grave robbers stole our horses?”

Reagan asked quietly.

“Maybe,”

Ulkna replied, unwilling to commit without having more information.

“Why?”

“There’s a lot of money in archaeological artifacts,”

Ryan commented from above them.

“Even without provenance.”

“Provenance?”

Reagan looked up at the ex-military human, his brows scrunching in obvious confusion.

“What’s that?”

“Paperwork that proves where it came from,”

Ryan explained.

“It’s meant to authenticate it.”

“Oh.”

Frowning, Reagan glanced between them.

“Well, shouldn’t we call the cops then?”

“This is just a hunch,”

Ryan told him.

“No proof.”

Then he scoffed before adding.

“Plus, how the hell would we explain how we came up with our theory of the horse trailer being taken down here?”

Peering down at Reagan, Ryan gave him a wolfish grin.

“A little hard to explain that our hyena shifter friend has a nose better than a bloodhound and could smell the horses even as he drove his motorcycle.”

Reagan’s eyes widened.

“Hyena! That guy’s a hyena?”

“Yup,”

Ryan quipped back.

That was when Ulkna realized that he hadn’t actually told Trey what any of the gang members shifted into. Hiding a grimace, he hoped his mate didn’t have a problem running with predators. Of course, Payson was more likely to bounce around Trey’s legs like a playful puppy than to attempt harm.

“Huh.”

Reagan eyed Ulkna, then Ryan.

“So...what are you guys?”

Trey’s nephew winced, and a pink hue began to creep up his neck and into his cheeks.

“I know it’s bad form to ask that sort of thing, but since you guys were sharing, I figured—”

Reagan paused and waved his hand as if uncertain how to finish that thought.

Ulkna scoffed lightly as Ryan offered a reassuring smile.

“We don’t mind,”

the beta’s mate assured.

“It’s okay when you’re amidst friends.”

Pointing to his own chest, Ulkna shared.

“I share my psyche with a coral snake.”

He pointed up at the tree.

“Ryan’s human.”

“A c-coral snake?”

Reagan stiffened and even leaned a little away from him, eyeing him askance. “Really?”

Not taking offense, Ulkna smirked at him.

“Not a fan of snakes?”

Grimacing, Reagan shook his head.

“Was bit by a rattler a couple of years ago.”

His cheeks darkened even further.

“Made me a little leery of them.”

Ulkna nodded.

“Understandable. Venomous snake bites hurt.”

Then he grinned broadly.

“Or so I’ve heard.”

Reagan nodded as he mumbled, “Sure do.”

The sound of hooves beating the dirt drew Ulkna’s attention to the road. Before he could spot what was making the sound, Ryan chuckled.

“Well, now,”

he murmured dryly.

“There’s somethin’ ya don’t see every day.”

When the group came into view around the bend, Ulkna had to agree.

Sam, Trey, and Payson were in animal form and were jogging steadily toward them—loping and bouncing in Payson’s case. Reuben rode Sam’s large, Texas longhorn bull, whooping with a hand in the air as if he was bull riding. If a bull could appear exasperated, Sam was pulling it off nicely.

Hunter sat atop Trey’s quarter horse form. His shoulders were tense, his body stiff, and he was holding onto Trey’s mane in a white-knuckled grip as if his life depended on it. The man had even caught his bottom lip between his teeth.

While Ulkna had heard that Hunter was trained as a large animal vet before joining the gang, and he’d claimed to know how to ride, that knowledge evidently didn’t extend to going bareback.

Ryan chuckled as he jumped down from the tree.

“Lookin’ good there, handsome,”

he told Sam’s bull as the large animal stopped next to him. He even pecked a kiss to the beast’s snout before looking up at Reuben.

“Slide back, man. I’m getting in front of ya.”

As Reuben obeyed, Ulkna eyed their make-shift transportation and shook his head.

“No sense either of you trying to carry three of us. I’ll shift and curl up on Payson’s back.”

With a smirk at the startled-looking hyena, he challenged.

“You won’t mind carrying me in shifted form, right?”

After a second of hesitation, Payson cackle-yipped before easing to his belly, obviously accepting the dare.

Ulkna grinned back, told Reagan to hand Rueben his clothes, seeing as he was wearing a backpack, and shifted.