Page 7

SIX

Jensen

“I thought your shift was earlier today,” Harris says as we join them on patrol.

“It was. Griffin asked us to join you guys. They’ve gotten a report about some sightings in this area,” I tell him.

“I haven’t heard or seen anything yet,” Harris says.

We all pause, our eyes and ears straining, but all we hear is the wind.

“Where’s Logan?” Miles asks.

“He got a call. He went that way,” Harris replies, pointing to the west.

“Should we fan out a bit?” I suggest.

Harris nods. “I’ll take this section.”

He points toward where Loan went, and Miles and I head in the other direction.

“What’s your plan with Dillon?” Miles asks.

I take a deep breath. “Just show up for her. If I consistently prove myself to her, I hope she’ll let her guard down around me.”

“Might take a while,” he points out.

“I know, but she’s worth it.”

That’s when we hear it.

Footsteps.

We tense, scanning the forest in front of us.

Two men step out from the trees.

“Red Fog,” Miles snarls.

My wolf growls. I look over at Miles, waiting to see if he’ll shift.

“Twisted Oak,” one of the men says in disgust, his lip curling as he stares at us.

My wolf begs to be let out to deal with them. I’m about to shift when Harris and Logan sprint up next to Miles and me. The Red Fog members’ gazes dart between the four of us as we circle them, closing the distance between us. By the time they decide to attack us, it’s too late.

One of the men swings at Harris, but Miles grabs his arm and swings it behind his back.

“You can’t win this,” he screams at Miles.

I snort. “We just did.”

I look over to see Logan and Harris have restrained the other man with zip ties. Harris hands me some, and I zip-tie our guy’s hands behind his back while Miles holds him still.

“Where are we putting them?” I ask Logan.

“The prison,” he replies. “You want us to take them, or you want to go?”

“We’ll go. We should check in at the firehouse while we’re in town.”

“Sounds good. Be safe,” Harris says.

We march the two struggling men toward town.

Tucker and Crew are leaving the police station as we approach. They grin when they see the two grumpy men with us.

“Two more to be locked up?” Crew asks.

Miles nods. “Yeah. Have you had a lot of others today?”

“Oh, yeah. We’re almost at capacity. We were on our way to talk to the Alphas and see where we were supposed to put any Red Fog members captured today.”

I nod. “Tell them we’re headed back out to help with patrol.”

We hand the guys off to Tucker and Crew to secure, then cross the street to the fire station, where a few volunteer firefighters are on duty.

They tense up the moment we step inside, but their shoulders ease when they realize it’s us.

Everyone’s on edge. The whole pack is holding its breath until the Red Fog Pack is dealt with and we’ve laid our dead to rest.

“All good here?” Miles asks the guys.

“It’s been quiet,” one of the volunteers replies. “We’ve had reports of the Red Fog Pack members crossing by the old Malin house. I guess they’re using the path there to sneak across.”

“We’ll head there, then,” Miles says.

“You might want to bring some supplies.” The volunteer tosses me a medic bag.

I thank him, and Miles and I head out.

“Maybe we should stop at home and check on our mates,” Miles suggests.

“We need to help. We’re off duty in three hours, so we can go home for the night. Let’s get this over with.”

He sighs and nods.

We head for the Malin house. The Red Fog Pack didn’t burn any of the homes in this area, and now we know why—we would’ve seen the path they were using.

We set up on the right side of the house, and I pass Miles a water bottle from the medic bag. I twist the cap on my water bottle and chug half of it as I catch my breath.

“Maybe it would help Dillon if she talked to other shifters,” Miles suggests. “There are other human mates in town. We could introduce them, and they could explain how it felt for them.”

“Yeah, that might be a good idea.”

“We can ask Harris’s and Logan’s mates. Or Tucker’s and Crew’s.”

“Maybe. I just… I don’t think it’s the shifter part that’s tripping her up. I think it’s me. I didn’t give her a choice before I bit her, and no matter what I say, nothing can change that.”

“She’ll come around,” he assures me.

I smile tightly. “I hope so.”

My wolf paws at me, and we freeze when we see the men crossing onto our pack’s land.

“They have guns,” Miles whispers.

I grit my teeth. “Shift?”

He nods, and we pull off our clothes as we watch the other pack. As soon as they step out of the forest, we shift and charge toward them, catching them off guard. They didn’t realize we knew about their “secret” path.

I growl as one of them aims a gun at Miles. My paws dig into the dirt as I hurtle toward him and bite down on his outstretched arm, my teeth sinking into his flesh.

The man shrieks as I roll my body, twisting his arm until I hear bones and ligaments tear. I release his arm and go for his throat. He sprawls in the dirt, his arm dangling uselessly at his side. When he reaches for the gun with his good hand, I bite down on his throat.

He cries out weakly, and I watch the life leave his eyes. I don’t like killing, but I’ll do anything to keep my pack safe.

I see Miles fighting with the other man. He’s bigger, but his gun has fallen to the ground, and now he has a knife. He stabs it at Miles, who narrowly dodges the blade.

I snarl, launching myself at the man. Together, Miles and I take him down. Miles goes for his throat while I bite the hand holding the knife. He drops it, and when I look up, I see he’s dead.

Mile and I spin around as footsteps approach behind us, our fur standing on end, our teeth bared.

“Easy. It’s just us,” Griffin says.

We both relax as our Alphas appear and shift back to our human forms. I look down to see blood smeared all over my body.

“You guys are a mess,” Ryker comments.

“Good job,” Griffin says as he takes in the two dead men lying behind us. “Those two were pretty high up in the Red Fog Pack.”

“They have weapons now. They’re getting braver,” Miles says.

“Or maybe their numbers are dwindling,” I suggest.

“I’m guessing it’s the latter,” Ryker says.

“We’re here to take over for you two,” Griffin says. “You’ve been on duty since midnight. Why don’t you head home to your mates? We’ll take it from here.”

“Are you sure?” I ask.

“We’ve got it,” Griffin assures me.

“Let us know if you need anything,” Miles says.

“Will do. Now go rest up,” Ryker orders.

We head off, leaving the medic bag with them in case they need it later.

We’re silent as we head back to the townhouse, exhausted from the long day. I hear our mates giggling as we walk up the front porch steps, and my wolf relaxes inside me.

Miles walks in ahead of me, and I listen to see what floor the girls are on.

“Second,” Miles says.

I nod, jogging up the stairs, and smile when I see Dillon dancing in the living room. Her red hair bounces, and her curves sway temptingly as she wiggles her hips from side to side.

My wolf licks his lips as she turns and our eyes lock.

“Oh, my god!” she shouts, her green eyes panicked as she rushes toward me.

“What happened?” Mabel asks Miles.

“The blood,” Dillon says, her hands running over me. “Where is it coming from? We have to stop it! We have to go to the hospital!”

I love that she’s so concerned for me. I love the sensation of her hands on my body and almost don’t want to tell her what happened so she’ll keep fussing over me.

“It’s not my blood,” I tell her. “Well, most of it isn’t.”

She frowns. “What happened?”

“It’s a long story.”

“We need to get you cleaned up and see if anything needs bandaging.”

My wolf rolls over inside me, happy to simply be near her.

I smirk. “We?”

She rolls her eyes. “Yes. We.”

My smirk becomes a grin as she takes my hand and leads me upstairs.