Page 96 of The Tracker's Secret

I opened my mouth to speak, but Jake beat me to it.

“So you never saw the second wolf?”

“Uh, no. Just Blake, but—” I was about to tell him that I wasn’t here to talk about last night, but he interrupted me again.

“And you’re not hurt?”

I shook my head. “I already told you. I’m fine.”

He frowned, puzzled. “I’m impressed, Toni. It’s not just anyone who can take on a werewolf. Poisoned bullets or not.”

“Well, um, it wasn’t just the gun.”

He leaned forward, wincing a little. “No?”

“No. There’s something else, something I’ve been meaning to tell you.”

“And what is that?”

“Jake, I’m a—”

The door to the sitting room swung open, and Bones bounded in, wagging his tail. Walter appeared next, a woman by his side.

“Look who just got here, Jake,” the old man said.

I recognized the newcomer immediately as the blonde Jake had taken as a date to Eric’s party. She wore a sundress with a sweetheart neckline to enhance her ample boobs and a pair of blocky, rattan wedges that brought her to my height. Her silky straight hair fell past her bare shoulders and shone with perfect highlights.

Jake sprang to his feet, his eyes wide, the soreness on his side forgotten. I remained seated, unable to move, my mind reeling with possibilities. What was she doing here? But more importantly, why did Walter look like the cat that ate the canary?

“Allison,” Jake said, “I didn’t know you were coming.”

The blonde seemed reluctant to come in at first, but with an encouraging nod from Walter, she put on a big smile and sashayed into the room.

“I wanted to check on you,Jakie,” she said, adding the nickname with an edge of mean amusement in her voice. “Your grandfather told me what happened, and I was worried.”

Jake smiled stiffly. “No reason to worry. I’m doing all right, but thank you. Maybe you two can wait for me in the kitchen while I finish here.”

The chicken-shit part of me wanted to say that I could come back later, but Red decided I wasn’t going anywhere. I was staying put.

“Where are your manners, Jake?” Walter said with a friendliness that hadn’t been there before. “Aren’t you going to introduce your fiancée to Ms. Sunder?”

Jake choked. I choked. Even Allison seemed to wince at the word “fiancée.”

“Never mind, I’ll do it.” Walter waved a hand in the air. “Ms. Sunder, this is Allison Blackridge.”

I stood up slowly, her last name ringing in my ears like doomsday bells.

Blackridge. Blackridge. Blackridge.

My expression hardened in unison with my heart.

“Blackridge?” I said with a smile that Red quickly procured from the coldest part of my soul. “As in the Blackridge pack?”

“The very same one,” Walter said, showing all his teeth like a damn skeleton.

A chill rippled down my spine, turning me to ice.

“I know someone from your pack,” I said, my voice a distant echo. “DJ Slice, Aaron Blackridge, I worked with him recently.”