Page 7

Chapter

Six

K NOX

The gray light of dawn cast long shadows as I turned away from Danny’s house and padded into the woods. I shouldn’t have come. It wasn’t right to watch over him this way. Sure, we’d been messaging each other for a week now, but we hadn’t spoken in person since that morning in the bakery, and he’d given no indication he wanted that to change.

I should be keeping a respectful distance, not running a perimeter check around his house every morning to make sure he was safe. What if he smelled me? I was adept at concealing my tracks, but shifters had enhanced senses. One day, he might notice that I’d been nearby.

Keeping low to the ground, I circled around the outside of the Grizzly Ridge township, searching for anything that didn’t belong. That was the second part of my new daily routine. Once I’d established that all was right with Danny, I double-checked the safety of his hometown as a whole.

This morning, my breath fogged in the cold air as I moved but I didn’t come across any unfamiliar scents or traces of magic. I couldn’t see magic, but I could usually sense if it had been used recently.

As I reached the side of town farthest from Danny’s house, my hackles went up. Something was out of place. I paused, scanning my surroundings. Nothing looked amiss, and I didn’t have the restless, prickling sensation that would accompany magic usage, so it must be something more mundane.

I weaved between the trees and my ears pricked up. As I rounded a particularly thick tree trunk, a small cabin came into view. Belly to the ground, I watched it for movement.

Nothing stirred.

I nudged the ground with my nose and sniffed, then stiffened. I sniffed again. I recognized those scents. I’d become familiar with them while I was in Moonlight Cove, assisting the rogue wolf Tomas with his ill-conceived kidnapping attempt.

Wriggling closer, I drew as much of the scent as possible into my lungs. They were recent, but not too recent. Likely several hours old. Had the wolves been out here in the dead of night?

I stayed there, motionless, and counted off the minutes. Thanks to my military training, I was used to remaining still and bored for long periods of time without fidgeting.

There wasn’t so much as a rustle inside, and eventually, I decided that the wolves probably weren’t here anymore. With a quick look around to check for threats, I emerged into the small clearing and approached the front door.

It stood ajar. I pressed myself against the wall beside it and stayed as silent as possible. When there was no reaction from anyone inside, I nudged the door farther open. The latch was still in place, but the wood around it had shattered. They must have broken the door to gain entry.

I edged inside, the tension leaving me when I confirmed that the one-room cabin was empty. Bunk beds lined the side wall, with a kitchen counter on the other, and considering how cold it was, the door must have been open for a while.

The pantry stood ajar. I nosed my way inside. It was empty, but the scent of dried packaged food was strong enough that I knew the pantry had recently been full. The wolves that had broken in must have stolen the food.

I hesitated, wondering what to do. In most cases, I wouldn’t worry too much about someone who’d broken into an apparently unoccupied place to steal food. Most likely, they were hungry and they hadn’t really hurt anyone. But the rogue wolf pack could be dangerous, and I had a mate to think about now.

With a wolfy grimace, I paced back out of the cabin and hurried toward town. I couldn’t afford to let this go unnoticed in case the wolves’ presence posed a threat to Danny.

I went straight to the police station. As soon as I entered, I crossed to the reception desk and changed forms. I knew from prior visits that the receptionist was a shifter and wouldn’t be bothered by my nudity.

“There’s been a break-in at a cabin just outside of town,” I told her. “Nobody hurt, as far as I can tell, but they emptied the pantry and possibly took a few other things.”

The receptionist nodded, her upper lip curled at the corner. Perhaps she hadn’t forgiven me for barging past her when Milo had been kidnapped.

“I’ll tell the sheriff. He just got in. Wait here. He’ll probably have questions.”

She stood and disappeared down the corridor. When she reemerged, Zander was on her tail, his country boy hat firmly in place despite the early hour.

“You found a cabin that has been broken into?” Zander asked, his craggy face creased as he raised his eyebrows .

“Yeah. I can take you there, if you like. Although it’ll have to be on foot. I’m not sure how to get there by road.”

Zander gestured toward the wall, and when I turned, I noticed a large-scale map of Grizzly Ridge and the surrounding area taped in place. “Would you be able to show me on there?”

I studied the map, noting the major landmarks. My time in the army had taught me many skills, including the ability to read maps.

“I couldn’t give you the exact location, but it’s around here,” I said, indicating an area with the tip of my finger.

“Probably the Hadlow place,” he mused, rubbing his neatly shaved chin. “I’ll drive us there, and if I’ve got it wrong, then you can lead me to the actual site on foot.”

I nodded. “If we’re staying in our human skins, is there any chance you could loan me a pair of pants?”

Shifters might not mind nudity, but I didn’t want my balls rubbing all over the seats of his police cruiser. Gods only knew what else might have touched them.

Five minutes later, clad in borrowed sweatpants and a Grizzly Ridge Sheriff’s Department T-shirt, I sat in the passenger seat of Zander’s cruiser as he drove out of town and turned onto a narrow, winding road that turned to gravel partway along. The trees were familiar, so I assumed he’d been right in his guess as to the site of the break-in.

I leaned against the door and gazed out the windshield. “I recognized some of the scents.”

Zander didn’t look at me. “From where?”

“My time in Moonlight Cove.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his jaw tighten.

“Wolves?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“Damn. Are you certain?”

I waved my hand back and forth. “The scents were definitely familiar. I’m ninety percent sure they belong to the rogue wolf pack, but they could also have been other wolves from Moonlight Cove, if there are lone wolves who live there.”

He pulled up outside the cabin and stopped the car. “This is it?”

I grunted in the affirmative.

“Thought so.” He paused, tapping on the steering wheel. “I’ll send a deputy to look around Moonlight Cove. Real casual-like.”

“Tell them to be careful.” I didn’t want any harm coming to someone Danny might care about.

“Will do.” Zander grabbed the door handle and started to pull it, but then paused. “Have you had any luck with Danny yet?”

I pressed my lips together, reluctant to answer. “We’ve talked some, but if it’s all the same to you, I won’t say any more than that. If Danny hasn’t mentioned it to you, then I’m not going to air his laundry. He deserves privacy.”