Page 10 of Tracking the Alpha (Project Therianthrope #1)

Tanis knelt to dig around in the leaves, which had masked the scent of her gear.

A wasted effort since he’d been tracking her from the moment they met.

He’d not spent long in his cave before seeking her out.

He’d been unable to get her out of his mind.

For days now, he’d been silently shadowing.

Watching. Smelling. Craving something he couldn’t define.

And, no, it wasn’t sex he wanted from her, not exactly.

That would have been gross, seeing as how he was basically a dog at the time.

But something about Tanis drew him, like metal to a magnet.

No matter how quietly she moved, he could always find her, and when the coyote attacked, despite the fact he’d been a few hundred yards away, on his way to seek out the reason for gunshots, he’d sensed the danger.

Found himself racing unerringly for Tanis and arriving just in time.

He’d never felt such rage as when he’d seen that coyote atop her.

Tanis pivoted from her sack and held out a roll of fabric. “Here’s the blanket.”

Grabbing it from her required taking a few steps. He’d look dumb cupping his junk while shuffling so he let his hands fall to his side and with shoulders back strutted. To her credit, her expression remained neutral and her gaze locked with his.

A good thing or she might have noticed he wasn’t exactly shriveled. What could he say? Now that he was a man again, with manly urges, he couldn’t help but notice the curves on her.

The moment Barrett snagged the blanket, he shook it out and whirled it around his loins. How strange to have cloth touching his skin after wearing fur for so long. As he tied it off, she reached back into her bag before extending her hand.

He eyed the foil-wrapped bar in her palm. “What is that?”

“Some kind of military ration bar. Not too horrible. It’s a little dry, but the nuts and honey paste used to bind the oats isn’t bad.”

Processed food. He almost said no thanks, but the reminder of what he’d not been too proud to eat since his escape had him grabbing it and muttering, “Thanks.”

“So now what?” she asked. “That is assuming you’re not going to take me out like those other hunters.”

The wrapper crinkled as he peeled it. “If I wanted you dead, we wouldn’t be talking. Guess our next move depends on you. I take it you’re not planning to hand me over to Davidson.”

“It was one thing to trap a wolf for the prick; I am not trafficking people.”

“I’m not sure what to do next. I thought I was going to be stuck living as a wolf for the rest of my life.”

“How does the transformation thing work? Was it the full moon?”

He shook his head. “Blame the arrow you shot me with. The shift appears to be triggered by bodily trauma, but it has to be severe. Minor wounds don’t do shit.”

“So if I put a hole in you…”

“I might turn back.” He paused before adding, “I’d really rather you didn’t test that theory, though.”

“I won’t, but it is interesting that the injury that changed you back into a man disappeared. Will it reappear if you turn back into a wolf?”

“I don’t know, but if I were to guess, I’d say no.

The bullet wound that changed me the first time doesn’t appear to have left a mark.

” His thigh appeared unblemished. Actually, all of his scars seemed gone, like the one across the back of his hand from shrapnel and the puckered line on his calf from crawling through some barbed wire.

“The body swap doesn’t appear to have healed coyote lady,” Tanis observed, her glance straying past him to the body on the ground.

“It might have, only I think she died before the whole morphing thing could happen.”

“Guess I now understand why the military insisted I had to capture and not grievously harm or kill you,” she murmured.

“Yeah. I learned early on that they wanted me back alive. Which is kind of dumb on their part because it really hamstrung the hunters they kept sending. Speaking of which, we’ve been standing here yapping too long. Most likely there are troops on the way.”

“What makes you think that?” Tanis asked as she pulled her backpack from the ground and threaded her arms through the straps.

“Those gunshots we heard were out of the ordinary.” He waved to the body. “I think the coyote-woman escaped, which means they’ll be looking for her.”

“Doubtful they’ll find her all that quickly. These woods are huge,” Tanis stated.

“But Davidson isn’t an idiot. Given the way I’ve evaded capture these last few weeks, the general might have started putting tracking devices in the other patients in his custody. Just in case, I’d say it’s best I vacate the area. You should, too.”

“To go where?”

“Anywhere.”

“As if your general will let me escape,” she scoffed.

She had a valid point, but he reminded her of the danger. “If you don’t leave, he’ll expect to hear from you, to give him some kind of result. When you fail to produce?—”

“He’ll rid himself of me. Doesn’t leave me many options.” Her face scrunched.

“We could make it seem like I killed you.”

“Do you really think he’d buy my death without a body?” She shook her head. “I think I’ll stick close to you.”

The surprise reply had him blurting out, “Excuse me?”

“Seems to me my odds are best with the guy who’s managed to stay out of his clutches.”

“It’s only a matter of time before he ends up locating me.” Pessimistic? More like realistic. Davidson had the might of the military at his disposal, whereas Barrett used to have his nose. Now he had nothing, not even pants.

“Then we best prevent that from happening. Shall we?” She adjusted the pack on her back, which had a tranquilizing rifle strapped to it. She held her bow and an expression that screamed capable and unafraid. Best of all, she offered something he’d been sorely missing.

Companionship. Call him weak, or stupid, but he couldn’t turn that down.

“Follow me. I’ve got a place where we can hunker out of sight.”

“Sounds good. Once we both get some sleep, we’ll start planning,” she stated.

“Planning what?”

“How to free your friends and take down those bastards, of course.”

And that was the moment Barrett began falling in love.