The man he’d seen driving the truck earlier stood next to a blue couch with a pink-flowered pattern. He hovered, as if he’d just jumped up and wasn’t sure what to do.

Running would be the most obvious move. Too bad the guy wouldn’t be fast enough to outrun Fletcher. With a loud growl, he shoved all human thoughts aside and gave in completely to his beast as he lunged for the human’s throat.

Chapter 9

“You don’t have to come with me into town—not that I don’t appreciate the company,” Kat said to Erin as they pulled down the long dirt driveway leaving the ranch, heading for the highway. After their five-mile run they’d showered, and Kat had had to borrow clothes from the petite woman. Knee-high boots covered the fact that the jeans she had on were just a little too short, but they were like a second skin.

“I want to see December too, especially after what happened last night. Plus I don’t trust anyone to drive my car.” The redhead shot her a sharp glance.

Kat resisted the urge to smile. The latter was probably the real reason she was going to town. Well, that and Jayce had likely said something to Erin about shadowing her. But Kat didn’t push it because she didn’t care. She liked Erin enough that it wasn’t annoying. “When did you get this baby?” she asked, referring to the new cherry red Challenger they were riding in.

“Couple weeks ago.” She smoothed a hand over the dash, and for the first time since Kat had met her, a true sense of happiness rolled off the other woman.

“It’s nice.”

Erin snorted. “Nice? It’s fucking awesome.”

Kat allowed herself to relax against the seat. “Okay, it’s awesome.”

“So why aren’t you and Jayce together anymore?”

The unexpected question caught her completely off guard. “Uh . . . I don’t know. Why aren’t you and Noah together?” Kat had seen the way the wolf with the jet-black hair looked at Erin. And vice versa.

“It’s complicated.” From Erin’s tone it was obvious she wasn’t going to divulge any more.

“Same here.” That was an understatement. Even if it wasn’t, she didn’t know the redhead well enough to open up to her anyway. Hell, December was her best friend and it had taken Kat a while to tell her everything.

“Okay, fair enough. That was a bad choice of topic. I was just curious what kind of woman made the only enforcer in North America so crazy.”

She made him crazy? Good. “From what I hear, there’s going to be two soon.”

“I guess.” Erin shrugged and Kat didn’t have to be a shifter to sense the other woman’s insecurity. It was a sharp, pungent sting to her nostrils.

Kat shot her a surprised look. “I’ve seen your moves and I know you guys were holding back on me today. You’re really fast and accurate from what I can tell.”

Another shrug, this one a little jerkier. “I still have a lot to learn, but Jayce is a good instructor. Something new every day.”

Kat nodded but didn’t respond. Nothing about his methods were particularly structured. Which made sense to her. Fighting for your life wasn’t structured and by forcing her to simply defend herself today he’d made sure she had to dig deep and use her instincts. Of course he’d stopped her a few times and shown her different techniques, which had helped a lot. But she’d still relied on her inner wolf today to guide her.

“We’ve never slept together, in case you were wondering.” Erin’s frank statement jerked Kat out of her thoughts.

“Who?”

“Me and Jayce. He’s just training me.”

“Okay.” She hadn’t thought they had, but there’d been a small part of her that had wondered. Seeing the easy camaraderie between the two had dug talons into her chest on occasion. Sharp, painful jabs that she could now dismiss.

At lunch Kat was almost embarrassed by how much she’d ordered until Erin ordered the same amount. December had been waiting for them at the restaurant and her meal was on the light side—because of her ever-present morning sickness.

“Think we should order something to go for Nikan?” Erin asked as the server brought them their meals.

Kat glanced out the window of the small diner. It was only a few blocks from December’s bookstore, but that didn’t matter. Nikan, a tall shifter with obvious Native American roots, was December’s shadow for the day. He was in his truck across the street. Thanks to the tinted windows she couldn’t see him clearly but his outline was visible enough. Kat had talked to him only a couple of times but he seemed nice. Quiet but kind. And there was a dangerous gleam in those eyes that didn’t surprise her. Each of the male warriors in the pack had a deadly edge that said he was no stranger to violence.

“Good idea,” December said. “I made Nikan a batch of cookies he was supposed to share with the guys tonight, but they’re almost all gone except for two.”

Kat couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face. “If you want to be really mean you should tell him they were meant for Esperanze and her sisters.” Kat might spend practically zero time at the ranch except to train, but even she’d seen the way the tall, intimidating shifter looked at the sweet beta female he’d recently mated with. The man was head over heels for her.

Erin laughed, the sound sharp and loud and completely unexpected. “You have to do it while I’m around. I want to see his face. Big, bad alpha is so smitten, and he does anything she or her sisters ask.”

December shook her head, her bright red hair swishing softly around her face as she chuckled. “You two are mean. . . . I swear I don’t know where either of you put the amount of food you eat. You all have such high metabolisms it’s disgusting.”

Kat had always had a high metabolism, but since being turned she’d found she ate more and burned it off much easier. One very good thing about her transformation. “I don’t know what you mean by ‘you all’ when you’re a shifter now too.”

December rolled her eyes and carefully stabbed a forkful of her Greek salad—one of the few things she could keep down without getting sick. “You know what I mean.”

The rest of the meal passed by too quickly, but once they were done they walked December back to her store and waited until Nikan had parked and joined her inside.

As they started to get into Erin’s car, Kat motioned toward a young girl, maybe sixteen years old, who was loitering in front of the empty store next to December’s place. She wore black thigh-high combat-style boots with purple laces and a short black-and-purple-checkered skirt—too short for her age as far as Kat was concerned. Only a small area of leg was visible between the bottom of her skirt and the top of her boots but she also had on black tights. At least she wasn’t showing a bunch of skin. The rest of her ensemble was black too. Long-sleeved top with a tank top layered over it, fingerless gloves with purple stitching. Her hair was black, with slashes of purple. That hair was thick, long, and straight, thanks to her Asian ancestry. She looked like a typical teenager, full of angst and anger at the world. Her eyes were a striking gray that stood out against her pale skin, but that wasn’t what drew Kat’s attention. It was the wolf underneath her skin that did.

Kat’s seer abilities had always allowed her to see the true nature of paranormal beings. And this girl was a lupine shifter. Her wolf was right at the surface, clawing and angry. The closeness of the girl’s inner animal reminded Kat of Jayce’s and Erin’s wolves. It was different from those of the other lupine shifters Kat saw on a daily basis. This girl’s animal was more prominent. Kat didn’t know if it was because she was young and hadn’t learned to control it yet or if there was another reason.

Without saying anything to Erin, Kat shut the car door and headed back toward the sidewalk. She knew without looking that Erin would follow.

The young girl straightened and crossed her arms over her chest in a clearly defensive gesture when she saw them. Even if she hadn’t been a seer Kat would have been able to scent that the girl was a shifter. She smelled of earth and animal. It was very distinctive.

“Hi,” Kat said. “What are you doing in Fontana? Are you with one of your pack members?” As far as Kat understood, shifters didn’t just traipse into another Alpha’s territory without calling and asking permission first. Pack rules.

She shook her head. For a moment Kat saw through the clothing the girl obviously wore as armor and found a scared young girl. Just as quickly, the fear bled from her eyes and she put her hands on her hips. “I want to be taken to see Jayce and I know he’s at the Armstrong-Cordona ranch.”

Kat’s eyebrows shot up.

“Why do you want to see Jayce?” Erin demanded.

She paused before answering and Kat guessed it was because she was gathering her courage. “Because I’m going to be an enforcer like him.”

Kat’s eyebrows rose higher. She looked at Erin, curious as to her reaction. The redhead was contemplative. Finally her gray eyes—similar to the young girl’s—narrowed. “What’s your name?”

“Leila Jeung.”

“Where are your parents?” Kat asked.

“Dead.” There was a wealth of sadness and anger in that one word.

Kat had the urge to hug the girl. Instead she took a tentative step closer. There were a lot of questions she wanted to ask her, but mainly she just wanted to get her off the sidewalk and back to the safety of the ranch. “How did you get here?”

Her eyes shifted behind Kat and Erin to an older-model sedan. It looked like the kind of car a mom would drive. Kat turned back to face the girl. “How long”—she tried to think of a way to phrase her question without stating anything about Leila’s deceased parents—“have you been on your own?”

A shrug and Leila wrapped her arms tighter around herself. “Couple months . . . well, a little longer.”

Something heavy settled on Kat’s chest. The thought of any young girl by herself in this world made Kat angry. “Why didn’t your pack take care of you?”