He almost smiled at her. “Now, we have a deal.” One he would have preferred to seal while they were naked in bed, but they’d get around to that part. He just had to stir Sarah’s need enough, then she’d come to him.
Her gaze darted to the other wolves. “What do we—what happens now?”
“Now I get ready to hunt.” He inclined his head toward Michael. “Take her back inside.”
Michael nodded and stepped forward.
Sarah’s gaze searched his. “They’ll be coming for me soon.” Sooner than she realized. “Then they’ll have to get through me if they want you.”
Those eyes of hers were so deep. The greenest he’d ever seen.
She nodded. “Thank you.”
Don’t thank me yet. She didn’t realize how she fit into his plan. She would. Soon enough.
Sarah turned away and followed Michael back down the worn path. He watched them for a while, no, watched her, until she was out of sight.
Piers opened his mouth to speak—and Lucas raised his hand, quieting him.
Sarah’s hearing wouldn’t be as good as a wolf’s, but he wasn’t taking chances.
He waited a minute. Two. Then he nodded for Piers to speak.
“What the hell are you thinking?” Piers demanded. “We can’t trust her, not for a damn minute.”
Lucas stared at him. “Watch the tone, Piers.”
Piers inhaled and his hands unclenched. “What do you know about her? We can’t—”
“We know she’s a charmer who can read the minds of shifted wolves,” Dane interrupted. “And that’s a real rare talent.”
“A talent that could be very useful to us,” Caleb added, the drawl of his native Texas sliding in and out of his voice.
“Or very dangerous.” Piers yanked a hand through his hair. “Any time we’re in wolf form, she’ll be able to get in our heads, to find our secrets.”
“There are no secrets in a pack,” Lucas told him quietly watching his first closely. “Or are you worried she’ll discover something I don’t know?”
A muscle jumped in Piers’s jaw.
“Every time we meet with the other wolves, she’ll be able to tell us what they think.” Caleb smiled, showing off his still-sharp teeth. “Hell, yeah, we’ll watch her back forever, because we can keep her forever—”
“You really think the woman is gonna be ‘kept’?” Dane interrupted, then whistled. “My aching c**k says, uh, hell, no, that lady ain’t doin’ nothin’ she don’t want to do.”
No, she wouldn’t. Too much fire to be controlled. But then, he’d never cared about controlling his lovers. Not his style. He just went for the passion and the pleasure.
“I want a full check done on Rafe Santiago,” he said, bringing the pack back to the issue that mattered most. “I want to know where the ass**le is,” real doubtful the guy was out of state, like he should be, “and I want to know who the hell is supporting him.”
Piers and Dane nodded.
Lucas stabbed a finger at Caleb. “You still got a source at the ME’s office?”
“Um, if you mean am I still sleeping with the night clerk? Then no, Kelly and I broke up.”
Lucas kept staring at him.
“But she has hooked up with Michael,” Caleb said quickly. “And I’m sure he can use the . . . uh . . . connection to get us in.”
“Good. Because I want to see that human’s body. I want to know if wolves got him or if the coyotes tore him up and left him on my doorstep.” Either way, there’d be payback. The painful kind that left a trail of blood for miles.
“She thinks the coyotes are gonna be coming after her.” Caleb scratched his chin. “But they won’t be dumb enough to come right on your turf—”
Lucas’s nostrils flared as he turned his head and looked out over the city. “Oh, yeah, those ass**les will be dumb enough to come.” Because they wanted the woman too much to let her go. He glanced at the dark shifter near his side. “Dane, one more thing . . .”
His brows lifted.
“Find out just how much of a bounty is really on her head.” Had to be high, high enough for the coyotes to risk death. He exhaled, “And make sure word gets spread that anyone coming after her will find the LA wolf pack standing in the way.”
Because he’d made a deal with sexy Sarah, and he’d hold up that deal . . . for now.
But not forever.
Because he knew a lie when he scented one, and Sarah had smelled of deception.
Chapter 4
“Stay inside.”
Sarah whirled around at the snarl and found Lucas in the doorway. His claws were out and the sharp edges of his teeth peeked behind his lips. Uh, oh. Not a good sign. “What’s happening?”
His nostrils flared. “Coyotes.”
The glass slipped from her hand and crashed on the kitchen floor. It shattered at her feet. “Al-already?” She shot a glance to the window. Oh, damn, the sky was turning red. Bloody, with the setting sun.
Lucas crossed the room with a long, gliding stride. He caught her arms and lifted her up, holding her close against his chest.
“Lucas?”
“The glass . . .”
She glanced down. The glass hadn’t hit her feet. Like the wound would have bothered her. What was a little scratch compared to the hell she’d been through?
No. Can’t tell him that. Can’t let him see . . .
She wrapped her arms around his neck and kept her lashes low, the better to shield her gaze. “Thank you.” She breathed the word against his neck and felt the hard stiffening of his body against hers.
He carried her over the glass. Held her lightly, moved easily. And she was no lightweight. But then, the guy did have shifter strength.
He put her down just outside the kitchen. “Go upstairs.” Her body brushed against his. His pupils flared, but he said, “Whatever you hear, whatever you see . . . just stay inside, understand?”
She wasn’t an idiot. If coyotes were outside, um, yeah, she’d be staying inside. But she didn’t rush up the stairs, not yet. “Be careful.”
He laughed at that. “I’m not the one you need to worry about.”
Right. Big, tough badass. “They’ll . . . lie to you. They’ll tell you stories about me, about the things I’ve done.” Some of those stories would be true, but Lucas wouldn’t know that. No way could he know that.