“What the fuck? Just tell me where she is.”
“Cricket saw you kissing the princess and then she took off. In wolf form. Up that trail.”
“Willa kissed me, and I told her to stop.”
“I don’t think Cricket saw the stopping part.” Nik smirked.
Mia interrupted them. “We need to find her. Shall I round up a team?”
Lunara approached. “No. Slade goes alone.” She smiled at Slade. “What are you waiting for? Go find your mate.”
Their shaman was on their side. A good omen. “Yes, ma’am.”
Slade stripped and immediately caught her scent. She headed up to Mt. Rainier, then suddenly turned and headed back toward the road. To Mia’s cottage. Good. Safe of cliffs, bears and logs to get stuck in.
Cricket paused on the trail toward Mt. Rainier. Her wolf wanted to reach a high mountain peak and howl in sorrow, but she looked back at the distant town lights. Her human side longed for the warmth and comfort of Mia’s cottage. No point in having a pity party while freezing her ass off. Besides, Mia always kept ice cream in the refrigerator. Her wolf licked her chops and wagged her tail.
As she trotted toward fire road that led to Mia’s cottage, a sudden chill coursed through her. She lifted her nose. Deer, raccoons and other normal critters. Nothing unusual traveled the dense woods near her.
Cricket twisted around. She was alone. Even the two beta guards who patrolled the area were at the banquet. No one had followed her from Dominic’s estate. She would have smelled them. Only Nik saw her leave. Had he told Mia? Knowing her best bud, she’d be looking to comfort her, unless, her bossy alpha husband kept her by his side on a tight leash.
Her heart quickened, and her hackles rose. Someone watched her. She stalked closer to the cottage.
At least Mia’s neighbor had moved. Nervous about having another human around, Dominic offered a cool million dollars to buy her place. She took the offer and moved closer to her relatives.
Leaves crunched behind her, and she whirled around.
A big gray wolf with a missing ear snarled.
Shit. “Henrik.”
“My, my, what a lovely surprise. And two miles from the pack and not a pack member within howling range.”
She glanced at his hind leg. “Good as new I see.”
Henrik towered over her. “It took my hamstringed thigh four days to heal. So painful, all I thought about was how someday I would do the same to you. Before I kill you.”
Cricket cowered away until she backed into a large tree. “How did you escape The Keep, or, are you with them?”
Henrik tilted his head to the side. “I barely escaped The Keep.”
She scanned for an escape route. “Did any others escape?”
“Not one werewolf survived their assault on Wolf’s Lair.”
“No thanks to Wolfstrom and you for screwing it up for the rest of us.”
“I tracked you to Dominic’s estate, but when I caught your scent at the cottage, I knew if I waited you might eventually return.”
“Tracked?”
“While you recovered from the virus, I placed a microchip in the back of your neck. An updated improvement over pet chips. Odorless, of course.”
“And Slade.”
“Yes, Slade too. Like you, he won’t know what hit him.” He growled. “You, on the other hand, will die slowly.”
Cricket bolted into a cavern opening, only big enough for her. She shifted to human form to search for something she could use as a weapon.