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23
LEVI
“Fucking hell,” I growled as I pulled myself through the front door of my place. “Today can go burn in Hades.”
Dean snickered as he closed the door behind himself. “Mind if I crash on the couch?”
I waved my hand in the air. “Just don’t eat all my food. I haven’t had a chance to hunt here recently.”
“Don’t worry,” he said as he rummaged around in the kitchen, “I’ve been hunting to blow off steam. I’ll bring you some of the fresher meat from my deep freezer.”
“Appreciated,” I murmured.
I dragged ass up the stairs and went to stand by the window that gazed out toward my across-the-street neighbor. The lofted portion of my chalet had become my bedroom because it gave me the easiest access to the front door. All I had to do was leap over the railing and take a few steps forward before I reached the doorknob, which was a drop in a bucket compared to the two doors and hallway that stood in between me and the front door if I had used the actual master suite.
And as I gazed out toward the wooded line of trees, I noticed something.
“Hey, Dean?” I called out.
“What’s up?” he asked, his voice floating up the steps.
I squinted my eyes a bit. “It’s only a crescent moon tonight, right?”
“Yeah, we’re a while out from a full moon. Why?”
I watched as a soft blue glow rose from the woods. “Then, why do the woods look like the moon is illuminating it?”
Dean’s footfalls fell heavily up the steps. He came to stand beside me, and the second he saw what I had been watching, he bristled.
“What the fuck is that?” he growled.
I shook my head. “I don’t know, but we shouldn’t take chances. Let’s go door-to-door.”
“Any word from Hudson?”
I backed away from the window. “No. I haven’t heard from him, he hasn’t reached out to me, and I haven’t sensed his presence.”
“So, can I take it that we aren’t roping Brody in unless absolutely necessary?”
“SOMEBODY HELP ME!”
The shrieking voice leapt both of us into action and we couldn't get to the fucking front door quickly enough. I damn near ripped the piece of wood off its hinges as I turned in the direction of the yelling. Shifters of all shapes and sizes had already jumped off their porches, clamoring to get to the voice.
“SOMEBODY, PLEASE!”
Then, it hit me. “No! Everyone, stop! Retreat!”
“The bears,” Dean said flatly.
“Stop!” I roared as I waved my hands in the air. “They’re imitating! Stop it! You’re playing into their—”
“Aaaaahhhh!”
“God-fucking-damn it, are you serious?” Dean growled.
The ground trembled once more like the aftershocks from a roiling earthquake. If there was one thing bear shifters had gotten good at, it was imitating the sounds around them. It was how they got people to stay clear of their caves while attempting to rock climb up the facade of their mountains. It was how they lured innocent animals into their traps in the middle of their hibernation status. They didn’t go out to hunt; they lured their prey into traps.
They were fucking cowards.
