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He nodded gravely, a slow dip of his chin. Lines of honey-gold fur appeared on his cheeks. “This will be hard to forgive, Natalie. I don’t know if I’ll be able to trust you.”
“I understand. It’s why I brought it up. We both lost people we cared about during that time. We can’t do this, Grant. Any
of it, can we?”
He looked away from her, his gaze tracking several penguins that dove into the water. “You’re right. We can’t.”
He sighed and for a long moment was silent. Finally, he turned to her and said, “There’s just one thing. The next time you have the sense you’re being watched, call me. I’m not sure, but it’s possible you’ve been targeted.”
Natalie stared at him dumbstruck. “For what and by whom?”
“I don’t know. But you need to be careful. It’s even possible this entity provided the alter serum that made you fae.”
Until this moment, Natalie had never considered that she might be in some kind of danger. She’d always assumed the sensation of being watched was part of her alter experience. Or maybe that was what she wanted to think.
A certain doubt entered her mind. “Are you suggesting that when I was at the bakery in Cave Creek before my transformation that I was targeted? Someone wanted me specifically to become an alter fae?” The serums that turned humans into any of the five alter creatures were specific to that species. She could only have become fae with the fae serum.
“I think it’s possible. But you need to be on your guard if you’re not already.”
Grant shifted his gaze to the sky overhead. She did as well. All that blue, something she hadn’t seen in six years.
“We should head back.”
Natalie felt it as well, the need to be going. “Being here has been wonderful. I want you to know that. We probably won’t see each other again, but I want to thank you for this brief adventure.” She could even offer a half-smile as she took one last look at the penguins.
Chapter Four
“We can’t find Kryder. He’s disappeared again.”
Grant heard Ryan’s words. But they didn’t register. From the time he’d finished his shift at two am, his thoughts had been fixed on Natalie. He couldn’t shake the sensation something was wrong.
Ryan sat next to him at the rowdy bar in the center of the pine forest. They were both on stools. Grant faced out, his unseeing gaze settled on the shallow sandpit where two drunk wolves stumbled around throwing wild punches that rarely landed. The crowd was laughing hard.
He barely saw any of it.
“Your shirt’s on fire.” Ryan spun on his stool, mug in his left hand, to face the pit as well.
Grant knew Ryan had said something. But his words once more grazed his ears then slid off. Grant wasn’t drinking. He wasn’t interested, which was a first. He liked tossing back a few at the end of his shift. His wolf metabolism took care of the effects of alcohol quickly. He’d always considered it one of the best parts of his alter status.
Not tonight.
Instead, his thoughts were focused on something Natalie had said, that someone might have targeted her specifically to become an alter fae. He believed she was right, but who had done this to her and why?
Ryan again. “You have flames shooting out of the top of your head.”
This time, Grant heard his friend and turned to him. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” He scowled.
Ryan put his mug to his mouth and took a big drink. He glanced at Grant. “I wondered what it would take to make you surface. You’ve been scowling, arms-crossed over your chest and your mind fixed elsewhere from the time we arrived. I need your attention.”
Grant forced himself to concentrate. “Fine. What’s going on?”
Ryan grimaced. “Kryder’s been gone again, two nights now from the pack, and you’ve been absent longer than usual as well. Our wolves are getting restless. So, what’s going on with you?”
Ryan was the perfect beta wolf. His role fit him like foam on beer. He kept the pack’s machinery running smoothly. Yet, even as he spoke, even with important info to communicate, Grant couldn’t seem to think about anything other than Natalie’s invisible stalker. “Let’s go for a walk.”
Ryan quickly drank the rest of his beer. Grant headed outside and heard the thump of Ryan’s boots as he fell in behind him.
He led Ryan out the less-used east exit by the bathrooms. The trash bins were out there forcing him to close his sensitive wolf nose.
