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The wolf in me—not one damn bit.
We found our way through the small terminal to the parking lot. A male and female, both with shining auburn hair, dressed in heavy winter jackets, jeans, and hiking boots, stood next to a large SUV. The male waved and smiled as we walked toward them.
Introductions were made before they filled us in on what they’d already found regarding the rogue’s presence.
“We’re here on vacation,” the male, Sorrel, said. “The smell hit us first thing this morning when we stepped out of our hotel.”
His mate, Carmine, spoke next. “We could tell it wasn’t some random human odor. The scent is definitely a wolf. Like the smell of something dying a long, slow death.”
“I injured one of them,” I admitted. The wolf inside of me stalked forward, calming the emotional human side. I knew what I’d done and what I still needed to do. I’d never had a second thought about coming here—hunting the rogues—killing them on sight. Others were at risk because I should have killed both rogues when I’d had the perfect opportunity. If anyone else died because I’d failed to do what I should have, their deaths would be on me. Regret would be a heavy burden I would carry all my life.
Seff’s arm tightened around me. He looked down at me, lifting a dark eyebrow and giving me a slight shake of his head.
“We called our pack Alpha to find out what we should do,” Sorrel said. “Besides the two wolves that showed up last night, there are no other wolves here. He said to sit tight and wait. We’re lucky you could get here so fast.”
“I can track them from here, but it sounds like you were already close, so let’s start from there.” Seff’s comment brought everyone’s eyes to him.
Brutus lifted his chin and sniffed. “You know, scenting them from here is fucking amazing.”
Seff nodded, his smile spreading. He turned to Sorrel. “How ’bout we get on the road?”
Sorrel blinked, his astonishment at Seff’s tracking abilities falling away. “Sure, sure, no problem,” he said as he waved us toward the SUV. “We’re staying at a resort near the Garden of the Gods.”
After getting situated inside the big car, Carmine said, “It’ll take about thirty minutes to get there, depending on the traffic.” She looked back at us. “Have you been there? To the Garden of the Gods?”
We all answered in unison with either a shortnoor a head shake.
“Oh, wow, all these sandstone monoliths just poking up out of the ground. It’s a public park. Sorrel and I walked the entire trail the first day, then yesterday, we did some rock climbing. We went out there this morning to see if we could track them by scent, but the wind shifted, and we lost it. There were definitely two distinct scents.”
“We’ll have to wait until the park closes to take a run out there,” Sorrel added. “We’ve already found an out of the way drop-off spot.”
I lost track of the light conversation between Brutus and the couple along the drive, watching out the window as twilight came on. The dark shapes of the Rocky Mountains and Pike’s Peak took up the entire western horizon. Beside me, I felt Seff’s emotions shift. He grabbed the back of Sorrel’s seat.
“Pull over.” Seff stared out the front window, his dark eyes wide. “Pull over now.”
“Sure, sure.” Sorrel glanced back, then quickly pulled to the side of the highway.
Seff had the passenger door open before the SUV even stopped. “Stay inside.” He jumped out and paced around the big car several times before climbing back into his seat.
Brutus cocked his head and said, “So?”
Seff grinned, his eyes turning into those sweet little crescent moon shapes I adored. “Sorrel, hit the next off-ramp and head south. We passed something I gotta check out.”
“Oh yeah, sure.”
Back on the highway, in a quarter of a mile, Sorrel took the off-ramp and headed south, backtracking where we’d already been. No one spoke as Seff sat silent, his eyes closed, concentrating.
“Wait. Stop.” He opened his eyes, his gaze sweeping around as he studied our surroundings. “Turn around. Go back. We passed it.”
Sorrel did as asked.
Seff pointed toward a parking lot. “Pull in here.”
Carmine spoke up, “But this is nowhere near where—”
“The rogues were here.”
“Okay.” Sorrel yanked the steering wheel over and pulled into the parking lot of a twenty-four-hour pharmacy.
