“You can never start too early,” Rian said.
Kate walked over and kissed each boy on the head. “Don’t tell Bran, but I’m shifting and sniffing around the border to see if I can find where they crossed. My wolf needs to get out. She wants to eliminate any threat to our young.”
“Katie, I don’t know,” Damian hedged.
“I’ll be back before lunch, promise,” she said. “Guard them with your lives.” She nuzzled Landon.
“We will,” Rian said, firmly.
“Be back.” She walked out of the dining room.
* * * *
Kate waited until she was out of sight of the house before stripping down. She folded her clothes and left them hidden in a bundle near her favorite tree before shifting. It was the tree Bran had claimed her under. In her wolf form, her fears for the boys came roaring to the surface. Her wolf was not happy. Her young were being threatened. That threat needed to die. The wolf in her needed to rend flesh with her teeth and watch the threat breathe its last breath.
She took off running to the southeast, staying close to where the town’s magical perimeter extended. She had been running for about an hour and heading toward the southlands when the scent of hyena burned her nostrils. She had located their entry point. She wanted to follow the trail, but she knew that it would lead to the road where the scent would disappear, indicating that the hyenas had probably gotten into a car. She walked around, nose down and under the smell of snow and cold was the scent of pack. This was the scent of the betrayer. Try as she might, she could not identify a scent that would single any one pack member out. It only served to confirm her worst fear—that someone in the pack had indeed betrayed them.
She turned, made her way back to her tree, and shifted. She loved the way her body felt right after a shift. In the summer the warmth of shifting was almost uncomfortable, but in the fall, winter, and early spring, standing naked in the snow as heat radiated from her body felt exhilarating. Smiling, she unburied her clothes and slowly got dressed. By the time she had her socks and boots on, she was starting to get cool. Carrying her coat she headed back toward the house.
Kate eased into the back door and looked around. She stepped into the kitchen and made her way down the hallway toward the office. She saw Riley standing guard outside.
“How are they doing?” she asked.
Riley sighed. “We started with the Raymonds, but unless they are pathological liars, they weren’t involved. So far no one we have interviewed has been.” Riley leaned back against the wall.
“Are they with anyone now?” Kate asked. Riley shook his head. She patted his arm and walked past him to open the office door and walk in. She shut the door behind her.
“Where have you been?” Caleb asked from the leather high-back chair that was normally on the other side of Bran’s polished cherry desk. It now sat beside Bran behind the desk. She could tell they had done everything they could to appear as a united front.
“She’s been outside,” Bran said, narrowing his eyes.
She nodded. “My wolf wanted out. I found the entry point on pack lands, south of here.” She walked over to where they sat. Caleb opened his arms and she took her place in his lap and Bran swung her legs up and on to his thighs.
“That was a foolish thing to do, Kate. There was no way for you to know if they were still out there.” Bran removed her boots and rubbed the arches of her feet. He knew they would be sore after she had been running for a while. Caleb rubbed her shoulders.
“I wish I had found hyenas out there,” Kate growled. The very thought agitated her wolf again.
“I want to bury my teeth in their flesh and snap their necks. I want to destroy them all for threatening my young.” She growled low and both men froze.
Bran’s eyes widened. “Kate, your eyes.” He leaned forward.
“What about her eyes?” Caleb asked from behind Kate.
“They are shifted.” Bran growled and pulled her legs apart and dragged her off Caleb’s lap to straddle his waist, pulling her flush against his body and nuzzling her neck.
“She needs to be punished for putting herself in danger,” Caleb said, standing. He walked over to the door and flagged Riley.
“We’re taking a break. Can you let the others know we’ll resume interviews in about an hour? ”Caleb said.
Riley smirked. “Open a window if you’re going to fuck because I doubt you’ll get accurate readings off the pack if they are amped up on your Alpha sex pheromones.” Riley headed toward the kitchen.
Caleb nodded, shut the door, and locked it. When he turned around, Bran and Kate had stripped and she was lying down on the couch between his legs and her head was bobbing up and down on his cock. Caleb went to the window and opened it.