Amanda's Wolves(64)

Amanda set her hand on Logan’s and held it tight. She didn’t like the message any more than either of her mates did.

“So, someone must have seen you watching the logging site when you stumbled upon it on Thursday,” Laurie said.

Logan shook his head. “That’s just it. There’s no way. I’m certain there were no shifters on the team, and I was in wolf form. No one even glanced my direction. And when we went there in the middle of the night Friday night, there was no one in the area at all.”

Melinda frowned. “I don’t like it. Something’s off about this.”

Logan chuckled sardonically. “Something’s off for sure. And I’m exhausted just thinking about solving this new puzzle to appease the spirits once again.”

Melinda stood. “We need to go back to the site.” She glanced at Logan. “Maybe if you show us where you’ve seen the spirits. You never know. It might trigger something different.”

Laurie glanced up at her and then back down at Miriam. “Not sure I can pull that off again today. Zach is guiding a hiking group, and Corbin is fighting crime.” She giggled.

Amanda remembered someone saying Corbin was a deputy on the reservation. “I’ll watch her.” Miriam was an adorable baby, and she’d been easy to take care of Friday night. Amanda looked toward Laurie. “You are far more useful snooping around the logging site. I’m human. I’ll watch the baby.”

»»•««

Pete Sandhouse sauntered over to Corbin Archers’ desk. For all intents and purposes, they were equals in the deputy hierarchy, but Corbin was mated to one of the Masters brothers and a mixed woman. The asshole had a screw loose to engage in such activities.

There was a level of animosity between the two of them, though Pete wasn’t sure why. He knew why he would just as soon shoot Archers in the back rather than protect him in a shootout, but he felt a vibe always wafting off Archers that he didn’t understand.

There was no way the guy knew how much Pete hated him.

“What do you want, Sandhouse?” Corbin said without lifting his gaze from whatever papers he was perusing. His voice was leery, infuriating Pete more.

“Can’t a guy stop by to shoot the breeze?” he jibed.

Corbin lifted his gaze, his eyebrows raised in question. “A normal guy could. But you aren’t normal. Now, what do you want?”

He lowered his voice. “I understand congratulations are in order, is all.”

Corbin didn’t flinch as a few seconds ticked by. “I give up. Congratulations for what?”

“Didn’t I hear another one of the Masters brothers mated with another one of the Hamiltons?” It was a stab and a bit of a risk to phrase it that way, but there was little other explanation for why the two would be together. If he was wrong, he would simply shrug and look shocked at his bad information. But he doubted that immensely.

Corbin sat back, dropping his papers on his desk. “Where did you hear that, Sandhouse?”

“Let’s see…” Pete tapped his chin with his fingers and glanced at the ceiling. “Can’t remember who told me. Must have been someone at the bar last night.”

“I bet.”

“So it’s true.”

“Never said that. It’s none of your business, actually.” Corbin leaned forward again and picked up his papers. His hands shook just enough to tell Pete what he wanted to know.

“Testy. Geez. Just trying to be a nice guy here.”

“Yeah. I’m sure you were voted ‘nicest guy’ by your high school senior class. Scram. I have work to do.”





Chapter Twenty


Logan ran alongside Laurie and Melinda. The site was close enough to their land they could easily shift at home and make it there without taking a car and running the risk of driving and getting caught with their pants down, literally. The community at large was disturbed enough by the groups of three living on the land at the border of the reservation. The last thing they needed was for someone to see groups of them together naked.

When they got close, Logan slowed, glancing at Sawyer’s sisters to make sure they were in agreement. “The last thing we should do is risk being seen.”

“Agreed,” Melinda communicated. “When we were here yesterday, no one was around. I don’t sense any humans this afternoon, either.”

“Still. Let’s be careful. No sense taking chances,” Logan stated, turning his gaze toward the logging site at the base of the valley. He hunched closer to the ground and peered over his paws.

Nothing looked unusual. “Is there a way to know if they’re breaking any laws?” he asked. “I mean, do you suppose there’s a danger we should be aware of that involves improper equipment? Maybe a chainsaw or climbing gear? I mean, other than the fact that they may have cleared more land than allotted, I don’t know how we could spot anything else.”