Rebecca’s Wolves(23)

Griffen also kept a keen eye on their mate. The last thing they needed was another accident. “How did I not know this? And why do we need a fortune teller exactly?”

Finally, Miles leaned back and looked at Griffen with a sigh. “There might be something to what happened to you yesterday. The black aura.”

Griffen hesitated. “You really think it was a sign, not a bear or cloud that got in my line of sight? The sun was behind it. Maybe I just couldn’t see it right.”

“Is that what you think?”

“No.” Shit. He was going to have to face the fact that whatever he saw might have been real, a bad omen or something. Or maybe it did simply bring the three of them together. Perhaps Miles was right. Hopefully his grandmother would have a better understanding.

“Well then. Let’s go.” Miles stood and hauled his pack over one shoulder and Rebecca’s over the other.

Griffen noted the man was finally wearing a full set of clothes. Even his jeans were buttoned. At least he didn’t intend to wave his cock around the entire morning like he had last night. Griffen still wanted to give him a piece of his mind about that.

Rebecca stepped out of the woods.

“Ready, love?”

Her face was serious. “I guess.” She reached for her backpack, but Miles held on to it.

“I’ve got it.”

She glared at him. “Miles, I’m an experienced hiker. I’ve been carrying my pack by myself since I was about six years old. Hand it over, bossy.”

Griffen chuckled in his head. “Bossy. I like that.”

Miles leaned into her space and planted a quick kiss on her nose before she could protest. “That may be, but we need to move fast, and no woman of mine is carrying her own pack out of here under these circumstances. We aren’t even going to be on the regular path, love. I need you to have good balance, watch your step at all times, and try to keep from ending up like gimpy here.”

She gasped. Her hands went to her hips. Her mouth opened. She blinked. But she said nothing.

Griffen couldn’t imagine what she could have said if she’d wanted to. It was tough to argue with the logic of Miles.

As Griffen watched his two mates in their standoff, something happened behind them. He lifted his gaze and sat on his back haunches, blinking toward the shadow that fell over all of them. It didn’t last long, but it was all-encompassing, like a giant cloud that passed between them and the sun—larger than the apparition he’d seen yesterday, but just as ominous.

And then it was gone.

Griffen jerked his gaze to find Miles holding Rebecca’s arm. He’d pulled her in close. They both stood with their backs to Griffen, facing the direction of the shadow.

“What the hell was that?” Rebecca asked. She twisted around in every direction, tugging herself free of Miles’ grip, her face to the sky.

“I don’t know, love. But that’s what Griffen experienced yesterday before he fell.”

“We need to get out of here,” Griffen communicated to Miles.

“Let’s go. We’re burning daylight.” He nodded behind Griffen. “Rebecca, you follow Griffen. I’ll bring up the rear. The sooner we get to the reservation, the sooner we’ll have some answers.”





Chapter Nine


Rebecca made the trek down the mountain without much trouble. It certainly was easier without anything to carry.

Miles handed her a bottle of water occasionally, but he didn’t say too much. The only way she was certain he was still behind her most of the time was that his arm shot out to grab hers every time he suspected she might lose her footing.

It was both exasperating and endearing at once. And because she couldn’t choose an emotion and stick with it, she kept her mouth shut. She had about a hundred questions, but until Griffen shifted back to human form, she couldn’t imagine asking them.

Griffen hobbled in front of her, his rear leg getting stronger as they went.

“You need to rest, you just say so, okay, love?” Miles’ words were soft and kind. He meant every syllable. If he expressed the same sentiment to Griffen, he did it silently.

Rebecca wasn’t cold. In fact, she’d removed her jacket and tied it around her waist, but she still shivered as Miles’ voice wrapped around her. She was used to workouts far more strenuous than this one. “I’m fine.”

“Of course you are.” He chuckled. He didn’t do it often, but when he did, she loved the sound. It was starting to grow on her.

It took a few hours to reach the main road and a small lot where Miles nodded toward an old pickup truck, the only one in the vicinity. “That’s mine.”

It was red, or perhaps it had been red twenty years ago. Now it was more like dusty maroon. The tires were covered in dried mud as though he’d driven off road to get there, or for the last twenty years since the car was new.