Sharon’s Wolves(6)

It killed her to tell him to leave. But it had to be done. She was no good to him dead.

Her pants were a total loss anyway, and Sharon was out of strength. So, she brushed Rebecca’s assistance away, closed her eyes, and let the change wash over her.

It took longer than usual, but in about fifteen seconds she was fully shifted, her remaining clothes in tatters under her. Her leg throbbed, and she growled at the pain, but after several deep breaths, she rested her snout on her front paws and closed her eyes…

»»•««

Isaiah Arthur leaned against a thick tree trunk just inside the tree line and glanced at his brother. “What do you think?”

“I think this is a prescription for disaster,” Wyatt responded without turning his head away from the scene in front of him. He tucked his fingers into the pockets of his jeans and rocked forward and backward. His hair was in need of a trim, and thick brown locks hung across his forehead almost blocking his vision. “Did you call Dad?”

“Nope. Think we should?” Isaiah ran his hand over his short-cropped hair in exasperation. It was just as thick as his brother’s, and the same shade of brown, but he hated dealing with it, so he kept it cut closer to his scalp.

Wyatt blew out a breath, his gaze still frozen to the valley in front of him. “Not sure it will change anything, but perhaps he has some advice.”

Isaiah hadn’t spoken to their father in several weeks. It was high time he called home anyway. “How involved do you think we should get?”

“On a scale of walk-away-and-pretend-we-saw-nothing and mow-down-these-idiots-with-machine-guns?” Wyatt finally broke his serious look to chuckle.

“Something like that,” Isaiah responded.

Wyatt’s shoulders slumped. “Probably somewhere in the middle.” He turned to face Isaiah. “This is our land too. We live here. I hate to see it destroyed because of a group of money-hungry assholes. Besides, the damage could be far reaching. We can’t be sure what the repercussions will be.”

“The tremors are increasing by the day, in strength and duration. We have to assume the land along this fault line is going to rebel.” It didn’t take a seismometer to tell him that. Why were these people permitted to continue upsetting the Earth’s crust without interruption?

“Larger earthquake?” Isaiah asked.

Wyatt shook his head. “I don’t get that vibe.”

“What else is there?” Isaiah regretted asking the question as soon as it left his lips. There were indeed other phenomena that could accompany a shift in the tectonic plates under these mountains. He shuddered, offering a silent prayer to whatever deity was listening.





Chapter Four


Cooper Hamilton grabbed his cell as it rang for the fourth time in less than ten minutes.

He rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair.

Laurie.

Of course. Who else would be annoying the hell out of him while he scrambled to wrap thing up in his office and get out of town?

The earthquake centered just north of Cambridge, Montana, had been a five point two. Several smaller tremors had been felt since then. Within minutes of the first quake, Cooper’s boss leaned into his office and pointed at him. “You. Cambridge. Now. Don’t stop for anything but gas. I’ll send the rest of the team behind you.”

Cooper had been stuffing things into his laptop bag and shutting down his desktop ever since then. He surveyed his desk as he answered the call from Laurie, hoping he hadn’t forgotten anything. “Hey. On my way there.”

“Good. I was wondering.”

“Everyone okay?” he asked as he dashed from his office and jogged toward his car.

“Yes. Well, except Sharon. She was injured during the quake, but everyone else is fine.”

Cooper’s breath caught in his throat.

Sharon. The woman he’d known for two years was destined to be his mate. The woman he’d avoided all that time because he wasn’t ready and hated that Fate arranged things to Her liking with no input from him. “Is she okay?”

“Yes. Her leg got sliced by the hoe she was using. Large, deep cut. But she’s shifted now. She’ll heal.”

He blew out a breath as he unlocked his car, yanked open the back door, and stuffed his computer bag inside. He tucked the phone between his chin and shoulder as he slammed the back door and opened the driver’s. “Hang on a second, Laurie. Let me get the Bluetooth going.” He swung into his seat, dropped his phone on the console, and started the engine while shutting the door.

Seconds later, as he pulled out of his spot, the Bluetooth kicked in and he could hear Laurie’s baby gurgling in the background. “I’m back.”