She swallowed. Lord, they were gigantic. And built. Sharon had not exaggerated. After all, she’d seen them from a few hundred yards. That could easily distort perspective.
Cooper spun around seconds later.
How had these two managed to creep up on them so silently and without her detecting their scent? Or Cooper for that matter? Jesus. It wasn’t like her. Had the earthquake consumed so much of her attention that she was losing her grip on the other details around her?
“Hey,” the shorter one said. And shorter was only by comparison. He was almost six and a half feet tall. He held out a hand, “Isaiah Arthur.” He nodded at the scene before them. “Ominous, isn’t it?”
Melinda tentatively reached toward Isaiah’s hand, although it was completely against her better judgment. She didn’t like to touch other beings, human or shifter, and avoided it as much as possible. If these men were evil, she would know it. If they were filled with good intentions, she would know that too. “Melinda Bartel.” She wondered for a second if she should have given them a fake name.
Lucky she got no malicious vibe from Isaiah. Unfortunately, however, she got very little from him. He didn’t seem to pose a threat, but she couldn’t read him well, either. As if he were blocking, which was ludicrous since he wasn’t a shifter.
The other man reached out toward Cooper. “Wyatt Arthur. We’re brothers.”
Cooper held his camera in one hand and lifted his other. “Cooper Hamilton.” He didn’t offer the fact that Melinda was his sister. His brow was furrowed as he glanced around, undoubtedly thinking the same things as Melinda. Where had these men come from, and how had they managed to approach so stealthily?
Wyatt glanced at the fracking disaster. “I assume you two are here for the same reason we are.”
Melinda was afraid to make any assumptions at all. These two men could easily be spies for the fracking company. Perhaps they posted people in the forest to make sure no one was paying any attention. It wouldn’t be hard to believe. After all, the fracking company would have their own seismologists on staff. They knew exactly what was happening under the Earth’s surface. They might lie about it and twist the truth to suit their needs, but they knew.
Cooper responded before Melinda could gather her thoughts. “Depends on what your reasons are for snooping around.”
Wyatt grinned. “This entire operation is doomed, of course. And these assholes are liable to take us all out when this damn thing blows up in their face, literally.”
Okay, so maybe these men were on Cooper’s side. Either that or they were excellent fakers.
Isaiah spoke next. “I hope you’re getting good footage. Do you have a plan?”
“We’re working on one,” Cooper said, noncommittally.
Isaiah nodded over his shoulder toward the north. “We live quite a ways north of here. We’ve been scoping out this situation for several days, but we don’t know the population this far south. Seemed like it would be difficult for us to rally the town of Cambridge as strangers.”
“We have it covered. Meeting is tomorrow night, Monday, in the high school auditorium. That’s as fast as we could reasonably gather the citizens. I have people calling every person they can reach today. If you want to attend, you’re welcome to join.” Cooper stood taller, looking far more confident than Melinda felt.
It wasn’t as if she didn’t believe these guys, she just couldn’t put her finger on it. Something made her uneasy.
Wyatt stepped closer to the tree line. “The spirits are pissed.”
This shocked her further. Could he see them? These two men were not wolf shifters. And she’d never heard of a human witness to the spirits—at least not one who wasn’t mated to a shifter. It wasn’t impossible, just unlikely.
Except these men seemed to be witnessing the same thing she was.
Or maybe not.
She shuddered, unnerved by the inability to fully read these guys.
Was it possible Wyatt was simply stating a blanket fact? The spirits are pissed? That didn’t necessarily indicate he could see the black auras. “It would appear that way.”
“Do you have any more information that might help our cause tomorrow night?” Cooper asked.
“I don’t think we can add anything to your findings right now. We’re looking at the same thing. If we find out something beneficial though, we’ll be sure to let you know.” Isaiah sighed.
Cooper nodded. “We appreciate it.”
Wyatt nodded behind him toward the tree line. “We’ll let you two get back to work. Sorry to bother you. We didn’t want to frighten you.”