Free Call of the Cougar (Heart of the Cougar Book 2) by Terry Spear Page A

you up."
    "I could just drive over there."
    "No way. You might get lost and I'm your bodyguard. I'll pick you up at eight."
    Her phone beeped, letting her know she had another call. "Okay, got another call. Got to go."
    "We can have lunch too," he quickly added.
    "Let's have breakfast first and see where it goes from there. All right?"
    He sighed deeply. "Yeah, okay." But he didn't sound like he was okay with it. He probably suspected her next caller was his competition, Deputy Sheriff Stryker Hill.
    "See you in the morning."
    "I'll be there."
    They ended the call and she waited for the other caller to try again. When he did, she said, "I'm all tucked in and have my Glock right next to the bed, handy-like. No need to come over and protect me."
    Silence.
    She laughed. This might be kind of fun after all.
    "Uh, okay, so I don't need to grab mine and head on over there then." He chuckled. "I'm Stryker Hill and I wondered if you might like to have breakfast with me. Chase said you didn't have a chance to get any breakfast food."
    Now Chase was trying to set them both up with her? "Hal beat you to it. Sorry."
    "Hell, I thought you hadn't answered at first because you were asleep."
    "So you tried again?"
    "Just in case you weren't asleep."
    She laughed.
    "How about lunch, and don't tell me that Hal already booked you in solid for the next several days."
    "He tried. How about dinner? Just in case I can't get away any earlier? Where and when?"
    "I'll pick you up. Take you to anywhere you'd love to go for dinner."
    "You don't cook?"
    Stryker didn't say anything for a moment, then said, "Ah hell, is Hal telling you about what a great cook he is? Next, he'll be showing you the new foal. Well, when it's born. What do you think about puppies?"
    She laughed. "Do you have a puppy?"
    He paused. "Would it make a difference?"
    "No."
    "Okay, well, if you change your mind, let me know. I'll pick you up at five."
    "See you then. Night."
    "Good night, Tracey."
    She set her phone on the bedside table and closed her eyes. Now this was going to be interesting.
    She suspected her run would be uneventful and she'd return way before she needed to shift, wash up, and dress for her first date of the day.
    At least—that was the plan.

Chapter 4
    Tracey hadn't realized just how much she needed to run until she was wearing her cougar coat, exploring her surroundings, running free and wild. She always felt a runner's high when she stretched her legs as a cougar.
    Darkness claimed the forest when she left the cabin and a cold breeze stirred the aspen's leaves, making them dance around on the branches. A western screech owl sat inside a hole in a tree way up above, his eyes closed, his feathers a pretty gray color. But then he must have smelled her. He opened his amber eyes and twisted his head around to watch her, a predator of the night every bit as much as her cougar kind were. He must have been the one making the loud screeching noise last night.
    She moved through the mountain mahogany, junipers, pinyon, and ponderosa pines, and, avoided getting close to the lake where tents were standing, and camping trailers beyond that.
    She was certain no one would observe her in the dark, and that no one would be running around in the woods or mountains at this hour. The only problem she'd have was if she didn't return before dawn when hikers were about and someone spotted her.
    She watched for any sign of either big predators like bears or wolves, but she hadn't smelled any trace of them. Just cougars. She wondered then if the shifters in the area had been leaving their scent trail all over, clawing trees, marking their boundaries with piles of dirt and twigs, or scrapes, left to warn other cougars that this territory was taken, and to keep other predators away. Wolf packs weren't intimidated by a lone cougar or bear. But a cougar could handle a lone wolf. A pack of cougars? Evened up the odds a bit against a pack of wolves. Though that would sure take them by