Free Dark Wolf Returning by Rhyannon Byrd Page B

knew I was coming after you, I bet he was just afraid of letting it slip if he left you a new message.”
    His dark brows pulled together in an even deeper scowl. “Why would that matter?”
    “Can’t you guess?” A wry grin tugged at the corner of her mouth. “He was probably afraid you’d run at the sound of my name and never be found again.”
    He didn’t smile at her lame attempt to lighten his mood. If anything, he looked even angrier. “Is that what you think I would have done? You think I would have run from you?”
    She shrugged as she focused her attention back on the mundane scene outside her window, noticing that Lev and Kyle were finally paying the cashier inside the small convenience store. “It doesn’t matter what I think. I just wanted you to know before we got there.”
    The guys were heading back to the truck, so they dropped the conversation. But Carla could feel him seethingbeside her, and knew Roy Claymore was going to have more than one pissed off Lycan coming after him when the war finally hit.
    Lev took the wheel again for this last part of the journey, and Eli murmured directions to the merc when they finally neared the mountains. Following Eli’s instructions, Lev turned off of the main highway, onto the two-lane private road that wound its way up the mountainside,leading to Shadow Peak. Tonight, though, Eli wouldn’t be directing Lev up to the town. Instead, they would turn off the road before they reached Shadow Peak, taking the smaller dirt path that led to the Alley.
    The radio was playing softly in the background, the sky lit with the burnished colors of a brilliant sunset, while the wind rushed through the thick forest that lined the road, rattlingthe trees’ leafy branches. It was a stunning setting, and Carla was seeking comfort from the view outside her window, glad to almost be home, when one of the massive trees suddenly crashed across the road just ahead of them, blocking their way. A sick feeling of dread immediately settled in her stomach, her nerves strung as tight as a bowstring. Lurching forward in her seat, she gripped Kyle’sheadrest and peered through the front windshield.
    “This is bad,” she whispered. “We’re about to be attacked. The rogues working with Eli’s dad did the same thing to my friends last year. It’s a freaking ambush.”
    “Well, this time it’s not my fault,” Lev rumbled, trying for a bit of levity to break the tension that was so thick you could barely breathe through it. “Because I haven’t sleptwith anyone from around here. Yet .”
    Kyle shoved the blond merc in the arm while Eli said, “It’s the Whiteclaw.”
    “I think you’re right,” Carla murmured. “We have scouting groups scouring the mountain, keeping a close eye on all the Silvercrest’s borders and roads. But if they’re taking the drugs that mask their scent, it’s possible that they slipped by the scouts without detection. Especiallythis far away from the Alley and Shadow Peak. The patrol routes are tighter the higher you get up the mountain. But they’re taking a risk by attacking this close to the main highway.”
    “You think this is because of Eli?” Kyle asked. “Because we’re here to help with the war?”
    “I don’t know,” she said. “They might have caught wind that he was returning. Or this might just be a random attack.Who knows what they’re thinking?”
    “There isn’t time to call for backup from the Alley. By the time the guys get here, this’ll be over,” Eli muttered, his voice more guttural than she’d ever heard it, as if his wolf was prowling just beneath his surface. But it would be a while yet before he could take the complete shape of his inner beast. The moon had yet to rise, still hanging low in thesky, which meant they could manage only partial shifts, releasing their deadly fangs and claws while still retaining their human shapes. They would be stronger, but not as strong as they would be in their standing wolf