Free Wild Love (Wilding Pack Wolves 2) - New Adult Paranormal Romance by Alisa Woods

promises.
    TRISH: You’re the one with all the teasing. How about you show me what you can do offline?

    Dammit, Noah needed to hurry this along. Then she smacked her palm to her forehead—his phone! She snatched her phone off her desk and quickly searched for Noah’s number. It took agonizingly long to find it. Meanwhile, “NICK” was still messaging her.

    NICK: I’m not teasing. I’ll make every fantasy you have about wolves come true.

    She quickly typed…

    TRISH: When and where?

    Then she texted Noah on his personal phone, Hacker is watching us. It took a moment, but when he texted back, it was simple. Copy that. Then “NICK” messaged her again.

    NICK: Are you ready now?
    TRISH: Yes!
    NICK: How about the Stryker Motel? One hour?
    TRISH: Perfect!
    NICK: Message me with your room when you arrive.
    TRISH: Can’t wait.

    Then she logged out immediately—their signal that the meet was on. As soon as she did, the trace disappeared… and so did the hacker. Emily searched the archives, but there was no indication that he’d been there or anywhere else in the system. If she hadn’t captured the feeds real-time, there would have been no evidence at all that something strange had happened on that particular chat.
    But it had.
    Her phone buzzed. It was a text from Noah. We need to move fast. Need to get there before him.
    Copy that, she replied, then grabbed her stuff and ran for the elevator.

 
    “She’s late. Something’s wrong.” Noah peered through the back window of the Riverwise pack van, scanning the streets darkened with rain and glistening with the city’s night lights. The traffic was light but steady—this shady side of downtown never slept—but there was no sign of Emily’s silver Prius. He’d given her the address of the liquor store where they were parked, but maybe her GPS wasn’t working…
    “You could text her again while she’s driving,” his brother, Daniel, said from the driver’s seat. “Because that was such a great idea the last two times.”
    “Something’s wrong,” Noah said again, his hand palming his phone in his pocket, itching to do exactly what his jerk brother was saying he shouldn’t do.
    “She’s not even late. The meetup isn’t for another fifteen minutes.” Daniel climbed out of the driver’s seat and joined him in the back of the van.
    Noah glared at him. He shouldn’t have said anything, just texted Emily like he wanted to. Now, Daniel’s big-brother look of concern was all over him, and he couldn’t do it without taking crap. Chatter in Noah’s earbud distracted both of them for a moment—the rest of the pack was checking in from their stations around the motel. Two of them had rented rooms, posing as legit customers. The others had arrived surreptitiously, joining them or staking out spots in the darkened stairwell corners or parked at the IHOP next door. All told, they had a dozen Riverwise shifters ready to take the bomber down, if he showed. It should be more than enough.
    But having Emily in the middle of it was making Noah unexpectedly nervous.
    The chatter died down, and just as Daniel opened his mouth to say something—something Noah was sure he didn’t want to hear—a silver Prius pulled up alongside the van.
    “She’s here.” Noah pushed past his brother to slide open the van door.
    Emily climbed out of the driver’s seat, and her smile lit up when she saw him. It warmed him and flushed cool relief through him, all at the same time. Which was a fair description of the feelings she was stirring up in him—all conflicted and bothered. Ever since their chat had gotten hotter than he had planned, and then she’d pulled back from him, it had left him nervous. Afraid she thought he was only after sex from her… and then afraid that he actually wanted more.
    He waved her into the van.
    She looked Daniel over with wide eyes. “Hi,” she said to him, but it was soft and a little breathy. Like she was shy, or maybe attracted to him.