Free Once An Alpha (The S Files: Paranormal Investigation Agency – Book 1) by Callie McKenna Page B

first night we hadn’t had sex since our little fling had started, but neither of us were in the mood. We were too caught up listening to the rustle of branches in the wind and the chirping crickets outside, all the while staying on alert for any other less-normal sounds.
    I finally fell asleep to the sound of Lyndon lying next to me, his heavy chest rising and falling with each breath. Somehow it comforted me, and for the first time in days I slept properly, with no crazy dreams or anything of the like clouding my exhausted mind.
     

 
     
    Chapter Seven
    Bzzt. Bzzt. Groggily, I leaned over, grabbed my vibrating cell phone and held it up to my ear. “This is Peyton.”
    “Myla, sounds like I woke you. Sorry. It’s Ted.”
    The masculine voice on the other end of the line sounded crackly, and I was surprised my cell phone even had any reception this far up in the mountains. Then again, Valerie Markovic’s missing daughter had managed to call her before she disappeared, so there must have been a cell phone tower somewhere within range.
    “What can I do for you, Ted?” I asked, glancing at my watch. Holy crap. It was already ten o’clock in the morning. Lyndon and I had passed out and slept like logs for almost twelve straight hours.
    “There’s been another one,” he replied. “A couple camping off the trail near here has gone. They were supposed to check back into their hotel early this morning to go on a wildlife tour east of here, but they never showed up. Hotel called us and let us know.”
    “Maybe they changed their minds,” I said, hardly daring to believe that yet another lot of hikers could have vanished. On our watch, too.
    “That’s what we thought. After all, it does take a while to hike back down the mountain, so we figured they’d slept in and missed the check-in. But after what’s been going on recently, we didn’t want to take any chances. So we sent a team up there to check just in case.”
    “And?”
    “Their tent and all their belongings are there. But they are gone. We thought maybe they’d just wandered off somewhere, but we scoured the area. Nothing. They were camping near where you and Agent Lyndon said you’d be. Did you see or hear anything? It was an Aussie couple. Shane and Emma Tillbrook.”
    I sat bolt upright, almost dropping my phone as blood furiously pounded through my veins. “No way. We met them yesterday. Lyndon even wandered down to their campsite last night. They were right near us.”
    Ted paused. “Oh, jeez, Myla. I’m so sorry. But for your and Agent Lyndon’s safety, I think you should pack up and get back down here as soon as possible. We’re considering closing all hiking trails in the area until we’ve got this sorted. Four people in just two weeks…it’s not looking good for us.”
    I nodded, then realized he couldn’t see me. “Sure, Ted. Thanks for letting me know. We’ll get back down into town as soon as we can to help out.”
    “No problem. We’ve already got a team assembled to track the couple’s last movements. I suppose I’ll see you at the station later on. And Myla?”
    “Yeah?”
    “Please be careful.”
    I woke Lyndon and told him what had happened, and a dark expression clouded his handsome features. “Shit. Are you fucking kidding me?”
    “No. We need to get back down to the office right now.”
    He shook his head and wiped the sleep from his eyes, and then we hurriedly packed the tent up and headed back down the trail towards Bakewell Springs. I was still somehow tired despite all the sleep I’d had, but there was no way I’d be able to rest again for quite some time. My heart was racing and yet somehow felt as if it had dropped all the way into my gut. We’d been so close to the Australian couple; only a fifteen minute hike away, and they’d vanished, just like that, at some stage in the middle of the night.
    I couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if they hadn’t been out there last night, and it had