She hung up her cell phone and jumped out as Iain rumbled in beside them. He flung open his door and marched toward her in thigh-hugging black leather pants and a silver cotton t-shirt, his holstered weapon peeking out from under his flapping leather jacket. Two men flanked him, both identical to Iain, the one on his right in camouflage cargo pants and a black shirt. He slung a military sniper’s rifle over his shoulder. The man on his left wearing fawn pants and army boots, gripped a glinting gun.
“This is Finlay.” Iain motioned to his right. “And on my left is Kirk.” Leaving his brothers behind, he stopped in front of her, his fierce golden gaze boring in to hers. “You. Left. Me.”
“I thought we already covered this.” He stepped forward and she scrambled back and came up hard against the SUV. “I didn’t have a—” He kissed her, one hand cupping the back of her head and the other seizing her hip as he dragged her against him.
She shouldn’t allow him to push her around, only that thought flittered right out of her head under the searing heat of his mouth. Instead, she reached up on her toes, wound her arms around his neck and met him kiss for kiss. Now this kind of delicious kissing she could get used to.
“Excuse me.” Daniel cleared his throat. “We’ve bad dudes to capture and all that.”
Iain growled low in his throat as he lifted his head from hers and eyed Daniel. “In the future, where she goes, I go.”
“Provided you don’t keep her beyond our clan’s reach, I’m good with that.”
“No arguing, boys.” She ducked under Iain’s arm and extended her hand to Finlay and Kirk. “I didn’t mean to be rude. Nice to meet you both.”
“Welcome to the family.” Finlay shook her hand then slid one thumb underneath his sniper rifle’s front slung belt.
“The same welcome goes for me. It’s nice to finally have a sister.” Kirk hugged her then stepped back with a grin. “Very few people can catch my brother out the way you have today, and have for the past five years. I’ve been in awe of your talents for a while.”
“Oh, ah, thank you.” Barely hiding her smile, she gestured toward her partner. “This is Daniel, and please be very careful around him. He holds the skill of telekinesis and likes to pull all sorts of interesting stunts.”
“I’d like to see your skill at work.” Finlay shook Daniel’s hand. “That’s when we’re not chasing two killers. Rogue bears, I’ve been told.”
“They sure are. Owen and Ewan Mathie make up two of the four shifters we’re aware of in their offshoot clan. On the night of the last full moon, they killed two innocent people and now they’ve tasted human blood, there’s no knowing what they’ll do next. We’ve been ordered to capture and contain.” He eyed everyone in turn. “Since we all appear set to go, Finlay, you take the right, Kirk the left. The rest of us will span out through the center. Keep your senses alert. We’re headed toward the shack a mile along the driveway through the corn.”
Finlay trotted into the towering stalks on the right while Kirk disappeared into the field on the left. She jogged in after Daniel and Iain matched her step for step at her side. They ran the mile through the soft dirt, the corn stalks waving in the gentle breeze a good three feet above her head. Then when Daniel raised a hand they slowed and crouched at the periphery of the corn and all huddled next to him.
Two rows of corn remained between them and a wooden-boarded shack. The corn swept in a circle around a dusty front yard bare of even one single tree. In the center of the yard was a mustard-colored Jeep coated in dust, the same one from the inn and standing in front peering inside the raised hood was a middle-aged man in mechanic’s overalls and a cap stuck backwards on his head. He planted one hand on the grill and whipped an oily rag hanging from his back pocket out and unscrewed a cap.
“That’s neither of the Mathie brothers,” she whispered, “although that Jeep is theirs.”
“I’ll take a pic.” With his cell phone in hand, Daniel snapped an image of the mechanic with the shack in the background then sent it through to the chief.
Iain hunkered behind her, slid one arm around her waist and tucked her back into the V of his spread legs, his heat and fresh pine scent surrounding her. “Any idea who that is?” he murmured in her ear.
“No, but I’m going to find out.” She kept her tone low but used her ability to compel to its greatest degree. “Iain, Finlay, and Kirk, you’ll not utter a word in protest about my leaving, or try to restrain me, but you will all cover me.” She winked at Daniel. “I need to get closer so only the mechanic can hear me. You get ready to check out the shack.”
“Will do, and you’re going to be in so much trouble with the big bear after this.” Daniel grinned. “I can’t wait to tell Emma about you and your mate. She’s going to love hearing about what’s gone down.”
“She’s going to hate she missed out on it too.”
“She sure will.” To the others, he said, “Keep an eye on the feisty one for me after I leave. She can be a handful at times. She also takes a bit of work to rope in.”